Reflect: Writing

On the first day of writing the poem, I wrote with what my gut told me to do and it ended up pretty well. I think I started with a strong draft, but not wanting to just admit that it was completely done, I started to workshop some potentially new ideas, metaphors, and ways I could craft my message. Each day, I wrote something new. In my third and fourth draft, I think I hit a good stride. In the second and fifth drafts I ended up writing some pretty clunky metaphors that didn’t hit the vibe of my poem. I wrestled with how I wanted my message to come across. I had the main message of my poem pretty clear, but the delivery is where I knew I could workshop to find the best vehicle for it. I did something surprising on my final draft of the draft book. I ended up taking some of my best ideas from the previous interaction and crafting a much longer poem that really dived into my metaphors and elaborated on them. And I was satisfied with that. But still looked back on the direct rawness of my first and then did something even more surprising when it came to creating my final draft book. I ended up writing a very short version of my poem, taking the strongest metaphors and using that to get my message across. And I’m happy with that. 

Reflect: Bookmaking

I decorated the book the way I did for a few reasons. I wanted the art to reflect the main metaphor I used in the poem but not overpower the poem as my art skill is not very good. I wanted to incorporate some of the images of my poem into their physical art form to give the reader of a better sense of the gravity of the metaphor. I hope that art makes the poem pop a little more. I overall really enjoyed this process of making the book. I think that drafting the poem lots of different times really helped to fully flesh out the idea, and know what didn’t work and what worked well. While my art isn’t very great, I hope the poem book speaks for itself and the message that it delivers. It’s something that is very important to me and my philosophy of life. That all you really ever can do is your best, and to take risks. I also used that form of decoration because colored pencils are the only colorful thing I have in my apartment. But alas, I look forward to making my artist’s book with the practice that I got while making this book. 

All you can ever ask of yourself

There will come a time

when your future

lies across a valley

and you can’t see

how to cross.

Possibilities form

in the mist

of the future

and you catch

a glimpse of what it would feel like

to dance soaking wet.

But all you can EVER ask of yourself

is to step into the canyon

and dive into the valley

to see what awaits you..