Stone Crabs. Whale Songs. Babies. Silence. Mashed Potatoes.

EXERCISE 121: THE FOOD INSIDE THE FOOD

wonderful poem

Write a poem that explains what you fed who you loved. And/or if you want, what who loved you fed you.

Stone Crabs

I had never eaten stone crab before heading to South Florida with my love. Stone crab season runs from October through May. Stone crab harvesting is curiously humane. Every season, one claw is harvested from male stone crabs and a new claw grows from where the claw is taken. We shared stone crab within our first few months. Our first trip to the Keys introduced me to their particular sweetness — similar to the blue crab I had enjoyed while I lived for many years in Washington, DC, that would be served at our rehearsal dinner one day, but different, like the difference between milk chocolate or dark chocolate, or a Cabernet or Malbec. We found a local spot that offers the best deal around on claws that come straight from the ocean. We ate ourselves sick and silly, losing count as we laughed our way through stories and the understanding that we love to eat and look at the ocean and watch time fly not realizing time has wings. Many seasons have past since my first bite of stone crab.

EXERCISE 122: SUMMONING THE MUSIC

two more times

Read out loud any Gerard Manley Hopkins poem (“The Windhover” works great) or another poem you think has great music. Read it two more times aloud. Put the poem away and write a poem that echoes the sounds and rhythm of the poem you just lifted in the air. It doesn’t have to use the same vocabulary, though it can. Use whatever sounds are reverberating after your reading to compose your own poem and don’t worry too much if what your writing is ‘about’ anything.

Whale Song

An ocean — depth, deliver, delicate, distance, dance, delirious./ A boat — bellow, break, bring, bounce, beckon, blink./ An announcement — facts, furiousity, fun, forward, flicker, fundamental./ A screen — sight, strength, simple, supple, sudden, shocking.// A whale — huge, humanity, humble, heart bursting, higher presence, hum./ A song — melody, miracle, muscle, magic, music, memory.

EXERCISE 123: TAKE GOOD NOTES!

small but precise

Write a catalog of small but precise observations throughout your day and arrange them into a poem. (Arrange them into another poem. And another.)

Babies

Babies, babies, babies. I am at a coffee shop in rural Georgia surrounded by babies. Young mothers changing diapers, chasing toddlers, sharing stories, steeling deep breaths and smiles. I am not around a lot of babies, so the sound and smell, the joy and lilt, the hum and sing of the moment touched the part of me that has never given birth. I learned early on, when diagnosed with Turner’s syndrome at the age of 15, that my definition of motherhood would need to expand and breathe, shift and move, hold and carry.

The whisper of motherhood. Wind in leaves that fly away. The memory of the hollow sonogram hangs. Elbows protruding through sore ribs. Changing, chasing, sharing. Steeling, holding, carrying. Crying, railing, moving toward.

Bouncing blonde curls in a mother’s arms. Flying baby legs while diapers change. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. A Toddler chasing a labradoodle. Zeitgeisting joy. Thinking back to a diagnosis shrouded in fear. Thinking forward to a future where days move through silence.

EXERCISE 124: THE SOUND OF SILENCE

after every word

José García Villa was a lyric poet in New York. One of his signature moves was a typographical strategy that employed commas after every word in a line. Write a poem about a long silence. Use a lot of l, m, n, and s sounds. Capitalize everything. Put an exclamation point after every word.

Silence

Serenity! Sweetness! Stillness! Liminal! Luminous! Luxurious! Moonbeams! Miracle! Meaning! Nebulous! Knee Deep! Need! Syrup! Star Shine! Serendipity! Love Song! Life Saving! Long Game! Marmalade! Memory! Madness! Nice! Namelessness! Nowhere! Supple! Secret! Synchronicity!

EXERCISE 125: ATTENTION IS DEVOTION

tend a fire

Write a five-paragraph essay(!) describing an action someone you love regularly does. It might be how they make the coffee or don’t tighten the lids or tend a fire or, well, whatever is interesting to you. In addition to describing the action itself, your essay should include at least one question, at least one correction, and at least one digression into a tale about the two of you.

Mashed Potatoes

My love makes the best mashed potatoes. He found a fancy recipe years that calls for Russet and Yukon Gold potatoes, heavy cream, and more butter than you can imagine. He even bought a potato ricer.

My love for mashed potatoes is greater than my love for cats and butterflies. My love for mashed potatoes is greater than my love for big bathtubs and fine perfume. My love for mashed potatoes is greater than my love for Michelin stars and Key West sunsets.

Where does my love of mashed potatoes come from? Besides their comforting and delicious taste, it comes from my role in my childhood Thanksgiving meal preparation. Making mashed potatoes was my grown up contribution. Making mashed potatoes taught me patience and care. Making mashed potatoes became my love language.

I learned that potatoes must be mashed immediately after boiling. I learned there are right times and wrong times for certain things. Mashing cold boiled potatoes creates tapiocaesque paste.

My love knows my love for mashed potatoes. My love agrees when I reject store bought mashed potatoes. My love takes the time.

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