When the Poem Gets Away

A poet friend (a professor) once shared with me how it was for him sometimes, with writing. He was an accomplished poet with a good number of completed poems to his name. Yet there were times when an idea for a poem would come—a good idea, a prickling-of-the-skin kind of idea, but he had too many student papers to grade, letters of reference to write, and lectures to prepare. And the poem went away.

Has that happened to you? I believe that it happens more than we know. Life intervenes and we do not always act on inspiration when it comes. Or an idea may skip across our minds so fleetingly that we do not recognize it or its potential. And the idea is lost.

The good news is that the universe is teeming with ideas—ideas for poems, paintings, novels, and books of essays, all waiting to take form; and if we pay attention, if we keep our eyes and ears and our minds open, more ideas will come.

In her book, Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert shares her belief about the way creativity takes place. That there are untold numbers of ideas floating about, standing by, wanting to be born. That ideas have a sort of consciousness. They have will, and they “want” to develop and emerge into a larger existence. But for this to occur, they need a human collaborator. Someone who recognizes the idea for what it may become, takes hold of it, and devotes herself to making it manifest.

Perhaps that’s a little far-fetched. A little fanciful. But the ways of the cosmos and of creativity are mysterious. There’s always a little magic about the creative process. And if our next fabulous poem or novel is wanting to find us, it behooves us to be in readiness. Do what we must so that we can act when that spark of inspiration happens by.

So how do we do that? Mary Oliver says that for writers, “to pay attention, that is our endless and proper work.” So let us work to be alive to the world. To what we see and hear. The way the scent of plum blossoms takes you back to your childhood. How a robin warbling in early spring at dusk can almost break your heart. Do what we can to slow down, indulge in idleness, and remain curious. Sit in your chair in the sun with a pen in your hand, and see what wants to be written.

We live in a busy world. We have to make a living and take care of those around us. And we cannot help it sometimes—ideas disappear back into the ether from which they came. Our solace is to know that more inspiration will come, and we can unplug, relax, and pay attention, and that wild joyful rush of inspiration will make its way to us once more. –Lucy Adkins

For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com. Or follow this link to purchase Writing in Community or our latest book, The Fire Inside.