Cedar Creek Writers

~ by Theo Gustafson

Cedar Creek Writers is a group of South Cowichan people who meet once a month to share our writing in its many forms. Fiction, memoirs, and family history are a few of our favourites. At our last meeting, we reflected on why we like to write poetry. From the myriad why's and how’s of poetry happening, here are a few of our thoughts.

A member begins: My inspiration sometimes comes from something I see. I looked out the window where a blossomladen cherry tree formed a rhythm in my mind. It evolved into a 6-stanza poem embracing the life of the tree in all seasons. After a glimpse of spring and summer, here's a look at the tree in fall:

Soon it will blaze in the autumn sun
Till a capricious breeze will shake the limbs.

There are different kinds of poetry, another member comments. Really there are all sorts of forms. More people might try their hand at poetry if they realized how free it is. I like to count the syllables in each line, see if there is a pattern and build on that. To write poetry, you have to care about beauty and want to share it. It doesn't have to rhyme or be in verse. It is inspired by your thought, images you see which suggest some deeper meaning or trigger an emotion. An emerging dragonfly can represent life going forward, compared to old age reflecting on life slowing down. It’s also important to realize that poetry should be read aloud, should be shared. Just one of many reasons to attend a writers' group!

A local image inspired this piece, conceived while walking through the woods in the dark:

Malahat Park
A lemon-slice moon
rose over Malahat
and shooting stars fell
into the moss,
planting heaven
in the forest.

Poetry can be inspired by relationships with other people, as well as by nature. A writer wanted to honour her mother on her 80th birthday:

When I was a child…
Dinner appeared on the table.
Apples grew in the fridge.
I wasn't the one who stood all day in the bank,
Smiling at customers rude or fine.
Now that I'm not a child, I understand
That sometimes my mother got tired.

Memories, loved ones, meaningful or scary or funny events, a glimpse into the soul of a butterfly or a raven squawking its ire, mist lifting in fragments as sorrow after a loss - anything can evoke a poem, if we open our minds to image and rhythm.

Cedar Creek Writers meet on the second Wednesday of each month in Cobble Hill, in the afternoon, and welcome new writers. Call Theo Gustafson 737-1309.