Photographs. Wishes. Words. Recollection.

EXERCISE 051: WRITING WITH PHOTOGRAPHS

make a wish

Look at a picture from the news. Describe the picture. Make a wish for anyone or anything in the picture.

I have chosen a photograph by Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu/Getty Images published recently in The Guardian. The photograph is of children, probably between the ages of 8 and 10, learning to play the violin in Gaza. Their are two students carefully holding their violins and studying the violin of what I assume to be their teacher. Their music lesson is occurring in a tent-like structure.

I played the violin when I was their age. We called it a fiddle because I was learning basic Bluegrass melodies and songs. My fiddle-playing heart weeps when I think about the profound act of courage it takes play music in a burning world. My artist’s heart rejoices and believes their music is resistance to a world of fear and destruction. My humanity knows the arts — our poems, books, paintings, and songs; the fruits of our creativity — save us. 

My wish for the children in the picture is that peace come to their world. My wish is that music bring hope in the midst of devastation. My wish is that music ease their pain. My wish is that music heal the centuries of injury. My wish is that will grow up and play their songs. 

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EXERCISE 052: DIPTYCH

just a few words

Look at a picture from the news. Describe the picture in at least 100 words. Make a wish for anyone or anything in the picture in no more than five words.

The picture — by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters in Manila, Philippines — is of a woman collecting washed-up trash in the Pasig River on World Environment Day. The black and white picture of ships and city provide figure and ground to story of devastation and hope, the eerie stillness of the river and the storm of neglect and abuse. Past, present, and future come together in one person in one moment, acting alone, toward a future shrouded by the vastness of the city and the reality that surrounds her. Her action on World Environment Day connects her with everyone committed to saving our planet.

Healthy rivers. Our work. Survival. 

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EXERCISE 053: REVERSE DIPTYCH

compose in response

Look at a picture from the news. Describe the picture in no more than five words. Make a wish for anyone or anything in the picture in at least 100 words.

A couple dancing in Ukraine [Photograph: Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP/Getty Images]

May you continue to dance joyfully unbroken and whole. May you continue to break barriers and hold one another. May you build strength and connection and understanding. May you hear the music that surrounds you. May the choreography of your lives be graceful and fully realized and in perfect in time. May health surround you as you dance and move and live. May you know peace in times of violence and cruelty and war. May safety enfold you. May light shine on you. May beauty surround you as you move step-by-step, glance-by-glance, breath-by-breath.

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EXERCISE 054: FRESH EYES

a long time

Look at a picture of someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time. Describe the picture to someone who has never seen it.

I am looking at a picture of Janice with a group of our friends at the Women’s March in Washington, DC on 2017. We wore huge coats and marched love our group of women marching together past the White House carrying signs about rights and history and love. Janice passed away in April of 2020 after a career advocating for air quality and science’s role in public policy. Even in the cold, especially in the cold, Janice’s style shown through. This picture reminds me of Janice, a historian at heart, telling me the story of the past marches and the causes that had been fought for over the years on the very street we marched that day. I think about the energy of humanity that surrounded us and I am hopeful. That same spirit and impulse and life-force that guided Janice’s life, filled that day, and fills this picture. 

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EXERCISE 55: BEAUTIFUL & DIFFICULT

something you saw

Look at a picture of someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time. Describe to them something you saw this week, something that moved you.

I am looking at a picture of our team building bookshelves on the first day of AmeriCorps in 1994. I want to let you know that I completed a proposal for the PEN/ Jean Stein Grants for Literary History this weekend. The grant will allow me to tell the story of the B. Mifflin Hood Brick Factory. B. Mifflin Hood was an industrialist in Atlanta in the early 20th century opposed to the prevalent practice of convict leasing. The impulse to look for justice and peace, tell stories of justice and peace, and work toward those goals, started when this picture was taken. I have been working toward justice and peace a long time. I feel the hope and optimism in that picture. We all need hope and optimism right now.

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