So, here it is Day 4 and I’m still enjoying playing around with my nebulous NPM project. It occurred to me that if I’m going to keep doing this, a title or overarching theme (other than “Grabbing random books off my shelf” ) might be helpful. Maybe “Dusting off the Shelves” or “Dusting away the Cobwebs”?

Clearly, I’m going about all of this a bit backwards. Most people choose their theme or topic and then dive in. I’m dipping my toes in, happily uncommitted. As long as it feels fun and productive, I’m going to continue. As soon as it feels like a slog, I will probably opt out. If I keep going, perhaps I’ll find a title by the end of the month. 🙂

This morning, I grabbed Sandford Lyne’s book, “Writing poetry from the inside out: finding your voice through the craft of poetry” off my shelf. It’s filled with techniques, tips and writing exercises. He encourages “poem sketching”, using words as materials to create quick sketches or word studies, and suggests using word groups to get started. I’ve enjoyed playing around with these in the past and thought I’d try again today. Low stakes and fun is my mantra for the month! I turned to the back of the book, where Lyne generously provides groups of words. So many choices! I let my eyes flit over them and stopped on the first group that appealed to me this morning:

honeysuckle
fence
trespass
taste

Here’s what I came up with:

Trespass

Honeysuckle clambers climbs
up and over garden fence
slow interloper
roping coils of twining branches
she advances
trespassing
with fragrant stealth
betraying her presence
with air that tastes
of forbidden nectar

©Molly Hogan, draft

And as I typed this, another poem popped up.

Does the pale wooden fence
feel the honeysuckle’s weight
as a burden?
Does it resent
the relentless trespass?
Or does it relish the swirl
of twining vine
and preen beneath
the sheath of blossoms,
acquiring a taste
for gaud and glory?

©Molly Hogan, draft