On being accident prone

A poem and its process

April is, among other things, National Poetry Month. It is a time when poets around the world gather on Instagram to write and post a poem every single day of the month—30 new poems in 30 days. I’ve done it before, and have traded poems back and forth with friend, but this year I am actively engaging on Instagram (if you’re curious, you can find me at @poemsfortiredpeople).

The two poems in this post are a before and after. They were inspired by the poet Katie Lowe (@katielowewrites), whose poem today was called “Things I say to my children that I am learning to say to myself” a sentiment I understand well.

My poem ended up in a much less hopeful place than Katie’s, but that’s what happens sometimes. The story about Paris came as a total surprise. I’m going with it.

The poem up top lives on my IG, and the one on the bottom is where it is now. I’m pretty sure it’s not finished, but I like where it’s headed. My thinking, as I moved from the first to the second, after already having written several versions, was that it wasn’t specific enough. The narrative needed, well, more narrative.

If you’re interested in reading to the end of the poem, as well as learning about my my process, and having a weekly writing prompt, please consider a paid subscription. And thank you for being here no matter what!

Accidents Happen

You’ll catch me leaving an egg

on a counter, having forgotten

its entire existence while looking

for milk to scramble it with.

Cut to me being annoyed

when it falls and shatters thanks

to my lack of attention.

I once walked into a stop sign,

which was, come to think of it,

probably a message from god