A new start ...

The title of this, my first post, could very easily be about more than just my first post to this blog. Today it also means having to take a new look at a poem I've been fussing with. And I say "fussing" because the perfectionist me has trouble letting go and allowing myself to write freely and rebel against a particular form (insert any form here).

The form in question is that of Sonnet. I have never even attempted to write one, much less think I could possibly chose one to imitate. But I generally decide to do the things that are most complicated (or I make complicated), so I decided I could take Sherman Alexie's poem, "The Facebook Sonnet" and attempt to imitate it in my own voice with a different focus.

Usually when I write I don't have a particular form in mind, just the job ahead of putting words to paper, allowing the poem to "choose" its own form, so to speak. But when given a prompt, in form to imitate ... that's when that perfectionist nature takes over and I find myself counting iambs instead of honing a true image. Gratefully, my poet family has no trouble reminding me what is most important.