Leaving Traces

When running, go ever lightly
Though rapid as a cheetah hunting –
Not tracking nose down, like hounds,
See the earth rising with each lunge
Catch the vision, scene in
An opportunity of words supposed
Bright foils that scrimmage
When captured upon an open page.

State the business though
Monkeyed it might be, sing it
If it is harmony – carrying peace
Like lovely masses where
Every syllable shines a precious gem
Reflections lifting sorrow, erasing
Care from souls doubting life
Can be borrowed for tomorrow.

Cupping hands for freshwater
To cool the parchment of thirst
Brought on by racing to make
This day savory, trusting
An exhausted body to rebound
Outlining a future of remarkable
Service with little decrepitude.

Lightly, overcoming the weight
Bowing shoulders, fast, losing hope;
Bringing victorious kindness forth
Presenting before the Spirit of Love
Forwarding any praise essential;
Though perhaps not winning first
God attends every soul careering on.

Cannot Lose

If creative practice is coming hard, the feeling is uninspired; this is not the time to break off working or quit. Waiting on the muse is not the way to breakthrough; action begets action.

When working, even without vision, the focus often appears. Creativity is not always fire from on high; sometimes, it works in the dark when the well is parched.

The best way to grow ability, skill, and talent is to use those endowments every day. Even stolen moments give time for proper application.

Creative block is a myth, or most often. The work is always available when dearly sought. Sometimes it may seem a safari fraught with desert spaces, but the jungle exists and is lush. Putting in the time, presence, generates ideas – effort reaps priceless rewards.

Practice daily, even when love lapses, passion ebbs, tunes the imagination for more significant endeavors. Sometimes it falls flat, but mistakes and failures can fold in as ingredients in other projects.

Journals, sketchbooks, devices can gather up scraps, scribbles, those pieces that become something more defined. Having a place to collect all the fragments that appear throughout the hours of the day permits imperfection and play.

Creativity is always present, but it can be shy and requires inviting into every day.

Instants Gather

Be strong, for there is
No other way to conquer fear
Or release the love
Needed to set worlds aright,
Let hearts go on burning bright.
Disappointment will
Steal every happiness, if let –
Expectations stir
The wellsprings of discontent –
Even deserted choose joy.
Make alone – free space
For empowerment and learning
Bask in the design
Which allows acquisition
Of skill, creativity.
Most experience
Starts in imagination,
Thought being precious
Never waste it, cultivate
Attitudes of gratitude.
Be a positive
Person in a negative
World and different
When others opt to conform,
Be a presence live unique.

Eligibility Indeed

Some said there was not
Any way it could work out
Too much at stake, about
A zillion ways to go wrong,
But hope stood by in support.
The ideas seemed solid, right,
No one could stop what began
Not one found, as an also-ran
No guarantees but love, delight,
Laser-lighted heart and mind.
Could it happen? Would it be?
Might the practice succeed?
Should impossibility thrive?
Naysayers did not a defense rally,
Many tried to end opportunity.
All hours, days, months, years
Progress delivered with salty tears,
Mistakes, failures, dead stops
Such negativity bore down a lot;
Somehow creativity survived, a poet
Poetry unleashed – becomes the poem.

Prompt: What is your experience of creativity? Is it always cheerful and pleasant, or does it sometimes come when it lifts your mind from depths of darkness? Create something juxtaposing the good and bad parts of your practice.