Writing the Life Poetic

Introducing The Path of Possibility in Writing and in Life!

All good things must come to an end, and this blog -- thanks to your company here -- has been one of the very best parts of my writing life! Today, I am officially stepping down from posting here. Instead, the conversation about the life poetic will continue over at the brand new Path of Possibility in Writing and in Life.

Why the change? As my new book, The Productive Writer, was taking shape, I found myself at a crossroads of identity. My collection of poems and my book Writing the Life Poetic both anchored me solidly in the realm of poetry. The realm of poetry is my first language, and there are many other realms in which I live and write these days. So the question became, what is the scope and shape of who I am, what I write about, and the service I want to give my community of writers today? The answer came very quickly.

I realized that what I've been trying to accomplish in everything I write and all of my classes is simply: to help people align themselves with possibility. Whether you're writing a poem or a marketing plan, trying to get up the nerve to do a little freewriting, read publicly or send out a book proposal, what interests me is how I can help you follow that desire into action...making the possible far more probable. What I've found is that we're so used to getting in our own way, we may have no idea how very likely our dreams and intentions may be. My goal is to help poets and writers find a greater alignment between their writing and their lives--by tending all that is possible along the way.

So, without further ado, I invite you to come on over to The Path of Possibility in Writing and in Life and enjoy your free party favors!

You can download a free "Productivity Power Tools" workbook companion to The Productive Writer. (Just look for the link in the center column.) Plus, if you sign up to receive email updates, you'll get the free, 10-week email series, "10 Ways to Boost Writing Productivity."  This would also be a great time to sign up for the free, Writing the Life Poetic e-zine, which comes out six times per year and features inspiration, insight and information from 10 of my favorite poets and people.

You'll also find information about five new, online classes that I'm very excited to offer in a new, interactive classroom forum.

Poem-A-Day Challenge: Break Through Your Resistance
January 1 to January 31, 2011

Poetry for the People Level 1
January 10 to February 21, 2011 (six weeks)

Poetry for the People Level 2
January 12 to February 23, 2011 (six weeks)

Productive Writing Revolution: Set Your Sights and Hit Your Targets
February 28 to April 11, 2011 (six weeks)

Break into Business Writing: Make a Living as a Writer
February 28 to April 11, 2011 (six weeks)

And, of course, you'll learn all about my books, who I am, and my thoughts on being 40.

The best part of blogging is making friends whom I then get to meet "live" sooner or later! I'm headed to Washington, DC, New York, NY and to bookstores and writing communities throughout Oregon in the coming months. If there's an event on my schedule that works for you, I sure would love to see you! 

It's an exciting time to be a writer. I am honored to be traveling with you, and I look forward to supporting you as you walk your own, unique writing path.

The word is the way,

Sage Cohen

Pre-order The Productive Writer today and get a FREE workbook!

Efficient systems, effective strategies and powerhouse attitudes to fuel your writing life are just a click away!

Today is amazon.com spike day for my new book, The Productive Writer. If you're planning to purchase The Productive Writer at amazon.com, I sure would appreciate it if you would order yours today! Strong sales right out of the gate can help give this book a solid foothold, and your help is invaluable. 

If you pre-order The Productive Writer today, send me a copy of your receipt and I'll email you a copy of my Productivity Power Tools workbook!

Thank you for supporting my book. And thank you for investing in yourself. May 2011 be an intention-come-true year for you.

To your success!

Dear scar,

You new, kissless

lips the surgeon made

 

through which the slick

tongue of my son’s life

 

took its first taste

of this world. Now empty

 

of coin or entrance, keeper

of the secret my body

 

never learned to confess,

your cold lips zipped against

 

the steel that made you.

It was the midwife who

 

spoke the sentence:

I was doing it wrong,

 

I’d never learn to let go.

I’d been rehearsing this

 

disappointment my entire life,

tracing fingers over

 

its pressed-in letters

now inscribed: the Shema

 

across this threshold.

Today, as I kiss my fingers

 

to you, this door that would not

be blessed, secret seam

 

where my son and I divided,

your silence is kind. Today I see

 

an indelible smile stitched

below my stretched-out belly,

 

the stigmata that says this body

did exactly what it was asked to do.

 

And when it could do no more,

it learned, by God, it learned,

 

there may be endless

ways to open.

Dear Poem,

Theo and I sit on the loveseat,

my body a parenthesis enclosing

 

the small exclamation of his.

We study the six spider

 

webs on the other side

of our dividing glass

 

that seem to hold our home

together. This is what it is like

 

to be inside of you

dew suggesting diamonds

 

all along the improbable

silk of your weave

 

spun of nothing,

stitched to air

 

and yet holding

our world together.

