Instruction poems and finding confidence

Poetry (pen) Pals #58

This is a poem I wrote following our Poetry Circle last week. I might well play with it again at some point but I liked it enough to share it in it’s current form…

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Finding Confidence

After Joy Sullivan

First, you must wonder when it left. Ask whether someone snatched or stole it. Report the crime to yourself and announce that justice will be done. Mean it. Take it back home and make bone broth from memory. Read to it before bed. Take it’s temperature daily. Start hanging out together again. Introduce it as your ‘new best friend’. Send it to work colleagues via email. Hold hands in public. Let it dance on the table on a Tuesday afternoon. Wear the same knowing smile. Let it go to bed early without apology. Wake up, hangover free. Say yes to a picnic on grass still covered in dew. Don’t take a coat. Spread your misgivings out for everyone to see. Bin any trash talk. Idolise the blossom trees. Drink only from the flask that holds hot tea. Shout for the catch. Follow it down the road with the ‘No Entry’ sign. Turn off the Sat Nav. Say no to driving with the windows down in an SUV. Instead, wander the winding roads on foot. Find a cute coffee shop and order a date with yourself. Get your pen out. Chat to the dog at the next table. Smile at the owner. If they ask what you’re writing, reply, The Performance of a Lifetime. Be the one to start the standing ovation. Clap enthusiastically.

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The poem came about having read a few individual poems on the topic of confidence (paid subscribers - hopefully you got these via email) and a prompt from the book ‘How to Grow Your Own Poem’ by Kate Clanchy.

I then borrowed the opening, “First, you must…” and used the form of

Joy Sullivan

’s poem ‘Instructions for Travelling West’ from her book of the same name. Which, of course, is our book club choice for April and is clearly already working it’s magic.

So it was a bit of a mash up of ideas and inspiration. I guess that’s true of many poems whether we are able to name them or not.

If you fancied having a go, you could replace ‘finding confidence’ with something else. Finding resilience. Finding motivation. Finding your voice. I started out by scribbling down a ton of things that ‘confidence’ might look like, do, sound like etc. Then I just pulled them back together into some sort of narrative which (hopefully) works. I also wanted to make sure I didn’t let confidence turn into arrogance or ego - hence the SUV with the windows down.

One of my favourite Ada Limòn poems is this one titled, 'Instructions on Not Giving Up’ from ‘The Carrying’:

Instructions on Not Giving Up, Ada Limòn

Isn’t it just glorious. Clearly I have a penchant for an ‘instructional’ style poem. In fact, one of the section headings of the poetry book I’m currently writing does include the word ‘Instructions’. As things stand. Might all change, as is the way.

I reckon this week’s poetry attempt might well make it into the book. BTW it is definitely getting closer to being finished, eeek.

Do let me know if you write anything this week, you know I love to hear from you.

Nelly x