#ROW80 Nourishing Harvest

March 22, 2015 — #NaPoWriMo, #ROW80, nourishing, poetry, writing

ROW80

On this last check in to #ROW80 I am taking stock of the bountiful benefits I harvested from this program.  I tried it on a lark in order to revive my dead tumblr blog and work on poetry.  Results have surpassed my wildest imagination even though I did not fully complete every goal I set at the start.  There is the goal, and then there is the spirit of the goal.  I am pleased to have established:

• an almost daily poetry writing practice, with emphasis on trying new things
• a weekly trip to the U of A Poetry Center for inspiration
• listening and reading a wide variety of poems from all sources
• making use of exercise time to hear poetry podcasts and ponder
• following and reading poets on tumblr

For me this means I am primed and ready for #NaPoWriMo in April.  Taking the plunge into poetry during National Poetry Month is a pleasure.  There are poems everywhere, tweeting across the universe at lightening speed, during the month of April.  You don’t need to write them to enjoy reading the participants’ creations.  If you follow the hashtag #NaPoWriMo you may be inspired to contribute. Last year PBS wrote a group poem on twitter which turned out to be very good.  I can’t wait to see what creative events might be in store this year.  I find the energy and the generosity of #ROW80 to be similar to the poetry month program.  Maybe some of my colleagues from here will migrate, or just pop in to enjoy.  It is a non judgmental, creative canvass with major potential for fun.

March happens to be National Nutrition Month, which has made me think about the metaphor of feeding the body and feeding the soul.  We need to ingest calories to stay alive, but there are other qualities to nourishment.  A home-grown lovingly prepared meal has extra positive energy and support that cannot be found at a drive through window.  Joyful play and movement bring circulation to the blood as well as to the senses.  We do not live by bread alone.  The similarities I see between delicious healthy food and a carefully crafted poem may not be obvious. They are both nourishing to the spirit, and necessary to life. I plan to write some cooking and eating poems in April as I expand my repertoire.  Thank you all very much for sharing these 80 days with me.

I will end with a nourishing metaphor by William Shakespeare in his Sonnet 75:

So are you to my thoughts as food to life,
Or as sweet-seasoned showers are to the ground;
And for the peace of you I hold such strife
As ‘twixt a miser and his wealth is found.
Now proud as an enjoyer, and anon
Doubting the filching age will steal his treasure;
Now counting best to be with you alone,
Then bettered that the world may see my pleasure;
Sometimes all full with feasting on your sight,
And by and by clean starvèd for a look;
Possessing or pursuing no delight
Save what is had, or must from you be took.
Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day,
Or gluttoning on all, or all away.