There have been times in my life where the muses drop inspiration bombs so frequently I have to stop my day to take dictation. Where everything flows effortlessly and all I do is download and transcribe.
Then there are times like the past few weeks, where all is sludge and my brain boots are stuck. Where I crawl to the page and whinge like I’m doing math homework. (did I pile on enough metaphors for you?)
What I usually tell my students is to WRITE ANYWAY because you never know what’s going to happen if you do. Write when you don’t feel like it, when the good times are gone. So, I’m taking my own advice. Today, I come kicking and screaming to the keyboard. My solace? That I know I’m not the only writer who experiences this. My writer friend Jackie used to say, “Why do I procrastinate doing the thing I profess to love to do the most?”
Ah, writers. We’re funny like that.
Yesterday on READ WRITE POEM the assignment was to find an old poem that you started or abandoned and pick lines or phrases that please you (or don’t please you) and finish the poem or use the parts to create a brand new piece.
So, I picked out a 12 year old poetry journal and found this silly poem called DOG DAYS OF SUMMER and rewrote it a bit.
Be the first person to figure out the method/pattern I used to write it I will send you a poetry package in the mail!
DOG DAYS OF SUMMER
Do ordinary gatherings differently!
Anchor yanking submissiveness
or fleece someone’s uninvited misanthrope
motivate evermore ridiculousness.
Don’t organize gargantuan dishtowels,
attack your soup over four
Southern Unitarian mystics.
Masticate every rutabaga.
Distance overly garrulous diatribes
and yodel sinfully onto
Finnish sauerkraut. Undulate
mammaries. Manipulate erect rhinos.
Diddle o’er green dewy avons
your saucy offerings.
Flout soliloquies under manifold
moonbeams. Eventfully
regurgitate.
(it almost sounds like something out of Rob Brezny’s Pronoia manual)
Bryan Borland says
AH, a breeze to decipher when you’ve got a slightly OCD brain like me:
The letters of each word in the title dictates the beginning letter of each word you use in each stanza of the poem. 🙂 Does the sentence I just typed even make sense?
The Accidental Novelist says
Yes it does and yes, you are correct.
Send me your address and I’ll mail you a package of poetry.
info@danikadinsmore.com
Patrice Lynne Young says
Wow …
Bryan, I am impressed. I read it four times and though I enjoyed the, uh, creative and unusual word combinations, multisyallabic stretches and funky phrasing… I didn’t see the pattern in the letters at all!!
Great job, Danika.
I love the title of the post, too.!!
The Accidental Novelist says
it pays to be ocd sometimes. :-0
Vicki says
Hey!! I found the blog. 🙂 Love the poem, but OMG, I checked out the other site and can’t wait to read your book!
The Accidental Novelist says
Vicki! Long time no see. I was just thinking about you the other day, too. How wild is that?
Yes, Brigitta is finally going to live and breathe at the end of May. Of course, I won’t believe it until I’m holding it in my hands.