This week's moderator is me... Stephanie Lynn! I'm a lifelong reader, occasional writer, and sometimes poet. I'm also a fan of percussive bass lines, lightning storms on the horizon, and the Oxford comma.
I've been doing a lot more reading than writing these days - either despite or because of the fact that all the really good poems make me cry. I hope they stir something within and you're able to find inspiration.
The poem I've chosen for Tuesday July 26th is Here by Grace Paley.
I first discovered Ms. Paley via a book of her short stories then found this poem in a collection called A God in the House (Poets Talk About Faith). While the poem isn't overtly religious, if I squint real hard, I find something about manifesting one's own destiny in the lines:
how did this happen
well that's who I wanted to be
In this poem, I feel a certain sweetness... a richness of satisfaction; the Buddhist zen of missing nothing. Well, nothing except a little more sweetness. #wereonlyhuman
I think the first line is as good a prompt as any:
Here I am in the garden laughing
...or maybe you want a little more introspection: are you who you wanted to be?
The poem I've chosen for Thursday July 28th is Survival Techniques by Ruth Baumann.
Ms. Baumann has a PhD in Creative Writing and currently teaches at Colombia Correctional Institute in Lake City, FL. She formerly taught at University of Memphis (but this was years after I lived just down the street from there). I'm not finding much online by way of biography but, after reading several of her poems, I gather she's struggled with addiction and other existential questions.
Prompt lines:
- "The surest way to go insane is..."
- "maybe the promised land is just..."
And a prompt question: what would the subtitles to your imaginary movie read?
The poem I've chosen for Friday July 29th is Nothing by Krysten Hill.
Ms. Hill received her MFA in poetry from University of Massachusetts Boston, where she currently teaches (as of 2020). Her website and Twitter account seem to be inactive since winning a fellowship so I hope she's busy living and writing.
There was so much to choose from but I went with this particular poem because of the irony of so much being contained in "nothing."
Nothing is full of something, a mass that grows where you cut at it.
I also thought some of the teachers in our midst would identify with the complex emotions the students inspire in the writer.
One student says when he writes, it feels like nothing can stop him, and his laughter unlocks a door.
Alternate suggestion: Mama, which was my initial selection but ultimately felt too specific to the writer's personal experience. That said, I believe the poem could easily inspire one toward an ode, if so inclined.
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