First of all, I would like to thank rob for asking me to
participate in this, and whoever may read this!
How is anything created really? How is art created? This
may not even make sense, it might be just a bunch of rambling on my part. The
creative process, like life, is so rarely easy and clean, despite what we would
like.
I wish I could say I have a very structured organized way
of writing but that would be a lie. How do poems get started for me? Often,
it’s from a word, a phrase, something I read, or saw that sparks something
within me. I can sit with an idea for days or even years before a poem comes
forth from it. I don’t write poems as much as poems write themselves, I think.
It doesn’t make much sense at times. I think artists are a conduit, or maybe
vessel, is a better word that put what we’re surrounded by – emotions, stories,
memories, etc. into something tangible that resonates with others, or that’s
the hope at least.
I start with a very loose structure. I’d say I write in a
circle, in that I start with a word, phrase, or an image, and then form the
poem around it. I start in the middle and write outwards. The beginnings and
end of poems are usually the last things I write.
I write everywhere – in notebooks, on my computer, on
scraps of paper, on my hands, my phone, in my head. I think all these different
mediums have their advantages and disadvantages. I used to (and still do, but
maybe less so) struggle a lot with the editing process because I’d sit and
stare at the poem on my screen, and it just wouldn’t work. But now, I’ve
learned that sometimes you have to walk away from a poem or work, and just let
it breathe. It’ll come. Often times, when I’m doing something else, completely
unrelated, something will just click. It’ll come.
For me, in writing, I’m intrigued by both how it looks on
the page, and how it sounds out loud. When I’m writing, a lot of it is done out
loud, repeating words, phrases, or just ideas to myself, and hearing how it
sounds. In regard to line breaks, that’s something that I usually add after to
be honest. When I first write, my work is usually just a stream of all the
ideas going through my head at the time. I just let it all out, no line breaks,
no structure really, just let the poetry or story out. Then I go back
(sometimes immediately, sometimes later) and read what emerges, taking out what
doesn’t work, reworking sections, and adding line breaks as I see fit.
In writing this way, I am often surprised myself at what
comes from it. In that what I set out to write about is not always what the
poem ends up being about. Or the poem will go in a very different direction
than I’ve intended. Or split into to separate poems. Sometimes the poem just
goes where it wants.
I do find reoccurring themes or threads in a lot of my
work, which isn’t always intentional. I had someone point out to me that there
is a lot of water imagery in a lot of my work, and looking back, I was like
huh, there is. For reasons I can’t completely articulate yet, I’ve always been
drawn in by water, the connection to life, to women, to history, and that
manifests in my work.
There are always writers in the back of my mind. I think
that’s true of every writer, we are inspired by what we read, which is why it’s
so important to do so. Currently, I'm reading On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, and Sisters' Entrance by Emtithal Mahmoud.
Other writers that have influenced me/I love to read are Michael Ondaatje,
Warsan Shire, Nayyirah Waheed, Ysrah-Daley Ward, Aime Cesaire, Tsitsi Jaji, and
so many others (I could go on forever). One of the things that I’m excited
about now that I’m done school, is to have time to read more, and just enjoy
it. And slowly fall back into writing more. While I’m always writing in some
capacity, I haven’t been doing a lot of submitting recently, more focused on
just falling into writing slowly, taking my time, enjoying the process. That’s
the beautiful thing about writing that I love, you can always come back to it,
at your own pace. It doesn’t tie you down, but it grows with you, and gives you
space to learn, grow, and expand. And I think that’s really important.
We are surrounded by stories and poetry, Sarah Kabamba just wants to share some
of them with you. She is of Congolese origins, and lives in Ottawa, where she
is (slowly) working on a poetry collection.
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