The Poetry Challenge

Slowly my Summer is slipping away. I just turned in my course descriptions for the Fall and I'm feeling the pressure to get stuff done. So I've given myself a "Poetry Challenge" for the month of August. The "Poetry Challenge" is simple. I need to write a poem or a fraction of a poem each day, and I'm not counting revision.

Writing everyday is something that's hard for me. It's not my normal process, but it's something I often encourage my students to do. I also remember getting fed this message from my teachers/mentors. I remember writing everyday in graduate school, but I had oodles of time back then. So now the circumstances are different . . . a bit more challenging. On top of feeling the pressure to remain gainfully employed (publish or perish!), I have the privilege of being married and also have the privilege of being a new homeowner (I had no idea it was this much work).

For starters, I'm going to write an imitative poem. My poem homage will be based on a poem by Alberto Rios entitled "Rabbits and Fire" from his book, The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body.

Feel free to join in.