Write about something in your life that you do every day

I live about 60 miles from where I work. This is actually an improvement in my commute. During last year’s PD30, I lived 110 miles from where I worked, so I had to stay in hotels during the week. This year, at a mere 60 miles, I can make the drive. It takes about an hour on the freeway. That means I spend a lot of time (at least two hours a day) on the road, driving through the desert. Consequently, I have written several poems about driving through the desert. Driving through the desert is what I do, so it is what I write about. If, instead of driving for my job, I spent two hours in an airplane every day, I would write more poems about flying in an airplane. If I spent two hours on the bus every day, I would probably write about being on the bus. If I spent two hours a day walking to and from work, there’s a good chance that I would write about that. The things we do inspire our writing.

I write poems about life in the business world. You would think that business and poetry don’t mix, but for me they certainly do. I’ve already written one poem for this project that leaned heavily on credit card transactions. Not coincidentally, I document software for credit card transactions. I bought a new home last spring, so I wrote a poem about buying a new home. I live in the southwest United States, so I write about life in the southwest United States. If I lived in Los Angeles, I would write about Los Angeles. If I lived in New York City I would write about New York City. At this point in my life though, I live in a master planned community stuck out on the freeway between Tucson and Phoenix Arizona. You can bet that this little community influences my writing.

I write about my family and I write about my friends. If my family and friends were different, the poems about them would be different. I am a blogger, and I am deeply entrenched in technology. I am overweight, and pushing myself to both diet and exercise. My hair is graying, but not balding. I like baseball but not football. I have an extensive education. I make good money in the corporate world, but I haven’t been promoted since I moved from dishwasher to busboy at Marie Calendar’ in 1989. I’m married to a woman ten years younger than me who would really like to have kids. I have a nagging back injury that has bothered me ever since I flipped a car in 1987.

These are all things that influence my poetry. If at some point I manage to live a three minute walk from my job, I probably won’t write about the road as much. If I move to another part of the country or to another country, I’m sure that I will write about that. If I ever start to lose my hair, you can bet that some of that hair will fall into my poetry. That’s the way it goes. Your poetry is influenced by who you are, where you are, where you come from and what you do. Embrace that. Don’t worry that your life isn’t interesting enough. My list doesn’t exactly qualify me as an adventurer. It is my life though, and the more I embrace it, the better I feel about my poetry.

Today’s Poetry Prompt

Write about something in your life that you do every day. If you want an added challenge, make the first and the last lines the same or similar.