On the great good advice of Charlotte of ZouxZoux I picked up my copy of Natalie Goldberg’s “Writing Down the Bones” and turned to the chapter titled “A List of Topics for Writing Practice”, which, not oddly, includes a list of topics includes the idea of taking a poetry book, opening to any page, and grabbing a line to start off your own poem.  Being an artist as well as a writer, I am not inclined to follow anything instructions directly, so I picked up Mary Ruefle’s book of collected lectures called “Madness, Rack, and Honey” – she is my latest and best discovery of a favorite writer among all the new favorites I have amassed taking the class “The Difficult Imagination” at Writer’s Village University on line.

I think it is that you get a rhythm from what you borrow and that opens a space for “stuff” to spill through.  Given this is a daily *practice*, perfection is unnecessary.  I highly recommend it.

Untitled [titles are hard – they come after the polish]

A lemon, a dime, a diamond ring, a parachute.
A doorknob that won’t turn and a door won’t open.
A cup of tea served in a glass cold, and honey won’t melt.
Change happening whether we want or not.
Love in the air, lost behind storm clouds.
Safety: artificial wings soaring over an empty house.
In the orchard the squirrels thieve while
Momma gathers coins to pay the mortgage
perhaps the pawn shop her only hope
now that the rip cord’s beyond repair.
A lemon, a pineapple, some passion fruit.
A nickel, a quarter, tarnished silver.
Sun glints, jewel sparkle, crushed stone.
It may as well have been an umbrella.