2013 Poetry Challenge

My New Year's Resolution was to read at least one poem every day and to write about it.  Today is Day 79! It's been awesome so far, and in addition to reading and writing about one poem a day, I have also read fiction and nonfiction, if only a page, every single day so far this year. This is the best and most rewarding resolution I have ever made. Some days it's hard to carve out the time (the night we were at the ER for four hours with an unexpectedly sick kid, I completed the challenge with mere minutes to spare), but most days it is so ridiculously easy because I look forward to it so much. Just think: You have to read today. You have to read today. You have to read today. Um, OK!

You may be wondering what my poetry challenge entails. Well, I read some poems, usually a handful, and find one that resonates with me. Not that I like all of them. I have forced myself to write about long poems and ones that upset me as well. As the weeks go by, I am confronted by my own poetry biases and strive to think more deeply on that. Anyway, here's a sample. This entry (which is messily transcribed in one of my journals) is from February 15, 2013. There's nothing academic about it. I just write down my thoughts. The result is usually a largeish paragraph full of me saying the same things over and over again. You'll see. :-) 

"Okay, so clearly I am deliberately picking short poems to write about...deal with it. I did read several before I got to this one, and truly, how can you ignore it? It demands attention, demands to be given its due:

Separation

by W. S. Merwin

Your absence has gone through me   

Like thread through a needle.

Everything I do is stitched with its color.

My god, what an image. Suddenly absence has substance. Absence isn't the thing through which we move, it is the thing that moves through us. We are hollow, like the head of a needle, an empty space, and absence is a thread. So absence moves through us, but doesn't fill us. The last line is incredible. The absence of our loved one means that everything we touch is tainted by that absence. The absence is a bright color. It's vivid and real and obvious, and we move through life carrying it around, showing it to people. My god, my god, how can you say so much so perfectly in three freaking lines? How can you not choose it, not write about it?"