Portofino

~ Kana Smith

I’ve been revisiting old poetry, thinking of taking up the poet’s quill again… It’s poetry-writing in which I took my Master’s degree, but I discovered “creative nonfiction” (the personal essay) late in the game, and it’s that genre I really fell in love with. They didn’t offer a degree in creative nonfiction, anyway, or I might have switched. And then the BLOG came along—a venue exactly, perfectly designed for creative nonfiction… which is why I love writing for it.

In any case, I’ve been thinking of dusting off my poetry quill (no, I don’t really have one—although I used to have a collection of fountain pens I loved to use when I was poetry-writing—but anyway, it’s a metaphorical quill) and see about writing some new poetry. So I”ve gotten out my Master’s thesis, to look over some of my old work and get in the mood, in a manner of speaking.

I write in free verse—not end-rhymed, and not in counted syllables or matching meter—except for one little piece that I still love, even though it has end-rhymes, which I usually avoid like plague. It’s the first piece I ever had published, if memory serves, in a magazine that even writers have never heard of.

PORTOFINO

Sunset citrus drenches stucco

fronts that face the street

which curves around the water’s

edge and Portofino’s fleet

of brass-railed wooden vessels

swaying anchored for the eve—

still ample light for leather men

to mend the fish-nets’ weave.

.

AI-generated image of Portofino---citrus-colored stucco buildings and anchored fishing boats.

14 thoughts on “Portofino”

  4. Your words feel like a doorway back to the sea of your own beginnings, Kana — tenderly weathered yet shimmering with promise. “Portofino” reads like a memory painted in warm light, where craft and emotion meet at the edge of water. It’s not just the colors or rhythm that move me, but the quiet joy of someone rediscovering her truest language.

    Perhaps what’s most profound here is that your reflection mirrors the creative cycle itself — how art often steps aside to let life breathe, only to return more mature, more attuned. The way you describe the blog as a home for creative nonfiction is beautiful; but maybe poetry never truly left you. It was simply resting, like those anchored boats in Portofino, waiting for the tide of your heart to rise again. 🌅

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      1. 👍 Good to know! I’m not sure that you need prompts for inspiration or a wider poetry-lovin’ audience, but you may try dVerse poets.com (of which I’m a part) and see what you think.

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