I met with a friend and wrote for 90 minutes this morning. 90 minutes and when we were done I had 5 new starts to poems. Of those 5, one feels as if it will move forward and eventually end up in my "completed poems" file. It felt more like a gift that when the time was up, I wondered where it came from.
The other 4?
One has potential and a strong ending, in fact, a narrative.
One has an idea that just doesn't quite make it, but might.
One is a shorter poem that will either work or fail miserably.
One has strong lines but needs some transitions.
The poem that worked out best was the first poem I wrote of the day.
One thing I did differently with this friend is that I typed directly into my laptop instead of write freehand in a notebook. This was different for me (normally I write in a notebook), but I think I might prefer it.
A group of us will be meeting once maybe twice a month to write together. There is a nice energy when writing with others that can sometimes carry you.
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If you want to do a couple of the exercises we did, here they are--
1) Write a poem that uses this as your epigraph
Take bread away from me, if you wish
Pablo Neruda from “Your Laughter”
2) Start a poem with this line: I have divided from the mind
(the line is from a Dorianne Laux poem either from Smoke or Facts about the Moon)
3) Begin a poem with the line: Next morning, breakfast
(this was just a random line from my friend's journal)
Have fun!
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