NaPoWriMo. National Poetry Writing Month. The most challenging, sometimes grueling, 30 days of any poet's life. The time where we all put our brains to work overtime as we push ourselves (lovingly, that is) to make the effort to write one poem a day in April. Yep, that means by the end of it all, if we're not completely insane or haven't dropped out of the challenge by then, we will have at least 30 new poems added to our collections. If writing a poem a day for 30 days doesn't sound like much of a challenge to you, then you either haven't been part of this program, or you have, and you're able to bat out those poems with no problem, and you're just a damn show-off. Fine, then. Just don't throw it in the faces of those who are toiling over a haiku at 11:53 p.m., trying to get it done by midnight so we're not in [moral] violation.
I joined in late last year, around the 8th or 9th of April, and I have to say, it was fun some days, and others I really didn't think I'd be able to make myself produce anything, not even the above-mentioned haiku, which is only three measly lines. But me being me, I don't like to throw garbage together, so even the haikus had to be potent. By the end of the month, I was totally worn out mentally, but I did have some great new material in my poetry pot, several of them becoming performance pieces that I'm very proud of, and that are quite popular. So, you see, it was worth the struggle. And who ever said struggle was supposed to be fun, anyway? What it does is show us what we're made of, and how far we're willing to go to challenge ourselves to win in any situation. When we've done so (won, that is), we look back on the struggle and thank ourselves for taking it on and hanging in there.
Yeah, ummmmm...I'm talkin' a LOTTA smack right now, heehee, but the reality is, I'm a little nervous. It's day one, and I'm already sweating over the first poem, "Damaged Goods." Writing on cue isn't my favorite thing, and I've claimed to not be able to do it, but, actually, I had to do it recently, and I was happy with that poem; plus, I did it last April. So, I guess I should reevaluate my take on that subject, because, clearly, with some will, discipline, and concentration, I can write on cue and have the end result be quite satisfying.
Well, I've got till midnight to finish my poem, so at least that gives me the rest of the day to turn on the old creative faucet and hope it does more than drip; I need a full-blast flow...every day this month.
To those of you poets who are on board, good luck, and have fun! I hope to see and hear some of your new poems as we go along! Mine will be posted right here in my blog, so stay tuned! "Damaged Goods" will be up by midnight!
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