Stretching My Comfort Zone

Since my return to Savannah in 2021, I’ve missed my poetry community in North Carolina but the Learning Center of Senior Citizens, Inc. has offered a few outlets.  January’s “Poetry for the People” gave members a chance to read poetry before a group.  Some chose to showcase their own.  Some shared favorites by other poets.  A few, like me, did both. The turn-out was great.   In April I was honored to launch my new collection, The Watchful Eye there.  I was thrilled with how many attended.  A good many even bought books.  The next poetry celebration will be an afternoon of Poems in History, a time for members to dig into poems about historic events.  I am going to discuss and read “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen. Little did I know when I chose it, how timely it might be when August 14 rolls around.

Now I’m looking to take it a step farther. If a small core of people register, the fall term will include a 9-week poetry writing immersion. I have volunteered to lead a workshop for up to 8 participants who want to write poems in a supportive group. The syllabus is in progress now.  The idea is to study sample poems, dig into craft topics like line length, sounds, and form and to write.  I’ll give prompts and we’ll do some free writes in the hope that at least a few will be crafted in to poems for workshopping. Maybe we’ll all finish the term with poems we are proud of.  Being the facilitator will be a new experience for me.  Here’s hoping a few poets or hope-to-be poets will join me as I  stretch my comfort zone.

The photo above is from a workshop from several years ago led by my mentor, Ken Chamlee.