It's great to see how you've preserved these moments of Life. I think it was Wendell Berry who said something like: "We are making our art as we are making our lives. And I'm sure the reverse is true as well." Raising a family, enduring those challenges, savoring the sweet times-- it's all part of a big work of art that is your life. Your book is sure to be luminous evidence of that!
Thanks! I heard Maggie Smith (the poet not the actress) say on a podcast recently she makes a living from the way she's living her life, and that is the first time I've heard someone articulate what I'm also trying to do.
Nowadays I really only write haiku, and I write with the purpose mainly to record some image/moment encountered in the past day or so. That's what I'm doing on my substack, just publishing those sporadically, and it's become a kind of journal of the seasons so far, and I love that aspect of it. What's funny is I used to write a lot more poetry but I hadn't gone back and read much of it in a long time, but a month or so ago I went to a poetry conference and I read a bunch of my old poems and I hadn't realized how they too would take me back to that time. My kids who are teens/young adults now were little kids back then and it brought me to tears, reading these lines that I'd written in the midst of being with their little selves. I'm so glad you have these memories too in poems, and here's to making more of them, you're a wonderful inspiration!
I am not sure I explained that well - the reason it was funny to me is that back then, I was not trying to record memories or images or anything, in the purposeful way I do now. Yet, that's what I did. I guess that's how poetry works for me, I just didn't realize it before.
I totally get what you're saying. I did not start writing poetry with the intention to create a kind of journal or anything. Lots of my poems aren't even about my life events, but looking back I know see that my life bleeds into each poem in some way and rereading old poems transports me back to the scene of their creation, so the speak, and I can "see" what was happening when I wrote that poem. Now, I'm also more conscious of this effect and sometimes sit down to write haiku specifically about stuff I want to remember later--of course I never know what about the even I will remember.
My kids are also teens and young adults now and it is so bittersweet to read stuff about the way they used to see the world as young children. Thanks for being such a big supporter of my work! I'm excited to read more of your haiku!
Oooh, can't wait for the book.
Thanks, Peter! I'm anxious to get this first issue out into the world!
It's great to see how you've preserved these moments of Life. I think it was Wendell Berry who said something like: "We are making our art as we are making our lives. And I'm sure the reverse is true as well." Raising a family, enduring those challenges, savoring the sweet times-- it's all part of a big work of art that is your life. Your book is sure to be luminous evidence of that!
Thanks! I heard Maggie Smith (the poet not the actress) say on a podcast recently she makes a living from the way she's living her life, and that is the first time I've heard someone articulate what I'm also trying to do.
Nowadays I really only write haiku, and I write with the purpose mainly to record some image/moment encountered in the past day or so. That's what I'm doing on my substack, just publishing those sporadically, and it's become a kind of journal of the seasons so far, and I love that aspect of it. What's funny is I used to write a lot more poetry but I hadn't gone back and read much of it in a long time, but a month or so ago I went to a poetry conference and I read a bunch of my old poems and I hadn't realized how they too would take me back to that time. My kids who are teens/young adults now were little kids back then and it brought me to tears, reading these lines that I'd written in the midst of being with their little selves. I'm so glad you have these memories too in poems, and here's to making more of them, you're a wonderful inspiration!
I am not sure I explained that well - the reason it was funny to me is that back then, I was not trying to record memories or images or anything, in the purposeful way I do now. Yet, that's what I did. I guess that's how poetry works for me, I just didn't realize it before.
I totally get what you're saying. I did not start writing poetry with the intention to create a kind of journal or anything. Lots of my poems aren't even about my life events, but looking back I know see that my life bleeds into each poem in some way and rereading old poems transports me back to the scene of their creation, so the speak, and I can "see" what was happening when I wrote that poem. Now, I'm also more conscious of this effect and sometimes sit down to write haiku specifically about stuff I want to remember later--of course I never know what about the even I will remember.
My kids are also teens and young adults now and it is so bittersweet to read stuff about the way they used to see the world as young children. Thanks for being such a big supporter of my work! I'm excited to read more of your haiku!