Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Lost: Workshop Prompt for Sleep is For The Weak


This week's writing workshop at sleep is for the weak is to
write your own workshop based around any of the given prompts.

I chose lost.
Here is my workshop prompt.

~ Feel free to join in, even if you don't share it with anyone ~


What have you lost?

Make a list of everything you can think of to answer this question.
Write for 5 minutes without stopping or crossing anything out.

Then...

Choose an item from your list and freewrite about it for 20 minutes

or

Choose three items from the list and write a rough draft of a poem with them

or

Write whatever you want from the thing on the list that gave you the
strongest feelings

or

Is there anything you deliberately avoided putting on the list?
Write about it.

~

Here is my response to my prompt.

(Before I go on, I just need to say that I've always had (and still have)
a gut-wrenching fear of sharing this sort of writing on my blog. 
What I'd really like is to have an anonymous blog
on which to do that. 
But I'm not going to start another blog.
It feels important that I'm honest here.)

So here goes...

~

I wrote this very rough draft of a poem
using an item from my list of lost things
which gave me the strongest feelings:

the words from my heart

I can't even speak them.
Instead,
I want to wrap them up
in ragged fragments
bursting with silken threads

corners ripped off
someone else's handstitched blankets
someone else's castoffs
remnants

so they can't be identified
as whole,
or mine.

I want to hide them in
a spell-binding, award winning novel,
the kind that would be printed
with quotes from
The Guardian

the kind that will make people think
that that is really me.

I want to fold them in my arms
walk out of here
somewhere new
unknown

and let them go.

~


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well done for being brave enough to post that! I like it very much, the language and the structure. I think in a line-up of unfamiliar poems I could have picked that one out as yours... it seems very YOU, or at least the you that I've seen through your blog and the forum. Hope you post some more writing when it seems like a good time!

nà from the treehouse said...

"Sleep is for the weak"? Right now, sleep is for the lucky ones ...I'd love to take part in your challenge, but I'm afraid I can't this time, it's midnight and I'm still busy doing stuff for work.
Give me a couple of weeks, and if you're still doing these prompts, I'll play too!

And I like your poem ever so much - good for you for posting it up!

xxx

Nickie O'Hara said...

Good on you for joining in :)

Michelloui said...

Both quietly personal and very revealing. this was a well written, lovely poem. I love the image at the beginning as well. Im now a follower--your blog is inspiring!

alison said...

I thought that was bewitching. Really well crafted and bursting with images and themes. Beautiful writing.

Josie @Sleep is for the Weak said...

Oh this is really a very 'me' poem. I absolutely love it. I love the feelings it encapsulates and rhythm and its energy and the imagery.

It is something I can relate to a great deal.

Fabulous. Thank you.