Proof positive that I can write under pressure with many children under the age of six (no, they are not all mine). Before you click the link and read this week’s Write Stuff post, here is the backstory.
My wife and I invited a friend and her children to join us for a Bele Chere excursion. My children were very excited to have guests and were acting accordingly by running from one end of our small cottage to the other end while loudly proclaiming their enthusiasm. I started writing the piece around 11 AM amid the din of my progeny, and guests arrived around 11:30 AM for an early lunch before we headed to Bele Chere. With double the children the beautiful chaos did increase. By 12:30 PM I had posted this week’s column while everyone else ate lunch.
For more than I month I had been reading and pondering the essence of this piece but had not committed it to paper. Inspired by the lyrics from the Steve Brooks’ song Dead Poets Society (from his Purgatory Road album), I chose the title — “‘Cause that’s what poets do.” My outline for the piece was simple and I offered the question, “Why should I write poems if people are more interested in my activism?” Realizing the piece ended darker than I anticipated I added a sarcastic spin at the end àl a George Thorogood’s “One bourbon, one scotch, one beer.”
So here’s this week’s, ‘Cause that’s what poets do.
By the way, Bele Chere was a hoot! The kids enjoyed it because they all received balloons that they could fight over and the parents enjoyed it because the children were very tired from all the walking and went to bed early. And that is what parents do.
Tags: [writing, creative, writers, Write Stuff]
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