Last week, I took a poetry workshop hosted by my internet pal/prolific poet Lauren Badillo Milici and let me tell you, she reminded me of something I all but forgot… I deeply miss writing poems. I miss crafting poetry. Her lesson, focused on using pop culture as inspiration, in poetry really sparked something in me… The high I’ve been riding since that evening has been incredible.
I’m revisiting old poems and revising. I’m writing new ones with some of the tips I picked up from her workshop. I’m reading prompts again and letting the inspiration guide me. The biggest thing I took away (other than the fact that borrowed lines can really elevate a poem) is that I need to stop overthinking it when I set out to write something — I need to just write.
Yes, that’s something I’m constantly reminding myself. So I’ll remind you, too: JUST WRITE!!!! Inspiration is everywhere!
Here are a few poems that have come out of that session: something I revised after the fact, something that was inspired by a piece of recently consumed media, and something I wrote with borrowed lines (which are italicized).
[REVISED POEM]
nautical twilight
peachy pink, indigo,
fade to inky black —
the celestial ceiling,
drenches the shore
tiny metallic dots
piercing through the atmosphere
illuminate sapphire waves
the zephyr’s breath
against the tepid waters,
pushes away the crest…
away…
the palm leaves sway
an ethereal purl —
a soft, serene lullaby
[INSPIRED BY RECENTLY CONSUMED MEDIA]
Fading In and Out
(after Boogie Nights)
A big, bright, shining star
changing the game as quickly as it came.
Innocence lost, chasing dreams,
speeding around dark corners
toward the invisible, inevitable crash.
Doing it all again.
Reinvention.
But it’s more than that —
it’s a yearning to belong.
To own destiny.
To feel safe,
to climb higher,
to be protected.
To create a masterpiece.
[USING BORROWED LINES]
twenty-two
shhh, he breathes into my ear
as his finger caresses my pout
meet me at midnight
and behind closed doors we melt together
pretending we didn’t when we’re with the rest
a slow, burning ache swells in my belly
you kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath
i can’t say goodbye
I hope you enjoyed reading these as much as I enjoyed crafting them. <3