i
8:58PM
write poems
x1
x1
x1
I wrote on my week’s to-dos.
It’s 8:58PM on SUNDAY.
The radiator’s cranking up;
Counting down to the bedtime
routine. This isn’t a poem: it’s
a snapshot.
ii.
write poems
x1
x1
The idea was to help me
See each output as a ‘1’;
As a single entity achievable;
As a level in a game. To produce
this isn’t a poem: it’s
an item done.
iii.
write poem
x1
SATURDAY
All the things I had to do before I
could write a poem
Rise from bed by leaving warm duvet.
Eat breakfast, take meds.
Clean plug, thoroughly. Pull out
the hairs.
Dress for gym; catch bus; get there.
Take a class; do some more; stretch. Energy flags.
Buy almonds from Poundland and
have a coffee, write some notes.
Feel ready to do part two:
Groceries.
Buy lots of food. Have heavy bags. Wait for bus
to take them home. Carry the bags,
unpack, cook and eat.
Feel tired; have a shower and wash
hair; juggle doing laundry between – two
loads.
Now late. Make tea with mint
and give up to the day, now
Too late to start a poem.
–
Back in September I set myself the goal, which at that point seemed achievable, of writing 6 poems drawn from inspiration in my daily life. Since then I’ve written endless notes to myself in my weekly to-do lists in a quest to ‘optimize starting’, as they say in the productivity lingo. Some prompts included:
write – commute, 10 mins
poem = just 5 lines!
write just 5 mins!
My procrastination side-stepped all of these suggestions.
This last Sunday evening, I sat on my bed and decided – right, now, write.
Goal accomplished and just in time. The fireworks are going off outside my windows as I type this up on New Year’s Eve.
Thank you, dear reader, for another year of verse.
Wishing you a wonderful start to 2019.
—
Image courtesy of the Old Design Shop and is a detail is from from a small advertising booklet titled Franklin Sugar Candy Book.
Beaded Quill 