Hi everyone. I’m David L. Harrison, host of “Poetry from Daily Life.” Today marks the 94th column in the series. My term as Missouri Poet Laureate, and the conclusion of the column, come at the end of September. On Monday, Sept. 30 from 6:30-8 p.m., I’m having an event at The Library Center in Springfield to mark the end of my term serving Missouri as its seventh poet laureate. My wife Sandy is selecting her favorite poems of mine to be featured that evening. A three-piece ensemble, Byron Biggers Band, will perform some of the poems set to music and students from Holland and David Harrison elementary schools will sing, chant, and act out other poems. Favorite area folklore singer, Judy Domeny, will add to the festivities. Some special guests plan to be there. This will be a great way to end my term on a high note with a night of fun. If you are in the area and would like to join me that night, I would be honored.
Always pack a pen
During this series of “Poetry from Daily Life” columns, we’ve talked a lot about the omnipresence of poetry, numerous uses and applications of poetry, and prompts for writing poetry. Today I address another important subject for those who might consider writing poetry (or anything else). When I was old enough, I became a Cub Scout and later on a Boy Scout, serving my troop as bugler, back in the days when I still had chops. Scouts BSA know it pays to be prepared. I submit that poets subscribe to that philosophy too. Be prepared.
When I empty my pants pockets at night, there is always a pen among other necessities such as wallet and phone. If I wear pajamas around the house, I tuck a pen in a pocket. When I get up in the morning, a pen is the first thing I make sure to have on me. I’ve been doing this for many decades. You never know when the spark of an idea might strike. You’re a female person and cursed with few pockets? Where do you stick your phone? Stick your pen there too.
To those of you who are smiling about me and my pen when my phone has apps for making notes and recording thoughts, I say fine, amuse yourself with your little apps. To each his own as long as we are prepared! When I leave home for any destination where I’m likely to be waiting with time to kill, I add a small writing pad to accompany the pen. Voila — a pocket office.
Recently I was sitting in a small room crowded with people watching an artistic performance, when an idea struck. I was enjoying the performance but I know how quickly an idea can vanish. Out came the pen to scribble a few cryptic notes on the back of my program. During the last years of my mother’s life, I sometimes spent long hours by her bed in the ER while she was being tested, time enough to get some serious writing done. On such occasions I wrote columns, essays, poems, and started stories. More recently, I was on a plane when an idea struck. I had the pen but no paper. I pulled out the barf bag from the seat pocket and wrote on that.
Yes, those phone apps do come in handy. I sometimes make notes on my phone and preserve voices or sounds I want to keep. Want to hear ocean waves? I’ve got them. The other evening on the patio I summoned toads in from the grass by playing a recording of male toads singing for a mate. When I found one toad hiding under a ledge, out came the camera. Be prepared!
How you stay prepared is up to you. But during the course of any day, who among us doesn’t think a thought worth preserving? Whether on a phone, in a journal or on the back of a barf bag, writers capture such thoughts before they dissolve into the vapors of another lost opportunity. Everything that follows, poems … stories … novels … can usually trace their origins to a writer who was prepared.
Be Prepared
An idea is a shooting star,
a millisecond here and then
like a firefly from afar,
gone, unless you have a pen.
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An idea for the Ages strikes,
escapes, leaves you wild-haired.
Genius sparked in vain. Yikes!
Alas, my dear, you weren’t prepared.
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Remember this of what I say,
the thought won’t come your way again.
Brilliance waits a jot away.
Be prepared! Have a pen!
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To learn more about David, visit his website at https://davidlharrison.com or follow him on his daily blog at https://davidlharrison.wordpress.com.
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