Getting My Feet Wet...Inching Back into the World of Poetry

Story # 361 C

  By Stephanie Bartlett

Or was it # 259 B?

Favourite stories told to cousins

by our parents- calling out numbers

was part of the fabric

we wove together around

the table which sat 4 or 24, depending.

We younger ones didn’t know

our elders except through

stories. Told. Retold.

Again and again.

Held close by warm wood

walls, crackling fire reflected on windows,

adding punctuation to loud,

animated conversation, a hush

shimmers as she begins to talk.

Interrupted by mock outrage

“Here we go again.”

“I think that is the wrong number!”

Then hush again as we listen. To grasp

a small memory, a shiny stone

to add to the collection. Just ordinary stories.

Is there such a thing? Small snapshots

to breathe life

into those who gave us our common

meeting spot where we still gather.

And this here is the story.

Of family. It isn’t just

another number. That we tell it IS

the story. That we gather to

listen. Retell. Again and again.

Living Creatively Helps To Teach Creatively

By Stephanie Bartlett

It's been over a year since I surprised myself and all who know me by publishing a book of poetry.  Since then, poetry has been a way of life but I have had to wiggle into it like a comfy chair and let it seep through the corners of my heart and life.  You see, when I wrote and published, I had a mere seven months to figure the whole thing out from start to finish, including how to write a poem!  I was so stressed to meet my publishing deadline that I burned myself out, wrung dry of any words or ability to write.

Reassured by other poets that this was somewhat normal, I accepted my loss of words...to a point.  I have struggled with scheduling in regular writing time, but have made sure to journal in prose.  I have found that I can still write a beautiful poem but now the poem lives in me and writes itself about a particular topic that is burning to be expressed.  I am just the vehicle to the words, rather than looking for the words to describe a situation.  This does not happen often but I am always somewhat surprised when it does.

Lately, when my thoughts wander, I am thinking about poetry and new possibilities.  I cannot just yet think about writing enough to compile another collection, but I have plenty of work that I didn't use last year.  My original pre-inventive structure was to create a book of poems that would tell the story of my family. My poetic journey took a left turn and the collection was very different from the original intent.   The time is right to delve into my poems, the B-sides if you will, and compile a work that honours my family. 

How does this help my teaching practice? When I am living the creative process, I am better able to recognize the different strands of creative development in my students.  Creativity helps to ground and inspire me, and naturally feeds into my teaching practice.  How good is that?