Love the darkness

Poetry. Spoken Word. Finding space and seeking pragmatic progress in an artform that does not lend itself to illusions of material grandeur. If you seek the comfort of comfortable living then perhaps you should pursue other avenues. My evolution is born of reality and truth. "In Word We Trust" does not answer all the questions, experience is the key.

I have travelled through the phases of poetic life: enthusiasm, excitement, passion, pragmatism, disillusionment, denial, acceptance. I have travelled and now must accept the truth. Poetry as a 'career' is a long and winding road and, at some point, it must be put aside for more realistic endeavours. I shall always write but it cannot be the only thing I do ..... That is a truth and I accept. It is a marathon as opposed to a sprint (as cliched as can be). Today I rest. Tomorrow, perhaps, I shall become a poet once more, but today, I rest.

My comfort is in my notebooks. In these moments I shall bask in the silence and breathe the chaos that exists internally. I shall let the voices dictate what tomorrow holds. I shall no longer attempt to pre-empt them. The beauty of the future is that it is unknown. I lower myself into this pool of mystery and embrace its cool, calm waters.

Trying to get from here to there

Last week has been disastrous. Have become so dependent on my Blackberry to post and, for some reason, my email hasn't been working ... BUT, it's back. Although just posted 3 times to www.imperfectpoetry.blogspot.com, so still a bit shaky.

Anyway, life as a poet has been slow, though my mind has been in overdrive. It's my birthday today (soon to be yesterday for me) and I am doing the whole 're-evaluation of life' thing. Once again, I wonder what it is about The Word that continues to have me turning down opportunities to work in other genres.

It is time to put my poetry development projects on the back-burner and focus on actually making a living. A difficult choice to make but, at some stage, pragmatism has to take over. I do it willingly because it is frustrating blindly pursuing dreams and not enjoying the journey. I have issues with the idea of an artist as society's martyrs in touch with humankind's suffering.

As an artist, I believe we are all entitled to the pleasures and joys of living - emotionally, physically, mentally and financially ...... especially financially. Creativity and innovation, for me, require calm and focus. When hustling to connect ends, there is no time to devote to the requirements of perfection in craft.

I dream of spending months writing, reading, exploring the beauty of the written word. But need to know the bills are paid.

A journey all artists have to take and one I am feeling less and less enthusiastic about. Damn, it is irritating being a dreamer

Been a while

It's been a while since I've posted - that seems to be a regular occurrence. Have been keeping my imperfect poetry going regularly, though finally missed out on a day. It is getting harder to maintain my daily 10minute writing session and haven't had much time to actually develop what I have written into finished pieces. Feel like poetry is drifting away from me. The pursuit of 'life' and its trials has me pursuing reality and questioning the ideal of 'living for my passion'.

Things have been quiet on the poetic front generally. Hibernating from the running around and focusing more on a number of projects to carry it beyond this mini-treadmill. I am feeling stifled by my 'home' environment and would love to break out a bit. The world is big and it is starting to feel like I need to start exploring other parts, ie. Europe, the US and the rest of the African continent. Budget is low so looking for funding opportunities to that regard. Would love to do a tour of the European and American summer art festivals. Time will tell my success at that. Watch this space.

Just venting a little today. Easy runnings.