What is The Archer's March? 2.0
Or, What's in a name?
I’ve decided to re-post my previous posts for those who missed them. I’ve had this Substack for nearly two years now and I thought that my subscribers who came to The Archer’s March at a later time might enjoy the re-posts they may have missed.
Indeed, just ask Will. But why The Archer's March? I'll not get into specifics on WHY here. The why is the very key to it all but I'll save that for another time. What I will say is what it's not. For starters, it's not a musical composition, as in "Archer's Blues" or "The Archer's Rag". Although I do compose and write songs on occasion and I may associate them with my site in the future (the first video on my YouTube channel is a song), the body of work called The Archer's March is poetry unwed to music.
The word March here is referencing a realm of sorts. As in a border region or frontier. Which happens to be the first definition in my dictionary.
Think of it as Regni Sagittarii, the "Realm of the Archer". Grammar cop that I sometimes am, the apostrophe is on purpose. I commit many typographical errors but when I choose (or even coin) a word, spelling, punctuation or alter a meter, it is very much on purpose. People today seem to think that one word is just as good as another (they most certainly are NOT). Even my own children still don't get that about their poor old nerdy wordsmith of a Dad.
I wrote a lot of poetry in my younger days. One of my high school English teachers told me that my work was good but that I needed to demonstrate proficiency in accepted forms before I could be taken seriously. I took her advice and explored the myriad options available. I ended up writing mainly sonnets after she gave me the go ahead to write whatever I chose. That was over 35 years ago.
I stopped writing poetry about 30 years ago. No particular reason, it simply faded from view. In the late 90s I destroyed all my work. I had my reasons and at the time they were valid.
Four years ago I sat down and wrote a sonnet. It seemed quite good and I got “scared”. You see, writing had been important to me and over the years I had convinced myself that it was no longer important. It was exhilarating to create again but what did it mean? I put it away and forgot about it.
In November 2021, I wrote a “joke” sonnet and sent it out to people. I even read it at a family gathering. One of the recipients told me it was good and encouraged me to write more. I wrote one as an “assignment” and I based it on their favorite bird and flower. I now had three sonnets in my new “portfolio”. I posted the following on my website The Archer’s March September 2nd 2022,
It may not mean much to the world but it means a helluva lot to me, on so many levels that only He understands. After not writing a poem for over 30 years and throwing out all my work over 25 years ago (I had my reasons) I've reached a goal I never thought I could. I finished my 154th sonnet this morning. And this was in only 9 months. For those of you who know, Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets. Don't get me wrong, I'm not declaring myself his equal in any way, shape or form. I will say though that the goals one sets can be achieved and their importance is for you alone. In my case I attribute it to seven words that were said to me after writing the third sonnet as an "assignment". "How can you not believe in yourself?!"
Our words can destroy people. Or they can build. Think strategically when you speak. You can't imagine the castles you can build.
I will be sharing my work here with whomever would care to read it. People have told me that my writing (to me a personal catharsis) has inspired them to varying degrees. That is very gratifying. I will discuss the technical aspects and as well as the thematic in this newsletter. Feedback would be greatly appreciated and please share with your friends. Please feel free to comment or drop me a line. I hope to post something at least weekly.
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day.
And if you have a mind to buy me a coffee
