Poetry
I generally don't set out to write poetry. I just start to feel something in response to some thought or stimulus, and I grab the nearest thing (laptop, pen and paper, marker and forearm, etc) and start writing while the feeling is there. The poetry I write is completely dependent on how I am feeling at the moment. If I am feeling that way for a long time, I can write a very long poem or several poems of the same spirit. If the feeling is fleeting, then the poem is short.
Of course the problem with this is that sometimes life gets in the way, and I am forced to stop work on what I am writing. This happened to me several times this semester when I was listening to music in my car and got inspiration for a poem. As soon as I arrived at the parking lot I starting writing down what I was thinking, but then I had to stop to go to class. Because of this, several poems that started out quite beautiful I have not been able to finish.
I have been going back and trying to finish those poems, but my mood has changed completely! Since school has ended I have been happier, more hopeful, and far less depressed then when I was writing those poems. While I am thankful for that, it has meant that I cannot for the life of me complete those poems! Whereas before they flowed out of my mind effortlessly, now (even when I force it) I cannot come up with anything that does justice to what I wrote earlier. I have even tried listening to the same music, sitting out in my car and trying to immerse myself in the same atmosphere, but nothing will work. The only thing I can think to do is wait till (or if) I am ever in the same frame of mind and hope that I have the time and desire to finish them then. It is a shame, because I was going to include them in a collection I wanted to try publishing.
What do you do when you cannot get your head back into an unfinished poem? Do you just walk away and wait till the time is right, or do you have a way of working back into it?
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