Poetry Everyday

Henry Miller, in Tropic of Cancer, tells us that we write a novel in our head everyday. For poets, this might mean we write a poem every new moment we experience. Sometimes, all of this work is hard to process, so we ignore the poetry in our lives. To retrain our minds to pick up these moments, keep a small notebook with you for one week. On the first day, each free moment you have will be spent writing the details of what's been happening through out your day. Do this on your lunch break, in the bathroom, or during a lull in your workflow. On the second day, force yourself to continue this process. By the fourth or fifth day, your hands should be itching to write down new moments.

Remember: You don't need full sentences. Just jot down the moments you come across.

You may not need half of what you write. You may find new connections with a previous days entry when you look back on them. And, if you keep this up for long periods of time, you might even connect writing to a previous months entry.

"A man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket and write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought are commonly the most valuable and should be secured, they seldom return."--Francis Bacon