5 Days of Beginnings: Day Five

We’ve just about made it— day five! Thank you for joining us on this little experiment. Also, thank you and welcome to our new subscribers! We’re so glad you’re here.

Bring on the stories about party clowns!

I don’t know of any writer who has written more beginnings than my friend Christopher D. Sims, a writer, performance artist, activist, and educator. Out of all my writing friends I’ve known him the longest, so long I can’t even remember how we first met. A poetry slam, maybe? And I don’t know if we first connected over our shared love of words, or if it’d been our passion for social justice. But I know I’ve been amazed by all he’s created— from his poetry to his hip hop— and all the grassroots work he’s done to make this world a more just and equitable place. He’s constantly on the move, constantly creating, and constantly inspiring.

I asked him about beginnings and here’s what he had to say:

When writing, constructing a new poem, the start for me is the most powerful piece of the poem. If I can have a strong start, then the rest of the poem will develop. So, when I can come up with a theme or a title, that's it for me. I work on the title just as hard as I do the rest of the poem. It reminds me of writing papers in school, the beginning of a poem orchestrates, directs what the rest of the poem will look like and sound like. The light that goes off inside my head shines bright when I come up with the title and develop a few sentences to get the beginning of the poem going. Beginnings can make or break a poem for me. If I have not developed or defined the beginning well then, the rest of the poem will not work. A great start means everything to me! In my poem “Gettin' Intimate With Your Words (Your Words Make Love To Me)” I say, “When I become fused, settled into your wordplay, the most beautiful things serenade my soul.” That was all I needed to get that romantic, sensual poem going. The beginning is the recipe for a well-crafted poem. 

Thank you, Christopher!

Here’s his song rec:

Hope you find a great start today. <3

Our next post is an interview with the amazing Juan Martinez! You won’t want to miss it!