L'aura del Campo

2019年5月6日 Crafty blog

Crafty... funny that thát word was used! In many ways, a chapbook is a craft. I've done them in the past. Some have turned out well. One of my goals is making a quarter page chapbook of poetry, a chapbooklet let's say. I want to incorporate some art in it, but easier said than done.

MY CRAFT

Well, that was fun! I use to play with color, size, fonts, emoticons... in this blog. Not now.

Writing craft: what are the options? Gimme options! I demand options!!! *don't-hurt-me* (they don't have an emoticon for that... yet).

1. I continue to read. That may sound banal but it really helps. I've finished off some fantasy novels and will next read a book of poetry. Any reading helps. What could I work on? Read more? Sit down with a book on geology? That's helped in the past... really... plate tectonics is great for erotic poetry. Perhaps pick a subject I know little about.

2. Reread some books on poetry and the craft of poetry. Going over the basics reminds me that I don't always work on them. And there is so much to learn on the second, third, fourth rereading.

3. I have made editing and submission goals. That's key to being published. Who knows what I'll learn if I take the risk and share my work with a publisher? An uncaring public means the poem hasn't found its audience... and a publisher may be able to help. Of course, many poems will never find an audience... people aren't stupid.

4. Tightening up language; spending time with a thesaurus and rhyming tool; letting the poem breathe. Short stories ... novels ... what makes it engaging? Why does this one work and not the other. In other words: I need to continue to workshop my work. I need new eyes to see these things and mine are old.

5. I'm going to read some blogs for ideas...

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: I told WakeUpAndLive~doingNaNo'24 that I would wash my dishes. And I did ... and cleaned out the sink and stove top as well. Surfaces tend to collect things wherever I am. I went for a walk to the grocery store and back along the river.
IMAGES: Apricots in bloom, chatter over the fenced in yard, golden blaze of forsythia, purple-white pansies, black-dog / tan-squirrel (tree refuge), Cleo-the-kitty begging for a rub — 3 year old helping shop — dandelion puffs, rough log by the bridge, glossy smooth-to-the-touch poplar leaf, grey lichen on purple rock, dog pawprints in the mud, spent catkins on beige sand, flotsam, soft lap of water at the river's edge, purple rose and grey river stones, one big black bird, abandoned multi-colored baby-bootie, sound of "rapids", duck resting, breeze flicking through leaf litter, whizz of bicycle tires, raindrop, limb floating down the south channel, new tree stumps, bird chirp, white hawthorn?, green swords of iris.
NEW BLOGVILLE: I've left about 45 comments in the first 5 days. I missed some blogs, but not many. Blogs are so much better than facebook or twitter. It's possible to actually get to know someone.

Green Swords of May

They have won
the battle with ice
and snow,
determined
to ride out this storm
till summer, swords
pointed
to the sky.
How dare it defy
them?
The grey clouds must part!
The Sun must come back!
And stalks must raise blooms
of purple, blue and yellow
to bask in it's rays,
to beckon me
and the bee
to visit.
I bow down
to each iris,
stoop to inhale
each one's fragrance,
quickly
am reminded about the bee.

© Kåre Enga (6.maio.2019) [176.72]

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