To celebrate National Poetry Writing Month, I’ve given myself the challenge of writing thirty poems in thirty days, on the theme of “walking in the world”.
I’m enjoying walking, getting myself out into spring — and thinking about poetry. Here’s a taste of April in Victoria.
So far, I’m on track to meet my objective — although, I know that I’m creating rough first drafts, and much editing will be needed!
I’ve been surprised at where inspiration has led me. So far, my poems have touched on everything from the eclipse to aging. And spring provides a lot of fertile ground. In one poem I’ve contrasted the way we notice the stunning blossoms with how we might miss tiny less showy native plants.
Each time I review my work, I see unnecessary words. I’m reminded of Victoria poet Daniel Scott’s requisites for poetry: “Less is more”, he says.
I’ve been inspired this spring by the amazing camas fields, which began to bloom as daffodils faded.
And one final picture of blossom, just to reinforce how much inspiration is available this time of year.
I will post a future update on how my poetic challenge is going. By then I might have finalized a few poems… Till then, I’m holding off posting them.