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Poetry On The Run
I went back on what I said; inspiration made me a liar
When we were on vacation recently, I didn’t do much writing. But travel always inspires me. I came home with a long list of ideas for stories.
The other thing that happened was that I enjoyed NOT writing poetry. Poetry has been a rough road for me. I’ve never enjoyed it as much as I did when I hosted a writers circle for third-grade students for six years. Since that time, I’ve published two books of poetry as labors of love and to get my poems (and those of others) out in the world.
I read other poetry and am uninspired. I come away thinking, okay that’s nice, but is it nicer than mine? I’d say it's a 50–50 split. The difference is that they’re published and I’m not. It is hard to keep writing and submitting when you get rejection after rejection.
But I’ve been trying to write poetry for kids. And I think that’s about to change. I like language, words, meaning, angst, anxiety, grief, inclusion, and mood as topics. It’s hard to include those things when writing for six-year-olds.
So I came home and said, “I am moving poetry to the back burner. I’ve enjoyed not writing it.” My family was happy to hear this. (Mostly because they hear and see my frustration.)
