the idea behind this blog

Like the slow crawl of time, ideas have a natural sort of evolution. When the wheel was first made it wasn’t until later that it was used to roll us all over these lands and so too, this idea.

 

It originated in the spring of 2007 when I wrote my first 2 line poem. Initially it seemed like a novelty, but I was curious to see if there was more hiding within it’s shallow waters. Around 200 later, I surprised myself at the depth that could be reached in only 2 lines of poetry with a short concrete title. It gave me the freedom to linger on a thought and add emphasis to single words or even sounds. It also gave me the freedom to be random, start and end with a non sequitur and leave even myself guessing. Quite versatile and powerful for something so small. It made me a believer, but exactly a year later I decided to retire the idea and move on to something else. Other poems, concepts and series came, but I still looked to my 2 liners with fondness and regard, almost like a childhood friend.

 

 

Along comes my wife, 2 daughters and a son and suddenly life takes precedent. My lack of writing was discouraging and I knew I needed some wheel to get me rolling again on some road of inspiration. I see an ad for a Honda Odyssey and there was the 17 inch alloy wheel I was looking for. Through a few weeks of brainstorming I come up with the original concept for this site. As a rather tongue-in-cheek sort of fundraiser with the ultimate goal of obtaining a Honda Odyssey I would write 6,055 2 line poems, totaling 12,110 lines. That is the exact length of Homer’s epic Greek poem- The Odyssey. Minus the dactylic hexameter he wrote his in, mine would take the reader on a slow and winding, completely disjointed Odyssey. Hence the name- Odyssey for an Odyssey. It seemed to be flawless. People could donate to have a poem written for them, I would get to write poems daily and that Odyssey would be lingering on the horizon for everyone involved.

 

That was the infant days of this idea and like always, evolution creeps its way in and allows us to grow up a bit. This idea, just as myself, just as my kids, is growing up, becoming more confidant with each step. It became less of an ultimate goal and more of the counting of footsteps. Trying to capture what it is that I’m leaving behind me as I walk in the mud. It’s easier to count your steps when you have time to look at the prints and so I’m choosing to look. This has become a metaphorical diary for this journey. Just as my children’s childhood is an odyssey in itself, this Odyssey is for my kids so they can see that a footprint isn’t forever unless it fossilizes. I’ll fossilize every step I take.

 

thanks.
kyle.