for that fresh-washed feeling

haiku for M

Late post today -- tough when there's something specific to say but literally not the words to say it!

One of the challenging -- and frustrating -- things about using the magnetic poetry is that only specific words are available. I constantly have to rethink what I want to say, usually because the first words that spring to mind are not actually on the magnets. It makes me a little crazy, but I like this part of it, rephrasing and seeing how the poem re-creates itself according to what's available.

The other part is the spontaneous images caused by which words are juxtaposed on my fridge. Images or phrases that I wouldn't have thought of appear, and become a springboard. Of course, then see the above paragraph -- where I want to take it is not necessarily where the magnets will let me.

It will be interesting to see how this continues over the month. So far, creating each poem has been a challenge, although they do feel much more finished than the year I wrote a poem (from scratch) each day during April. That year, I felt like I had 30 unfinished drafts, many without promise. One or two turned into what I think are good poems. I wonder what the long-run result of these poems will be?

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

April 2 poem

These different sized magnets are aggravating. Not sure if you can read all the above (hmm, must do shorter poems?) and I'm not sure why it keeps coming out so dark. I will experiment. In the meantime, here's a transcription. I can't get the indent right for the last line, but you get the general idea.

you are calmer than a languid fish

as you linger in the sea

slow water surrounds you in salt

like a morning embrace from the moon

yesterday was a fever

all ferocious dazzle & worry

its need still haunts this ocean

cool ghost of blaze & boil

RePoWriMo #1

I got several different boxes for this project, and as you can see, the words are larger in the supplementary boxes! Grr, as the haiku would say. So please ignore the unintentional emphasis created by the sizes. Not quite what I had in mind.

Anyway, here it is, poem number 1. What did you come up with? Post in the comments!

Fridge of Inspiration

tabula rasa

Tomorrow the excitement begins! RePoWriMo, here we come.