I set out to write a poem a day for a year starting April 19, 2011 and, though I was two days behind on account of being on vacation, I just finished my 366th new poem. A new poem for every day for a whole year. Feels good. To set aside that time, be deliberate about it. Give up a little bit a time every day for something, get such a diverse output of work from it, since you can't just do one thing over and over. Exploring where my brain will take me once set to be a certain way for so long. To celebrate, I made a Blingee.
Here we have an always tasteless, I mean tasteful Blingee. It has a dynamic background in shimmering royal blue, with the Gothic lettering "366" about the word "Poems". Lining the bottom are dancing turquoise tulips. In the right hand corner is a fancy peacock quill, which most poets use to write their work. In the center is the Eiffel Tower, because what could be more poetic? On either side of that Parisian landmark we have fluttering purple stained glass looking butterflies (anyone who's seen me on the beach, in a short short skirt or in some other pantsless capacity knows why I picked this butterfly) and yet another dynamic butterfly in light blue in the top left hand corner. It's so classy, my celebratory Blingee. Very poetic. Anyway, I recommend the task to anyone trying to think of what to do with themselves but not quite ready to try to publish. That's where I was and this exercise has helped me develop. I know my own mind better for it, my own tastes, and what to seek and not seek when it comes to what comes next for these new poems. For now, I will keep going until the end of the month, since I'm part of a thing right now with a group that goes to the end of the month. After that...I'm thinking I will go the opposite route of insular one poem a day for myself and instead send out a submission of some sort a week and report back what I did to keep myself accountable. We'll see.
Here we have an always tasteless, I mean tasteful Blingee. It has a dynamic background in shimmering royal blue, with the Gothic lettering "366" about the word "Poems". Lining the bottom are dancing turquoise tulips. In the right hand corner is a fancy peacock quill, which most poets use to write their work. In the center is the Eiffel Tower, because what could be more poetic? On either side of that Parisian landmark we have fluttering purple stained glass looking butterflies (anyone who's seen me on the beach, in a short short skirt or in some other pantsless capacity knows why I picked this butterfly) and yet another dynamic butterfly in light blue in the top left hand corner. It's so classy, my celebratory Blingee. Very poetic. Anyway, I recommend the task to anyone trying to think of what to do with themselves but not quite ready to try to publish. That's where I was and this exercise has helped me develop. I know my own mind better for it, my own tastes, and what to seek and not seek when it comes to what comes next for these new poems. For now, I will keep going until the end of the month, since I'm part of a thing right now with a group that goes to the end of the month. After that...I'm thinking I will go the opposite route of insular one poem a day for myself and instead send out a submission of some sort a week and report back what I did to keep myself accountable. We'll see.