Join the Tuesday Slice of Life
15 Lines
an interesting exercise to try when you have writer’s block
I didn’t know what to write about for my Tuesday Slice of Life Challenge, so I went back to an exercise from Poets and Writers The Time is Now to collect 15 lines in a day and write from those lines.
Here are some lines I collected:
I write to honor childhood and extend dignity to children. —Caroline Starr Rose
The more unlikely the guest, the more likely it is that we are entertaining Jesus himself. —Bishop Jake Owensby
A great day to do nothing. —Carol RiceThe way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become. –Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Everything we carry, even the smallest thing, has weight. —Clare Martin
Love the one you hold. —Mumford and SonsWe make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. —Winston Churchill
These lines spoke to me and this poem emerged, still rough, but it seems to be wanting to tell me something…
The way you see me is who I become.
I am the unlikely guest who stands
with feet crossed. My toenails are orange.
I wear a cross on my wrist
and another on my neck, in amethyst.
Am I the angel you will entertain today?
I cannot lift you without holding you,
holding some of what weighs you down.
Maybe if we interlock our hands,
intertwine our fingers, the load
will be easier to bear.
–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved
A new writing challenge by way of Teaching Authors: Write Fifteen Minutes a Day on Laurie Halse Anderson’s blog. Join me? Can you write 15 minutes today? Set a timer and just go for it.
Oh Margaret,
Your poem was beautiful. You really touched me.
The load is always easier to bear if you have a friend to help you.
Margaret, I don’t have fingers to intertwine with you, but I have my paw which I will gladly give you.
All the best,
xo
Love Pooh
Pooh, thanks for stopping by. Are you a sweet affectionate cat? I live with Mimi who marches to her own drum. She is all about Mimi. My husband calls her “Our Lady of the Laundry Basket.”
Hello Mimi,
Yes, I am a sweet affectionate cat, and I also like to sleep in Laundry Baskets.
Is Mimi a writer? I do allow animals to guest post on my site. Mimi just needs to have her own e-mail address and an avatar so she can answer comments in her own voice.
http://thecatwhowrites.com/guest-posting/
All the best,
xo
Love Pooh
I love ‘am I the angel you will entertain today?’ We don’t ever know about that unlikely guest, do we? Isn’t it nice when ‘messing around’ with what to write, the loveliest ideas occur! I don’t think I can write to Anderson’s prompts, but hope you’ll share some of what you’re doing.
Linda, Originally this writing was 2 pages in my journal. Most of it got scrapped but I was hoping it didn’t lose the message. I appreciate your support. I’m not sure I can do the prompts either. School and life is so time consuming. I’ll be lucky to keep up 2 posts a week.
Beautiful! I was thinking today: which of my new students are the angels that I am entertaining in my classroom? I think there is a reason for extra notebooks in my closet.
Jaana,
They are all angels. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves of this, though.
I wonder how I can use 15 Lines in my 2nd grade classroom?
15 lines may be a bit much for that level. One activity I have used is to “Steal a line.” The students find a favorite line of poetry or prose and use it to start off their writing.
I really like that!!
I like this challenge. It seems like since school started, I am finding it harder and harder to find time to read and/or write. I am in!
Lovely poem, Margaret. I was especially struck by:
>>I cannot lift you without holding you<<
So glad to see you participating in the WFMAD challenge. I'm doing it too! I've been surprised by how much I can produce in 15 minutes.