Muses (part 1)

Intro

Muses is the theme when there isn’t a theme, just poems that are provocative (muses) for writIng
on any given day.  This week we focused on three rounds of writing and subtracted the discussion poem at the end.  We read two rounds in the breakout rooms and the third round in the main meeting.  

First Mentor Poem

​Ways to Disappear
CAMILLE RANKINE                                       

In the dark
Down a stairwell
Through the doorway
Gone west
With a new wish
In daylight
Down the sidewalk
In a wool coat
In a white dress
Without a name
Without asking
On your knees
On your stomach
Gone silent
In the backseat
In the courtroom
In a cage
In the desert
In the park
Gone swimming
On the shortest night
At the bottom of the lake
In pieces
In pictures
Without meaning
Without a face
Seeking refuge
In a new land
Gone still
In the heart
With your head bowed
In deference
In sickness
In surrender 
With your hands up
On the sidewalk
In the daylight
In the dark

Writing Prompts #1

• Make a list poem about WAYS TO . . . Appear, Be heard, Be seen, Win, Lose, Get lost,  Be found, Leave your lover (to quote Paul Simon), or something else ?
• Write a poem on HOW TO do something mundane most people take for granted, such as how to tie your shoes, how to turn on a lamp, how to pour a cup of coffee.

Second Mentor Poem

Sadness Isn’t The Only Muse
DERRICK AUSTIN
 
I can’t imagine myself reading bedtime stories
to a toddler, and I’m older than my father was
when he read those brightly colored books to me.
His voice is deeper than mine will ever be
but just as sweet. I always picked Freight Train.
I loved the black caboose. A train runs across this track…
through tunnels and cities, darkness and light, forever.
I still love books where nothing happens,
good or bad. The page is one landscape I move through.
 
Source: Poetry Daily

Writing Prompts #2

• Tell me about a favorite book that was read to you as a child, or that you read to someone else.  What happens in the book? Does nothing happen?
• Write about a book’s landscape you like to move through.
• What are your muses for writing? Tell about them in a poem.
• Write about what you can’t imagine doing

Writing Prompt #3

Imagine Weather Indoors. Perhaps a thunderstorm in the attic? A tornado in the kitchen.   I love the magical realism in this prompt, and  wish I could remember where I saw this because I'd like to give proper credit.  It's been so long ago.  So.  Here we are . . . time to write!