[New-Poetry] Time to write?

[LauraHeidy at aol.com]

I've never done a residency, I wouldn't know how to do one....or even why  
I'd want to, be be completely frank about it.  I guess I figure if you  can't 
write at home, where you're most comfortable, why would you be able to  write 
anywhere else?
 
I'm probably wrong, of course, but that's just my two cents.  It'd be  nice 
to get away from work, family, responsibilities, etc. of course, but I'm  not 
sure it would improve my writing productivity any.  But then again, I'm  not a 
very prolific writer and so it's a moot point.  Apparently I can only  write 
when and if I feel motivated and I tend to feel motivated by nothing  
recognizable.
 
A poem is either there or it isn't and all the time and space in the world  
won't make it appear if it's not.....and conversely, no amount of other  
work/responsibility will make it go away if it wants to be written.  I do a  lot of 
middle of  the night writing and bathtub writing and "oh-gosh-I  
-should-be-making-dinner/changing-sheets/laundry right now, but time just got  away from 
me" writing.  
 
Then again, I'm not a professional "poet" or writer - and maybe that's  why.  
I've not been writing for very long and for the first three or  four years 
that I was trying to write I was raising three kids,  working two jobs and 
teaching EMS and fire safety on the side.  I got very  used to writing on the fly 
as well as trying to squeeze in the reading and  studying necessary to help 
myself try to understand what worked and why and  how.  (I've still not figured 
that one out.)
 
What I am understanding, now that I am away from it, is that while I  lack 
all formal education for a writing career, I did manage to come away with a  
wonderful amount of knowledge of how ordinary people are often  
extraordinary....how they respond to situations beyond their control, even  beyond their own 
understanding....how the amount of courage that normal  every-day people possess 
is amazing....how to look at the world through  eyes other than my own and be 
able to appreciate the differences as well as the  similarities.  Fire and 
EMS are sure not academia but they definitely  do provide a wealth of 
information regarding life....and what better thing to  write about than life itself?
 
It would be nice to have both, but if I had to choose between a nice place  
to write and experiences to write about, I'd have to choose experience as  the 
better wellspring.
Lo
 
 
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