Unintended impact

Issue #74 of your inbox poetry magazine

Crying, or
simply too much paint sprayed
in a rush to not get caught? Impact
might be stronger now than
intended.

In creating art, little mishaps can happen. A mistake, an error, an unexpected something or the other. Of course, there are those who will see the failure, the fault, the potential lack of talent of the artist. True art is flawless, right?

I don’t believe that. Sometimes, that little mishap is very serendipitous. It can actually make the impact a work of art has so much stronger. You can find a better way of doing something by accident. Or by trying enough times. There is a quote, attributed to Edison, that talks about not failing, but finding 1000 ways that don’t work. And maybe they do work and fix something else. Penicillin was invented by happy accident. That just goes to show that in any (creative) process, the outcome may not be the desired one, but even better.

Sometimes, it just takes a different point of view to actually see that. Make sure you find different vantage points to look at yourself and the things you do. Preferably with some positive lighting or rose-tinted glasses.

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Something to listen to

If there’s one thing you are going to listen to this weekend, let it be this. Episode 1 of season 2 of our poetry podcast. We speak with one of our favorite poets Amy:

Of course, if you so wish, you can hear me read today’s poem here:

Finally, don’t forget to get your energy up and dance. Dancing is simply a very good remedy for anything resembling a feeling induced by blue Mondays or other sadness.

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Poetry elsewhere

Serendipity can be certainly found in your head when you make breakfast and put on a random playlist. At least when you are a poet collaborating under the name Poetry Trapper Keeper. Extraordinary poetry, and with this one a recipe to create your own. I tested it, it works. Poetry is just like dj-ing with text.

Short poetry can hold so much more than the limited amount of words might suggest. And someone who is quite good at that is Molly Skeen. I love her work because she writes what she writes with conviction. She’s a gifted writer, and this haiku is just one proof of that: a warming trend.

The beauty of ordinary things. Something Amy (yes, the one from the podcast you can find behind the first link in the previous section) is very good at describing. She’s also great at writing wonderful haiku. You can find out for yourself here: The Sonnet and the Muse.

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The poem on top is a tritriplicata, a poetic form I created. If you want to know more about it, click here to find answers to some of the questions you might have.