“You have to approach writing like sex: It’s supposed to be enjoyable, not stressful. If you’re trying too hard, everything will turn out awful and your partner ( the reader) won’t be satisfied.”
Mark Zacchio
How daily prompts annoy!
Poetry, should appear magically:
Like twilight’s fragmented memory,
Or, catnaps in October sun’s luminosity.
Ah! ‘Tis a writer’s block, I have no clarity.
***
The pen poised on paper
Leaves no words,
Only an irreparable stain.
The blank sheet ruefully
Smiles, nudging me to write.
***
But, I’m alarmed at the vastness
of space to be filled.
Words spill out.
Is it the muse,
or my mind at play?
***
Ink stains; and gashes glare,
Wounding words already penned.
Unborn words freeze.
***
The blankness that
I have slowly filled,
Mirrors chaos.
***
Thoughts hover and swoop.
My mind continues to churn.
Creativity has no Midas Touch.
***
Oh Hell!
Where’s the magical nugget,
The poetic particle?
***
Is it in the gamut of
Exhausted emotions,
Evoked by lurking suspicion
And petty jealousies?
***
Is it in verbal foliage?
Metaphors awkwardly strung together,
Like the shades of feuille morte leaves
Curled crisp in October?
***
Is it in the fleeting thought,
Elusive as chimerical light,
Passing through autumnal trees:
Or, Fall’s fast decaying leaves?
***
Is it in the nostalgic
Amber- rustic fragrances spilling out
Of crystal jars and phials-
the mystique of feminine perfumeries?
***
My thoughts curl up
Lazily, Do most poets
Undergo this degree of torpidity?
I swoon losing out to
Hades’ Oblivion and drugg’d syncope.
***
I scan the dreaded page
Suddenly, I’m beyond all physicalities.
Space and time
Converge, in euphoria,
And poetic ecstasy!
*********
Mumtaz N K
03-10-2020
P.S.
This poem describes the poetic process, the wavering monkey mind and creativity. It is a journal, hence it is likely to be scratched and cut many times until the poet arrives at the end product in elation.
feuille morte: autmunal shades, crimson, carmine, russet, amber, gamboge aurburn etc.
Syncope: faintness can be induced by drugs
PC: Houghton Library, The Harvard Keats Collection.
I am totally floored by your poetry!!!!!
Same here, Jaya. I love your work. Let’s sip on the font of poesy!
Wow!👌👌👌
Pooja, thank you !
Omg! This is fabulous. Really mindblowing. A totally different form. It’s so so true, poetry can be written only when the thought comes… Loved the phrase unsaid words freeze. Absolutely. 💚💚💚
Thankkkk you, Sonali. 💚💚💚Enjoying writing after reading poetry. By the way, I’m sure you’ve seen that this piece has Autumn and October.
Lovely!!
Thank you!
A bard is courageous person who dare to scribble and color pages which later becomes creative outrage and finally beauty most admired. Beautiful write. Thank-you.
Thank you Varsha!
This is indeed a beautiful piece and very inspiring at the same time. Poetry certainly shouldn’t be a forced activity. It’s like love that can happen anytime, anywhere.
Yes I totally agree, thank you Nitika Sawhney.
Your poetry is pure magic . It inspires the reader to grow and match up. Majestic poem. <3
Thank you for your feedback, I guess we all enjoy exploring the nuances of language.
Wow! What rhythm, what emotions, what vocabulary! This was a painting in words.
Thank you, I really appreciate your feedback, October and Fall are the underlined themes, hence the word picture.
Wow!!! Unprompted Poetry is a rapturous delight. I can just feel the magic of volcanic eruption. So beautiful 💚💚💚
Thought about how a poet would pen a journal, that’s where we take off from. And yes a task that is a part of your routine can become drudgery without passion and creativity.
Beautifully penned
Could relate to it
Writing poetry comes from within nit easy to just scribble words on paper
Yes Pradnya, absolutely.