100 Day Project – Days 95 and 96

DAY 95 (August 13th, 2017)

Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson

The Heart has narrow Banks

The Heart has narrow Banks
It measures like the Sea
In mighty—unremitting Bass
And Blue Monotony

Till Hurricane bisect
And as itself discerns
Its sufficient Area
The Heart convulsive learns

That Calm is but a Wall
Of unattempted Gauze
An instant’s Push demolishes
A Questioning—dissolves.

DAY 96 (August 14th, 2017)

Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg

Pearl Fog

Open the door now.

Go roll up the collar of your coat
To walk in the changing scarf of mist.

Tell your sins here to the pearl fog
And know for once a deepening night
Strange as the half-meanings
Alurk in a wise woman’s mousey eyes.

Yes, tell your sins
And know how careless a pearl fog is
Of the laws you have broken.

My Commentary

I’ve combined these two into a single poem

LIFE STARTS WITH A WORD

Life starts with a word
uttered in comtemplation.

The word may become a question,
and if it’s asked with the heart of a wide-eyed child,
answers in visions may unfold like petals
of a lotus flower emerging from an emerald pond
to embrace the morning sun.

And all your questions,
strung together like pearls,
tell your story.


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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