You know, last year at the Austin International Poetry Festival I met some wonderful and talented people. I got lucky and they added me to a secret group where we discuss  our work, bandy around with words and generally have an interesting time. Apart from the few people I have actually had the pleasure to meet face to face, I am now friendly with a whole bunch of people from all walks of life and all over the world with one common passion: poetry.

Recently a member of the group threw up a challenge ( we do that sometimes) which was to write a poem containing about 2o words which had to be used in a poem (in correct order) in about X lines of not more than Y syllables each. I was aghast. I figured my dictionary would now join my reading list. And I realised that there was no way I could do it. I also realised that my vocabulary is rather rusty.

So… why not learn a few new, rather unusual words? I will pick one for each letter and try to paint it in verse. A word that sounds aesthetically pleasing and has meaning. It could also be a name, a name with a beautiful meaning that has somehow gotten stuck in my head.

So that’s my theme this year: WORDS words that walk off the beaten path, words that are unsusual, words that paint a picture, words that make you think, words that take you to distant lands with the pictures they paint…

So, how about a little adventure, into the unknown? Come, walk with me a while… Suggestions and ideas are welcome! 

I’m hoping a learn a few new things and push some boundaries as well, how about you?

See you in April!