Thursday, November 1, 2012

NaNoWriMo

Happy November!
from Regina Gort

It's time for NaNoWriMo and don't pretend you don't know it's an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world.

I am so guilty of signing up, living the hype and then failing, miserably failing. Although they'd like to tell you that even participating is a big deal, I always felt like a failure. 

So this year I am setting myself up for success. I have made a commitment to write a poem a day. And I know that goal may seem lofty but I have set up a fool proof way to do so. Every morning I read a poem, that's something I have been doing for long enough that it's a habit. So this month after I read my poem, I will write one. I will use the poem as a prompt and see what happens. More than likely I will get a whole of bad poetry but even if I get one killer line out of the whole month then it's worth it.  Maybe I will even share some. Even if poetry isn't your genre, I encourage you to make a commitment to your art this month and write everyday.


Today's poem from a the book The Afterlives of Trees by Wyatt Townley


Striptease

It takes a lifetime
to shed our skin.
Take a lesson:

The snake slides out
the maple shakes off its propellers
and hair by hair we follow

like Hansel and Gretel
dropping what we can.
The cicada sings

only after leaving
its shell on the tree
just as the poem

unwinds down the page
losing its earrings,
its shoes on the stairs. 



6 comments:

  1. Yes. Yes. Yes. By way of my commitment to you, I will write a poem a day. After all, you make it easy to do! :)

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  2. If you have signed up in the past and not followed through, but signed up again, that's a step, a sign that you want to keep trying. And now you've found a way to make it happen, a reminder, an inspiration. I applaud you for your tenacity. I will follow your lead & try to write every single day in November. Good luck to both of us!

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  3. I like how in recent years people are tailoring NaNo to work for them. Good luck with your goals!

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