Dear Redbud,

 

Today Theo and I collected

your fallen hearts,  pressed

 

them inside of my iChing where,

like wishes, they will become forever

 

fixed, vein-stained with their moment

of departure. You were a wedding

 

gift. It was spring and everything

was possible. Ardent bark

 

and lustrous leaf, you blazed. Now,

you are tentative, leaning a little

 

as if resisting the burden

of representation. Shy of color

 

and circumstance. I want to cover

your bare shoulders, your many

 

empty arms. As if winter were

something I could spare you.

 

As if letting go were not

the only way to begin.

 

 

A Dictionary of the Cathedral

By Sage Cohen

In my devotion, the candle was dumb.

 

It came to me in birds.

It came to me scuffed with thrust.

It came to me withered, split.

 

It came to me silent as a knife, fat with treasure.

 

It was a feather pluming my plow,

a borrowed dress dragged to dust.

 

In my absence, I could not find the husk.

Shame sailed its own boats.

Moat and drawbridge, I sent my hair down.

The instructions unraveled until I was one less

person than I promised to be.

 

The harp would lessen my fall. It pawed

my lap like every good story. It gulped light.

 

Threaded with regrets, each column stands

for forgiveness, bends like a bride toward

the disappointment of her promise.

 

The prayer unspoken. My body

as surprising as morning before

it is broken open.

Get your free, two-hour poetry workshop here!

"I am truly grateful for your giving spirit and all you do for the craft and to encourage us to grow not only in our art but towards our potential." -- JV

This afternoon, I joined the fabulous Nyla Alisia on her show, The Inkwell at blogtalkradio.

The Inkwell offers writers help and advice in taking their work from page to publication. In this two-hour poetry workshop-meets-contemplation of the life poetic-meets interview, I covered so much poetic ground that my voice nearly gave out.

And now, you can listen any time you want -- for free. Get comfortable at your computer with a pen and paper, and join me in my longest monologue yet about how to tune into the poetry of your life (and get it down on the page). Be prepared for five sets of poem-triggering prompts throughout the conversation to ignite your poetry pilot light -- or keep it burning bright.

An essay and an interview

You are cordially invited to check out my essay "Living Below the Radar" in NewsSip.

I am also grateful to Melissa Hart, author of the fabulous memoir Gringa, for her lovely interview in preparation for my presentation to the Mid-Valley Chapter of Willamette Writers this Thursday.

I'm excited about getting to know the Willamette Writers community in Eugene and having a solo visit with my in-laws while I'm in town.

I hope your New Years intentions are taking shape with ease and grace and that your days and nights are infused with poetry.

I'll be a columnist at readwritepoem this year!

Come on out to readwritepoem this year. There's an unbelievable editorial line-up that promises to give poets a valuable dose of whatever they are seeking.

In The Life Poetic column, I will offer both craft tips and lifestyle invitation designed to attune you to your poetic life and keep your pen moving this year.

(In 2009, I got the ball rolling by exploring the advantages of poetry in the holiday season.)

To your creative satisfaction in 2010! I look forward to learning with you.

'Tis the Season to Write Poetry

As the holidays approach in a down economy, many people are seeking alternatives the typical holiday spending frenzy. The good news about hard times is that they challenge us to find creative new ways to give, share and create meaning. Poetry can be a powerful instrument for conjuring such alchemies.  

Poetry can’t change our bank statements, but it can change the way we think about wealth and prosperity. It’s important that we understand that income is one thing, and prosperity is frequently something else.  

For example, a few years ago, I heard Mary Oliver speak. She reported that a critic of her poetry complained that she must be independently wealthy to have so much time to lie around in the grass and ponder nature. This made the poet laugh, because the critic was reporting in an underhanded and confused way about a truth that Oliver tapped into long ago: the act of lying in the grass and listening to the world IS wealth.  

The truth is, we don’t need to go anywhere special to tune in to poetry. Our lives are already inundated with sensory information that is the raw material of poems. All we need to do is slow down, pay attention and write down what moves us, intrigues us or stirs our curiosity. This does not require an inheritance or a 401K. It simply requires a willingness to welcome the abundance that is already ours, and to follow the golden thread of language wherever it leads us.  

What poetry can give us is something far more valuable than money could ever buy – it gives us ourselves. Poem by poem, we write our souls into existence. Weighted in words, the spirit that animates us becomes palpable. By the same token, each poem we read offers a small window into the human condition, in which we may better recognize some glimmer of our own being.  

Egg nog, move over. Rudolph, there’s another light guiding our sleigh tonight! I’ve never experienced any holiday cheer that rivals the state of grace that poetry invites into our lives. In fact, I often give poems as holiday gifts. I print them on pretty paper, place them in an attractive frame and presto – the most treasured holiday gifts I’ve ever given only cost me the time I spent creating them.  

Try it! You just might get hooked.

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This is the first column in the December Writing the Life Poetic zine. View the entire issue and past issues in the  WTLP zine archive.