Process: 13 Y/O…
I decided to make a post for when I write new things to talk about the process of writing them. Specifically poems, but probably other stuff too. So here we go.
This one is actually pretty personal. I talk about actual moments in my life, rather than things that were inspired by moments. I wanted to capture that feeling of satisfaction when you learn something new or figure out how to do something as a kid, that sense of pride. And how, as you get older, it’s harder and harder to come by.
Oh, the title! I actually hate naming my stuff, which is why the titles are generally just the first line or repeat lines within the poem. But my friend Liv said this after reading it and I was like “that’s the title now”. Maybe she can just name all my poems moving forward! ^_^
Rhyme scheme is: AA, B, CC, B. Lines 1 and 3 in every stanza have eight syllables (4 & 4), and Lines 2 and 4 have six. I chose this pattern to sound like a children’s poem, like Jack & Jill.
AA (8) (4) When I was four (4) and little more
B (6) I learned to tie my shoes
CC (8) (4) I ran to Mom (4) with such aplomb
B (6) To share with her the news
Vs.
AA (7) (3) Jack & Jill (4) went up the hill
B (7) To fetch a pail of water
CC (7) (3) Jack fell down (4) & broke his crown
B (7) And Jill came tumbling after
Some other bits of info:
The ages go up by +1 each time (almost). Four to six is 2. Six to nine is 3. Nine to thirteen is 4. Thirteen to eighteen is 5. Eighteen to twenty-five is 7. And twenty-five to thirty-three is 8. The reason I skipped 6 is not poetic at all, but because I didn’t want to rhyme another thing with 4. In the previous stanza I already jump away from “eighteen” to “years” for the rhyme, but I wanted to keep rhyming numbers. 5 and 3 hadn’t been used yet.
I am weirdly strict with this one’s cadence… I was actually hoping to write something a bit more flowing. Oh well.
I try to imbue some of each year into the stanza’s, like saying “Mom” instead of “my mom” for the 4 year old. The 13 year old one is the two-parts caffeine joke, a little more witty (I used to write poems like this when I was 13!). Eighteen has the correcting herself line, very uncertain. Twenty five and thirty three are heavy contrasts, where the previous relies on a very poetic delivery and the latter a very simple one. I think because life tends to simplify as you get older, because you don’t have the time or energy to think cosmically at the risk of your immediate needs. Twenties are about thinking, and thirties are about living, IMHO.
I actually had wine for the first time in church when I was eleven, not nine. But like, what a great rhyme.