30for30
Results of an (experimental) exploration in poetry
30for30
Results of an (experimental) exploration in poetry
As a gift to myself, I challenged myself to write a 30-word poem each day for 30 days of my birthday month. And I did just that!
I don’t think of myself as a gifted poet, but the purpose of this challenge was not to write eloquent, memorable verses that stand the test of time. No, this was an exercise to get my brain to work outside its comfort zone.
Here were my “rules of engagement” for the challenge:
One poem posted to Notes by midnight of each day
Stick to exactly 30 words (I counted hyphenated words as “one” word, for a matter of consistency in counting)
Spend no more than ten minutes from start to finish, which meant as soon as I had 30 words that flowed reasonably well, I needed to hit post and move on with my day. Perfectionism be damned.
I did remarkably well sticking to my self-imposed rules. I missed one day, but I didn’t stress too much. And for that, I’m proud to say, “Challenge Completed!”
And here they are—in order and with a brief explanation of my inspiration for the daily poem.1
***30for30 - an (experimental) exploration in poetry***
June 1 - Self-Care
Feet elevated
The glow of the sun
Plays across my closed eyes
Wind tugs at the blanket edges
Gently swaying
Cooling me through the woven embrace
A glorious
Relaxing
DayInspiration from sitting in my hammock on my birthday.
June 2 - Writing Alarm Clock
Clickety-clack
Announces her approach
Snort, snuffle, sneeze
Requests my attention
A cold nose under my arm
Lifts my hand
Interrupts the connection to my keyboard
Demands my attention
Break timeInspiration from my dog’s periodic “check-ins” when I’ve been at my writing desk for too long.
June 3 - Post-workout
Cool breeze chills my skin
Fresh air pulls in
Pushes out
The bellows of my lungs heave
Sweat drips
I shiver
Swipe at the bead
Muscles quiver
Propel me forwardInspiration from walking out of the gym after a sweaty cardio class.
June 4 - Savasana
I inhale
Release my tongue
From the top of my mouth
Soften the muscles surrounding my eyes
Exhale
With a woosh
I both float
And sink
I melt into
StillnessInspiration from being a student in a yoga class. Since I don’t normally get to be a student during a yoga class, I don’t normally experience Savasana fully. (I still talked myself through the process of releasing into the pose… it’s hard to turn off the “teacher voice” in my head even when I am not leading a class.)
June 5 - Walk on the Beach
Salty brine fills my lungs
My hair lashes in the wind
Medusa with a head full of
Angry snakes
Sand blasts my face
Grit in my teeth
My eyes
EverywhereInspiration from photos of the Oregon coast posted by Adam Lutzi Rockwell and my memories of visits to the beach.
June 6 - Wildwood Trail
Stream violets carpet the slope
Ferns and prickly branches
Reach out from the path’s edge
Underfoot, the knobby, exposed roots
Remind me of the buttercream frosting on my
Birthday cakeInspiration from our hike on the Wildwood Trail last month.
June 7 - Northbound
Warmth of the sun heats my skin
Yet my bare toes are chilled
Strobe lights flicker
Trees zip by
I open my eyes to the bright blue
Of clear skiesInspiration from our road trip to Seattle. I was the navigator… and the official napper.
June 8 - Traffic
Sun glints off windows and chrome
Flashing
Momentary blindness
Red lights blink
Quick, quick, long
Coming towards me
Like a crowd doing the wave
Where are all these people going?Inspiration from sitting in Seattle traffic.
June 9 - Signs
It’s never a
good sign
when the cart corral is
empty.
Either the store is
packed
with shoppers
or the shelves are
bare.
And yet I
forge forth to
shop.Inspiration from grocery shopping.
June 10 - Wobbly Scarecrow
Big toe pressed down.
Outside edge in contact.
Foot placed to inner thigh,
Slipping.
External rotators,
Extensors,
Pelvic floor
Engaged.Inspiration from struggling with Tree Pose.
June 11 - Life
Clickity-clack
The rise of the track
Anticipation building
The path exposed
Yet knotted with
Twists and expected turns
Speeding along
Thrills and stomach-dropping moments
Remember to smile for the cameraInspiration from “the meeting” at work.
June 12 - Mundane
Why is the
Scraping of bristles
Whooshing with each brush
Sending plumbs of
Dust and mini
Fluff balls of my dog
Dancing across the hard surface
Such a cathartic action?Inspiration from the act of sweeping my kitchen (and processing “the meeting” at work).
June 13 - How to fluff a pancake week
Commence two-handed scratching
Under pup’s jowls
Call Mama Bear
For pep talk
Fully wrapped up
In arms of Long Drink of Water
Support system activated
Not necessarily in that orderInspiration from all the ways I tried to improve my outlook on a meeting at work—my support system includes my dog, my mom, and my husband (who my dad nicknamed “Long Drink of Water” when they first met.
June 14 - My Protector
High whistles of birds
Hidden among the rustling leaves
Power tools whir
Distant traffic
A background of white noise
Cut by a stark siren blare
Sets the neighborhood alarm barkingInspiration from my time on the back deck with my dog.
June 15 - Date Night
One foot stepping
Weaving
In front of the other
Laughing and linking arms
We hold
Each other up
Feeling giddy as a schoolgirl
Reliving
The youth of our love storyInspiration from our walk home after an evening of revel-rousing downtown that reminded me of a similar walk(s) from when we first started dating.
June 16 - Coming through
Adjust right,
Left,
Pause.
Two quick beeps
Announce my existence
To the soft
Strangely shaped
Uprights
Always in my way.
Do they not see me?
