Maybe all I need was a little jump.
That’s what my writing engine got this week at the first session of the poetry workshop. I was nervous going in. Then I felt even more nervous as everyone in the room introduced themselves and talked about their favorite poets, and about what they’ve written (poems, novels, short stories… it was a very impressive group). By the time they got around to me I couldn’t think of a poet that I liked.
But as I listened to our workshop leader, Glenis Redmond, Greenville’s current (and very first) Poet Laureate, I felt better. So much of what I was hearing resonated with me. The exercises we did in class started the gears turning again. Before the session ended we were given about 15 minutes or so to write a poem titled either “Why I write” or “How I write.” We could polish it up later but I surprised myself by getting words down in my notebook fairly quickly. I didn’t think I would be able to “write on command” more or less. But I did. Later that night I kept coming back to it. Another line would come to me in the shower, then another right after I turned off my bedside lamp. I got these down on paper before they slipped away.
I shared the end product in a post yesterday. I’m feeling pretty good about it.
Yesterday we took a long walk around the lake at Furman’s campus (getting in walking shape for our trip now just about six weeks away!). Today we went to a college baseball game. I’m trying to get back to taking more pictures again. I’m in the middle of another really good book – may try switching it up to poetry when I finish this one.
It would be naive of me to say that one session of a poetry workshop is going to get me writing regularly again, but even if all I get is a few blog posts and a couple of poems out of it, I think I will feel like I got my money’s worth because it’s connecting me to a community in Greenville that I may not have otherwise connected with, and it was a step out of my comfort zone. It’s already inspired a little bit of creativity so I’m pretty happy about that.