I belong to a family of working women. Most of the women in my family work in offices or run their business. All of them have at least one child. They work and raise their children and make it seem easy. So, when I had a baby, I was shocked to find myself getting domesticated and highly preoccupied by household chores.
Raising an infant is not difficult but it is time consuming. It is also inspiring and suddenly you find yourself equipped with skills and energy levels you didn’t know existed within you. Creative juices were flowing within me and new ideas were emerging but I was unable to think of a space to express them or carve out enough time.
One midnight, two weeks ago, I was chatting with my friend Saee. Saee is an author, poet and a mother of three wonderful children. We share a passion for literature and writing. That night we were discussing our homely woes that led to lack of inspiration or expression. To counter this, Saee, had come up with the idea of word prompts and shared the poem she had written. The word of the day was ‘Trespass’. During our conversation, I was struck by an image related to Saee’s word prompt of the day. I scribbled a few lines and sent it to her. She liked it and mentioned that we should do write word prompt poems for a few days. This was the birth of #partnersinpoetry
Word prompt poem was our answer to the lack of inspiration. Poetry is a form that suits us because it allows us to express our creativity in a limited amount of time. Having #partnersinpoetry gives us the encouragement to write everyday.
For a week, we both have managed to write poems on different prompts that I will share with you this week. We have worked on our ideas while stirring vegetables, feeding our children, laughing at our husband’s jokes and making endless mental lists.
During this process we have developed renewed respect for fellow women writers who strive towards creative quests while engaged in domestic pursuits. I hope you enjoy reading our poems as much as we loved writing them. We welcome your thoughts and comments. Keep an eye out!