V-Day

Well, I finished Kristie's poem last night. It took me about 90 minutes to get the wording right and metaphors down. Whenever I write - especially poetry - I'm always fascinated how the piece takes on a life of its own. I always begin with some specific idea or image I want to express. But sometimes the words themselves have other ideas. Sometimes they take over and the poem becomes something totally different. Usually when this happens I look up at the clock and realize I've been toying around writing for about an hour - and didn't even realize it. I also realize that I have a totally separate poem and still have to write the original one I intended. And I think those are my strongest pieces too. They needed to get out, needed to come up from my subconscious somewhere. They just needed an excuse to do so. I'm usually just an observer as I see my pen or my fingers dancing over the keys as the poem brings itself into being. Getting caught in that process is just about as grand as the result.

That is one thing I miss about my thesis - all the writing. Don't get me wrong - it's nice to have it finished - mostly because of my lane change. But I miss going back in time to the stories and places of my childhood and seeing my grandmother and Mom and Dad again.