Collecting

  
I write poems in several different ways:

1. In a regular paper journal that travels around with me
2. In another really thick journal that stays on my bedside table
3. On scraps of paper/in the margins of things
4. In various oddly titled Google docs on my phone or iPad
5. In a Word document appropriately titled (least often)
6. In a Word document totally randomly titled and filed under some title I think is funny in the moment but can’t find later
7. In a garbled voice-to-text note on my phone
8. In this other little paper journal that I keep by the rocking chair

And then when I’m trying to put a collection together I have to find all these bits and pieces and put them together. It’s so frustrating. And you know whose fault it is?  Mine. Can’t even be pissed at someone else. Anyway, I’ve been doing that a little these past weeks, and editing as I gather.  It is the worst and the best simultaneously.  The hardest thing for me, aside from the big structural choices, is knowing when to walk away, knowing when a poem is done. But the tinkering is really satisfying. 

This morning a lovely person sent me a link to a poem which led me to another poem and then an essay and on and on.  The wise arms of the Internet guide me where they will, with the help of my friends.  Sometimes to a weird documentary about the search for a giant squid or a lazy harp seal or on occasion to something really helpful.  This is called 13 ways of thinking about the poetic line.  If you’re interested in understanding poetry a little more, or stepping towards editing, it’s a good read.  We could take each of our days as a poetic line and really start considering how we live.  But that’s not your prompt.

We’re going back to Shinji Moon today.  A love poem.  Wait–don’t click away!  Not necessarily a romantic love poem, but just a poem of deep love for someone whose aches the poet cannot relieve.  I have some questions about some of her choices here (but that’s because I’m in editing mode maybe), but “so you can sleep in my palms tonight” is so beautiful, I needed to share it with you.  We think a lot about how we want to be loved.  We are told to think a lot about how we DESERVE to be loved.  These aren’t unnecessary concerns–we absolutely must consider them.  But we also must consider how we offer love, and allow ourselves to really see all the important people in our lives.  Your opening fragment is “I look at you and see…” Write it to one person, or write it to ten, stanza by stanza.   20 minutes.  My friend Mo makes poets on her slam team do push ups and squats if they’re getting lazy.  I’m just mentioning that.  No reason.