Daily Nourishment for April 28: We Keep Making the Best of It
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 40 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 10-15 minutes
“An almost empty suitcase–that’s what I want my poems to be. A few things. The reader starts taking them out, but they keep multiplying.” - Kay Ryan
Prompt.
Here’s more from Kay Ryan:
“The poems are so small. If I have a narrow line and lots of them, I feel that it may slow the reader down so the poem’s not over so fast. Also I like the danger; the short line has so much edge. I can’t bury a weak word. Also I find that the really short line allows me to hide rhyme.
I’m not opposed to end rhyme, but I don’t like to see very much of it. I like to bounce the rhyme among word parts and have it show up in different places, and the little line allows me to do that. Also, I think it just looks nice on the page. You mentioned an evolution, but I guess it just pleased me to write with these shorter lines and so I’ve done it more and more. It’s funny. It’s not like there was a time when I said, ‘I think I’ll make my poems narrower.’ They just seemed to start getting that way.”
Practice.
Set a timer for seven minutes and take notes on Ryan’s poems and quotes above. Write your notes down in a narrow column like Ryan’s poems. See what happens next.
Want More?
Here’s a great interview with Kay Ryan.
*
SDW Four-Hour Retreats Are Back: Saturday, May 2, Zoom, Pay what you can.
Become an SDW Insider and reserve your copy of Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life AND receive access to the All of Life Is the Writing Life Deep Dive online course—a preorder perk that explores how the mantra “All of life is the writing life” shows up in the Spiritual Direction for Writers book.
NEW: SDW Book Notes—A place for book preorder links, updates, resources, notes, and musings
Group Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls
Flourish Anyway with Rhythms, Rituals, & Retreats
Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
*Please help us protect our intellectual property, our creative process, and the integrity of our work. Spiritual Direction for Writers® Daily Nourishment is covered under the Spiritual Direction for Writers® trademark. You are welcome to share this link with others, but any other use (written or spoken) is prohibited without written permission from Charlotte Donlon.