I'm typing from my dorm room at PLU. This is my final residency as a graduate student. It's odd because we're not required to go to classes. We can attend if we choose to, but all our work and credits have been completed. We meet in the morning to discuss our manuscripts and we give a reading later in the week. Some students have opted to teach their critical paper. I did not. My thought is that I'm here to say goodbye and then move forward --or-- I'm not out to impressed anyone, to be the over-achiever this time, it's time to move to the back of the class then out the door.
Dorm/college/MFA life is interesting. There are so many people in this program now it can feel lonely. It is the opposite of what you think. Less is more intimate, more connection. More = a thousand highways you drive by yourself. I feel that way, then a friend arrives in my room with a plate of organic cherries. They are cool from the refrigerator. I feel better, less alone, more connected.
On my desk is a bag of peppered beef jerky. I haven't had beef jerky in hears, but for some reason I craved it today. On my shelf I have a box of Junior Mints, Raisinets, oatmeal raisin granola bars, and a box of Total cereal. For me, much of dorm life is all about the snacks.
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Notes from today's morning talk--
This morning Kevin Clark discussed accidents that come up during the writing of a poem. He says you might fail and you might risk embarrassment, but this is a risk you have to take. "Sometimes when you're most embarrassed, you're getting closer to what matters. You have to risk." He believes our authentic vioces are signaled or involved with the way we incorporate, organize, or deal with external stimuli. He says though you may go deep inside yourself for your poem, allow outside sources to take you to a diffent place.
"Art should demonstrate the guise of accident." Alice Fulton.
"Poetry is the art of surprising yourself." Kevin Clark
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Now back to my day already in progress.
