I want to focus on how I wrote one poem, titled “Retracing Old Lines.” The poem is about a process I went through after a friend and past lover died several years ago.
At first, I was having a hard time tapping into the feelings after finding out my friend had passed away. I’m not sure how to explain what happened next, because I hadn’t written poetry since I took a creative writing course in college. What happened was that, spontaneously, I felt there was a poem inside me that needed to come out, and I sat down with pencil and paper and wrote it down. When I read the poem back to myself, I cried for the first time, a good bit actually. The poem was the key I needed for tapping into the feelings that had been hanging out under the surface, just out of reach.
The next phase was more deliberate. I knew I wanted to use the draft I had started as a first section to a longer poem. But, I wasn’t sure what direction to go in. I decided to go on a trip to revisit some of the places where this person and I had met 20 years ago, when we both worked seasonal jobs in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. I also decided it would be good to do some background reading into the history and culture of eastern Oregon.
One of the first things I did was order a used copy of Phil F. Brogan’s classic book, East of the Cascades, from Powell’s Books. This book is out of print but it shouldn’t be. It’s a great read. Then, in July and August of this year, I made two trips from my home in Helena, Montana to eastern Oregon. On both trips I rented a backcountry cabin in the Blue Mountains through the Forest Service’s rental program. In addition, I pushed west to central Oregon to stay in Bend for a few days, to visit the Deschutes Public Library’s downtown location, which has an outstanding central Oregon reference section. There, I repeatedly read through books like Listening for Coyote and Hiking Oregon’s History by William L. Sullivan, and Oregon Geographic Names by Lewis A. McArthur.
By the time I completed my last trip I had a working draft of the full poem. Of course, revisiting the physical places, going on hikes, and camping out helped the process inside me unfold, and helped me see a way to finish writing the poem. The work I did at digging into eastern Oregon’s history and culture helped indirectly. I think it helped me feel more grounded and at home in the overall experience. I think of inquiry as a creative process. On this journey, my inquiry into better understanding the region helped cultivate a feeling of creativity that traveled with me and supported my writing and editing process.
*****
