I did it. 30 poems in 30 days. * It’s the most I’ve ever written in one stretch in my life. I didn’t write one poem per day—there were some days I wrote nothing and some days I wrote more than one—and I posted a couple out of order. But I wrote 30 poems in the month of April and each one was in response to the suggested prompts from NaPoWriMo.net.
I think some of what I wrote was pretty good. Some are clearly dead in the water. Most are somewhere in the middle—the seed of an idea, good to just have something written. The only one I think is really finished is the minimalist poem I wrote for the last day.
At this point, I should turn to revision. Work on the ones I think have potential, scuplt and polish them. But I won’t. I just don’t have the desire to do that work. I take satisfaction in the act of creating a poem but the work of finishing it isn’t something I find rewarding.
So I leave behind a scattered trail of creative but unfinished pieces. I’d say that’s lazy of me but it’s never been my intention to publish, so that’s OK.
* I actually wrote 31 poems in 30 days. Reading Rainbow tweeted on National Haiku Poetry Day (April 17):
“Today is National Haiku Poetry Day! This form of Japanese poetry is non-rhyming and is usually composed of 3 lines with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5. Give it a shot and reply with your own haiku!”
Five-Seven-Five is
a spurious restriction
Defy expectations
John the Librarian 