100 Day Project – Days 81 and 82

DAY 81 (July 30th, 2017)

Lisel Mueller
Lisel Mueller

A Day Like Any Other

Such insignificance: a glance
at your record on the doctor’s desk
or a letter not meant for you.

How could you have known? It’s not true
that your life passes before you
in rapid motion, but your watch
suddenly ticks like an amplified heart,
the hands freezing against a white
that is a judgment.
Otherwise nothing.

The face in the mirror is still yours.

Two men pass on the sidewalk
and do not stare at your window.

Your room is silent, the plants
locked inside their mysterious lives
as always.
The queen-of-the-night
refuses to bloom, does not accept
your definition.
It makes no sense,
your scanning the street for a traffic snarl,
a new crack in the pavement,
a flag at half-mast — signs
of some disturbance in the world
because your friend, the morning sun,
has turned its dark side toward you.

DAY 82 (July 31st, 2017)

Lisel Mueller
Lisel Mueller

Night Song

Among rocks, I am the loose one,
among arrows, I am the heart,
among daughters, I am the recluse,
among sons, the one who dies young.

Among answers, I am the question,
between lovers, I am the sword,
among scars, I am the fresh wound,
among confetti, the black flag.

Among shoes, I am the onw with the pebble,
among days, the one that never comes,
among the bones you find on the beach
the one that sings was mine.

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

FREEDOM

Find freedom in the face
of one’s own inconsequence
and no longer must you feed
this ravenous illusion
built brick by brick
with pride as trowel
and ignorance as mortar.

And for what?
This edifice you so
lovingly constructed
was built upon a cliff
eroded and beaten by storms so fierce
as to sink whole Persian fleets.


The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this 100 Day Project on May 11th. My project is to read a poem, and write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by that poem. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project/

Enjoy!

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