Alpha

Day 1 – “A” as in “Alpha”

As per some persuasion by a dear friend and colleague, I have signed up to take on the A-to-Z Challenge for the month of April. Since I hurriedly signed up this evening with mere hours to spare, I feel prompted to use the only theme that immediately came to mind: Poetry…for National Poetry Month, but also because, for some bizarre reason, my genre of poetry writing has taken off these last few months and it has manifested itself in the most wonderful ways (which will be explained in a later post).

On that note, for Day 1 of this Challenge, I am using “Alpha” for my “A” post. It is no coincidence, I think, that exactly one year ago today, I embarked on the best journey of my life–April 1st, 2014 was the day I quit my full-time job to pursue my writing career. It was my beginning. My true genesis. My Alpha. And looking back over the last 12 months, I can see a series of tiny yet significant events that led up to this very anniversary, and I am now pursuing poetry (surprisingly, out of all the genres I love to write) more than ever because of that precise series of events. It all feels so surreal and crazy, but I have never felt more alive nor more at peace with myself and my life than I do now.

I am ever grateful for this day. I have learned so much…about myself as a person, as a writer, and also about the art of writing. As of late, I have reflected upon the way I focused too much on the big picture of my career (although there is nothing wrong with holding goals and having ambition), but it all went wrong because I let the weight of the world, of my craft, of trying to find justice for writing *right* in a world of online/social media insta-gratification-poets, to rest so heavily upon my ill-prepared shoulders. This was not a task to be shouldered alone. Thus, I have honed my focus down to a much smaller scale: right here, in the very community where I live. It is here where I will begin the next year of my life, rather than getting caught up in the insignificant worries of the grander scheme of things. I have no control over that, honestly, and so the worry is no longer present. Finally. Because there is no point in overanalyzing the matter. So I am letting go of it. What will be, will be…and I now know that my efforts and talents are best used for the benefit of the very people around me. Starting small and moving out. Preparing my race from where I should be…at the start. At the very beginning.

And with that, below is my original poem, “Atlas” (no coincidence that it’s an “A” as well!). I’m looking forward to what this Challenge might bring, and I welcome any and all comments and feedback. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy.