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As some of you know, I've been taking one class a semester for quite a while, mostly just things that appealed to me (Quantum Physics, Japanese Fiction Through Film, etc.) but a couple of years ago it occurred to me that if I was going to be taking classes anyway, well, hell, I might as well work toward another degree. So I've been doing that. (And hey, an English degree has to be less useless than one in Sculpture, right?)
This semester is Creative Writing: Poetry. I wrote my first assigned poem tonight after mulling it over in my head all weekend, and I've got to say, writing a poem is a lot easier when it's just goofing off from doing something else. That said, I think it's a fairly decent poem, so I guess I'll know tomorrow night how over my head I am.
A challenge for me with poetry may be that I'm not a very subtle person (or at least, I don't think I am.) I tend to say what I think, sometimes unwisely, and I have a pretty black and white view of the things I consider really important in life, like integrity, compassion, and friendship. I care very deeply about all my friends (yes, all, even those with whom I've had a falling out, even those rare few who've proven sufficiently toxic that I can no longer abide them in my life.) I'm one of those people who feels a compulsive need to fix things for other people, to be of help, to make lives better if I can, to support my friends through good and bad. That's not often as easy as it sounds, especially when you have two friends you love like family and there's a conflict between them, and no clear way to support one without being seen to take sides against the other. Fairness and integrity are, at times, the enemy of prudence, and sometimes even the lightest feather-touch of involvement is taken as an assault. What is one supposed to do? Sometimes there's no way to win. I can't, and won't, walk away from any of my friends when they're hurting, when they're in a bad place in their lives and being torn further down. I also won't write off another friend who's hurting, even if they've apparently written off me. I won't be a scapegoat, and I won't be silent in the face of unfairness -- I would not be alive if I had not made a choice to stand up -- but neither is my affection and regard so easily unmade. All that is left, I think, is to wait, and wish all the best to my friend, whether or not they ever reach a place where they see clearly again, or where we can talk it through and move beyond it.
Well. This came a long way from poetry. Or maybe not; I've never been very good at stuff that rhymes neat and nice, and so far this ending kinda sucks. Hoping it's just a draft.
This semester is Creative Writing: Poetry. I wrote my first assigned poem tonight after mulling it over in my head all weekend, and I've got to say, writing a poem is a lot easier when it's just goofing off from doing something else. That said, I think it's a fairly decent poem, so I guess I'll know tomorrow night how over my head I am.
A challenge for me with poetry may be that I'm not a very subtle person (or at least, I don't think I am.) I tend to say what I think, sometimes unwisely, and I have a pretty black and white view of the things I consider really important in life, like integrity, compassion, and friendship. I care very deeply about all my friends (yes, all, even those with whom I've had a falling out, even those rare few who've proven sufficiently toxic that I can no longer abide them in my life.) I'm one of those people who feels a compulsive need to fix things for other people, to be of help, to make lives better if I can, to support my friends through good and bad. That's not often as easy as it sounds, especially when you have two friends you love like family and there's a conflict between them, and no clear way to support one without being seen to take sides against the other. Fairness and integrity are, at times, the enemy of prudence, and sometimes even the lightest feather-touch of involvement is taken as an assault. What is one supposed to do? Sometimes there's no way to win. I can't, and won't, walk away from any of my friends when they're hurting, when they're in a bad place in their lives and being torn further down. I also won't write off another friend who's hurting, even if they've apparently written off me. I won't be a scapegoat, and I won't be silent in the face of unfairness -- I would not be alive if I had not made a choice to stand up -- but neither is my affection and regard so easily unmade. All that is left, I think, is to wait, and wish all the best to my friend, whether or not they ever reach a place where they see clearly again, or where we can talk it through and move beyond it.
Well. This came a long way from poetry. Or maybe not; I've never been very good at stuff that rhymes neat and nice, and so far this ending kinda sucks. Hoping it's just a draft.
