Perfect Conditions #2: I Wrote A Poem

A bit of exposure therapy and some real poetry not by me.

In my Day Job™️ I coordinate creative writing programmes for young people, working with schools and community groups to encourage kids to express themselves through writing. A couple of weeks ago we ran a summer school all about eco-writing, looking at how we relate to the world around us and writing poems and stories inspired by nature.

Sometimes I facilitate these sessions but this week, I was there as an adult volunteer, providing words of encouragement and a steady supply of sandwiches, crisps and Robinson’s Fruit Shoots.

Being part of these workshops as an adult is often about role-modelling a creative practice. You have to get stuck in and show the (sometimes reluctant) kids that it doesn’t matter if you’ve never done something before, or if your handwriting isn’t super neat, or if you struggle with where to put your commas. The doing is the thing.

Sounds like great advice, right? It turns out I need to take my own medicine more often.

During one session this week, our facilitator asked the group to each write a poem about welcoming an animal into their home. What kind of animal would it be? How would you communicate with it? What might help to make your home more welcoming for something that usually lives outside? What might happen once the animal is at home with you? After considering each of these questions, we had to compose a few lines of poetry to paint a picture of our imaginary wild encounter.

As the group got to work, absorbed in their writing, I realised that right then I wasn’t needed. Everyone had their own ideas and were slowly but surely putting some lines down on paper. So, I thought, maybe I’ll do some writing too.

When I tell people that I write, the first question is usually about what kind of writing I do. Do you ever write fiction? No, I say. Personal essays, blogging, reviewing, the odd bit of journalism, yes. But rarely, if ever, do I sit down to write fiction. When I think about the kind of books I want to write, they’re never novels. It’s just not what my writing mind is drawn to.

If I rarely write creative prose, then I certainly never find myself writing poetry. I read and enjoy poetry. I have friends who are poets! But it’s a form that feels intimidating and completely alien to me. So when I decided to join the kids in putting some lines together, I suddenly felt stiff and nervous. Looking around at their heads bent, pens busying away on the page, I thought I should probably take some of the advice that I would have given the kids. The doing is the thing. So just write something down.

Now, I’m not going to pretend that I’ve since been scooped up by an agent and hailed as this generation’s Plath or Oliver. Let’s be serious. But I did write a poem. And, in pursuit of avoiding perfectionism, I thought I’d share it here.

Magpie

I leave the doors open

and you visit every day

eat a little bird seed and fly

back to your nest across the street.

Every day I invite you inside

to see the home we live in

close up and colourful

like I see you on our balcony each day.

But you seem quite happy to visit

at a distance

a good luck charm outside the house.

We made our poems into poetry mobiles, which the kids used to decorate the space for their final sharing. Of course I made one too.

Will I ever write any more poetry? Maybe not, though it was nice to take half an hour or so to dabble. The dabbling is the thing. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or terrible or actually just okay. It’s the act of making, creating, writing that makes you a better maker, creator, writer. We learn by doing, so the doing is the thing. Anything that comes after that is a bonus.

If you’re now looking for some real poetry to enjoy, please may I recommend two poetic pals of mine?

Firstly, the beautiful creative soul that is Catherine Wilson Garry, who I have had the privilege to call my colleague as well as my friend. She also writes a great Substack, Wannabe Flâneur and is hosting this poetry event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival which I cannot wait to attend!

Another pal and gorgeous poet and writer is Madeleine Heyworth. She’s recently had two new poems published: Projectile and Naming myself as a poet, both of which grab you viscerally by the collar and give you a good shake.

If you have any poetry recommendations, I’d love to know what they are - especially if they’re written by you!