Trying to Write Better.

I recently had a session of poetry editing with a close friend and realized there are two basic principles to writing:

1. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY?

and

2. Don't let your subject off the hook.

After two hours of Shannon crossing out whole phrases and sections, repeating over and over again "Do you really need this?" or "Is this really necessary?"and rolling my eyes in response, I realized the purpose of poetry is it's simplicity in describing a moment. It often needs less adjectives than you think and requires the writer to hone in on the most precise of moments and feelings.

So after returning home I sat down at my computer and attempted to cut down and clean out my words. This is what I produced:

Big blue eyes

straining to see the road

over a bear and a bunny.

Locked into my car seat

I was your sidekick

and you my hero

determined to save me

from a world

that frightened you.

Playing make believe

in homemade forts

of sheets and clothespins

my white knight

slayed imaginary dragons

while cookies baked in the oven.

Forever loved, daddy

it is here we must say auf weidersehen

at the dirt road that leads to

Citgo signs and subway rails

We have been guided here

by nights when I told you

to leave the door open

and the hall light on.

Please don’t turn it off daddy,

because I will always need it to guide me home.