On day two Robert challenged us to write a poem “from where I am sitting.” The idea was to pay attention to the world around us. My poem stays true to the heart of the prompt, but was written during a walk.
“After the Rain has Stopped”
I am walking
after the rain has stopped.
Mix of earth and evening
sits heavy in my lungs.
Grey clouds fading back to white
releasing the gloom
of the day.
The sun’s last rays
play with the mosaic blues
above me.
A painting even Michelangelo
would sign his name to.
The promise of spring
tickles my nose
and my heart moves to the
music of the birds
perched in the trees,
as if they are God’s choir.
This street morphing
into an aisle between
the pews of hope
and wonder.
–
I am walking
after the rain has stopped.
Finding myself
In the middle
of a sacred liturgy.
There are a number of reasons I wanted to discuss the creative process of this poem.
First, nature is a powerful source of inspiration. Robert Frost, William Wordsworth, and so many others have drawn inspiration from nature. Be it from walks (even Stephen King walks) or quiet moments in nature. Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is an example of how deep a moment in nature can be.
If you feel like you have writer’s block, I suggest taking a walk in the park with the focus paying attention to the world around you, like the prompt for the poem. You will be inspired.
Second, I will be honest here… the idea of this poem was actually written the night before the prompt. My Notes app is filled with poetic lines, random thoughts, and even full first drafts of works. As life aligns sometimes, it was a perfect fit for the challenge. I reworked the draft from the app, even thought of using the viator poetic form for the final draft, but liked the free verse flow of the descriptions.
But here is the important point, being able to draw on ideas from notes or drafts. Besides my app, I keep notes, write single lines, and even draw drafts of ideas on any paper I can find when inspiration hits. At this moment, I have a single line in my Notes app that I can’t get out of my mind, but I haven’t been able to cross that inspirational bridge to create something yet. That is cool, and yes, frustrating. But I am excited for that moment when the line becomes more.
The third aspect is the use of imagery to bring forth the theme of the spiritual feeling I had during the walk. The use of literary elements is the art of poetry, of writing. Literary elements allow us to describe all the abstract feelings we have as humans and allow us to share those feelings with others in a way they can relate to. That is the bridge art builds for us. To connect us. To reveal the powerful aspect of this life. We are never alone in our emotions, both positive or negative.
I hope you enjoyed this small series of my creative process for a few of the poems I wrote for the Poetry a Day challenge. Share your process or thoughts in the comment section.
It is all Connected 