I object!

I would like to start this blog with an apology. To say sorry for the distinct lack of posts from myself on this blog of late. I have writers block, pure and simple. What is annoying me more than anything is the fact that when it comes round to a theme that I have chosen (such as this week for example), my brain still can't get itself into gear. It is seemingly on strike, saying "I object!". And that, dear readers, is about as close as I can get to making a connection with this weeks' theme. I deliberately choose theme's which are open to translation by the people who write on this blog. So they may pick one of the many ways it can be translated and run with it. It also means that there is more variety on each theme, instead of us all writing about the same thing. But even this hasn't helped me this time. To be honest, it's really getting me down.

So, I am going to share a poem I wrote (an oldie) that will give me hope that I will come through this writers block in the end. Ever the optimist, eh?


POETICAL STORM

I can sit and the words come effortlessly,
Floating by on the breeze in my mind,
Plucked down and written upon the page,
Flowing smoothly, sometimes too easily I find.

A moment later as I sit engrossed,
Enjoying this freshness of air,
The Ethereal atmosphere changes,
And threatens to drive me into despair.

Storm clouds have gathered unnoticed,
The breeze picks up speed to a Gale,
Words rushing by too rapidly,
Unable to pluck, I seem doomed to fail.

Whooshing and whirling confusedly,
My pen unable to keep up the pace,
I scribble what I can greedily,
Trying to scribe what I can in all haste.

Ever faster and faster the wind goes round,
Becoming a Maelstrom within my mind,
The words now completely no distinct,
Just a blur which makes me almost blind.

Then …… Nothing …… A stillness envelops me,
A vacuum where nothing can stir,
Not a wisp or a breath, all is blank,
No word or picture can incur.

My pen lies helplessly upon the notepad,
Arms limply down at my side,
The fingers twitching, waiting to start once again,
But from my mind all the words hide.

How long do I spend in this wretched place?
I don’t know, it’s too hard to tell,
Minutes, hours or days go by,
With nothing to break the barren spell!

But wait! What was that? No, but  …… yes it is!
A whisper floating gently by,
Patiently waiting for the right time,
To express its sweetest of sighs.

Softly, softly, the words now return,
Emerging and drifting along,
Finally, I resume my task gladly,
Plucking words to finish my song!

I am currently at verse 8, desperately waiting for verse 9 to kick in ..... but hey-ho! Patience, patience ... *Sighs*

Any-hoo! Thank you for bearing with me. I WILL get back to writing properly again. ;-) x

Read More

Inspirations

This week the theme is "Inspirations". Not exactly the easiest topic to write about. There is no one particular thing for any one person that you can predict to be inspirational. Because I am an idealist, positive kind of person, I find many heartwarming stories to be inspirational and will always try to be one of those people who will encourage others, motivate and cheer them on. With so much negativity in this world, I find it impossible not to. We all have the power to change the world around us, one little bit at a time.

Sometimes though, despite seeing things around you that inspire you to write a poem about it, it is still possible to be unable to find the words to do it justice. Many times I have written a poem and not been happy about the result. More often than not, though, I will come back to that same poem quite some time later (occasionally years) and am able to succinctly get the message across using the original as a template. The end result may be an extended version of the original or a completely differently worded poem. It is strange how the mind works. Recently, some of our bloggers have fallen into dreaded writers block. It is an awful place to be, I've been there myself. Luckily it is short-lived mostly, occasionally only allowing me to write something less than mediocre (the standard I perceive myself to write at usually). But using that as a basis to write one day, I ended up writing a poem .... about writing a poem and getting writers block. It was just what I needed to get the old brain moving again. It was an unlikely inspiration.

POETICAL STORM

I can sit and the words come effortlessly,

Floating by on zephyrs in my mind,

Plucked down and written upon the page,

Flowing smoothly, sometimes too easily I find.

A moment later as I sit engrossed,

Enjoying this freshness of air,

The Ethereal atmosphere changes,

And threatens to drive me into despair.

Storm clouds have gathered unnoticed,

The breeze picks up speed to a Gale,

Words rushing by too rapidly,

Unable to pluck, I seem doomed to fail.

Whooshing and whirling confusedly,

My pen unable to keep up the pace,

I scribble what I can greedily,

Trying to scribe what I can in all haste.

Ever faster and faster the wind goes round,

Becoming a Maelstrom within my mind,

The words now completely non distinct,

Just a blur which makes me almost blind.

Then …… Nothing …… A stillness envelops me,

A vacuum where nothing can stir,

Not a wisp or a breath, all is blank,

No word or picture can incur.

My pen lies helplessly upon the notepad,

Arms limply down at my side,

The fingers twitching, itching to start once again,

But from my mind, all the words hide.

How long do I spend in this wretched place?

I don’t know, it’s too hard to tell,

Minutes, hours or days go by,

With nothing to break the barren spell!

But wait! What was that? No, but …… yes it is!

A whisper floating gently by,

Patiently waiting for the right time,

To express its sweetest of sighs.

Softly, softly, the words now return,

Emerging and drifting along,

Finally, I resume my task gladly,

Plucking words to finish my song!

So there you go. Don't despair. There will always be something that will inspire you, from World or grand events or gestures, to the mundane. It's everywhere!

Thanks for reading. ;-) x

Read More