Am I the only person who between poems written (and by that I mean finished with the last draft) sometimes feel like I may never be able to once again successfully put a poem on a page? Such insecurities will creep into the next attempt and the one after that, and so on, until I at last break free of the self doubt. 

Of course self doubt leads to greater self criticize which leads often to self censorship. It's a whole vicious circle. Such circles are not a poet's friend.

 

      I've tried to experience the detail in life this weekend. The fingers, leaves, crinkled bark on trees, branches, blades, raindrops, damp concrete, overcast sky, the burr in Madison's hair, the silver hair in Silas's fur.  I've tried to see things from a different perspective, shadows, reflections. or  different views.

      Yesterday, my massage therapist worked on me and I tried my best to surrender stress to the touch and pressure points. In reality I have a back and a neck condition that manifests in chronic pain. Within an hour's time, I was the same person that walked in the door of the Chiropractic Office, but I sure didn't feel like the same person. 

       All of our senses play a role in art. Sight, sound, taste, feel, are as much a part of art as they are of everyday life.  Sometimes life gives us patters or repetitions. Sometimes it mixes everything up and we get potpourri.

      There are many ways to look at what constitutes life. Being a poet, an artist of any kind requires us to live a life observed. To touch, taste, smell, see, as much as we can on a daily basis. Many ordinary people can only think of  dead poets. They don't  really  know many poets who are alive. But I tell you, even the dead poets at one time lived lives very much in their "present" or as we say, "in the moment". That's what being a poet requires. 

So today I randomly selected a Poet Tarot Card  so as to attempt to re-center myself. It's August and the start of the third quarter of the year. I drew the Anne Sexton card and so I will begin my balancing act by channeling Sexton.

Sexton is calling me to give birth to new projects.  Clearly I need more work to send out so this seems reasonable. 

Sexton, with her penchant for "confessional poetry" seems to be giving me a nudge to look deeper inside as I write. Use her raw honesty as an example to step away from areas of  comfort and ease and move ahead into new areas that  I previously have held back from. Do not be overtaken by embarrassment or concern for what others might think. Keep mindful that  writing safely is writing  like most other writers, but be willing to  write in such a way that  I distinguish myself from the ordinary. Ordinary writing is boring. 

Sexton was helped from numerous writers in her day that took an interest in her. She later taught in spite of the fact she was not  educated as a teacher. In that same spirit  be willing to accept help from others and be willing to be supportive and nurturing of others as well.