Today is my father’s birthday. When I was little, we had a tree by the driveway. He would pick me up, put me in the branches, then climb up himself. There he would tell me stories and feed my imagination. There’s an argument to be made that he overfed it considering my career path. I wouldn’t have it any other way. This poem is for my father.
Lots of traveling yesterday. I was amazing to come home to the arms of my bride. Once more, she is my muse.
Happy one week anniversary, everyone! Hard to believe we’ve made it to this bench mark. Feeling pretty accomplished right now. Also a little tired.
The last few days have been crazy, which has been a great test and proven to myself my own commitment to this personal creative challenge. I’ll be able to relax a bit and focus on my other pursuits for a bit, but last night I was so wired from all the activity that I had trouble initially sleeping. I was like a grumpy 5 year old at bed time. Crashed hard finally and woke up invigorated and inspired.
Today is going to be a good day. This next week is going to be a good week. Same for the month and year. I’m finding that balance between pursuing my purpose, being a provider, and learning when and how to rest and enjoy the life my bride and I are building together. Thanks for sticking with my this far. Here’s to one milestone passed and many more to come.
This weekend has been beyond crazy, but I managed to squeeze a romantic lunch date in with my loving and ever-patient bride in the middle of everything. God, I love this woman. Thanks for reading!
Didn’t get the chance to write before heading out this morning so another poem squeezed in during today’s activities. Feeling a little frustrated with myself and poured that into today’s work.
Mental note: do poetry first thing in the morning. The day just gets away from you otherwise.
You ever stop to consider how hours can crawl by but days can fly? How a single decision can alter an entire trajectory and impact the other areas of your life in ways you never could have expected? Definitely in that zone right now.
Before anything else, thank you everyone who liked my page/post/poem yesterday! That was really encouraging.
Taking a photo of the rough draft directly from my poetry journal ended up working out so much better than retyping it. It was said (sadly I forget by who) that no plan survives first contact and that’s definitely true here. I am revising my implementation process.
The new plan? Post directly here with a photo of the rough draft poem. Critique of some of these poems will be conducted via the upcoming podcast, which will also include readings of my poetry and discussions of poetry in general.
None of which, I assume, is why you are here today! So without further ado…
Brace yourself. Love poems are coming. I’m a romantic, madly in love with my bride, and she often serves as my muse. You’ll be seeing many more poems dedicated to or inspired by her in the future.
Big favor, readers? Let my know if my chicken scratch is legible? If need be I’ll come back and type this up below the picture so that it’s actually readable.
Today’s poem! Not exactly genius but I’m squeezing it in during my break. Haven’t got my catalog of poetry I’ve been working on ready for uploading yet–shame on me, right?–so y’all are getting this today.
Gold? No. But it’s something. And that’s the point of this. Persistence of the pursuit of craft. One poem a day one day at a time.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for joining me on this journey. Today not only marks the start of the new year for me, but the birth of The Everyday Poet. I love poetry, but to be clear, I am no expert. My sum total education regarding poetry includes a handful of English courses and two creative writing classes, one undergrad and the other graduate level. I have have been published in Texas’s Best Emerging Poets and in America’s Best Emerging Poets, which is both encouraging and inspiring, but hardly makes me an expert. Which is really the point of this challenge.
Malcolm Gladwell has asserted that to become a virtuoso at something, one needs to apply 10,000 hours worth of practice. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that kind of time. What I can do, however, is write a poem every day for a year. They won’t all be good. Many will need a lot of work before they’re worth being shown. But THIS is my challenge. One year, one poem a day, written by an everyday poet.
That’s in part the purpose of this blog. To first, hold me accountable to my challenge. But also to share the journey and the creation with you. Poetry pleads for reading, it yearns for it the way art craves a viewer and is purposeless without.
Now, I’m not always going to share the poem of the day here. To ensure, however, that you receive at least 365 poems, I have built up a small stock, one which I will continue to add to, as I will occasionally write more than one poem a day. This is to make certain that if I slip, you have something to read and that if I write a poem that really shouldn’t be shared (because I am more than capable or writing complete and utter garbage) that you won’t be forced to endure it.
I will tally my writing here and share that which has been made ready for you regularly. At least 365 poems over the course of this year. Ideally one released every day, though what may end up happening is a collection released weekly. I’ve never managed a blog like this before so we’ll have to find out. Additionally, I should have content for both the newsletter and the podcast soon so you can have the poetry delivered straight to you or listen to myself (or someone else) reading it. The podcast will also be discussing poetry in general between myself and a fellow non-expert.
All of this to say, welcome to The Everyday Poet. I hope you enjoy your stay. Here is your POEM OF THE DAY!
The sun rises on a word…
The sun rises on a word
bringing it into the light
bringing it form.
A new day marking
the birth of an idea.
A luminescent inception,
one of infinite countless many
tossed aside like pennies
not even worth their
minted copper.
This idea has form.
This idea has been brought to light.
To life.
This idea has a word.
And the word is
a decision, one made
by the inceptor who
wields the power to
make something more.
Something new beyond
Belief. Believe.
Passion. Power. Purpose.
The fuel behind the light
the form and the word
that will become words
when fed and nurtured —
Empowered. Become empowered.
The sun rises on a word.
Today’s word is….
The Everyday Poet 