The tag Lisa uses for this journaling challenge. Don’t click, it doesn’t work. Use the link up on the left, in the text.
Journaling every day is tough. Staying current on Lisa Sonora’s 30-day journal challenge is even tougher. So far, I’ve made it through 22 days. It has not been easy. A lot of the prompts are interesting, but for me, there are some that don’t jump start me.
Now, I’m a writer, but some times I do not like to write essays on a prompt. In fact, I hardly ever like to write an essay when I’m told. It sounds suspiciously like work. Admittedly, Lisa is encouraging art journaling, but I wanted to try getting down to content, not allowing myself to hide behind color or hand lettering.
This is hard. And then I had a weird idea and tried it. And it is working, although not quite fully developed.
Rather than writing down my thoughts about the prompt, which can be kind of thin, I created a list of words that the prompt made me think of. It didn’t matter if they made sense to someone else, or how I connected them. Simply words that jumped to mind.
When I read the list, some of them were strange, almost-poems. One of the prompts was a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke:
“Let nothing in me hold itself closed. For where I am closed, I am false. I want to be clear in your sight.”
Without over thinking (a habit of mine), I wrote:
Closed
silent
strong
false
Clear
windows
sunlight
warm
hot
burn
balance
Certainly not a poem, but also certainly an idea for one.
Another quote was “Solitude is the cure for loneliness.” –Caroline Casey.
And the list:
Solitude is peace
Loneliness is heartbreak
Welcome solitude
Inner warmth
Comfort
Loneliness runs from itself
can’t escape
runs to others
who can’t hear you
in their solitude
which they want
to protect.
Again, not a poem, but certainly the blip on a radar screen of one. If you are a list-maker, this idea may be something that works more than writing three pages a day. Just a list of words that come to mind. Then leave it alone. When you return, it will have done some work on its own, and you can take what you need for your poem.
–-Quinn McDonald is developing an affection for list journaling.
QuinnCreative 
Oh yes, I agree, your poem strikes a chord with me as well. I’ve experienced both and flee from one and welcome the other
I’m loving this more and more. It’s really easy to journal this way. And I like it.
It’s a beautiful poem. It definitely makes you think about it. And always love your ideas, Quinn.
Well, then, thank you!
How come not a poem? IMHO the first one especially is a full grown proper poem. It might not have sentences or vocal rhythm but to me it does seem to have the very core of “poemness:” it feeds the reader’s imagination to create mental images and states that are the actual poem that can’t be grasped in words of any language. I think your non-poem is actually a haiku. It may not have 17 morae in three phrases but your non-poem follows the idea of haiku. Anyway, it will definitely go into my commonplace book. 😀
What a thrill! A poem becomes a poem when it makes some sort of sense or inspires a reader. In other words, has a unifying thread. To me, I still see it as a list of words focused on the idea. But if it becomes a poem to you, I’m honored. For me, these beginnings will become poems later, when I return after some distance.