So…I’m aware this is technically cheating because you’re meant to write a poem every day for NaPoWriMo BUT I’ve been ill, I’ve had surprise exams and a whole bunch of meltdowns so I felt I was allowed to bend the rules a little! Today I wrote this poem in a morning hour of writing on Zoom, held by London Writers’ Salon. For anyone who wants to just give an hour of their time every weekday for writing or any personal project I HIGHLY recommend it.
So I decided to write a poem with 4 stanzas, one for each day I missed of NaPoWriMo so far. And as a special treat I have included a voice recording of my poem!
Dear Poetry, thank you for letting me take grammar and syntax, and throw them away, to rummage through language’s draws and only pick out the bra and not the matching underwear, that one sock I thought was cute, half a cropped jumper, and call it ‘a poem’. Dear Poetry, thank you for being metaphorical, for being metamorphosis so my emotions can transform from tears to ink, I watch both dry on the page a diffusion of microscopic memories, a tiny whirlpool and I call it ‘a poem’. Dear Poetry, thank you – no, you know what actually sometimes I used to hate you. Sometimes when I dived into the whirlpool you’d suck me in, each wave of words became tangled and knotted, whipping me until I bowed to your greatness - I, a lowly apprentice, could never hold your beauty in my pen, on my tongue. But, battered and bruised, broken pen in hand, I tried And called it ‘a poem’. Dear Poetry, thank you for teaching me to be strong, for slipping each letter, every full stop, every question mark between the crevices of my spine, and sculpting me a backbone: Now I know how to use metamorphosis all on my own, how a broken pen can transform into the sharpest sword, how mismatched drapery can fold itself into the most able armour and how poetry can become a life-long friend. So here, I wrote you this letter and called it ‘a poem’ - this poem.
poetpri 