Alas, with the beginnings of a new month, It's time for the poetry project to end...for this year. Yes, I think I will most definitely be back next year with another month of poetry. There were several goals at the start of this project:
1) get in a better habit of writing every day
2) get over some of my fears of letting others see my work
3) learn more about my style and the medium of poetry
4) practice accessing that wonderful place in my warped mind that helps me write.
On all fronts, this month was a resounding success, and I have a few people to thank for it.
First, my family. While some of you don't necessarily "get" poetry and aren't literature buffs, you always stick by me. Secondly, the army of friends who have been so supportive: you guys (and gals) are the best, and I am thankful that each one of you is in my life. A special shout-out to the women of Steel City Endurance (www.steelcityendurance.com) - never slow down! Thirdly, to my partner in crime, whose insight has been so necessary throughout the many years - Adam, I thank you. Lastly, my wife, whose continued patience and acceptance of the fact that she married a dreamer continues to amaze me: You are my inspiration, my muse, my partner, my joy, my motivation...you are my everything.
And now that we've taken care of business, let's have the final poem of this year's experiment!
The Music
A melody, barely-there, a hint hanging on a whisper,
soft and gentle, each note a caress to the ear
as it starts to build.
A horn, cutting through as the first raindrop
of a summer storm - sweet and satisfying,
welcome relief.
It builds.
Percussive cracks of thunder and lightning,
wind whipping up the seas as the caress turns into fury,
the anticipation over, the storm has come,
bringing with it a music all its own,
a cacophany of sight and sound, of rhythm and phrase,
terrifying and beautiful together.
Nature's symphony, this, only a movement in the entire score.
The Music will change on the morrow,
a new song will begin, and the orchestra will play on.
It is our duty only to listen, to find the music,
and hold on to it with all our power.
Thank you all for reading, for commenting, for "liking", for "not getting it", for wanting more, for wanting to use it, for your compliments and for your criticisms - in short, for coming on this journey with me. Thanks for reading.
The Fat Kid
1 comment:
The question is, will people keep coming to check out your blog through habit - and will you keep consistently making posts? Here's hoping the answer's YES! to both questions. So congratulations, my friend, for a resoundingly adventurous and successful month. I wasn't sure how it would turn out and what all would churn out, but I was pleased to see it go so well for you. I wasn't even sure I'd comment on every poem, but after the first few days, I realized the work you put into these thoughts and poems deserved at least a well-thought out response. I hope some of these critiques have been useful! As someone who doesn't normally read poetry very often, I was struck by how much of yours I really enjoyed. I'll freely admit too, not everything! There may be a few poems you yourself may not be crazy about or feel need more work. I think this is a good thing.
It would be interesting to read some future posts reflecting more on this experience, what you felt you learned, for better or worse. It was a great thing to be a reader during this past month. It reminded me again that, because poetry relies so much on personal reaction and interpretation, reading is essentially a selfish experience. But not in a bad way. I would read your poems and the first questions popping into my mind were "what did I think of this?" I learned that I pay a lot of attention to how a poem reads, sometimes secondary to any "message" or content of the whole. It would have been interesting to see you widen out your experimentation, pushing the boundaries with markedly different forms and styles. But I was also see what types of poems you seemed to naturally gravitate toward, what styles and habits you exhibit. This was educational! And having such a nice grounding from this year's experiment, you perhaps have a platform from which to take off on next year's adventure. So thank you for taking all of us along on this ride of yours. As you've seen, you have a lot of support behind you - take it and run!
Oh right, there's still a poem, and I'm not going to flub on the last post and not comment on the poem. This is an interesting one. There are several points where you almost fall into cliche, but it is not a disruption for some reason, perhaps because you do an excellent job managing the rhythm and flow of the lines, sandpapering the rough edges that may exist within individual words or phrases until the thing reads smooth in memory. The pacing and placement of lines also reads for great effect, not a little unlike one of these first poems that experimented with form. You use some nice imagery here, a particular way of looking or listening that reads as very striking. If this poem is music, I'd say it's a Passacaglia. But that's just my read!
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