Creative Tuesday

Letting the narrative dance and the the Japanese word for the glow of a river in darkness.

Ah a staggered start – so many pre-creative tasks…emptying broken kitchen drawers, laundry, answering the door to a delivery, returning goods for elderly mother, answering the door for a collection, laundry, feeding the cat, letting the chap in to repair the broken kitchen drawers, feeding the cat again, laundry, saying goodbye to the man repairing the kitchen drawers, feeding the cat the same food but pretending its different because there has been a strange person in the house. Laundry.

So, my early start was delayed. I am not equipped with a mind that can ignore, so things invariably grab my attention (more on this in Friday’s edition of This Wild Feeling). Finally, I begin, at the not too terrible hour of 10 am having got up at 6.30.

Oh, but was it worth waiting for. I’m so glad all these niggly things were dealt with so I could give my full attention to the final Nine Arches Press masterclass. Each one of these masterclasses has been transformative. I’ve come away with new ways of thinking and looking at my work, new glimmers of excitement about a project that is simmering oh so slowly but will come to fruit by the end of the year (I hope).

Today I learned from Rishi Dastidar, author of Tickertape, Saffron Jack and Neptune’s Projects, consulting editor for Rialto and all-round fantastic poet. Today’s subject “Spinning the narrative thread in poetry” feels like the final piece of a puzzle.  

We walked through concepts around what narrative is, why they matter and of course, why bring narrative to poetry? These may seem like obvious questions – and they are. They are also a springboard to creating a new understanding of how a poem can tell a story, and how a poem can tell it differently to a conventional narrative. Looking back over my notes I see I’ve written “the narrative can dance”. If that’s not an invitation to write I don’t know what is.

I take this knowledge into my final prompt for Magnificent Apparel. I must admit this one is more of a struggle than usual. More often than not a poetry prompt sparks an idea almost instantly and it’s my job to wrestle it into a poem. This week feels that it may be a slower burn – I have notes and an idea, but little concrete to speak of. Time is pressing a little – it’s our final zoom meeting on Friday. I think an early (distraction free) start may be needed tomorrow. I hope watching the light emerge over the trees will bring the clarity and dancing narrative I need.

Other things that are sparking creativity this week

I’m also hoping to make time for the latest Poetry Pals challenge – to write a pantoum. I love to work with form and am really looking forward to this. Time and energy may yet again be my enemy. I feel like a gyroscope waiting to fall. I am always hopeful.

A less demanding discovery has been a glorious collection of Japanese words. On the back of last week’s This Wild Feeling, in which I considered the false focus we give to blossom, Google has furnished me with many links to Japan and all thing Japanese. This is not unwelcome (albeit entirely unnerving) and exploring these words has been a joy. Here are a few of my favourites.

So that’s today’s Creative Tuesday round up. Client work calls for the remainder of the day, and This Wild Feeling will be with you on Friday.

See you soon,

Kathryn

xx

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