I recently facilitated a creative practice session for the GameShift community, titled The Art of Poetry : For Better or Verse. Most of my creative practice is visual and I thought it might be fun to gently challenge myself and the community to play with something I know little about. We had about 90 minutes together, and I had nothing more than the vaguest idea of how the session might take shape. My vague idea was shaped and refined through discussion with my colleagues, and we talked, drew, and composed – building poems by first making lists and doodles. I may write up the whole experience as it offered lots of learning and laughter and more. For now though, here’s my poem, written with my colleagues, and tweaked in the studio after we finished the session.
Walking to Work
A farthing’s charm
Recently rubbed bright and gleaming
Over days, months, weeks, years
Time patinates everything
The well-worn tracks
Telegraph the sound of seasons
The chiffchaff and dunnock
Chatter as they fly
Over farmland, parkland, woodland
Approaching the studio door
Behind the flaky paint
To the work beyond
To the work beyond
Doug Shaw 2021
Footnotes:
A charm is the collective noun for a group of goldfinches. I nearly always see a charm on my walk to work, and I often hear the wren calling too.
One of the tracks I walk along to get to work is named Telegraph Track.
That’s the beauty… Do you know, Walking is an excellent technique to alleviate panic and encourage the habit of working toward solutions of difficult problems. The increased oxygen intake and getting away from the problem allows your mind to process and your body to relax.