Or hear me?
Beep beep!Inspiration from my grocery shopping trip.
June 17 - Three-Hour Tour
Eerie green tinges the ceiling
Another minute passes
Beside me, he sleeps
Unaware of my tossing and turning
His breathy exhales
Punctuate the silent house
Yet slumber eludes me
Again.Inspiration from Jane Deegan’s Note and my sleepless night stressing over how a conversation was going to go.
June 18 - Paths
The path before you
Diverges
Appears blocked or
Unclear
You second-guess
Which way to go
You thought you knew
But now?
Close your eyes
Breath deeply and
Take a stepInspiration from Resistance is a powerful teacher by Robin Cangie (she/her) and my current state of employment.
June 19 - A Brain Foggy Day
The pause before their response
The twitch of their eyebrows
A microexpression I almost miss
Their shared glances
Sideways looks
The tone of their words
Hint at
My bad day.Inspiration from my weekly session of balance training with a friend’s mom who is in the early stages of having dementia—written as if from her perspective. Some days are good. Some are not so good.
June 20 - Rituals
The sun shines upon me
Warming the cool morning air
By increments.
I unfurl my arms
Open my palms
Draw from deep
And find
Nothing.
Footsteps approach.
My daily baptizing.
Inspiration from my act of watering the potted tomato plants on my deck.
June 21 - How you know you’re a true Oregonian
From October
To April
You complain about grey skies
And being cold.
When gauge passes 78 degrees
It’s too hot.
The next day you’re
The color of a cooked lobster.Inspiration from the first day of summer, when the skies were bright blue, and the temperature neared 90 degrees Fahrenheit. And I saw more than one burnt-to-a-crisp Oregonian.
June 22 - Saturday Night
One, two
I drank a brew.
Three, four
I fell to the floor.
Five, Six
I landed on bricks.
Seven, eight
Like a deadweight.
Nine, ten
Too much libation.Inspiration from a summer solstice pig-roast party where the brews flowed freely, and the music played way past midnight. (We left early—and sober—as we had an early morning wake-up call.)
June 23 - Laundry Day
Smooth,
Cool,
Crisp,
Bounce a penny
Snugness
With hints of freshness,
A kind of clean
Only achievable
In that moment
When your bare feet
Slide in for
The first time.Inspiration from, you guessed it, changing the sheets on our bed. I LOVE that fresh sheet feeling the first night of sleep on clean sheets. Not enough to change the bed sheets daily, but nearly…
June 24 - Insecurities Activated
The breeze picked up.
My skin pebbled.
My scalp tightened.
A shiver rattled
Uncontrollably.
Your words did this.
A visceral
Thick, defense shield
A reaction of
Self-preservation.
You won’t win.Inspiration from two things. The first was sitting with friends outside in the shade when the wind picked up, and we all felt a tad underdressed. The second was multiple reads on Substack in the theme of surviving criticism and writing what YOU want to read vs. writing what you think the world wants to read. (In other words, write for you.)
June 25 -Panic Mode
I flinch and
Freeze.
What’s the time?
Only twenty-one minutes left.
Plenty of time.
Right?
I can do this.
It’s only thirty words.
Think.
Inspiration?
Write.
Count.
Post.
Phew!
Done.Inspiration from procastinating my self-imposed daily challenge until 23:39 and then deciding not to stress about what I write and just take the first 30(-ish) words with minimal editing. It was an exercise in speed poetry, for sure!
June 26 - Paddling
The current drags
Pulls me downstream
Digging deep
Rhythmically Paddling
Moving me upriver
Through the current
Sweat gathers at my hairline
Momentum builds
Until minimal effort continues
My forward progressInspiration from my paddling jaunt on the Willamette River. Because of the water flow, it took some effort to get going upriver (the direction I wanted to go first, so I could float back to the launch point). I hope this will also mirror my efforts on Substack progress—hard work to build up the forward progress that can be continued with less effort (and more enjoyment of the ride).
June 27 -Aloft
Puffy and bright billows.
Marshmallow creme
Layered thick enough to
Trigger a diabetic thirst.
Cotton balls
Mounded high,
Stockpiled for ready use.
Polyfill fibers
Pulled gently apart
For pillowy softness.Inspiration from my flight from Portland to Boise to visit my parents for the weekend. The clouds always fascinate me.
June 28 - Reminiscing
Stories with names
I recognize and
People new to me
Ones I could recite
From memory or
Never heard before
How had I never heard this
Memory?
Tell me more.Inspiration from my weekend with my parents, listening to them tell childhood stories, both from mine and theirs.
June 29 - The Perils of Substack
Came to Substack to
Build a subscriber list
From zero
To promote my
Upcoming novel.
Got so distracted
By all the amazing
Writers,
I nearly
Never finished my
Upcoming novel.Inspiration from my journey on Substack (which, some days, feels more like social media than a newsletter platform). The distraction is REAL. However, this poem had the most interaction. Maybe I’m not the only writer on Substack that is being distracted!
June 30 - Lost Needle
There once was a writer on Substack
Who sat at her desk with a hunchback
She typed long posts
And comebacks on notes
But she remained lost in the haystackInspiration from my poem on June 29, but reimagined after the suggestion for a limerick from A.C. Cargill, Author, so I took it and ran. I figure it’s a good way to bring my month of 30-word poems for 30 days to conclude… as a needle “lost in the haystack” of Substack.
I’ll let these words sit for a bit. Perhaps I’ll come back and explore exactly what I learned about myself (beyond the fact that I don’t self-identify as a poet).
Well done!
Thanks! It was strangely fun and freeing.