All Roads Lead To Roam
#4 from "Written by a Poem"
Hey there,
Welcome to poem #4 from “Written by a Poem” – my upcoming poetry collection that I write in public.
If you're new to Vanauthor, you might want to check out the previous entries.
You can find all links here:
Poem
Behind the Lines
My “somewhere”
The imagery and symbolism are, of course, open to interpretation. But if the “somewhere“ I’m talking about in the poem was to be taken literally, as a place, for me it would be Nice, France. I had the pleasure of living there for 6 months back in 2022 and every second felt like a dream I didn’t want to wake up from.
One of my favorite activities was strolling to the end of Promenade des Anglais and climbing up Colline du Château, where I’d lose track of time, captivated by a stunning view of the mighty Mediterranean in azure hues. The waves really seemed to caress the beach, producing a rattling melody as water retreated over the smooth pebbles. It was the closest I’ve ever come to meditation.
This is where I wrote my very first notes on "Written by a Poem". Funnily enough it's also just a few meters away from where James Joyce began writing his “Finnegans Wake” back in 1922 – exactly 100 years earlier.
Related quotes & lyrics
"It takes a road to go nowhere, it takes the toll to make you care"
– Jason Mraz, Life is Wonderful
"The wind's our Captain, blow where it may"
– Nikos Kazantzakis, Odyssey: A Modern Sequel
"'Heave at the oars and make your minds a blank!' Their captain spoke, the oarlocks creaked, and all their brains filled far and wide with purposeless and shoreless sea."
– Nikos Kazantzakis, Odyssey: A Modern Sequel
My very first note when starting on this poem
The first stage of writing my poems is quite non-poetic. I simply jot down the idea in a few sentences, then brain dump any related thoughts, words, associations, sounds, anything really.
So, here's the first note I took – raw, straight out of my notebook:
"When you have no clear destination, crossroads ain't a tough choice. You have nothing to lose and it's all the same whether you go left or right."
The second note, by the way, was the title itself.
That’s all, folks!
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Until next time, hold on to the rhyme!
See you on the next page ✍️,
Vanauthor
A nice play of word in the title, Roam = Rome!