#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
“If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze
that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house
and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb. . .”
~ Excerpt from “Today” by Billy Collins
You can read the entire poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/40824/today-56d21ebdad746
Walk under the great blue dome of sky into spring this morning. We are up and out early, it’s the morning of my Wednesday writing group. The day is framed by my Farm Pond writers, at morning, and my online writers tonight. The morning prompt I bring to the writers generates deep, rich, at times exquisite drafts of poetry and prose. The morning group is generative. The evening group is discussing and sharing about work already written: fiction and nonfiction. Listening to each other’s stories, feelings, thoughts, awakenings. Appreciating each other’s words. Making time to listen, to create, to attend to truth and beauty. I woke and walked thinking about sharing my own writing last night, online, with two very fine poet friends, and reading their work. I had hesitated to share my post card poems. I thought I might just listen to their poems, comment, but not share. I was afraid of risking even though I trust them so much as readers. I was feeling satisfied with my progress, afraid, somehow they would be misunderstood or not stand up to qualities of craft I was aiming for. I read half of them, my friends insisted I keep going, share all of them, and so I did. And they listened and they got it. They got what I’m doing. And helped me with some questions that lingered. Now, the poems are stronger. I trusted, I risked. I gained. I know the writers in my groups today have this experience with each other. When we listen to each other read, and the writing is strong and powerful, original, fresh, imaginative, interesting, our instinct is to compare our own, to admire the other, diminish our own. It’s so gratifying to take part in writing groups where there is respect and appreciation. I walked lighter this morning. Climbed my steep rocky hill with gusto.
View of Farm Pond from the studio this morning