Fall Front: Conversation with a friend

A few days ago, the first cool front of fall came through the Brazos Valley. I was headed to a meeting with one of my dear friends and we started talking about how nice it was to have some cool air. It reminded her of when she was a little girl, waiting for the bus to pick her up with the cool air of a fall morning on her skin. There is something magical about that first front. In that moment, we could not put into words the feelings that came rushing back with a simple childhood memory of a change in the weather.  Every time I tried, I thought about the memory that my friend had described. I quickly reached for my notebook and began to write.
Here's a peek at my entry.

writer's notebook entry-conversation with a friend

It amazes me how one little conversation about the weather can be snatched from the air, captured in an entry, and finally set free again as a poem. Writing ideas may seem to fall as light the leaves, but as we gather them in our arms and toss them up again, we see a lifetime of possibilities swirling in the air.

I took this entry and immediately envisioned it as a poem. It is written in first person, and it's not really about me. With this poem, I found it really enjoyable to step inside this memory and share it with my friend.
Here's a peek at one of my drafts.

The beauty of drafting quickly and sometimes having more than one draft, allows you the freedom to crack your entry open again and again. I love the surprise that's waiting for me inside each draft.

Having a quick draft also gives you the opportunity to play around with the design, language, order, and so much more. In this draft, you can see me reworking the title, rephrasing some lines, making decisions about word choice, and envisioning line breaks. Once I type it up, I revise again until I am happy with my final changes.

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My poem

Listen to my poem-fall front