Two months off

I'm trying to get back to writing after not doing it for about two months (teaching, reading, trip to the West Coast, the endless needs of the house and garden, etc). I read, all in one sitting, Mule by Shane McCrae yesterday and I'm pleased to say that it made me want to write. Not in the sense of "I can do better than that" but in the sense of here is someone fitting language to experience in a way that makes me feel awake and interested and even impatient with what I've written so far.
The plan is to start small, start badly, but to start. In the words of Dr. Seuss, "Maybe you can, too. I think you ought to try."

Exercise for the day

This blog was created primarily to help inspire you to make poetry a regular part of your daily life. Toward that end, I'll be sharing some of my favorite exercises for getting around writer's block. I've been thinking about my forthcoming book, The Alphabet Conspiracy, and the poems in it. The first one is an abcderian, a poem that uses the alphabet for structure--first line begins with or revolves around "A," next one "B" and so on all the way to "Z." My poem "Intercession" used the Patron Saints Index to create an alphabetical list of all the things there are saints for. You can do something like this, too. Take a book down from your shelf that has an index and compose your own abcderian using the items you find there (note, you might have to make something up for some letters, such as "X," but you're a poet--you can use your imagination).
Good luck! And if you like, post your poem in the comments field.
Happy writing!