Not a Dare, But a Quest

How to write 80 poems in 80 days – more or less

Start with a word, any word.

Add another one. And another.

Repeat daily.

Seriously though, there is not much more involved than your commitment to show up.

To acknowledge that nurturing a gift is a persistent ritual. A rewarding one.

The more you listen, the more you will hear.

Respond with haste. Scribble in public places.

Do not revere the scribbles.

Talent and text are just the ingredients. You must revise and revisit. Evaluate the pulse of the words as they ebb and flow out of  you and onto the paper/screen/canvas of the world.

Be gentle with yourself – edit with urgency.

You are trying to get the ripest response from your verse.

Do not save everything –

rotten peels reveal rotten fruit in time.

Get rid of the bad apples.

Reward yourself with every stroke of the keys.

You performed today.

Got out of the way and made something

exist.

Be proud of your effort.

Reward it with showing

up again tomorrow.

Same state of grace.

Same flow of

feeling before structure,

structure before sound,

sound before naming.

Start with a word, any word.

With Joy,

Sarah Vee