remix poem: an introvert in isolation

For today’s prompt, write a remix poem. That is, take one (or more) of your poems from earlier this month and remix it. Make a free verse poem into a villanelle. Or condense a sestina into a haiku or senryu. Or forget form. Just completely jumble up the words…or respond to the original poem(s). As always, have fun with it. — Robert Lee Brewer, Writer’s Digest

It was only two days ago that I wrote this one — Social Studies, based on some concept using the word social — and then commented that I’d like to come back to it later and rework it. Surprise! I guess now is my chance. (Note: I started, and made one attempt that turned out to be still very much kind of wandering and pointless. Somehow it ended up talking about Dr. Phil? What do I really want to say? Maybe distilling down into a haiku will bring the idea into relief.)

an introvert faces the pandemic

social isolation
is hard for reasons other
than being alone

Social Studies

Somehow I made it through school
and even through my 20s
without realizing I was an introvert
and understanding what that meant

I've become much more introspective
in the decades since then
I like knowing myself
and what makes me the way I am,
the instructions that explain
how I operate most efficiently.

I’m social in my own way,
kind of awkward,
not good in crowds,
happy alone,
but getting kind of tired of isolation.

The social studies —
the coping skills I must have developed
over those years
when I wasn’t conscious of what my needs were
— are paying off now
in these most unsociable times.

poetry month: social studies

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Social (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles could include: “Social Distancing at the Grocery Store,” “Social Media Trolls,” “Social Club,” and/or “Social Distortion.” Heck, flipping the script to come up with a title like “Ice Cream Social” would totally work too.

Remember: These prompts are just springboards; you have the freedom to jump in any direction you want. In other words, it’s more important to write a new poem than to stick to the prompt. — Robert Lee Brewer, Writer’s Digest

Social Studies

Somehow I made it through school
and even through my 20s
without realizing I was an introvert
and understanding what that meant

I've become much more introspective
in the decades since then
I like knowing myself
and what makes me the way I am,
the instructions that explain
how I operate most efficiently.

I’m social in my own way,
kind of awkward,
not good in crowds,
happy alone,
but getting kind of tired of isolation.

The social studies —
the coping skills I must have developed
over those years
when I wasn’t conscious of what my needs were
— are paying off now
in these most unsociable times.

I think there’s a good idea here, but it needs some development. Maybe in May when I’m not writing a poem a day, I can return to a couple of these and see what more I can do with them.

poem-a-day challenge: the isolation dance

Writer’s Digest’s Robert Lee Brewer: While I write my poems in April, I figure out the prompts in February and March—because I’ve learned it’s difficult to create both at the same time. So when I thought of today’s prompt, I was hopeful that it would be about a time in the recent past, but here we are, so without further ado…

For today’s prompt, write an isolation poem. For many, this is a very real and present subject. And for me, I’ve found that social distancing and staying at home has actually made it harder for me to find the isolation my introverted soul needs to recharge—so I actually wake up before anyone else to get a little alone time. But isolation existed before COVID-19 as well. So there are plenty of ways to dive into this one.

isolation

isolation is a verb,
an action I was learning to perform
in the first two sessions of
an eight-week beginners’ belly dance class
my friends and I had joined for fun

moving a part of the body
separately from all the parts
surrounding it:
the ribcage, a hip, a shoulder

isolation is a noun
that put a premature end
to those classes.

We should be “graduating” tonight
but instead we still are on hiatus
alone in our homes
where we miss the music
and each other
and long to again browse through the spangled costume pieces
wondering which ones would look best
and when we would have learned enough to earn
the right to wear a jingly hip scarf
to punctuate the joy
of our togetherness,
our communal dancing