DAY 22 (January 27th, 2018)

ADRIFT

He finally sees,
When all that’s left is blindness,
when all hope’s lost for land or shore—
only squalls or deadly tempest,
or maelstrom’s eye and heady vertigo—
or placid waters lapping
on the rotting timbers of his only home—
the marrow of a sinking raft
upon the empty ocean—
. . . adrift.

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, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!

DAY 21 (January 26th, 2018)

SHAMELESS GESTURES

You come
only when I call with this solitary voice–
you listen–
only when these bare-toothed baubles,
brimming with promise
both primitive and grotesque,
are with shameless gestures swept away,
and to pieces fall and break.

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, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!

DAY 20 (January 25th, 2018)

WHAT’S REAL

We make with our minds
the things we wish to see.

There’s God …
but as many minds in the world there are
are there Gods envisioned.

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, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!

DAY 19 (January 24th, 2018)

YOURS AND MINE

I’m not yours–
You’re not mine–
There’s no object in ownership, anyway.

And what joy is this
to listen, watch, and wonder–
the stories that made you,
the words lilting in your voice,
the pictures on your skin
the turning of your wrist–
an illustrated, disclosing gesture.

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, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!

DAY 18 (January 23rd, 2018)

HALF THOUGHTS

They march, unkempt and disjointed,
grim-faced soldiers—
a dreary, funereal procession of half-hearted thoughts—
that bud, wither, but never bloom.
They seem so inconsequential—
outrageous and artless.

I often forget, under a moth-eaten quilt,
in a cold, stone-wet room—
freight cars clatter like iron chains on dusky tracks—
the train head bellows—
the echo measures miles—tens of miles—hundreds, perhaps.
I wake, stark-faced, and remember—
I slept too long.

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, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!

DAY 17 (January 22nd, 2018)

You are a gift, my friend.

UNDESERVING

What am I but undeserving
and you a trove of delightful turns—
a guiding star—
for both veins of gold and sorrow
run deep into arterial darkness—
into this—my suffering heart.

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, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!

DAY 16 (January 21th, 2018)

Standing in front of the East Cowes Castle, the Seat of J. Nash, Esq., the Regatta Beating to Windward by Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775-1851) at the IMA

I FACE THE OPEN SKY

I face the open sky and there,
in the fog-drenched distance,
is all the world in miniature.
The ocean swells like an enraged Olympian beast
buffeting the wind-enslaved boatmen—
their courage-filled hearts bursting—
in huffs they breathe the salt and sea spray.

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, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!

DAY 15 (January 20th, 2018)

Love and all its travails. But this is life is it not?

OLD HAT

It’s almost old hat—
to take what cuts to the quick
and sever a bond of love.
Wounds heal more quickly now—
No doubt I tend to them expertly.

And yet another respite
and again I’m in your arms, old friend—
we’ll talk more deeply than before—
for our bond endures beyond all things—
not in spite of but through our suffering.

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, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!

DAYS 12, 13, and 14 (January 17th, 18th, and 19th, 2018)

These stanzas were inspired by landscape paintings at the IMA.

THE ARTIST’S PURPOSE

The sky is sometimes a confection
of two kinds of clouds—
the artist’s purpose is often unclear.

UNADULTERATED

Can such unadulterated beauty
only exist in paintings?
Sadly, it is true—
there’s nothing left undefiled.

EACH HAS EYES

Each has eyes.
Each has eyes to see.
What of all God’s whims
catches your fancy?

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, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!

DAYS 10 and 11 (January 15th and 16th, 2018)

This bit of work represents some retooling and expansion of my last post.

WILDFLOWERS

What is this futile little game—
which for words This transcends
for words I search in vain.
But still, I like to play—
It keeps her close.

That was springs ago—
and yet still I gather,
and wait and wonder.

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, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!