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Finding Your Groovy Swing
A tanka of life inspired by and with golf as a metaphor
mindfully aware
when not to reinvent wheel
yet tires need some air
practice not being perfect
progress toward serenity
Poem’s Inspiration / Writing Process
Watching the women’s Olympic golf this morning as Nelly Korda addressed her ball on the 8th tee (a par 3), I heard Morgan Pressel recount her recent conversation with Nelly’s coach. “What are you working on? ‘Same thing we’re always working on. Just smoothing it out.’ He never tries to reinvent the wheel.”
The 2nd and 3rd lines of the poem immediately forged in my idea foundry. Then I thought about how many golfers often remake their swings, always searching for something and never finding it. Then my idea fairies sent “Bagger Vance” popping into my head. I Googled for quotes spoken by Bagger, and the first hit was the IMDB for the movie (I didn’t specify movie or book in my search), and this is the first quote on that site:
“Yep… Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing… Somethin’ we was born with… Somethin’ that’s ours and ours alone… Somethin’ that can’t be taught to ya or learned… Somethin’ that got to be…
