My Poetic Dilemma
I have a problem. Perhaps it's not life-threatening (though my words would beg to differ). But it's very important to me. I can't finish my poems. I don't know how they should end. This is not the case for all of them. Most of the time the words come flowing gracefully from my pen as inspiration strikes. The poem is completed swiftly and all is right in the world. However, on other occasions things do not go so well. I begin to write and then suddenly run out of steam. Kaput. Nothin'. Nata. I can't think of anything else to write. So naturally, I set it aside in hopes of finishing it later. As they say, here lies the rub, because once I stop writing a poem, that's it. When I return three hours, three days, or three weeks later I can no longer capture the soul and rhythm of the work. It lies dormant, a long forgotten lyric that is now unattainable. It hurts. It hurts to see such a wonderful piece of art sit lifeless on paper with so much potential and no pen worthy enough to fulfill it. I call them my "undone beauties."Perhaps I will find a way to solve this problem, but for now I will remain with my pen in the air, wondering how and why my thoughts escaped me. Have you ever experienced this before? I challenge you to leave your comments below if you have any helpful suggestions. Any advice is worth considering, especially from one writer to another. In the meantime, here is one of those "undone beauties" I was referring to:
Someone once told me to be brave. To know that it's quite alright to step into the world looking for a beaten path and paving one instead. They told me to explore. Not in the sense of a juvenile scavenger hunt, but more like an aching, craving, keep-asking-questions-until-you-know-what's-there kind of way. They told me to go. However, most people go in a certain direction. Perhaps north for freedom, south for prosperity, and west young man, young woman. But I couldn't think of anyone who went east. So east I went. Seeing that I had no map or compass, verbal direction or GPS, I groped my way through this untouched territory, feeling the world for myself. Since no one knew me and I resembled a wandering man, I felt liberated by my own subtle plan. I decided to go through this world as if I could not see. I blinded my eyes with a tie, and tried to breathe. As first, the sudden darkness overwhelmed me, like an eclipse falling over my eyes. Hiding me from everything that could have guided me: markers, stars, signs...