One Day I’ll Be Bigger and Getting in the Zone

Hello everyone,

First I would like to share with you a poem I wrote last week when I had a bit of a creative buzz after a few days not having written any poetry.  I wrote 3 poems in one day.   One was in my previous blog post and one was on the Beefeater facebook page for a competition, and the last one is this one that I composed whilst I was settling my youngest son at bedtime:

One Day I’ll Be Bigger

I won’t always walk with a cute little toddle
I won’t always hold my arms out for a cuddle
I won’t always require a high chair to feed
One day I’ll be able to tell you what I need.

I won’t always moan when you have to shop
I won’t always run when you stay stop
I won’t always wriggle when you say “stay still”
One day I’ll be bigger, its true I will

You won’t always need to change my nappy
One day I’ll sleep all night and you’ll be happy
I won’t always stamp my feet and say “no”
One day I’ll be bigger and older I will grow

Until then I’ll need you to hold my hand
Talk to me and help me to understand
There will soon be more I’ll be able to do
And you’ll always be there to help me through

 

Jen Elvy

When you are a parent it often occurs to you how fast time is going and how quickly your children grow up. My youngest son is two and a half now but quite a young two and a half and hasn’t been as quick to reach his milestones than his older brother. (but who’s comparing!).  I sometimes think he’ll be a toddler forever but with the passing of time and seeing how much he’s growing and learning, I’m reminded that, of course one day he will be bigger and the toddler phase will be over.   As a parent I spend half the time wanting to speed up time and half the time wanting it to slow down or stand still for a moment.

It has been a while since I composed a poem whilst settling my son.  These days I often find that I have to be focused and relaxed before I start to write poetry.   It might be that my mind is wandering too much.  I know there are still poems in there, it’s just lately I have had to really be in the right frame of mind before I get them out.

What is the right frame of mind?

Well it’s hard to explain, but I have to be relaxed.  If my mind is buzzing too much with other things or I’m worried about something, I can’t focus on poetry but if I’m relaxed and happy and my mind is in a zone where it is open to new ideas then I find it easier to write.  I might read some poetry first or collect some rhyming strings.   Often I look at my ever growing Pinterest collection but I do find I get sidetracked with that these days.   After I’ve written a poem I feel an immense amount of satisfaction.  That in itself gets my mind buzzing, wanting to read or write more.  That is why, I think, that often I will produce several within a small space of time after having not produced any poems for a while.  This creative business is a funny thing.

What do you do to get into that zone?

Do you read some poems? Do you do a writing exercise? I’d love to hear your ideas!

I wanted also to mention a book I’ve been reading.    It is called What is Poetry? The Essential Guide to Reading and Writing Poems.  And it’s by Michael Rosen, a well loved Children’s Poet and a true inspiration.   The book is aimed at children and adults and talks about ways in which to appreciate poetry and also gives you ideas for writing poetry of your own.  A very worthwhile read in my opinion.

Thank you for reading and I’ll post again soon.

Jen xx