Poetically Charged May Poetry Month Newsletter, Living In The In-Between of Poems And Living Being The Poem We're Writing
Poetically Charged May Poetry Month Newsletter, Living In The In-Between of Poems And Living Being The Poem We're Writing
Hello there to all the catalysts and newsletter people who read this! I'm at a coffee shop where the table beside me speaks French. I learned a small amount of French for my one trip, and I had to learn it within a day of flying to the destination. French is my Kryptonite; I am never sure of it and always feel like I butcher it. The people here switch to English to help me out, but I'd love to be able to do more with their language than what I'm limited at.
Language has always been something of interest to me. I've adored it; I have learned the basics of French, Catalonian, Italian, and a small amount of Portuguese that I've probably lost. My strong language is Spanish, but I'm not nearly fluent or like a native speaker. If I spent about a month or so in a Spanish-speaking country, I could get much more efficient at it. But I can never travel abroad except for two weeks, and then I need to return to my work.
I wouldn't be against working in another country for money, but that would mean a visa and paperwork for that to happen.
I've written 174 poems for April. I attended 20 or so workshops mainly, and thanks to Unfold that my friend Tristan dedicated every day in April to poetry workshops. I also have my Undercurrent workshops on Fridays that I still need to include with my traveling and such going on. I haven't been writing about my trip except for being on the plane and the day after my birthday.
For trips, I purposefully write less. I let my mind slow and calm down. I don't have any place to go, and so that rushed state I'm always in curbs to, well, I take things at the pace they come, and that's good. The shift may also be more present without my thinking of making it into a story, a poem, or analyzing everything that comes through.
Since April has finished, I haven't written at all since May. That's about six days now, but I give my body these breaks as it wants to be quieter or if it wants to write more. The body and creativity inside of you are like a current. It will move quicker with rainfall, aka inspiration, or when it's a drought, and there's less ability or movement for the current. You'll have less you can create. I'm told experiencing life is part of the inspiration. Still, after a trip, I generally go into a re-hermit mode of recalibrating back into the "real world" and what my routine was before I removed myself from it.
How my writing evolved this month thanks to workshops
Because I could write for 30 days with Tristan's Unfold, I noticed something. I shared a more dynamic set of poems than I would typically share. In workshops, slams, or open mic, I choose a poem that generally makes me cry. The one that may affect someone out there. But with so many days in the month and so many times for someone to hear my poems, I spread out. And I made spicy, funny poetry.
I've been told I am a "funny" person. One of the funniest is that I should be a comedian, and people are downright upset I am not doing standup comedy. I'm intimidated by it. I don't know how to tell a joke. I know how to be a joke.
I wrote some of my first-ever pop culture poems. I wrote an ode to Buffy the vampire slayer and how that show gave me my first lesbian couple on TV to resonate with. I wrote a poem for the new series BEEF on Netflix and used each episode name as a part of a stanza. It was giving away no secrets of the show but going on the themes it shared, images, and the feel of it.
I wrote poems on animals. I wrote poems on Botanical Sexism and how it's fucking our allergies up that they plant mainly male species of trees. Each day with Unfold was a different theme, and my heart fluttered for how that theme could open up a secret doorway to more parts of where my writing hasn't gone and hasn't been.
Tiny micro of the Botanical Sexism poem:
4-21-23 Unfold Poetry Workshop Full Full-Color Life
Goldenrod isn't the problem. It's all the male trees splooging pollen
I heard male trees are splooging their pollen all over the place
and hear another one say Goldenrod is our problem
but never is a more joyous occurrence than
a goldenrod unfurling its wonder into
the air and asking hundreds of
bees to visit its bounty.
What's going on with me that you can get into
I have stickers that I drew the art behind them where the words are in my handwriting: "Weird Is Wonderful" with a Nautilus. I also have "Poetry is my love language/We are more than what we fear" in supermini, thumbnail-sized stickers. I didn't know they were such tiny babies, but I'm hoping to send them with cards for Patreon supporters (to be a supporter, here's this link: https://www.patreon.com/sarahmentalpoet).
A new sticker is coming out! "Write that damn delightful poem!" inspired by my friend Kimberly Shaw the Closer telling me that all the time when I said something poetic. I also have an SBM artwork I made that will also be coming in the mail.
I found cards I had been hiding (sort of!), so I'm excited to be able to rotate the cuteness of cards every month. I might post the card that's featured for each month here. If I do end up repeating (I don't see that for the rest of the year, but we will see. I was supposed to get a whole shipment of cuteness cards in but never got delivered), you'll always get just my thanks and gratitude for being a supporter.
I also have two poems published in this literary journal which I'm honored to be a part of: https://freeverserevolution.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/anchor-cover-1.png
Listening to: Life on a Chain, Pete Yorn
Reading: The Carrying, Ada Limon
I am getting back to myself with in-person things and hoping to make an open mic in person. But I also need to honor my energy by not pushing it because I know I'll need to recover more if I do.