Donna Z Falcone
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Poems on a String

4/7/2016

11 Comments

 

 Inspiration: The Joy of Poetry

Picture
I've been reading a newly released book which is both a memoir and a poetry collection, written by Megan Willome. The Joy of Poetry contains unexpected agony, love, anger, loss, discovery, confusion, darkness, and light. In other words, Joy. Because, isn't Joy, when we find it, comprised of all these and more? 

The Joy of Poetry is not a book in which I dare skim over the pages in search of the good parts. Every part is a good part. There are so many poignant glimpses into the author's heart (and my own), it's not worth the risk of skimming. So, I savor, slowly. Even though it is only 168 pages long, and even though I have been reading it for four days, as of this writing I am only half way through..

​Lately I've been refusing to write much of anything at all, and definitely refusing to go very deep. I've been painting, instead, because sometimes colors flow more freely than words. But today Willome's words invited me, without saying so, to write about not writing. A string of words fell out onto my pages. These words:

my God, don't ask me
to write
a poem-
it's all i can muster 
​to sing
​someone else's words.

~~~~~~~~
​
​anticipated
grieving comes in sucks of air
​swallowed like hot ice

​~~~~~~~~
paper: a place where
trails are blazed with razor blades
​wounds are packed in salt
​
~~~~~~~~
​
i consciously refuse-

avoid the poem's edge i'm in
no mood for bleeding.


11 Comments
Megan Willome link
4/7/2016 12:18:06

The emotion in these poem strings is palpable.

Recently I had a Very Bad Day of the type from which poetry can't quite come...not yet. So I spent the next 2 hrs 45 minutes singing "Hamilton." Next day, poem!

Reply
Donna
4/7/2016 12:42:24

Amazing! Music is such a bridge. For me, too. It pulls up what's all stuck down in the bottom of my throat somewhere.

Reply
Donna
4/7/2016 12:42:54

And, thank you Megan. :)

Jen link
4/8/2016 10:44:18

That first poem. Wow.

And I can relate! Poetry has been weirdly hard to write lately... yesterday I bought a new little sketchbook and wrote on the first page "I used to draw all the time. what happened?" We'll see what happens. :)

Reply
Donna
4/8/2016 11:45:45

Creatives of all kinds need breaks. I like how you have gotten yourself a new sketchpad and then WROTE words in it... :) and, in the wonderful form of a question. I'm sure you will answer you, in either drawing or more words, or both. :)

Thank you so much for your comment.

Reply
Jody Collins link
4/30/2016 20:48:14

Donna, your "I'm so not gonna write anything" poems are rich nuggets, like truffles, but not necessarily sweet. Powerful is more like it, especially these lines,
"paper: a place where
trails are blazed with razor blades
​wounds are packed in salt."

Reply
Donna
5/1/2016 09:06:22

Jody, thank you for this comment. I was quite surprised by these little bits - this one you mention, especially. It came from such a place of "flow" I barely recognize it as my own. I wonder if that happens to others. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever looked at a piece and strained to remember that it was actually something you put down?

Reply
Jody Collins link
5/1/2016 18:15:56

Ya know, Donna, I think on more than one occasion I looked at a poem I wrote and wondered, 'where in the world did THAT come from?"

Donna
5/2/2016 09:36:35

Really? Thanks Jody. Then I am in good company. :)

Reply
Marilyn Yocum link
5/5/2016 20:15:01

OH! I didn't know anyone in the whole wide world knew how I've been feeling lately! I don't have the heart to put it on my blog or anywhere. Thanks for this.

Reply
Donna
5/5/2016 20:48:47

Marilyn,
I'm so glad this resonated with you... I guess there is something to the collective unconscious, huh? Thank you for stopping by and for your lovely comment. :)

Reply



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