Poetry Friday round-up is with Dori at Dori Reads
With the threat of flooding gone and a need to connect with others, I attended a writing workshop led by my friend Sandra Sarr.
Sandy moved to Louisiana two years ago and quickly embedded herself in the arts community. From her travels here to research her novel, she met interesting people like Dennis Paul Williams. She once took me on a visit to his studio. In 2013, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press published a large coffee table book of Dennis’s artwork. I bought the book, but hate to admit that it just sat on the coffee table.
But Sandy’s ekphrastic exercise brought me closer to the images housed in Soul Exchange. She made color copies and handed them out. This is the one I picked.
Before Sandy instructed us to write, I started writing.
Secrets shared
like a kiss
softly touching
a cheek.
Even while
she’s sleeping,
she hears
the sound
of singing,
a lullaby.Sun glows
through the window.
She traces the line
of her face
in the mirror
only touching
the outline–
That space
where skin
meets sky.She’s never lonely
within
covers of lace
because she knows
the secrets,
the ones whispered
on the wings
of a prayer.Even her hair
glows like
rainbow light.–Margaret Simon
This was just the free write, but I was happy with it. Then Sandy asked us to circle words from our free write that had some power for us. She handed out notecards for us to write our words on, tear them apart and put them back together into a new poem.
Words taken from my free writing.
This was the resulting poem.
Enter dark space
a line draws her face
whispers
secretsHer protector
sleeps
in covers of lace.Angels kiss
her prayer.Opening
the path to grace.–Margaret Simon
What I love about this activity is the abstract way it gets to the soul where you write with authenticity and abandon all at the same time. I want to try this with my students. I wonder how they will handle the randomness of it. Will they get frustrated or enjoy the freedom? Some days, and especially hard days full of sadness, I find solace in poetry, in the act of creating. It gets me out of my thinking brain for a minute and allows me to relax into flow. Thanks, Sandy, for sharing Dennis’s art and leading me on a path of discovery.
Reflections on the Teche 
So you put just the powerful words on cards and then rip them up? I want to know more. I really like your free write…..but that second poem is haunting. What a wonderful workshop.
First we circled the words in our notebook. We had the option to just write them on a new page or put them on cards. I liked the process of tearing them apart and putting back together like a puzzle of words.
Thank you so very much for this. I need that help to get out of the expected and into the soul. Connie
Recognizing your most powerful words and working with those is a great exercise. Lovely art that inspired you!
Beautiful image, beautiful words. What a powerful activity — a distillation to the most pure, the essence. Thanks so much for sharing this process.
I love this post, Margaret. I am very interested in ekphrastic work. I love your sharing your process and the way your poem came to its essence in the exercise. I am sharing this article so you can see something that my friend is involved in. Another idea that my Pen Women group is going to try this year is something called Painted Sounds, where you are inspired by some piece of art (includes written and music) and create a new work based on the inspiring piece. (That was started by the Atlanta, Georgia Branch of the Pen Women.) I see all of these as having great potential for kids!!!
Thanks Janet, that is a true PLN when we share each other’s work.
Here is the link to an article on the Exphrastic 4.
http://auburnpub.com/wocjournal/lifestyles/ekphrastic-four-poetry-group-to-benefit-skaneateles-education-foundation-at/article_464d2c7e-aeea-5797-8ead-3873c468d207.html
*Ekphrastic 4, oops!
Both of these poems are gorgeous, Margaret. I love using powerful images to inspires ekphrastic poetry. Your words inspire me:
Take my hand.
Enter this dark space.
Together, we’ll open
a path to grace.
I am so thankful to share this writing journey with you!
I’m printing this in my journal. Thanks.
Wow. What an interesting experience. I really loved the first poem–the free write–but then the second one was even more powerful.
Incredible, Margaret. What a great idea. I love it when drafts emerge like this.
I like that method of boiling down the ideas to the most spare thoughts there. I have to confess I like the first one better. The second was sharp and a bit scary.
So it’s a bit like taking a found poem to the next level? You did a wonderful job on both, but the second is like a more intense distillation of the first. Well done friend, and *see you tomorrow!!** SQUEE!
Keri took my words. I think too it’s like a found poem, but finding the core/heart of your own words. I enjoyed both, but that 2nd poem is awesome, Margaret. Perhaps this is an exercise to try nearly always?
I love both poems and seeing your process. Something to try, as Linda said, nearly always.
Margaret, I like the idea of Soul Exchange waiting for the right moment to reveal its wisdom to you. This is a wonderful prompt; appreciations for it.
I found this from your strong words.
Soul Exchange
A kiss
a cheek
a lullaby
a prayer
meets
sky.
~ Jan Annino
I am touched by your poem gift. Another one that I will keep close to my heart. Thanks.
I love this idea of free writing, then pulling words from it to make a new poem. When I teach free verse, I often introduce new writers to found poetry, which helps identify feelings, thoughts, connections, etc. – but this is a great way to combine elements!
I’m glad you had a way to escape from the tensions of the past weeks. The strong message here is that beauty lies within no matter what’s going on in the world around us. Good to remember.
What an interesting activity! I’m looking forward to giving it a try. I love your results, both poems, though my favorite bit is the second stanza of your free write. My heart is with you and Louisiana, Margaret.
A beautiful image, Margaret, both the painting and the words. I like that you chose to tear the words apart and puzzle them back together into this haunting poem. Nice.
What a great exercise! Thank you for sharing it with us, Margaret. Your mention of “hard days full of sadness, I find solace in poetry, in the act of creating”. Advice I try to follow, too, but tend to go light and humorous. I think I need to dig deeper. Thank you. =)
Margaret, your ideas flow beautifully in this post.