I spent the month of April participating in National Poetry Month through prompts put together by Fight Evil With Poetry Press. Thirty days of challenging prompts which forced me to wrestle with my thoughts, my raw emotional instinct, and communicate creatively. I have written poetry over the years. In high school, one of my poems was selected for the senior creative arts book for the end of the year. And as a songwriter, I find the process of writing in rhyme, or lyric, a beautiful expression of thought. I am not a professional poet. I do not claim to be. But having written poetry for many years, this was one of the first instances where I publically shared my poetry with others. It was no easy task. To rip open the heart of your emotions, or untangle a web of thoughts, isn't for everyone. But I find myself on the other side of the challenge better for having gone through it.
One of the things I have been working on for over a year is a collection of poetry and illustrations. These poems crafted through these last thirty days, have become part of this work. Hopefully, it will also be part of something more to come.
I've also been curating a playlist that fits my current TwentyTwenty mood.
Give it a listen here. I want to share one of the poems I wrote.
It is the poem from Day 29: Write a Poem about Nature.
"Song of the Mountain"
The mountain is calling, singing songs of adventure The trees marching in time to the sounds of bird calls And I wade through the mist Like campfire smoke to reach the summit What summit is this? The mountain bellows For its peak is only as beautiful as the treacherous valley adjacent to the climb As it is with all things Nothing good comes easy The climb, the work, the struggle of breath Pulsates the life blood of the mountain Within my veins As I climb and climb and climb again I’ve climbed many mountains The physical ones are often easier Than the mental ones I’ve hit my setbacks My storms My weathered slopes To find myself returning to the base For fear of discovery It isn’t just difficult to climb It’s difficult to identify within The reasons I climb As roots stretch from my heart into the trees Planted and desperate for the sun To reach the summit isn’t just to plant a flag Or mark a milestone It is to prove to myself I am capable I am willing I am not defined by the start of my ascension But by the challenges experienced As I traverse the landscape Some I’ve failed Some have hurt deeply But I continue to climb I continue to dig deep within the heart of my expedition To reach the outcomes of the mountains call Travelers have come and gone on my journey Some have stayed with me Others left me for their own adventure Some settled for smoother ground But I continue on I am uncertain of what I’ll find when I reach the peak Of what dreams may shatter Or come to pass before me But I’m determined to try I cannot give up I cannot return the same I must be and will be better for the climb Still the mountain is calling, Singing Songs that lure me, like a siren, into the adventure unknown So I shall go and answer the call And if ever a time comes Where I am able to return from the journey I’ll descend the mountain With stories gathered and adventures shared Forever indebted To the one who formed the mountains And to those who chose To travel with me
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