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.
Reflections on the Teche 