100 Days of Poetry: 30/10

The number 30 evokes strong emotions. Think about turning 30 – it feels like a big deal. 30 is the number of days of some of our months in the calendar. 30, being even gives off a sensation of roundness and completeness. Perhaps for these reasons, 30 feels like a transition point or a milestone after which something new will show itself. I have reached 30 poems in the 100 Days of Poetry challenge.

The past ten days have been slow and sluggish in terms of poetry. The words were dry and insipid. Sometimes they felt forced. Some poems have no forethought, and some have no afterthought; they are fleeting. But at least they have been captured. That might be the slight relief I get when I look at the bunch of poems I have written.

Theme #3: Stuffs

The third theme in 100 Days of Poetry was Stuffs. The idea was to paint a poem for the things lying around us that inspired the sub-themes. The theme ‘Money’ was perhaps the most interesting one. Two of my friends were discussing if money could be turned into poetry one evening when I was inside their car returning home. And I decided to keep it on the list. Money also elicited the most varied response. Another friend wrote a slew of poetry about money which was both funny and deep. I was also touched to know my friends were discussing the challenge behind my back. (This might be the coolest behind-the-back conversation I could hear about myself!)

About the challenge: 10 x 10

The idea is to challenge yourself to write a poem every day for 100 days. The poem can run a few lines or could cover pages. There will be 10 themes in total with 10 sub-themes, one for each day.

The past themes were: Rooms and Colorspiration.

If you would like to join the challenge, hop in! Do not worry if you are on time or not. Just write away! You can find the themes and sub-themes on The Wordcastle’s Instagram account. I would be thrilled to read your poems, but more than that, I hope you can cherish the moment your ideas come alive on the page.

With 30 poems, it feels like I have hit a milestone. I am way too deep to quit, but the mundaneness of the challenge is surging. I realize that the feeling of ‘what-on-earth am I trying to do?’ might come on more strongly as the days progress. I hope I can still write something.

70 days to go.