Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Chained to the Process

Finleys Says.....

"A poet shouldn't be needy, they shouldn't always be taking. a poet should be a teacher."

I think he's got a point, I know he does.

So why is it that I don't follow this advice?

Why is it that I permit myself to honestly believe I have the ability to grab beautiful concepts from the air, in a random fashion and the outcome will come out striking?

I don't hate the fact that I end up in traps, but I do hate that I continue to fall into them, even when I am the guy who set them.

Sometimes it takes non poetic instances for me to expose my weakness.

Several days ago, 2 young bakers took a tour of my bakery.

While I showed them around, they bounced a million ideas off the walls as we circled the plant.

It was fun to be plugged into youth, into enthusiasm.

But to make a long story short, these young ladies didn't have a clue as to what they were talking about.

Their motives were pure, but their methods were wrong.

So after I gave them Ghandi like instruction, I finished my shift, went to the gym and ran on the "Dreadmill"

For 30 minutes I looked like George Jetson...just before he looses his balance and Astro has to come out and help him.

The treadmill (or lifting weights) is where I cast my "poetic seeds" into the ground. During my work outs I decide what I want to write, and how I am going to attack it.

Recently I have taken on a new project, and like most new projects, I am treating this one as it will be my Legacy work.

For months, I have been stammering and stubbing toes trying to just get a handle on how to get this idea off the ground.

If I want to write about red, I find myself surrounded by blue.

In some ways I feel I have moved further away from my objective.

I guess it would be easy to shrug my shoulders and blow the whole thing off.....but did I mention?

It's a legacy piece LOL.

But as I stood on that treadmill, it was like I had an epiphany from God.

I had stepped away from my process and didn't even realize it.

Whenever I have written poems that I have fallen in love with, I've always started off numerically.

How many paragraphs?

How many lines in each paragrach?

Am I going to stay within my 14-18 line comfort zone?

will this be a poem for reading, or reciiting?

As of late, I haven't asked myself those questions, and I guess I'm not saying it would be impossible to succeed following these self imposed rules.

In the bread world, I can take a loaf of sourdough and turn it into a Miso-Sushi Loaf, a Black Forest Rye, or a Wild Rice / Multi grain.

Every one of these masterpieces comes from the same recipe.

Nobody knows this, or even cares if they do because each loaf turns out so unique and has their own vibe.

Anyways, I just curious as to how you people deal with getting your work out of the garage and onto the street.

Feel free to share any thoughts.



1 comment:

  1. I'll share my thoughts.
    Your parts are on the i
    right.It's important to
    "When the people are re
    there for them." Many t
    wondering, when will I
    for? It never comes, bu
    way.

    ReplyDelete