the final try is over

Knowing Flight is Possible

Someone says, Close your eyes,
and I do. I remember the blooms
in early spring, running outside
to touch the new,
marveling at the buds of yellow tulips
pushing their way out of the ground.
It was a start.
I was outside in sweatpants,
a blue sweater,
drinking water and standing there
forever. Someone else, now,
is beginning afresh
and I'm leaving it all behind.

copyright Maya Ganesan, 2009

So I'm done with my very first attempt at NaPoWriMo. Sometimes it was a real struggle, but other times I truly loved it. I'm sad to see April leave, but I've got a handful of pretty strong poems from this experience that I'm going to focus on revising and preparing for submitting now. I'm first exercising all my energy towards a close submission deadline (a couple more days left, and I haven't even begun my revisions!) and then I'll see what's in store for me in this lovely poetry world that always surprises me.

The final poem of NPWM 09 took a couple of tries until I got it the way I wanted it. It needed to be a "this is both a beginning and an end" poem, because it is. It's a special experience for me because I got to celebrate poetry (really, truly, for the first time!) with such a fantastic group of people. Thank you all for the beautiful, beautiful comments I got on my post. (And Beth, your comment -- something like "Someday you'll win a Pulitzer Prize and I will say that I knew you" -- makes me feel so honored. Thank you so much.)

Whew. What a month. Don't miss tomorrow, though -- the poetry fun isn't over!

p.s. I sort of participated in Poem in Your Pocket -- I took "What's Mine is Missing" to school (I wouldn't read it to a stranger, I'm definitely not brave enough) and showed it to a couple of people. (They liked it.)