When I was teaching, my students and I looked forward to the National Writing Project’s Write Out. It’s a yearly event in cooperation with the National Parks. We would make special “Write Out” journals and spend more time writing outside. I miss those days, but I enjoy the luxury of a long walk through the park each morning. I enjoy having time with a cup of coffee and my notebook. I enjoy sharing coffee with a friend. Retirement is wonderful, but I miss writing in community.
Write Out leader Christina Cantrell has created a community online for us to share our writing in the NWP teacher studio. Every other day there is a prompt/ writing challenge. Kim Douillard of the San Diego Writing Project’s is posting on her blog. So I am finding a virtual community to write alongside.
Tuesday’s challenge was to write from kilo, a Hawaiian traditional practice of observation. You can see a short video here.
Kim suggested we share a Google doc of prompts. I have been reading Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s book The Wonderment. I added a prompt using her poem “For This I Walk Outside.” I love the conversational tone and accessible language of Rosemerry’s poetry. I borrowed a line from her poem as the title for mine.
Outside Everything is Teacher*
Setting into soil
a golden marigold,
I noticed a white chrysalis hanging
on the edge of the pot.
I spoke to it in a whisper,
“Sorry to disturb your rest.”
As I gently placed the pot
near a metal pumpkin,
the chrysalis moved,
bent toward the edge
as if hiding,
curling into protection.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chrysalis move,
shape-shift, be alive.
Tomorrow I hope to witness
an emerging butterfly.
Proof that magic
still lives.
Margaret Simon, draft
*line from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
