I love to create things; whether it is crocheting a blanket or writing this blog there is something to be said for making something out of nothing. One of my favorite things to do when I was in high school and college was to write poetry but somehow I got out of the habit. I suppose it was because I was concentrating on creating sets for the local theatre department as well as concentrating on my work and the daily work of keeping a marriage fresh and viable.
I love poetry. Poetry has always been a large part of me and one of my favorite things to do is to sit down and read some of my favorite authors: Keats, Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Browning, Dickinson, Plath and Whitman. There are poems that remind me of what love is, poems that remind me of spring and new growth as well as poems that e
xplore the darker side of humanity.
Recently, a friend took me to an event hosted by the Birmingham Jefferson County Libraries called Bards and Brew. This event takes place on the first Friday of every month and is hosted by a different library in the system. Basically Bards and Brew is a beer tasting and poetry reading. The event begins at 6:30 pm, although the curtain goes up around 7 pm. It is an open mike and people stand up and read original works although there are some that throw in a poem by a favorite author. The night I went we tasted two different ales by a brewery in Mississippi and the friend that invited me had written a poem that he asked me to read for him because he accidentally left his reading glasses behind. It was a beautiful poem and so, with his encouragement, I decided to try to put something on paper.
I remember my creative writing teacher in high school told me to write from my life experience and so my first poem; which will be read March 2, is one that attempts to describe my pain. So, here is the premier of my first poem. I hope you like it.
I love poetry. Poetry has always been a large part of me and one of my favorite things to do is to sit down and read some of my favorite authors: Keats, Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Browning, Dickinson, Plath and Whitman. There are poems that remind me of what love is, poems that remind me of spring and new growth as well as poems that e
xplore the darker side of humanity.
Recently, a friend took me to an event hosted by the Birmingham Jefferson County Libraries called Bards and Brew. This event takes place on the first Friday of every month and is hosted by a different library in the system. Basically Bards and Brew is a beer tasting and poetry reading. The event begins at 6:30 pm, although the curtain goes up around 7 pm. It is an open mike and people stand up and read original works although there are some that throw in a poem by a favorite author. The night I went we tasted two different ales by a brewery in Mississippi and the friend that invited me had written a poem that he asked me to read for him because he accidentally left his reading glasses behind. It was a beautiful poem and so, with his encouragement, I decided to try to put something on paper.
I remember my creative writing teacher in high school told me to write from my life experience and so my first poem; which will be read March 2, is one that attempts to describe my pain. So, here is the premier of my first poem. I hope you like it.
It’s
Always There
It’s always there
No matter what I do or where I go, it’s always there.
It courses thru my body like a flood swollen river,
It ebbs and flows.
Dull, throbbing and constant like a beating heart,
Skin beet red and sensitive to touch;
Exploding like a tomato thrown against a wall.
Burning flesh and beds of nails.
Lightning in a bottle.
There is no escape, no running or hiding;
A blatant thief secreting career, love, faith and finally life.
Its hunger never satisfied,
And it’s always there.
"Leslie,
ReplyDeleteIt hurts me to read this but it certainly gave me a real visual of what you are going through! You have really used words well to express the painful illness that has possessed your body. Wishing you God's presence in your life. Keep the faith as hard as it is.