Happy Poetry Month, Friend 🌸
On Today’s menu:
I will read you a pair of bold, naughty, tough, surprising, artful, human poems by Moira Egan (also a friend, I have to brag).
See how wild & cool “contemporary formalist poetry” is.
Enter the land of synesthesia 👃 👀 👂 👄 ✋
Learn which historical city Baltimore native Moira now lives in and the tourist attraction in view from her home.
Dive into the wonderful world of Moira here. Purchase the anthology she co-edited, “Hot Sonnets” here. Contemporary, sexy sonnets galore. (I have a couple in there too).
I met Moira almost 20 years ago through a listserve of poets. Somehow or other a handful of us got together to write sonnet crowns together. In the process, I made some life-long poetry playmates.
I can’t tell you how fun this collaborative writing process was. I can’t tell you how much this process upleveled my sonnet-writing skills.
Here’s the thing: I love to play. Do you love to play too? Do you notice that the more you embrace a Love to Play-ness (whatever that means to you), the more the entire World seems to be a playfield? It doesn’t mean we’re always bounding around in penny loafers holding oversized lollipops and skipping from swing set to swing set. By Play I mean an engagement that is in the world, of the world, a challenge that has you both wringing your hands and gasping in delight. Think of the phrase “in play.” Let’s keep ourselves in play (while taking the needed rest & recovery, too).
YOUR PLAY PRESCRIPTION
What is something you ordinarily do on your own? Write, draw, project manage, business plan, run, cook dinner, read meaty philosophy books, grocery shop…
I know I’m missing many many activities here. The point is: how can you launch some of these indie activities into the world of play, invite in one or more other people and create a bit of pixie dust? You might think: oh gawd I hate doing _____ with others. Fair enough. Find something else. One palpable activity. Here are some ideas:
Invite a friend over for a meal, have some ingredients on hand, and then, together, come up with a dish to make with those ingredients. Your own quick-fire challenge. Crank the music, shudder together over the unthinkable task if cooking isn’t your thing. Be OK with the Big Fail. What the hell, we gotta eat, might as well have “fun” with it.
Meet some friends at a coffee shop, each person arrives with one sentence from a book they’re reading and a scent — smell is the most underused but powerful sense, one that pulls the reader in JUSTLIKETHAT. Pass out your sentences and scents and write for a half hour. It’s magic to create stories/writing in the presence of others doing the same.
Take a walk or run in a new spot with a friend/s, and point out everything that intrigues you. Dare yourself to get lost, what the hell. Make sure there’s a cafe at the end where you can plan your next event.
My friend Liz and I used to get together to read. She’d lie on my couch, I’d be on the daybed, many minutes would pass silently until one of us would snort or laugh and read the passage out to another person. It made everything I read stand out, because while I was reading for myself I was also looking for gems I could share with Liz.
Your activity here: ______________
Drop a note in Comments and tell us about an unusual playdate and how it went. XOXO
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