November Poems

Very late in October, the 29th or so, Rachel emailed that Patrick had proposed writing a poem a day all through November, did I want to do the same? Sure, said I. November is half over and I've written 14 poems. I don't think they've managed that many -- but have a major advantage: I've had the daily writing habit for many years. I know that given a challenge, I can always meet it -- maybe not with quality but with some quantity. Regular writing is not very different from daily tooth brushing or exercising -- it's an exercise of the verbal part of the mind ... and more, of course, of noticing. Sometimes it's noticing things outside yourself and sometimes noticing the world around, even the items on the news. I can certainly say that in fourteen poems I haven't written anything wonderful, in fact, nothing even very inspired. But it's a good exercise ... definitely not for everyone. I think all my poems need some thought. I have none in hard copy for my other computer was giving up the ghost. As soon as I get Word installed here I'll enter the month of poems and work on them and then probably add one or two. So far, Rachel has written on that I think is quite wonderful -- about motherhood on the occasion of her oldest's turning 21. I don't have permission to print that yet -- have to ask Anyway this is just to say that creativity is -- or can be -- a habit like almost any other habit.