National Poetry Day 2024 and "Counting"
First Poem I Ever Wrote at Age 10 Matches the Theme on this Auspicious Day
What’s a poet to do? I guess write and share poetry. Especially this week.
Random Acts of Poetry Day takes place the first Wednesday of October, as it encourages outbursts of poetry by poets and poet wannabes who wish to spread random poetry through art, the written word, and voice. National Poetry Day 2024 is celebrated on Thursday, October 3 and is a day to highlight the impact poetry has on people's lives. So what that I live in the United States, and National Poetry Day is the biggest mass celebration of poetry in the UK! Poetry goes beyond time and space. Each year has a different theme, and this year's theme is “counting.”
So, let’s do this!
Hmmm. “Counting” huh? I’m not sure what that exactly means, but I tell ya I am inspired to offer a special poem somewhat related to that theme. It’s the first poem I ever wrote, at age 10. I had it memorized for like 40 years before I jotted it down in 2012 for my first “Breadcrumbs Vol I” book of poetry.
THE CLOCK OF MY LIFE
By Jimmy Ellis
The clock of my life
Is on my dark wall
It never tocs; it only ticks
And sometimes will stall
I want to push it faster
And move its slow hands
To take me where I want to go
And fulfill my demands
…..
But now my clock has traveled
So many, many miles
I've seen many frowns
I've seen many smiles
But now I wish for something else
I wish I could go back
To learn of all the lessons
I now surely lack
Yes, counting. Here in our dualistic world, we count out time and attempt to find the meaning within it.
At the time I wrote this poem, I recall thinking, “How will I know how I feel years and years from now?” The poem sort of wrote itself.
But now here I am, years down the road realizing how authentic this expression was, and how real it would become.
I share it now for anyone trapped in the illusion of time, thinking that something back there or something up ahead will hold the answers.
Live now. Be now. I will see you then.
JAMES ANTHONY ELLIS is a writer, producer and poet whose new book “Breadcrumbs, Vol. 2: Poems & Prose Found Along the Sacred Path” can be found HERE.
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I love the vulnerability and the raw authenticity in this posting. I actually missed this on THE national poetry day, but I'll still take that as a license to write a poem next time I feel like it.