EXERCISE 011: IMITATION IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF …

[Write a poem that takes at least three cues (it could be the tone, the number of lines, an image, a sonic element) from Robert Hayden’s “This Winter Sundays,” including this one is mandatory! – the line, “what did I know, what did I know.”

Irises In The Snow

Irises survive early snow, every year/ Resisting hard ground and head and history/ Knowing the stories of generations/ Fearing no ice/ Stretching toward the sun

Waking up like morning/ Choosing today to be today/ Elastic and rigorous/ Delicate and and undeniable

I would wait impatiently as a child/ What did I know, what did I know/ of generations and seasons/ of perfect time and strength/ of stretching toward the sun

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EXERCISE 012: PALINDROMIC PRACTICE — THE BEGINNING OF SOUND

[1.Generate 7 rhyming pairs of words, 14 words total. 2. Write them along the right-hand margin of a page, each on its on own line. 3. Arrange the pairs so that line 1 rhymes with line with 14, 2 with 13, 3 …]

Spring

In the spring/ We dance toward light/ We sing of hope/ Unbridled bliss/ Awakening joy

Imagining green/ Life seen/ Awe amiss/ Warming sun

All senses employ/ Eternal kiss/ Vernal trope/ Shine bright/Today, Ring

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EXERCISE 013: THE DOG IS IN THE DETAILS 

[Write twenty lines about a very particular action that a cat or dog or some other critter who you can observe does.]

Freckles

Freckles adopted me 14 years ago when my nieces took me to a pet store in Louisville because they thought I was lonely, after the deaths of my beloveds Lucy and Gizmo who had been with me for most of 20 years. The pet store had invited a shelter to use part of their space to encourage adoption that morning. Freckles had been rescued from a hoarding situation and stood front and center in her cage asking to be seen and loved. She still has respiratory scars which mean frequent sneezing and wheezing. It was love at first sight.

Flash forward a few years. My husband, who entered the picture about two years after her adoption, has become Freckles’ person. She loves me. She LOVES my husband. It is beautiful to to see their bond. Every night, almost without exception, she burrows between us, like a hot dog in a bun. She relaxes there, after having crawled face first toward our feet and turned around, and purrs into place with her face next to our faces. She purrs loudly and extends paws and feet almost touching the earth’s poles. She vibrates from the place that shakes the earth’s core. She closes her eyes and breathes along with us. She pretends to be asleep and nestles even closer. She stays until some point in the night, she needs a snack or to use the litter box and creeps downstairs. By morning, she has moved to just below the pillow where my husband generally rests his head. That is the order of things.Subscribed

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EXERCISE 014: VARIATIONS ON A LINE

[Write a piece to someone you hope to meet again. Like Seibles, use “I hope we meet again” and other variations as a refrain. Include predictions (“I won’t be this/afraid again”) and questions (“Won’t the trees/be tall again”) and hopes, of course..]

Kathlyn

I hope we meet again, I will listen to all the stories, especially ones about your childhood and family. I will ask all the questions. Like from where did you draw your strength when Dad’s father passed away, leaving you with two teen boys? I will write it all down. I will make all the recipes and tend all the roses. I will help more in the garden and remember to wear sunscreen. I will visit folks on Sundays and write more letters by hand. I will go to church and be better about remembering birthdays. I will hang your Christmas ornaments and dance on the New Year.

I know we will be together again. What will it look like? It will involve a swing and sweet tea. It will feel like springtime. Though spring, there will already be a rose garden in full bloom. Aunt Bessie’s friend oysters and more vegetables than we can imagine from the garden will be served. There will be chocolate ice cream in small cups and orange push-ups. Your feet won’t hurt and your joints won’t throb even when it is about to rain. You will not be in pain. I wonder why I never asked you questions in this lifetime. What I want to know is so clear.

I rarely smell Shalimar, today. I think of you when I do. I still color my hair. Your hair was silver from my earliest memory. Mine would be silver now, too. But, I enjoy playing around and experimenting. I look at my curls and think of your curls. You were beautiful and loved and I am not sure I told you enough. I will tell you that when we are together again.

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EXERCISE 015: LEARNING TO SEE

[Two options today: 1. Write a persona poem from the perspective of the critter drawing that most moves you, or 2. Write a play between three of the critter characters. (Regardless of which you choose, do them in no more than about ten minutes).]

A few words from an elephant

What a gift forgetting. Forgetting means I don’t remember what I am supposed to do or when I am supposed to do it or how I am supposed to do it. Forgetting means I don’t remember who I am supposed to be or my why for being anything. Forgetting means I don’t remember history or facts. Forgetting means truth has a direct relationship with volume and frequency, not honesty and veracity. Right and wrong. Good and bad. Up and down. The color of things and whether it is raining when I look out the window is up for debate when I forget. What I see with my eyes and hear with my ears is all up for debate when I forget. The problem is. I am an elephant and I live a long time. I never forget. 

MONDAYS ARE FREE 001 — 003

MONDAYS ARE FREE 004 — 006

MONDAYS ARE FREE 007—010

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