Inspired by "Things I Didn't Know I Loved"

One of the great things about being a writer, is being able to “borrow” inspiration.

A few months ago I came across this poem by Linda Pastan, and fell in love with the words. Her poem was inspired by the Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet, and since I loved her poem so much, I immediately checked out a book of Hikmet’s poetry from the Library.

When I was in college one of the most difficult and most frustrating assignments was to take a poet, and try to write your own poetry in his/her style. Back then I just couldn’t wrap my brain around it…and it was really challenging. At that point in my writing, my voice wasn’t really developed, and so it was very hard to take my words, and try to shape them like someone else. I ended up getting so caught up in the assignment, that instead of being inspired by a writer, I ended up losing my voice completely, and writing something that was uninteresting, and really forced.

Of course now, years later, I’m finding that often the things I have such an aversion to, are exactly what I should be working on. Getting out of our comfort zones and being challenged can be a good thing! But I also found that this exercise was much easier for me now that my writing voice is established. I had a lot of fun writing this poem, and didn’t get bogged down with trying to sound like someone else. I was able to take my own words, and let the poem be inspired by some other writing, but in the end it is definitely my voice. 

I knew that I liked the earth… dark brown and rich with life

But I didn’t know that I loved it…

until I bit into a carrot, freshly harvested,

the taste of soil still lingering

This is the flavor of life.

I knew that I liked falling asleep next to you

feeling your chest rise and fall with the rhythm of your breath

listening to your heart as I drifted off…

But I didn’t know I loved waking up in your arms

until it was far too late.

I’ve always known I loved the written word,

but it’s easy to forget

until a verse finds its way into your life

and touches that place in you

and everything you are looking for is right there in the language

and all you can think is “damn that is good”

or you can’t think at all, and the words just wash over you.

I used to be impartial to the wind,

until I heard it whispering through the aspen trees

I always  knew I loved trees and their quiet strength,

but I didn’t understand it until I started practicing Vrksasana,

and the strength of the tree, the rootedness,

became my own

I knew I loved the sun, being solstice born,

We are kindred, forever.

But I didn’t know I loved the moon,

I didn’t appreciate its constant pull on my heartstrings

until I began to realize that my most creative moments

are nocturnal.

I knew I liked the color red

And then I saw the wild bergamot

reaching its crimson petaled fingers towards the sky

and I fell in love

with the color

and the moment.

And stillness… how could I not love it?

though I never gave it much thought

the utter content in the quiet

being left alone with nothing but your breath

I knew that I loved lists

concrete or mental

A glimpse of organization

In my ever-chaotic existence

Perhaps

if I sit here with my thoughts

this list of loves will become the world.