I write because I have to
I write because I must
I write because my brain is full
And I might just bust
I write to share my deepest joys
I write to heal my hurts
I write, in part, to save my friends
From my ever-incessant blurts
Aaaand now I’m trying, trying to write in prose.
Poetry is my heartbeat.
Maybe you already know this from our family blog.
Maybe you already know this because you were one of my students who learned best from my lessons I’d put into poetry form.
Maybe you already know this because we were teachers together and you found some of my poetry left in the workroom.
Maybe you already know this because we’ve been friends for a long time, and the best way I knew to speak to you when you were hurting…or rejoicing was through a poem.
Maybe you already know this because you’ve enjoyed the silly rhymes in one of my first two books (!).
Or maybe we’ve never met and you don’t actually know this.
Well, consider it known now:
I,
Sarah Steele,
love to write,
must write,
am healthiest when I write,
and so long as this heart is beating,
poetry will be my language of choice.
I adore poetry for many of these reasons and more. The musicality and playfulness it provides make my world a better place. Thank you for contributing to the world of poetry!
Musicality–that’s the perfect word to describe poetry. We’ve been reading Over in the Meadow in the mornings, and even without its song format, Liddi (at only one-year-old!) can FEEL the musicality of it and starts bouncing along as we recite it. That’s it exactly!
Can you think back to when you first fell in love with poetry and started to think in rhyme and rhyth?
Ooo fun question! I just looked through my personal Book of Poems that I’ve written throughout the years. The first one I have recorded was from when I was in 5th grade. We had been visiting my grandmother’s grave in Ohio, and I was so sad that I simply had to put my mind somewhere else. A little robin flitted about a tree near the gravesite, and I fixated on it until a short poem formed in my mind. I remember writing it down on the car ride home!
“A robin is a pretty thing // that travels everywhere. // And when she comes home to her nest // she doesn’t have a care. // But when her baby chicks are born // she always watches them // until they are quite grown-up // and have a her or him.”
And that was the beginning of the beginning!
“I’m healthiest when I write” love it!!
I’m sure that resonates with you too, Jami! Although, maybe it’s changing to “I’m healthiest when I create” in general, oh seamstress/photographer/stylist!
“I write, in part, to save my friends From my ever-incessant blurts” This made me chuckle 🙂 Seriously, though, I may not be a talented writer like yourself, but I can so relate to the need to write, express on paper that which can seemingly ONLY be expressed on paper. You’ve inspired me to dig out some old journals and take a look at poetry written in years (lives?) past!
We have such similar processing needs, Jen! I love reading your stream-of-consciousness writing, watching your thoughts move from one to another. But poetry, this I don’t know as much about for you–I’d love for you to share some with me sometime!
I wish I could write poetry, but it’s always been my weak point. Do what you do best, girl! You rock the poetry! I write because I have to write too… but I do the whole prose thing 🙂
And I LOVE reading your prose, so YOU keep it up, girl!