He remembered
How breezy life can be
When you just let things slip by
If you don’t grip too tight
Nor stand too loose
If you can cry
But not make crying your world.
Two men overlook their village in Parewadada, Nepal
This is the first in my series of poems from around the world. I used to attempt to write poetry when I was a kid and it was all horrendously cheesy and largely ripped off from pop songs my friends liked at the time. Given time, I grew out of this phase. But in the last few years since graduating from university and the death of my mum, I’ve found a lot of comfort in writing. Even just composing a few lines has allowed me to express the swirling sense of loneliness I’ve felt. Even more recently, I have written poems inspired by my travels around the world. These have been aided in no small part, by one person I worked with in Nepal. Her poems are beautiful, poignant. I know that much of mine is still too flowery but at least it is ripping off better poets than Beyonce (although you gotta love her too). Anyway, by sharing it, I hope to get some feedback and figure out how to improve. My favourite quote about writing is ‘Write drunk, edit sober’, something Hemingway may or may not have said. Regardless, that’s what I’m gonna have to do.