Gift for Summer
For my second contribution to the Inter Arts Cabinet of Curiosity, I opted to manufacture a gift for Summer. While I was initially going to handcraft a piece of jewelry, in my conversation with another member of the seminar, I decided to write a poem instead. From what I could gather, Summer enjoys reading poetry, and the gift would draw a great parallel to my songwriting skills.
The starting idea that I went into writing this poem with was that I knew some of us were having a hard time presently. Aside from our personal hardships, this time in the semester is very much an uncertainty. With multiple midterms happening in the same week, assignments that don’t seem to end and the constant pressure from some mentors who prioritize our results over our mental health, I thought that we could all use some words of encouragement. A poem that encourages, to be precise.
This morning in class, I found myself thinking just what I normally do: “Oh dear God, twenty more minutes, I wish it was over right this instant.” From there, my mind raced on a tangent regarding how often we just want time to pass, but don’t think twice about the fact that we are never going to get it back again. Like, this instance: You are never going back to it again. Oftentimes, I feel like we, as human beings, should appreciate our minutes on this Earth more than we currently do.
By now, I had a very clear vision for the piece.
Now I was thinking how to connect it to Summer. I haven’t gotten acquainted with her on a deep and personal level yet, but I do have a very good idea of the kind of person that she is, from some of our interactions and mostly: Art projects. When you evaluate someone’s art, you get to know them in a specific way. You see a part of them- a very intimate one at that.
In my experience, I concluded, Summer is like an Olive Tree. A very calm, kind individual, who wishes nothing but good for the people around her. Never have I gotten even a spot of aggressive mojo coming from her. This kind of person is a very rare one to encounter, but I am personally very thankful that they exist, having befriended a few of them in my lifetime. Hence, the name of the poem was born.
The main body of the following text just flowed out. I did very little editing between the first draft and the final version- mostly structural editing I would say. In a way, the poem was a synthesis between my personal experiences, the thoughts that I sometimes have, and the usual doubts of probably everybody. Most people will, at one point or another relate to this piece. I was initially going to keep writing, but have since decided to keep the poem the way it is now. It does a sufficient job of saying everything I wanted it to.