I don’t like the idea of being someone who doesn’t follow through.

So instead of shirking off a promise I’ve made to myself, or making a really horrible piece of work, I wrote a very short piece tonight, just to prove to myself that this doesn’t have to take as much energy as I think it does.

For a little background information, I love poetry that breaks the rules.

I love a poem that doesn’t rhyme, or that rhymes incorrectly, or in the middle of a phrase. I love poetry that has very little repetition, or that has no natural rhythm to it. I love poetry that makes Language Arts teachers irritated for no good reason. So I wrote a poem that feels like the poetry that I love.

My favorite thing about this poem is that reading it out loud makes me feel like an actor, and that I feel confident in sharing it despite how messy and broken it may be. So please, enjoy my little poem, and maybe take a moment to let your brain be a little unserious.
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I love being able to say “I’m an Artist.”
It feels like saying “I’m a Pilot.”
It feels like the freedom of soaring through the skies,
With the limitation of being a little cooped up.

Sure I have the freedom to leave the cockpit,
To walk around the cabin as I please,
But If I take my eyes off the sky as I’m painting it,
How will I make sure I keep flying in the right direction?

Being an Artist feels like being a Pilot,
If someone wanted to continue my work, they could,
They might even be better at it than I am,
But why would I allow my pride to take that hit?

A Pilot doesn’t care if the work is hard or stressful,
A Pilot remembers why they started in the first place.
I don’t create Art in spite of the difficulty.
I do it because creating Art is hard work.

Life doesn’t live in the blissful moments of ignorance,
Life lives in the over-caffeinated, under-medicated,
semi-depressed, highly-anxious,
hyper-vigilant awareness of the world around us.

What better way to express a love for life,
Than to find beauty in the terror?

Why laze away in the cabin,
When I get a panoramic view in the cockpit?

What is the point of flying,
Without a little turbulence?


-FortunateFem