NaPoWriMo 1 – Moving On

by krstaten

This ghost
has long since
given up.
He packed his things,
took to the street
for a new life
lamenting his lack
of wings.
In one fleeting
moment in time,
in the prime
of his haunting
(all the plates
he’d break
on the floors,
a daunting
roommate
slamming all the
cupboard doors),
he discovered
the restrictions
of his flight,
an inconvenient
affliction
damning him
to seek new heights.

Welcome to NaPoWriMo 2017! As promised, I’d like each day to include some extras: A poem I love, and a second poem I love by a fellow NaPoWriMo participant.

The the first poem I love today comes from Kay Ryan, since today’s NaPoWriMo prompt (followed above) was to write a poem in her style. I’d like to first share a bit of writing advice by her that I stumbled up on in an interview for Paris Review:

INTERVIEWER
How do you find the subject in a poem?

RYAN
I don’t know if I’m interested in combating an idea or just loosening it up. You have to make some room for your mind. You have to open something up. And you can’t just slam it from the other side. You can’t say, That’s not right. This is right. You start fluffing it. You open up the picture, so you can know two things at once.

Poem:  Musical Chairs by Kay Ryan (the first poem of hers I read, and a lovely introduction!)

And a second poem, by a fellow NaPoWriMo participant: Day One on This and Other Poems!

Following prompts will be my main focus this year, to make sure I’m stepping outside of my usual writing style. I can’t promise this will lead to good poems, but if there’s ever a time to experiment and end up with bad poetry, it’s NaPoWriMo, I figure.

Other participants, comment below so I can follow along with your work this month. I will try to keep future NaPoWriMo blogs shorter and more focused on the poetry than my ramblings. Happy NaPoWriMo, and happy writing!