It’s been an interesting week and I don’t really have a good excuse not to have written a poem earlier. Still, here we are on Friday morning and I’m just pulling this together, so please be patient with my very drafty last minute Poetry Friday offering. I found the strike line for this Golden Shovel in The Birmingham Arts Journal, Vol. 17, Issue 2.
“Every one of us is an artist by default, reinventing the world each time we remember something.”
Ben Brantley
Each and every
day, I have at least one
thought that wants to become a poem. Of
course, only a small fraction of them actually make the journey from pen to page. Experts tell us
to write every day, that this is
the only way to hone our craft, to become an
artist.
But I’m not sure. By
letting ideas simmer on a default
setting deep in my brain, ideas are morphing, reinventing
themselves into something new. When the
time is right, they will alert me they’re ready to go out into the world.
I give each
possibility the time
it deserves. Some are compliant and yielding; others kick my butt. Yet we
always arrive at a solution that pleases us both. Whatever the outcome, I have to remember
this process always teaches me something.
Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2022
Please be sure to visit Laura Purdie Salas for the Poetry Friday Roundup.
Reading to the Core 
Dear Catherine, here’s to the process! Yes we need the simmering, don’t we? Thank you! xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think this one is terrific and wish I could write rough drafts like this (for anything, not poetry)!
Alice Horning
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful, Catherine! This reminds me that even when we aren’t actually at the computer or writing in a notebook, we are still creating when we think and even when we sleep.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am amazed at how that striking line led you to say so much about the writing process. We must give ourselves grace in this business of writing. Being so close to our own thoughts is tough. I think this poem is a keeper.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the strike line you chose and also your thoughts on allowing ideas to simmer. Yes! Way to pull off a last minute post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
it seems that you (your brain) waited for just that spark that gave you the poem. When I kind of know the subject, the point of what I want to write, I do other things, often mundane like dusting (it helps with the dusting! : ) I like that you explain your process with so many details.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oooh, this one really resonates with me, especially as I prepare to encourage K-5 students next week to see themselves as artists and writers. Love this one, Catherine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is wonderful. I so enjoy how this feels like a journal entry but is actually a whole poem. The process is so true to you and to many of us. Thank you for sharing this golden shovel. I love it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the irony in this — a quickly composed LaMiPoFri about simmering your ideas. 🙂 Which leads me to believe you’ll be going back to revise this one over and over again!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the ideas that have been simmering. Great lines: I give each possibility the time it deserves.
LikeLiked by 1 person
For a last minute poem, this was wonderful! You packed in a lot of felling and insight into process. Thanks for the reminder that some ideas, poems, stories take the time it takes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love! And it’s totally my experience, too. ❤ Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
LikeLiked by 1 person
Simmering, marinating, percolating–all the cookery terms for resting, letting something sit, until it’s ready to serve! This ling (too long for my screen), made me lol: “course, only a small fraction of them actually make the journey from pen to page. Experts tell us”! Captures the length and strenuousness of the journey!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My creative process also involves simmering, so I love this! Yet this poem is proof that just showing up and writing something can work too! Thank you for sharing this with us today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Seriously? You wrote this last minute?? And here I was, nodding in agreement that words take time to form and be birthed! Still, I will pin your Golden Shovel effort over my desk this week to give my mind permission to take its time! LOVE It!
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] Inspired last month by #PoetryFriday poet Catherine Flynn’s example, I played this week with a “golden shovel” form. A golden shovel poem takes a line […]
LikeLike