I have fallen out of a daily writing practice. I don’t have my students to keep me honest. Summer break has seeped into my psyche and everything feels like a pause. Good news I feel rested. I’m sleeping better, and my daily exercise has leveled up. But I feel guilty about the writing. I really thought I would do more of it.
Ethical ELA helped me out this week with daily prompts for June’s Open Write. On Saturday, Sarah Donovan started us out with a prompt from June Jordan’s poem “These Poems.”
These poems
after June JordanThese poems
they are sated
with sweet wine.These lips
open for words
whispered to wind.These wishes
wander in warm sun
hoping to find
your heart
to hold.I follow these strokes
stem by stem
scribbles of ink
seeking recognition.Do you see me?
On Sunday, I led the prompt about writing a duplex poem after Kay Ulanday Barrett who wrote after Jericho Brown. The poem I wrote came to me after my husband’s recent dog bite injury. Everyone we talked to wanted to know all the details. He is doing better, but he is wearing a wound vac that is a gismo that continually pumps the bad stuff out of his wound. We are hoping this method works toward faster healing. (Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.)
I Ask
(Duplex after Jericho Brown after Kay Ulanday Barrett)
the poem what it wants me to hear today.
What thread runs through the details?Everyone wants to know the details.
What happened at the corner lot?What happened at the corner
turned his life, his legs inside out.Turned his life, his legs inside out,
details that thread the woven story.They tell details to thread the woven story.
Shout for justice for the finish line.Say justice is truth; shatters the plan,
pulls the thread on the whole thing.Pull a thread, the whole thing changes
to what the poem wants me to know.
Monday’s prompt was from Susan Ahlbrand. She shared clips from Gilmore Girls to prompt us to write about graduation day. I took a quote from Lorelei who said, “I’m not crying.”
On the final day, I was taking care of two of my grandchildren, so I put together a quick book spine poem, prompted by Jessica, from my daughter’s son’s shelf. This week revived my soul and hopefully put me back on a path of daily writing.
You HAVE been writing! Look at these great poems! I’m so sorry about your husband’s wound. That sounds awful! So glad he’s hopefully on the mend.
Thank you, Marcie. Healing takes time, but he is handling it like a champ!
I’m so touched by the poems, and am so sorry to hear about your husband’s injury. I’m familiar with the wound vac, and I hope it helps for a speedy and complete recovery.
I am grateful that there is something other than another surgery and hospital stay that seems to be working. It’s all a matter of time that heals. Thanks.
Thank you so much for sharing your poems, Margaret, and the prompts. I’d say you are back on track. Hope your husband is, too.
Thanks. Prompts and a supportive community are so helpful.
Look at all this writing! You’ve certainly caught up with some winners. I couldn’t keep up with Ethical ELA. I’m almost to the point where summer feels like a pause. I really like the spine poetry. This is one of my favorite activities to do with students.
So much here to think about. Lots of writing and sorting out of emotions. I do hope your husband is on the mend. It sounds like a bad bite. Yikes! Thanks for continuing to write and share poems with us. Also glad you are more rested. It is what summer should be about. Take Care.
Margaret, I enjoyed reading all your OpenWrite poems from this week here in one place. I hope it was a jump start into the rest of your summer writing life. Your duplex is so very powerful. This line again struck me with the graphic horribleness of his accident: “Turned his life, his legs inside out,” I’m glad he has the gizmo to help the healing.
Thanks, Denise. I decided to put them all here for myself, too. I usually write then forget about them. It was a good week for writing! You and your marathon!
Glad you are rested, Margaret. It sounds like there is some heavy stuff going on and you need your strength! The poetic formats you chose really led you to powerful poems. Well done.
I hope writing so poignantly helped you settle into summer, Margaret; with all that’s happened, it feels as if you found words that meant so much. And, I love your first with, almost the end, “scribbles of ink/seeking recognition.” Having those close and far surround with good wishes helps a lot when facing some tough times. I hope your husband is finding all kinds of ways to heal fast, like the wound vac!
The daily writing practiced resonated with me. I need to do better.
I am sorry that your husband is still on the mend from the dog bite and hope he will continue to mend. Thanks for sahring a duplex poem, new to me.
I am thankful for the Open Write. I didn’t share the poems I wrote, but like you, they jump-started my faltering writing practice. (At least temporarily…) I especially enjoyed trying a duplex. Thanks for that nudge.
I look forward to reading it.
It’s a delight to read your poems from Open Write. I subscribed, but didn’t even read the prompts most days. Maybe next time!
The phrase daily writing terrifies me. The only time it happens is in March. I salute your efforts to write. Glad you’re feeling rested. Healing vibes to your husband.
Margaret, those prompts bore fruit! So sorry about your husband. That sounds like a frightening incident/injury. I hope he heals quickly and completely. xo
I really enjoyed writing with Ethical ELA this past week, Margaret. I especially enjoyed the duplex form; I hadn’t known of it prior to your post. I, too, have fallen off my daily writing, so the week was fruitful. I found myself sitting on our side deck in the early morning mountain stillness and almost invariably composed the skeletons of my poems on my phone! I had real fun with the spine poetry, since I had an enormous stack of library books I had just brought home. I didn’t post everything, but I really enjoyed reading the various poems. Here’s to hoping a habit re-starts!
Wow, Margaret. First, these are fabulous. Second, give yourself some grace. You’ve had a lot to deal with this past year! Also, that second poem. Whew. I’m sending continued good thoughts and prayers. But what a poem!
Never be afraid to not write, Margaret. I sometimes think we need that quiet time to let the words hatch and simmer within us so that we are filled with a whole new way with words. (Not to mention renewed passion and energy to write.) Go out and gather new memories and emotions while the words quietly swirl inside you. But no more teeth! That’s a terrible ongoing saga. I hope your husband is restored to full health soon – and I also hope that this time of slowness brings its own reward for him. And you!
Thanks for this cornucopia filled poem post Margaret, so much richness here! Your poem, “I Ask,” and Kay Ulanday Barretts’s poem both powerfully capture you within their repeating lines and the energy rises as each line unfolds! So sorry to hear your husband is still recouping from the attack, Sending thoughts his way, and I hope more healing finds him soon.