I’m really not a creative writer. Assignments and deadlines are what make me tick, which is why I typically cover newsy things. But for one semester in college, I gave it a try. Michael McFee, a great poet in his own right, teaches poetry writing at Carolina, so I decided to take it. It was challenging, but enjoyable. I pretty much discovered that I don’t have the patience…or maybe even the artistic mind…to write poetry all that often. But for 16 weeks, I did, and I came up with some stuff that I like even now.
So these two poems seem appropriate to share today. The first was inspired by Thanksgiving travel during my college era, and the second by the woman who took me in for Thanksgiving all four of those years…and then some. Her 89th birthday would have been on Tuesday, and this is my first Thanksgiving without her.
(Oh, and a note: The first poem is a form known as a pantoum, in which the repetition is part of the design.)
Last week’s entry regarding my time at the DTH made me think of this piece, which I wrote in late 2007. See, my main gig at the DTH—all four years—was reviewing movies. Most of the time, they were split between heavy-duty art-house films and insipid popcorn flicks. But over time, I got used to it. There was a definite pattern to writing reviews…and it was always much more fun to trash the bad movies. (And as the photo suggests, in my early days on the arts desk, we awarded feet instead of stars.)
No, not that one. This post requires explanation up front.
I believe in defying expectations.
