What's In My Bucket? by Mary Folkerts

 

When asked how I fill my creative container, I think of my blue gardening bucket that I lug around my yard each summer from flowerbed to shrub border. In it is everything I think I might need to create a beautiful array of dahlias, snapdragons, cosmos, and rudbeckia.

Here’s the problem with my bucket. It has become a catch-all, with items lost on the bottom that never see the light of day. For that reason, I bought myself a new container this year, one that is shallow and will only carry the necessities.

I wrote a light-hearted poem about my blue bucket and its contents.

You might call us a Mötley Crüe
tossed in her gardening
bucket of blue.
Two left gloves
with holes in the thumb,
a spool of brown string,
pruners and some
odds and ends
she’s forgotten about,
a rusty old hammer,
a trowel,
and no doubt
torn, empty seed packets
strewn throughout—
and I.

It’s a bit of a game we like
to play—
who she will reach for first
in the day.
She, being the gardener
who makes things
grow,
trowel pipes up loud,
“It’s obvious you know.”
I help her plant, to dig up
the ground,
I’ll be the one
she’ll need around.
We all hold our breath
as she bends down low,
she makes her selection
And I'll have you know–
It’s not the first time
that trowel’s been
defeated,
for I am her favorite,
and have not been unseated.
She holds my shaft deftly
as she flicks off dried dirt,
she spits on my blade
and shines on her shirt.
She plunges me deep down,
to dig up the weed,
then I make furrows
for planting the seed.

With my long reach
I help scratch her back,
I prune off the dead stuff
and open the sacks,
of soils and mulches,
make holes for new flowers–
trowel can’t hold a candle
to all of my powers.

See, a gardener does more
than just plant the seed.
She cuts back and digs out
removing the weed.
That’s why she selects me
above all the rest,
I don’t like to brag
but I may be the best.

So at night when the waning
light sends her in,
she nestles me back
in the bucket with them.
And tomorrow we’ll do this
all over again.
I’ll let trowel think
that maybe she’ll win.
But what can I say
since I came into her life,
I’ve become her
favorite— her Hori knife!

I wonder if sometimes, that’s how we think of our writing. We can overstuff our containers with all the tools we think we’ll need for successful writing, but never use half of them. Maybe we just need a few favorite tools to help us stay motivated and avoid getting overwhelmed by everything out there.

Some tools I depend on for writing are–

- Grammarly Pro for sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation.
- I write a lot of quick notes as ideas come to me in my phone's notes app. I save them for future reference.
- I do most of my writing in Google Docs, where it is easy to find back.
- I’ve been writing my debut poetry book with Google Docs, using tabs to create chapters.
- Que Cards are wonderful to put ideas on, and then you can arrange them into a proper sequence.

For writing inspiration, the online community has been my lifeline. Without it, I don’t think I would have ever been able to share so much of my writing. What first really inspired my writing was becoming a member of Compel Pro Writers (with Proverbs 31 Ministries). Since then, I have also become a member of InScribe and The Way Back To Ourselves. These organizations (I’m sure there are many more) can all be found online. They are a place to practice your craft, but also a place for mutual encouragement along the way!

And always, God’s word inspires. This is where it begins and ends, for He has given the desire and ability to put thoughts into words, and He is the One who continues to light the fire within.

Mary Folkerts is mom to four kids and wife to a farmer, living on the southern prairies of Alberta, where the skies are large and the sunsets stunning. She is a member of Proverbs 31 Ministries' COMPEL Writers Training, involved in church ministries and music. Mary’s blog aims to encourage and inspire women and advocate for those with Down Syndrome, as their youngest child introduced them to this extraordinary new world. For more inspiration, check out Joy in the Small Things https://maryfolkerts.com/ or connect on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/maryfolkerts/