A poem a day keeps writer’s block away.

I’ve written very, very little since the end of last semester. I could blame the baby. I could blame work. I’m going to blame myself. 

I know, deep down, that everyone has time to write. And I know, right up on the top, that everyone has time to write at least one poem a day. I’m not saying it has to be a good poem– just a poem–just to get your brain moving. And maybe what you write will turn into a good poem with a little work, but at the very least it gets you writing and thinking.

The word play of poetry is like doing the crossword or the cryptogram: it’s a game and an exercise and it provides very real benefits. Who can argue that the struggling with word choice and rhythm that writing a poem requires doesn’t prime your brain for more writing?  The process of writing a poem can also open doors to things you may want to discuss or explore further.

Richard Hugo, in The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing, instructs that poems have two subjects: the “triggering” subject which gets you writing and the “real or generated subject” which is found in the poem through the writing process.(4) The advice Hugo gives is that if you focus too much on the “Truth” you want to impart or the deep and meaningful thing you want to say you’ll end up with a terrible, forced and superficial poem. If you write about something that moves you, and let go of the deep meaningful junk, the deep and meaningful will shine through. Like your dreams, writing poetry can point you toward the things that you may be subconsciously focusing on–get them out in the open–and, perhaps, inspire more writing.

I’ve done this before–this writing a poem a day–and I can say without reservation that is is a very rewarding and, at the same time, extremely frustrating exercise. Some days were easier than others. Some days I tried harder than I did others. Some days I produced something I thought was beautiful and had potential and other days… well, I tried.

So, here I go again. I started yesterday with a short and silly poem.

Her house is a mess,
She will confess,
But the news is read,
And everyone’s fed,
Some things are important and others are not,
You can’t do without good food and good thought.