by Stirling D.
Member since:
September 12, 2006

Birth of a Poem - WWE

August 26, 2009 04:27 PM UTC
views: 0 | comments: 40

The cool air feels so wonderful.  I am somehow too stunned to believe it.  The congealed mental sludge in my brain from weeks of melted thoughts has left me too tired to do anything.  One might call this procrastination but the woman held down by a stone is not to be blamed.  Yet here I am in comfortable coolness, without even one physical remnant of the heat – and still I am unable to write.  Where is the poem yearning to flow from my fingers?  Where is the unborn truth wriggling its way into the birth canal of my artistic process?  Why am I not standing there like the midwife with open hands?  I should be eager, yet I have forgotten how to expect success.  That long August respite has left me ill-prepared for even this good fortune.  The two minutes are up.  The birth contractions are getting stronger now.  I can finally sense the pain.  Time to deliver.

Comments: 40

This description of writer's block is so vivid that, if the lines were arranged in poetic form, this would be a compelling prose poem of angst. In short, you did good! So good that the birth was easy and the delivery safely accomplished. Ten stars!
Stirling D. Aug 26, 2009, 10:14pm UTC
Ah, so it's a poem? Thanks, but you know, free writing like this is enormously liberating ... just a great way to clear the mind. That is, if it can be cleared ... ha ha.
Aman V. Aug 27, 2009, 2:45am UTC
Guy, this quality of grace is the hallmark of Stir's persona. And even though she talks of sludge of the mind here, serenity and flow define her...
Of course it's a poem, Stirling ... just brilliantly disguised as prose! Free writing is liberating, methinks, because it is all about content ... and it does not give a fig about being encumbered by the chains of forms. But if such does not always clear the mind, may I suggest you try a double banana smoothie on the rocks? Shaken, but not stirred, mind.

Aman, of course Stirling's persona is graciousness itself. I wager, she also probably loves banana smoothies.
Stirling D. Aug 30, 2009, 11:10pm UTC
You guys. :) To be honest, I prefer pomegranate juice. This morning I had fresh blackberries. Is there anything more sinful?
Only a double banana smoothie on the rocks that is both shaken and stirred!
Stirling D. Aug 31, 2009, 11:53am UTC
Oh, is that so? Can we substitute kiwi for banana?
Of course!
Aman V. Aug 27, 2009, 2:52am UTC
Stir, this is simple, vivid and illustrative of the ease with which you evoke images and create sounds in your readers' heads. I could feel the bottled-up frustration (of too much thought and no word to show for it...), the mounting anticipation and build-up of creative heat, and that excited midwife's hands outstretched towards the crucible.....

Such evocative writing, and yes, there *is* a quality of poetry to it, too..which only vindicates my feeling that somehow, you've reached that stage inside you where you create completely free from the barriers of form or genre. I love that about your writing.
((((((((((Stir)))))))))))))))
Stirling D. Aug 27, 2009, 10:57pm UTC
I'm glad you liked it, Aman. Free writing is so easy, without the boundaries of form.
Susan Budig - Mindful Poet Aug 27, 2009, 7:16pm UTC
Hey, Stirling! Your stream-of-consciousness brims with metaphor. And you even maintain the same image throughout. You also have a great vocabulary. :-)
Stirling D. Aug 27, 2009, 10:16pm UTC
Thanks, Susan. I sometimes feel like such a nerd. The vocabulary comes from years of burying my nose in books, books, books ...
Ann Marcaida Aug 28, 2009, 8:28am UTC
I love "the woman held down by a stone." Thanks for telling me what writer's block feels like.

(For some reason, analytical writers like me seem immune! Perhaps it's because we don't require a flow of material from our subconscious mind).
Stirling D. Aug 30, 2009, 9:09pm UTC
Interesting ... yes, the writer's block is more an emotional thing. Like some person standing - hands on hips - in the doorway, blocking the view.
James Ciriaco Aug 28, 2009, 12:18pm UTC
You know, it occurs to me that these free writes read rather like the prose portion of a brief haibun. Your periods seem to gather poetry as they go; at the end, I felt as if I wasn't far from a thrust into verse. Potentially a very fruitful method.
Stirling D. Aug 30, 2009, 9:09pm UTC
Thanks, James. I never thought of it that way, but it did feel like I was picking up momentum.
Susan Budig - Mindful Poet Sep 1, 2009, 2:41pm UTC
Good observation, James.
Sheila Deeth Aug 28, 2009, 7:46pm UTC
What a poetic free write. Your words sing, even when you're just writing them down.
Stirling D. Aug 30, 2009, 9:10pm UTC
The music is the medium, as they say ... you know, I think we all have the music ever present behind the prose.
Ladybounty ~. Sep 2, 2009, 5:38am UTC
Exactly Sheila! well said!
Ladybounty ~. Sep 2, 2009, 5:37am UTC
I adore your metaphors comparing creating and writing to birth! This was a great read....ty so much!
Stirling D. Sep 2, 2009, 8:08am UTC
I'm so glad you liked it, Ladybounty. I think creative writing really is like birth ... you know how sometimes a whole plot or a character sneaks up on you? You didn't even have to take a test to know - you're pregnant. Haha
Elsie Duggan Sep 2, 2009, 3:30pm UTC
Wonderful Stirling, from your free write you can tell you are a poet at heart
Stirling D. Sep 2, 2009, 4:10pm UTC
It takes one to know one, Elsie.
Kathryn Flynn Sep 2, 2009, 4:30pm UTC
wow.........
Stirling D. Sep 2, 2009, 5:49pm UTC
Thanks, pal. :)
Barbary Chaapel Oct 12, 2009, 1:17pm UTC
Stirling, true and lovely words.

I was with you this summer! But my stone has rolled away. Oh, maybe it is bad luck to say that. I agree with James about the prose poem and I expect now the little verse to follow.
Stirling D. Oct 12, 2009, 1:33pm UTC
A few poems later .. I shall have to write another. So glad to hear your stone has rolled away, too!

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