Linked Verse

Living in the world of Facebook (yes, I have an account; no, unless you already know I'm not going to give it out - part of the wonderful "mystery" of the Internet) I have had the pleasure of reconnecting - mostly with high school friends (interestingly, my college friend connection rate is much lower). One of the amusing - and fun - pleasures I've had recently is engaging in the practice of "linked verse" with another old friend, whereby they type a poem and some part of that gets used in a response to them.

It's fun - both for the creative process involved as well as in seeing what the responses will be. But more importantly, it has allowed me to reconnect with a sort of oddball, intellectually fun-loving side of myself that I don't get to exercise a great deal.

Intellectual exercise and fun. Who'd have thought it?

It also points out the disconnect between parts of my present life and career and what I really enjoy doing. I write these verses for the sheer pleasure of using the language in a creative way. It's not like cranking out yet another "Standard Operating Procedure" or carefully parsing my words for the thousandth time on an e-mail I am about to send. The linked verse may be a bit silly - but in reality, it seems to have more impact and more joy to people than anything I've ever written at work.

Bringing joy through words - what could be simpler? What could be more fulfilling? Why aren't I doing more of this?