Writing Fitness – Poetry

I am not much of a poet, however, at my writers retreat at Interlochen College of Creative Arts, I had an opportunity to write some. One of the challenges about being a writer is to explore new genres. This is part of skill building and learning new ways to get my words out. For any writers out there, being able to get words on paper can potentially be problematic.

I’d like to share some of the pieces that I wrote during a craft talk this week. The idea was to focus on one moment of a recent experience, and, perhaps, to add emotion and end with a question?

On my walk
I interrupted a
Bathing robin.
Puffed feathers,
water all the way to skin
Shake it off.
Will he return to finish?

Here is another one:

Wind blowing
Chasing the darkness
Deep breaths
Cleansing power of nature
Why won’t it stay?

And finally:

Walking the wooded trail
Focus right foot
Focus left food
Swat, swat
Focus, left foot
Focus, right foot
Breathe in, breath out.

Again, I am not a poet but I did enjoy remembering these moments in my day. These are snapshots that I can carry with me.

Writing is like anything. It improves with practice.

Challenge – Try this exercise and use the parameters of 3-7 lines as I did.