A Writer's Notebook, Day Two-Hundred-And-Thirty-Two

Writing so much poetry seems somewhat impossible to me.  I mean, I am producing something like four or so new poems each day, and sure, I am aware that many are not gems, I am still getting a fair amount of good work.  Even some that starts out in less that great shape is likely to help spur on better work. It may be through revision, or it may just be that I decide to explore an idea in an alternative way as a result.

At the same time, I want to acknowledge that a part of me has concerns about writing this much.  Of course, some of that is to do with the question of how long I can keep this up for, and that is a reasonable question, but I am not worried about it.  I mean, maybe I can do this for a limited time, and if so, I am better off getting the most I can from it and not worrying about when it will end, right?  Beyond this, though, even assuming I can actually keep this pace up forever, some small part of me wonders if I am losing something by writing so much.  That idea is strange in many ways, but I have to acknowledge it.  I mean, I do not entirely understand the fear, since doing more of a thing tends to improve it as an activity, but some part of me fears that poetry is a sort of limited resource, perhaps?  I can't quite explain it, but I think, in part, it may be a sore of subconscious sabotage out of fear that I'll crash at some point.

Now, it might be that I do go into a poetic coma again, or it might be that I've discovered something in myself that I will not lose again, but in either case, I know that the work I have is worthwhile.  I mean, I am writing a lot of poetry, enough that it could take a very long time to get it all into a form where it is ready to be published, let alone to find it all homes...

Anyhow, my point is that I am going to keep at it.  I have been doing an average of three or four poems daily, and I think I am producing not only more work but also work that is of a fairly high quality taken as a whole.  I mean, there are certainly at least a few gems that I feel rather proud of.  In addition, I do think I am learning more and more as I write, and that is another very important part of why it is worth having a daily set of goals.  In writing each day, I am exercising a part of my brain and training it to be better at that job.  As well, I am training myself to recognize that I have work to do, and to meet those obligations through the act of writing.  So, being productive is something that I hope I can keep up for the long term,  but if not, I know that I am getting more out of it not worrying about that issue.

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