Dance
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Students - This week I read a new-to-me poem written by a poet who died many years ago. Right away I felt like we were friends, as if its words had lived in my heart forever, that we had known each other for our whole lives. I felt so grateful. And while a person and a poem can not exaaaaactly hold hands and dance, it felt just like we did.
Today's poem once again takes an actual memory and brings it into the world of of make-believe. You may have noticed before that I do this often - begin with a moment that really happened and then allow it to bring me to a new and imaginary place. This is one of my favorite truths of writing: we do not always need to direct our writing, rather, we can sometimes take its hand and follow.
As I wrote this poem, I kept scribbling and scribbling, crossing out lines and reading the words aloud until they sounded just right. I could not find the ending for quite a while, but I kept writing and kept listening....and at last the lesson found me. Today's poem is a bit of a lesson poem, sharing in its final lines something I have learned: it is true/that you can find/and recognize/the thing/you never knew/you missed.
Know this: you need not know the ending of your poem before you write it. Follow the trail of wordcrumbs, and follow where they lead you. Keep your mind open for possible lessons and learnings. And remember too that your poem need not rhyme. To know if it will sound good to you, just keep reading it aloud as you go. Each time you write a line, read your poem again - up to that line - and listen for what comes next. Often, the line will be right there...waiting for you.
You may be wondering about the title of this new-to-me-best-friend-poem. I will share it soon, but for now, we are still getting to know each other. Have you ever had a little secret or treasure that you were not quite ready to share quite yet?
May you find a surprising truth (or poem or treasure or teeny secret) this week. What is true for you?
xo,
Amy
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