April was an intense month. Firstly because I had committed to the 30/30 challenge to write a poem a day for 30 days, and secondly because I got married on 1 May.

I completed 18 poem drafts, which is a lot for me. I was also designated to provide a weekly prompt. The quality of the prompts amongst the group was high and I wanted to provide something that was stimulating and resonant. Ironically, I didn’t get much from my prompt in terms of a poem — perhaps because I’d expended a lot of creative energy on the prompt itself.

Scroll down to read the prompt in full…

I’ve invited the 30/30 poets who took part to share their poems/drafts here, along with comments about the process and I’m delighted to include a selection on Open Notebooks.

ANNE WELSH
The hawk poem (No. IV in the sequence) I wrote straight after viewing your
video, straight into my Facebook notes.

Then I copied it into my notebook and a couple of weeks later make the pencil changes to it.

Once I was happy with it, I rotated my notebook 90 degrees and copied it out as a final draft. I always
write my final drafts on the 90 degree angle so if I am at an open mic, I can flick through my notebook and find recent final drafts quickly.

And here the final poem:

You have rendered the hawk’s eyes obsolete,
broken in the river like the one I loved first.

To dream of crows is to long for sadness
but it’s the hawk’s competitive spirit

I cannot understand. You hold my hand
in the darkness, kiss me awake.

What intrigues me is Annie’s process of typing first, straight into Facebook, then copying that into her notebook and continuing with her edits in long hand. This forms part of a sequence Annie wrote throughout 30/30 — her first — and as the poems and the story unfolded day by day I became hooked on the sense of serialisation.

ANDREA ROBINSON

Andrea’s first draft after viewing the video. Just the rough notes.

And the edited version with indented layout.

NAOMI WODDIS

To Dream of Hawks

What news do you have for me, hawk?
Your dead eye frozen, caught staring

at a flat sky, your talons the colour
of daffodils, your wings as beautiful

as they ever were in flight. This stream
is deaf to the dead branch of your body.

Your tiny head cooled by its rush of water,
what message do you have for me now?

AOIFE MANNIX

JOCELYN PAGE

I found it fascinating, the different responses: some referring directly to the hawk itself, others working the bird into the poem. The themes around death and resurrection following on from an earlier prompt. The intensity of writing a new draft each day brings an immediacy to the work — that original energy that can often get lost as we hone and refine. The 30/30 group is closed, so writers can produce drafts outside of the critical, public gaze, so I’m particularly grateful to have the work to include here in its earlier incarnations. It’s not easy, releasing poems when they are still embryonic.

April is National Poetry month in the US and last year they launched the 30/30 Challenge – 30 poems in 30 days. A few of my friends took up and completed the challenge and I dabbled. This year I’m in and am part of a group of writers who will post their work in a group on Facebook. There is a new prompt to work from every day, and I provide a writing prompt for Sundays. I will be posting that here and making any relevant notes about the process when I can.

Last week I was down in Cornwall. I made this little video. I wasn’t quite sure what I’d do with it, but the sound of the stream and the woodland was very strong in my mind.

Dead Hawk in Stream by Wood from Karen McCarthy on Vimeo.

The rush and gurgle of the water that ran so clear over the dead bird seemed purifying.

I was very captivated by the claw. The strength of the talons. The yellow leathery skin.

I also liked this line from Carolyn Forche’s Blue Hour:

‘Everything in the world has a spirit released by its sound.’

It’s Easter Sunday today. I’m very interested in etymologies. The etymology of the word ‘Easter’ is linked to a Germanic fertility goddess Eostra and also the German Ostern which comes from the Norse Eostur for ‘spring’. The themes of resurrection and renewal are threaded through Jewish, Christian, Egyptian and Pagan religion and mythologies.

And a link to some notes on symbolism around hawks. And another one here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 9:30 am and is filed under 30/30-2010, Jocelyn Page, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Miriam Nash. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.