You Never Can Tell: Autumn Poem

The Internet and life continue to amaze me. Simple things become huge and the sure bets wither. It’s always been that way and will, I guess, continue.

Let me explain.

On Friday, September 22, 2006, I got up at 6:00 am to begin working on my collection of short stories tentatively titled, “Who’s your Daddy?” and Other Stories. My usual ritual before writing is to surf the net to free up my mind and to get the brain cells going. I popped over at Stephen Bess to see what was going on over at his place. As I was reading the comments from the usual suspects (ToastedSuzy, Sumeeta , Stunuh Jay, urban butterfly and Guyana-Gyal ), I noticed that Rethabile had posted this: “Challenge: It is a nice picture indeed. The challenge is to complete the following sentence: "It is Autumn, and this road..." A sentence, not a poem. Anyone? Friday, September 22, 2006 6:22:48 AM

So, I got to work writing the poem. Honestly, I was just looking at the picture (it reminded me of a park in South Florida) and thinking about the time when a girlfriend of mine (she’s now my wife) were on the verge of breaking up. I remembered how I felt at the time-- that it was all over and that I was happy just to have spent the brief life and times with her. Everybody had said our relationship wasn’t going to last and I figured, they were right. I wrote the poem in that mood, and then turned my attention to trying to figure out the next thing that of one my characters was going to do. You see, I have to ask my characters. If they don’t feel like talking that morning, they won’t. Some of them who are Tricksters in true Anancy fashion will lead me down a path of 1000 words or more, only to leave me high and dry, so the next morning I have to begin at the crossroads where on the morning before they’d left me. The next morning, some of them hide when they see me; some pretend as if nothing happened. Some try to kiss me and tell me they won’t do it again (I pretend to believe some of them and with others I really do believe). And some, especially the women, walk up brazen-faced with their calico dresses, flopping in the wind and sit down beside me: “Is everything all right, Geoff? What’s botherin’ you, hon? Tell me. If is that Guyana-Gyal again, I will go down there and cut her you know. I will cut her!” And I have to say, “No, it’s all right, darling. It’s all’s all right.”

Some just laugh and say, “Fooled you!”

After writing the poem, I didn’t think anything else and went about my business. However, this morning as I was checking out my statistics on 103bees that was mentioned in Darren Rowse’s, Problogger (which I recommend for tips about blogging), I noticed this amazing statistic:

103bees Search Term Analytics: Top landing pages

Webpages with most search engine hits - last 7 days

1. /2006/09/autumn-poem.html : 124 hits
2. /2006/04/bob-marley-and-seven-chakras.htm..:40 hits
3. http://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com: 32 hits
4. /2006/05/meanings-of-bob-marleys-songs_03...: 28 hits
5. /2006/02/happy-birthday-mervyn-morris.htm...: 26 Hits
6. /2006/07/fable-of-freedom-i-shot-sheriff....: 23 hits
7. /2006/06/happy-birthday-martin-carter.htm..: 18 hits.
8. /2006/05/how-will-our-stories-be-told.htm..: 15 hits
9. /2006/02/happy-birthday-tony-winkler.html: 14 Hits
10. /2006/08/reggae-rastafari-and-aesthetics....: 12 hits

I’ve only listed the top ten and the tables (not supported by Blogger) are much more user-friendly. 103bees has a whole list of other services that have sometimes helped me figure out my next post, especially when my characters are sulking and wanting to go their own way.

I guess my point is you never can tell what will grow and flourish and what will wither. Posts that I spent hours writing have do not have as many hits as “Autumn Poem,” which I wrote in less than an hour.

I know, I know, it’s a seasonal thing, so this, too, will pass. And, no, I don’t have any conscious plans to write winter or spring poems.

One thing I do know is, win or lose, I will continue to be as honest as I can be in all my writing (blogs, short stories, plays, novels, and poems), and continue to wish I had the time to devote the maximum time to write about all the characters/ideas that are in my head.

Now, the big challenge will be to find a publisher or an agent for “Who’s your Daddy?” and Other Stories.

What do you think?

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