My friend Fenna and I have decided to enter upon a year long commitment to writing. We have contracted with each other to write poetry – at least two pieces per month.
After I created the mixed media piece “time flies – x marks the spot” I sat down one day and let the words flow. My spring board words were time, flies and “x”. The pieces came out raw. They are part of me. My next task will be to use them to connect to the reader so that we might have an experience together.
A small sample:
center image from mixed media piece "time flies - x marks the spot"
a black bird ties my father’s past to me. a long string of words, yes, like beads, like stitching, like breadcrumbs, finishes the relationship. we are tied by more than blood, more that the hands that soothed or disciplined, more that the disobediences. we are tied by the memory of a room where he breathed his last breath. bound by the last beat of a heart. there is a part of me that no longer has resonance. no beat. no sound for my father. he has gone into the silence. long flight. I gave him one last kiss. like an x on a birthday card. it marked a space, an intention, a feeling, a spot where we stood for a moment holding no memories but only each other. time flew out with the last breath he took. now only an x marks the spot.
I have sent the entire piece(s) to Fenna. We will discuss the implications of the words, of the way they are strung together. From this I will dive back into the passage and create a poem or poems. I may use all of it or just one portion of a line. I’m thinking I have to disassemble it and then put it together in a new way. One that connects it from me to you. Some of the questions I have asked Fenna:
Could they almost be poems in this format or do they need trimming or are they something more for a journal than a poetry book? Where does the writer end and the reader begin? What is universal? My feet? Hands? The x? Have I really spoken to anyone besides myself and if yes, do they have a picture in their head and/or hands?
Fenna has sent me some of her work. We will discuss, rewrite and sharpen our poems.
And more will be shared here and on Fenna’s blog which is currently in development.