Here are a few reflection after hitting the 200 poems mark:
1. I'm surprised that forcing myself to write hasn't diminished my creativity, in fact, I think it has only increased. Before doing this self challenge, I saw creative capacity as a sponge. Once you squeeze the sponge its dry and you have to wait for it to recover. But that isn't the case. Now, I think of creativity more like a muscle . The more you work, stretch and push your creative capacity, the stronger it gets. I feel more inspired than I ever have!
2. My subject matter has shifted, in a good way. The focus of my poetry writing, before the challenge, was more about myself and a particular struggle I was having. So, after time, if you looked at my collection of poetry, pretty much all of my pieces focused on me and feelings of frustration, confusion, anger, exhaustion, guilt and so on. Kind of pitiful., There's only so many self-commiserating and loathing poems you can read in one sitting. But, since start the challenge, I have been forced to branch out and not focus on myself and my own struggles. I'm not as egotistical when I write. I've had to push myself, write about broader, more interesting issues.
3. Style and Technique. Also, not only what I write poems about has changed, but also how I write poems has changed. Poems get a little monotonous when they are done in the same way, in the same style, and in the same format. Variety gives interest. So, I challenged myself to learn new techniques. I have written biographical poems, aphorisms, played around with rhyme and meter, free verse, shorter, longer, and different visual constructions of the words on the page. Again, this has made the work more versatile and interesting. The more layers of uniqueness and intrigue you add to a poem the better.
So, here it is, my 200th poem. I you hope you enjoyed this and that it inspired you to keep on writing!
“Lost in the Breeze”
(8/5/14)
Black
tree, looking at me
Left
with doubts and uncertainty
No
one knows, no one can see
Lost
is what happened, lost in the breeze
Return
to what happened, no one can do
Forward
position looking back, truth is out of view
What
we reconstruct becomes history
Gone
is what happened, in the mystery.
P.S. I plan on releasing my own self-published book of poems, aphorisms and short stories. So, if you want more of what you see above, keep an eye for the book's release.
