A Poem for Plank Pose
"Tongue and groove, we come together into one solid part, strong enough to do nothing, but hold it, hold it all." from Plank Pose by Corie Feiner
The Process
Some poems come easily like a gift. They are fully formed and can come in a rush of inspiration, as if they come through you.
Plank Pose was not one of these poems.
Plank Pose, much like the pose itself, was a challenge.
I live in an old stone house with real wood floors. It is small and cozy and has a way of making me feel cradled and safe. Early in the morning, my family still sleeping and the sun still rising red in the sky, I got out my beloved composition book with the intention of writing a poem for Plank Pose.
I went blank. I started and stopped again. I turned the page. I did research on the pose itself and also, about wood floors and how they interlock. I got distracted and starting looking up pictures of old growth tree floors. Then took a conscious breath and refocused myself again on the work.
I tell my students that messy writing, scribbles, slashes, and arrows on the early versions of their poems was a beautiful act of creation, so I embraced the process with…