Poetry Friday - Closer to Fine

 Today Poetry Friday is at Buffy's Blog! Be sure to visit and check out all the great poetry posts!

On Sunday, I drove to Indiana for a Choice Literacy retreat for contributors hosted by Brenda Power, the founder of Choice Literacy. Last year, the Choice Literacy retreat was such an awesome experience for me and I was excited to return. This year was equally as amazing. Being surrounded by writers for two days, writing, sharing, discussing, reflecting on habits is deeply moving. This year, Brenda brought in bits and pieces of inspiration text for us to read and discuss. 

At one point, she handout copies of A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger. We were asked to read a short section to discuss. So far, this book is making me really think hard about life and what I want to contribute to the world. I'm excited to read more and work on my own beautiful question. I already know I'll be writing more about this topic as I've been thinking about it a lot since the retreat. It's led to some pretty deep thinking which reminded me of the song Closer to Fine by the Indigo Girls.

My senior year in high school I took a semester long Composition class with a phenomenal teacher, Ms. Urkovich. I consider myself super lucky to have attended a school where reading and writing workshop was valued. Honestly, I owe a lot of my positive feelings about writing and my understanding of writing as a process to my workshop experiences in high school. Ms. Urkovich completely challenged me as a writer. In class, we analyzed the lyrics of Closer to Fine before she asked us to choose a song to analyze and write about on our own. Whenever I hear this song, I instantly think of Ms. Urkovich leading our class discussion as we discussed the meaning of the lyrics. Throughout high school, we spent a lot of time digging deep into texts and contemplating the meaning of life. I love how this song honors how natural it is for us to think about our purpose here on Earth but then at the same time, it points out that we might be better off just relaxing and enjoying life.

I definitely think we need a balance of both. There is so much to enjoy about life and being able to let go and live in the moment is magical. Similarly, it's important to think about life and what we can offer in the time that we are here so that we can feel okay about letting go and living in the moment. I would love to hear what insight you might have when you listen to or read these lyrics. 

"Closer To Fine"

I'm trying to tell you something about my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
The best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously, it's only life after all
Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it, I'm crawling on your shore.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a B-grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper
And I was free.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I stopped by the bar at 3 a.m.
To seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend
I woke up with a headache like my head against a board
Twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before
I went in seeking clarity.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

We go to the bible, we go through the workout
We read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout
There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in a crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine

I hope today finds you closer to fine than yesterday! 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!