Making Time
A Meter Speeder with Mona Mehas
It’s been a bit since we’ve connected here on Meter&Mayhem. My life has been a little more mayhem and a lot less meter lately. I wish I could promise I’ll be posting more regularly again, but I fear that’s a promise I just can’t keep. I hope you all enjoy this reading by Mona Mehas from her recent chapbook Calling to Shore from Cicada Song Press. Mona has a way of rendering the ephemeral nature of the physical world in a way that just pulls you in and forces you to be present in her vision.
Mona Mehas (she/her) writes poetry and prose from the perspective of a retired disabled teacher in Indiana USA. Paddler Press nominated her poem 'In 1920' for a Pushcart Prize in November 2023. Her work has appeared in over 70 journals, anthologies, and online museums. Her poetry books Questions I Didn't Know I'd Asked and Hand-Me-Downs were published by LJMcD and are available on Amazon. Two of Mona's poems received first place honors in the 2023 Poetry Society of Indiana Fall contest. You can read those poems in the Poetry Society publication, Ink to Paper, volume 8, available on Amazon. Mona's third poetry collection is Self-Centered and is published by Bottleneck Press. Her most recent chapbook, Calling to Shore, is on Amazon from Cicada Song Press. She is looking to publish her science fantasy novel, Under the Bubble and is currently revising another.
Aside from her own writing, Mona is now the President of the Poetry Society of Indiana. She leads writing groups in person and online and is an editor at Cicada Song Press.
You can follow her online here:
https://www.monamehas.net/
https://bsky.app/profile/monaiv.bsky.social
https://linktr.ee/monaiv
I got to pick Mona’s brain a little about the books she loves and her advice for herself.
1. What's a book that's caused the most mayhem in your life (or your favorite poet)?]
My favorite series of books is the Ekumen/Hainish series by Ursula K Le Guin. That is a series of novellas and stories that all fit within the the same universe, where Hain is the home planet. Ekumen are the explorers of the surrounding planets. Her imagination is far out there. When asked why she likes to write science fiction she said because she can make stuff up.
2. What advice do you have for an earlier version of yourself?
I'd tell a younger version of me not to doubt myself, my abilities. I am a writer and some say a pretty good one, especially poetry.
3. What advice would an earlier version of you have for you now?
Slow down and smell the roses. I tend to take on way too many things all at once. I'm a writer, President of the Poetry Society of Indiana, I lead poetry workshops, I attend workshops and critique groups. I'm EIC for Cicada Song Press. Lost at 27: Musicians, Artists, Mortals is our first book.
Are you ready to write? Me too!
1) Set a timer for 10 minutes. This prompt is inspired by Mona’s poem “I Need to Tell You About This River,” which is urgent and contemplative all at once. During this part, your editor voice is totally off. Don’t worry if anything is making sense, don’t worry if you’re saying what you mean to say, don’t even worry if you’re writing toward the given prompt. Just write. Follow that wonderful brain of your wherever it goes! In the spirit of Mona’s poem, write about an object, place, or concept that you worry about disappearing. Take those words to mean whatever you want them to. Just write for the full ten minutes and keep that editor voice turned completely off!
2) Set a timer for 10 minutes. Now write about something (or someone) who has already disappeared from your life. Remember, you’re not writing a poem or story yet. You’re just writing whatever’s in your head, whatever pops up, put it on the page. Don’t judge, don’t cross out things, just write.
3) Time to en-rhythm! This is a concept popularized and named by Annie Finch, one of the coolest metrical poets in contemporary poetry. The idea is that if you read something in meter or move to a meter, then when you go to write in it then it’ll just flow out because you’ll have the rhythm in you better. I think it also works in interesting ways when you read things that aren’t in meter as well and when you don’t intend to write in meter. But, if you want to write in meter then make sure that whatever you pick out to en-rhythm to is also in meter. You’ll set the timer for 10 minutes. Yes, you need to read the SAME POEM over and over again for 10 minutes. Don’t cheese out on this. You can also choose to move around, and, again, you need to use the SAME SONG over and over again for 10 minutes. I’m going to suggest Annie Finch’s poem “Changing Woman,” because I feel that thematically it fits much of Mona’s work and also the repetition becomes quite mesmerizing, especially when repeating it for 10 minutes.
Want to dance it out instead? I’m going to suggest the song “Running Out of Time” by Anyanya Udongwo (2023 winner of Lietuvos balsai, also known as The Voice Lithuania). I think it pairs well with Mona’s work and also my current mindset on turning 50 earlier in the month.
4.) Okay, now let’s draft! You can turn your editor voice up to like a 3 or 4. Think about if you want to write a poem or short story, or maybe a short essay. Look back and see if you had any good lines or images popping up in the earlier writing. So, think a little bit, but don’t think a lot. If an idea comes up, follow it. You can always revise later, so no harm no foul if it doesn’t work. Set the timer for 10 minutes. Write a poem, short story, or essay about whatever’s on your mind right now. Not sure? Try taking some inspiration from Mona’s poem and starting with “I need to tell you about…” and see where it goes.
And there you have it! You’ve got a piece that you can work on revising next week, next month, or the 12th of Never! And it didn’t even take a whole hour to do it!
Thanks for letting me stop by!