A Quick Monday Pick Me Up

And boy, do I mean quick!  I'm responding to a visual writing prompt with my own version of the six word memoir.  Here's the quick background: Hemingway was famously challenged to write a story using just six words.  The famous six words? "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."  I know, right?

I chose to put a more comical spin on it.

"Multiple Warnings Apply; See Attached Booklet"

What would YOUR warning label say?  Could you fit it into six words?  Less?  

Selena Gomez "The Heart Wants What It Wants" response poem: Friday Free For All

I've seen several poets in recent weeks who were writing response poems to popular American poets of the last century.  I've been wanting to do something like that, but I just happened to turn on the radio the other day and heard this song.  It's by Selena Gomez and it's called "The Heart Wants What It Wants."  Frankly, I think it's rather foolish.  You have a heart and a brain, and they should both be consulted.  Mind you, this is my opinion.  Feel free to make your choices however you want!

Anywho.... this song was stuck in my head and I figured I'd work on getting it out by writing a response poem.  Well, the song is still stuck, rattling around in my brain, but the poem's here!  I'm including the lyrics to the song for comparison.  Enjoy, and happy Friday!

Selena Gomez "Heart Wants What It Wants" lyrics

You got me sippin' on something
I can't compare to nothing
I've ever known, I'm hoping
That after this fever I'll survive
I know I'm acting a bit crazy
Strung out, a little bit hazy
Hand over heart, I'm praying
That I'm gonna make it out alive

The bed's getting cold and you're not here
The future that we hold is so unclear
But I'm not alive until you call
And I'll bet the odds against it all
Save your advice 'cause I won't hear
You might be right but I don't care
There's a million reasons why I should give you up
But the heart wants what it wants

You got me scattered in pieces
Shining like stars and screaming
Lightening me up like Venus
But then you disappear and make me wait
And every second's like torture
Hell over trip, no more so
Finding a way to let go
Baby baby no I can't escape

The bed's getting cold and you're not here
The future that we hold is so unclear
But I'm not alive until you call
And I'll bet the odds against it all
Save your advice 'cause I won't hear
You might be right but I don't care
There's a million reasons why I should give you up
But the heart wants what it wants (x4)

This is a modern fairytale
No happy endings
No wind in our sails
But I can't imagine a life without
Breathless moments
Breaking me down down down

The bed's getting cold and you're not here
The future that we hold is so unclear
But I'm not alive until you call
And I'll bet the odds against it all
Save your advice 'cause I won't hear
You might be right but I don't care
There's a million reasons why I should give you up
But the heart wants what it wants (x4)

The heart wants what it wants baby

Source: http://www.directlyrics.com/selena-gomez-heart-wants-what-it-wants-lyrics.html

In Response to “The Heart Wants What It Wants”

The heart wants what it wants

But so does the mind

It takes time to think

And then it declines

Saying, “please think about it

Please don’t just feel

I’m not over analyzing

Intuition is real

So don’t listen to me

But how ‘bout the gut?

You know something is there

You feel it—you must

The gut listens to me

And also the heart

Thinks and feels all at once

And knows from the start

What’s right and what’s wrong

Every should and should not

It’s usually spot on

In fact, quite a lot.”

So the you that is you

And must listen to all

Goes ahead with the gut

And avoids a great fall

Monday Pick Me Up: It's going Swimmingly!

"Take a Dip"

Take a dip

in my pool of thought

or a long

leisurely swim

do a lap or two

or ten

get a full work out

in the deep end

of my mind

I gladly share

the waters

and the company

as we swirl

some thoughts around

together

The Poem from the Train Ride

I just did some editing on an old poem that I wrote while riding the train a while ago.  It felt a little odd then, using borrowed emotions, but I've edited it into something that comes across more naturally than the first version.

“Lovers Separating”

Click clack

Click clack

Chuff chuff chuff

Chug chug chug chug

Each low rumble speaks

Ominously declaring

The widening separation

Parting body from body

And parting me

From that portion of my heart

That I left tucked in with yours

Laced between your fingers

Held in your embrace.

And I carry you with me

That tiny piece you gave me

Bundled up

Against my breast

Warming the heart that remains

My body remembers yours

Slow sensual scratches

Up my calves

Along the small of my back

In the palm of my hand

The chills reverberate

Within the depths of me

Rippling to my most

Sensuous core.

I bump and sway

Side to side

As I slide away

A slow dance of separation

Speeding up

As the distance grows

Picking up pace

As the miles stretch behind me

Friday Free For All: "Somewhere in America" as performed on the Queen Latifah Show

Happy happy Friday!  Sorry I missed Wednesday’s post this week, next week I’ll make it twice as helpful (but not twice as long… unless you’d like that).  I am delighted that it is a new day and that this particular new day is a Friday.  They’re fun! 

