Structures & Openings

The writing of poetry has fallen behind the business of poetry lately, and while that’s sometimes how it has to be, I feel it like a crick in my neck. When you ignore the poems, they stop coming and I’m always afraid that I’ll have neglected them too long. But I tend to find my way by reading about poetry when I’m not finding the quiet and mental space required for writing it. I’m currently reading this really useful and beautiful book, recommended by my poetry (and life) hero, Cynthia Dewi Oka. I took it on an amazing trip and dropped it in the ocean and spilled my whole water bottle (okay, jar) on it and smeared my notes, so my copy looks like absolute trash. It’s still going to guide my 30/30 (that’s where you write 30 poems in 30 days during the month of April and 85% of them are shit but you learn/remember to keep writing even though most of what you write is going to be shit). I can’t wait to share the exercises with you. You should order the damn book. Really.

Last week in Tulum, I celebrated a dear inspiration/star/wonder sister with a most brilliant group of women gathered for that purpose. I came away with a gaggle of new far flung wonder friends and chemical burns on my chest (nothing a whole load of neosporin can’t fix). We did a writing workshop which we closed with this poem from Ada Limon’s Bright Dead Things

Bellow

Tell the range and all that’s howling,

the flickers of life beyond the weeds,

the vulture’s furrowed brow of flight,

the blasted sticky Canadian lawn thistle;

tell the clowned-out clouds and the rain,

and all that makes you go quiet again,

tell them that you didn’t come here

to make a fuss, or break, or growl, or

scream; tell them—crazy sky and stars

between—tell them you didn’t come

to disturb the night air and throw a fit,

then get down in the dark and do it.

Oh hell yes! Your prompt this week is to write about a promise you just couldn’t fucking keep: “I swore I wouldn’t…”

And for the Tulum beauties: You can find “Fuck” by Kim Addonizio here. And here’s a recording and a link to my poem “Belemnite” in Hematopoiesis