Snowy Paths, Poem Completions

A year ago, at the beginning of the semester, I thought I might need some snow boots, and when I saw a Land's End pair on sale for a deeply reduced price ($40), I went ahead and ordered them.  And then we had a fairly mild winter.  We only left our faucet dripping three or four nights which tells you that the nights were mostly above freezing.

Not so this year.  Yesterday, I pulled out those boots to go on a walk with a friend; it was the first time I wore them since trying them on when they arrived.  They feel more like running shoes on my feet, but they are much more waterproof, and they come up just above my ankles.

I wanted to get out for a walk, but I also wanted to gauge how the roads are doing--not the major roads, but my neighborhood roads that get me to the main roads.  I was able to walk fairly easily, although they are still snow covered.  I'm a bit worried about how they might have frozen overnight, but I will drive slowly and hope for the best, as I make my way to the main roads that will take me to Spartanburg Methodist College.  I will stay alert on bridges.

I have a 10:00 class, so I can leave at 8:30, which means I'll be able to see.  I realize that won't help me with black ice, but it will help me with other snowy/icy patches.  I hope that the interstate will be O.K.  My walking friend said the interstate was clear and dry when she made her way home from South Carolina on Saturday.

I will wear my boots to get to the car that's parked in our neighbor's paved driveway.  I'll take a pair of shoes to change into when I get to school.  I am taking the Rogue, in part because it's parked in a paved driveway, but also because it's got 4 new tires that were chosen for mountain travel in all sorts of weather.

I have been up for hours, with a lot of different kinds of anxiety, like traveling on roads that might be icy and generalized worry about the health of loved ones.  So I went ahead and got up.  I decided to work on a poem, instead of my usual pattern of doom scrolling.  

My 2025 goal of creating 52 finished poems is working really well as a motivator right now.  As I look back through my poetry files, I can see that I've done a good job of writing down fragments, and that even when it's been a month or two of lesser fragment generating, I do make my way back.  But actually getting a fragment to the finish line?  I have not been doing that.

My pattern for the last few years has been to write the fragment down, be unsure of where to go next, put it aside, and forget to return to it.  So far, my 2025 goal has kept me focused (I know, I know, it's only been 2 weeks, but I'm taking success where I find it).  I write a fragment and force myself to try to finish it on the same day or the next day.  

So far, I've finished 4 poems.  Are they publishable?  I have no idea--ask me in July when I've gotten some distance.

I've been able to stay focused because I made my goal 52 poems in a year, not one poem a week.  I can get ahead now, knowing that there will likely be times in the upcoming year when I won't be able to do as much poetry writing.

Even as I type that last sentence, I think of people who manage to write a poem a day regardless of what else might be happening.  My goal suddenly seems much wimpier.