It’s been up for a while, but this week I stumbled across a video of an amazing video of a very moving poetry performance.  Several aspects of this performance caught my attention.  This was a poetry performance on national TV!  That frickin’ rocks!!  Teenage girls performed it (and they OWNED it), and the poem itself was very moving.   I’ve watched it several times now, and I still tear up a bit each time. 

The girls sat down with Queen Latifah after their performance for a short interview as well:

Take a Monday Afternoon Happiness Break!

Read the poem, enjoy the poem, and listen to the poem.  It's a shorty, but it's good advice!

"Happiness"

Close your eyes

Take a breath

Breathe love in

Let loose the rest

The Friday Free For All: Finally some new writing!

No, I haven't stopped writing poetry over the past week, I'm trying to mix things up.  I don't forget, however, that this blog was originally dedicated to my creative writing, and my poetry in particular.  So this Friday I give you a brand new piece.

I don't know what it's like where you live, but us northeastern states are positively frozen right now.  Most of us only venture outside when absolutely necessary, and even then for the shortest amount of time possible.  I'd be able to get to and from the car a lot faster if there wasn't ice all over the place, but I do the "frozen ground shuffle" at a pretty nice clip, if I do say so myself.

Given these circumstances, it's unsurprising that the cold has seeped into my poetry as well as my bones.  Therefore, this week's Friday posting is my latest work exploring how to make a breath of nearly subzero sound poetic.  Let me know what you think!

"A Frigid Breath"

One sharp, shallow breath

A single sip

Of freezing air

Shocks the warm, moist airway

With immediate

Crystalline constriction

Breath halts

And only the faintest wisp

Is visible

Hanging slender

In the night air

Before dissipating

In a slight swirl of a breeze

The tongue does not escape

Metallic crystals form

As the frigid air

Sweeps down the throat

A sputtering, raspy cough

Expels the fiendish freeze

As the sanctuary of warmth is sought

Writing Wednesday: Writing Prompts to Get You Started

Happy Writing Wednesday!  Last week I went over my first useful tip for getting started: free writing.  This week’s tip can be used in conjunction with free writing or you can apply it all on its own.  This week I want you to try out writing prompts.

These aren’t hard to find.  At all.  The easiest way to find them is Pinterest.  They’re all over the place there.  Just do a search for “writing prompts” and you’ll find pins, boards, and entire accounts dedicated to them. Don’t go search now.  You’ll get sucked in and emerge 3 hours from now thinking you’ve gone through a worm hole and lost all that time.  Which you kinda did.

If you want to find some writing prompts that won’t drag you down the rabbit hole of “ooo, look at that! And that!  And THAT!!” I’ve gathered a few links to stand alone sites that provide you with easy ideas to get started writing without stealing your soul a few hours at a time.

Daily Prompts:

These sites give you a prompt a day. 

http://www.daily-writing-prompt.com

This site has multiple daily prompts, different genres to choose from, and an extensive archive of previous prompts if none of today’s prompts strike your fancy.  The plethora of choices at this site can be a bit overwhelming and distracting, but not quite on Pinterest’s level.

http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts

These are user-generated prompts, and the site isn’t updated daily, but there are still some very good choices here.  If you include this site in your rotation of sources without relying on it daily, you’ll still get a good, steady stream of ideas.  This site swings to the opposite end of the spectrum from the first!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/

Right in the middle lies this site, which is truly a site for daily prompts.  One day, one prompt.  The ideas are archived, so you can look back if you’d like, but you’ll still find just one prompt each day.  It’s the perfect balance, in my opinion: a steady stream with one new idea every day.  It’s not a here and there publication, and it’s not overwhelming you with tons of ideas every day.

https://dailypost.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/365-days-of-writing-prompts-1387477491.pdf

Here’s an option if you want to check out one place, then go off the grid for a while.  It’s a .pdf of daily writing prompts to last you for a year.  No extra links.  No ads.  Just 365 prompts.

Like I said before, these prompts can be used as a jumping off point for a free write or they can launch you right into a writing session, if you find one that really sparks your interest. 

If you’re trying to get into the habit of writing on a regular basis, which I would advise, don’t wait for “the one” to appear.  If you spend too long looking through tons and tons of potential prompts you’re likely to become overwhelmed and miss a good one.  Don’t be afraid to settle down and just start writing.  You can always go a different direction later, or you can go back and start all over again.   The idea is to get writing, you can fill in the details along the way down the line.

Did I miss any of your favorite prompting sources?  If you have any others, I’d love to hear about them!  Let me know in the comments section and I’ll be sure to check them out for myself and add them for other readers too!