Poems for the RoadMy Gift To You

Close your eyes.Wrap your arms around

you body.Take a deep breath.

POEM 1

Imagine your newborn self.

Now, describe your immediate, tactile world.

What do you miss about the world in which you just

spent your last nine months (or so)?

You are still your newborn self.

List your needs.

Now, you are holding your newborn self.

Tell tiny you the greatest mistake

s/he will make. Be honest.

Now, tell your tiny self about his/her greatest

accomplishments.

First list the obvious, and then dig more deeply…

Finally, make a list of the lessons you wish your

newborn self would have been born knowing.

Now, create a poem, tentatively titled: “Poem to Newborn

Self”

Time to share.

Select the creature that coincides with the first letter of your first name, and then free write about that creature.

Consider the animal’s physical, spiritual and artistic existence, as well

as your experience with it. A-C: horse D-F: turtle

G-I: dragonfly J-M: pigeon N-P: pit bull Q-Z: flamingo

POEM 2

Select the abstraction that matches with the first letter of your last

name and free write on that abstraction—everything that comes

to mind.A-C: grace D-F: beauty

G-I: curiosity J-M: submission

N-P: sacrifice Q-Z: mercy

Working with what you have written about the creature

and the abstraction, create a poem title that has both words

in it (creature and abstraction), and then write a poem that does not mention the abstraction, but clearly

invokes it through the creature.

Time to share.

Listen: Bolero: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

Urfjyj4FnUc

Slow Ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIjZE4kcg_Q

I Believe (When I fall in love): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRl0dJ1Pp1k

POEM 3

Create a soundtrack for your life—list all the

songs (or as many as you can) and the occasions, people, moments they

represent.

Now, choose one song from the list

and write lines about it until you are exhausted.

I mean really pooped.

Do not ignore the senses (smell touch taste hear see), but do ignore ALL abstract nouns.

Now write a poem that begins:

When I hear “Song Title” by “Artist”…

Ask yourself: How do I convey to the reader the importance

of this song?

Listen Some More…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-

LgQhfusf_E

POEM 4

Suffice: Verb

1. Be enough or adequate,meet the needs of

Make two lists: 2. List the specific times in your life when you have

not “been enough” or have been simply “adequate” (or did or did not meet the needs) for another human being--friend, family member, lover, co-worker, acquaintance, stranger,, etc.

3. Now list the times when you rose to the occasion for another person, in other words, you more than “sufficed” or were more than “adequate.”

Choose one occasion/person from your list and write a poem in second person utilizing that person’s

perspective. In other words, imagine that person is speaking to you. Let me share one from my list…

Now, if I am writing from my neighbor’s perspective about the time I did nothing about the screaming, I

might begin:

I shouldn’t blame you and your paralysis; there’s so much screaming in the world these days, and maybe for folks who livein a house like ours—untrimmed trees, old Chevy on blocks, rusted laundry sinkon the porch—the scream is easy to reason.

Time to share.