MONDAYS ARE FREE EXERCISES 231-235

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

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MONDAYS ARE FREE EXERCISES 231-235

Revelation. Blueprint. Dance. Angels. Spells.

EXERCISE 231: DECIDE WHAT TO REVEAL

21 illustrations

The Book of Secrets has 21 illustrations. Write a short caption for each of the illustrations.

A green and gold flower wooden jewelry box gifted me by my Grandmother. A wooden bowl filled with special stones purchased while visiting friends in Racine. A framed Picasso print, Child with Dove purchased at the National Gallery Gift Shop in London. A Knowles plate mended with gold. A ticket stub from a John Prine concert. A Kentucky Derby glass from 1978. A pair of running shoes I wore during the San Diego Marathon. A Badgley Mischka wedding dress. An engagement ring made with my grandmother’s diamonds. A magnolia blossom in April. A peach blossom in June. A bunny tutu from my first dance recital. An Atari joystick. A handful of Virginia peanuts. A bag of Schimpffs lemon drops. A Van Halen album cover. A plate of Mazzoni’s rolled oysters. A moon bow over Cumberland Falls. A pot of burgoo. A red fascinator.

EXERCISE 232: DECODE THE BLUEPRINT

a new kind of building

Listen to a piece of music that you have never listened to by Matthew Shipp or Pauline Oliveros or Arvo Part or Andrew Cyrille or Anthony Braxton or Michael Gregory Jackson or Adegoke Steve Colson or Milford Graves or Saadet Türköz.

Their music contains secret instructions on how to construct a new kind of building. Describe the building. What are its physical features? Why do people convene there?

The building twists and turns toward up. The building rises and rests, rises and rests, rises and rests. The building shifts and expands, shifts and expands, shifts and expands. The building holds and releases, holds and releases, holds and releases. The building hides and reveals, hides and reveals, hides and reveals. The building stands and witnesses, stands and witnesses, stands and witnesses. An Escher love letter. A philosophical orientation toward tomorrow. A technical orientation toward progress. A spiritual orientation toward hope.

EXERCISE 233: DANCE AND WRITE

dance again

Put on some music that makes you want to move and dance for the length of at least one full song. As soon as you’re done, write a letter to someone you love (living or dead) about what your body did. When you’re done with the letter, dance again.

Dear KH,/ I remember dancing. The dance of digging potatoes, snapping beans, picking tomatoes. The dance of sipping sweet tea, rocking porch swings, smelling roses. The dance of floating in Alabama pools, swooning to Engelbert Humperdinck, fidgeting in Laverne’s chair.

My body moved. Freedom beyond constraint. Joy beyond sadness. Light beyond shadow. Courage beyond fear. Soft beyond hard. Grace beyond competition. Open beyond closed. Faith beyond doubt. Awe beyond apathy. Attention beyond distraction. Desire beyond indifference./ Love, Katie

EXERCISE 234: ADD TO THE CANON

an angel

Make a list poem of all the qualities of an angel. The key here is to include qualities that are surprising, even un-angelic or earthly. And as always, be specific, using concrete language.

My grandmothers collected angels. Big angels. Little angels. Straw angels. Wooden angels. Crystal angels. Glass angels. Porcelain angels. Soft angels. Hard angels. Hungry angels. Happy angels. Smiling angels. Frowning angels. Crying angels. Flowing angels. Flying angels. Dancing angels. Seeing angels. Singing angels. Praying angels.

EXERCISE 235: CREATE A SPELL

suggest tips

Make a sizeable list that includes:

flowers and plants you are familiar with

culinary ingredients you have strong taste or distaste for

a few mundane small-scaled personal effects you might find in a drawer or purse

Write a spell on behalf of someone who needs help using the items above as ingredients. You might demonstrate/explain the procurement, preparation, concoction, and application of your ingredients. You might offer directions on where to best find the ingredients and how to select them. You might also suggest tips for the recipe. You might pause to explain what a particular ingredient does for the spell. You should offer details not just on the recipe but its application and the conditions needed for the spell to succeed.

A Spell for JBS

Gather Huber’s Farms strawberries, Lavender Hill lavender, Fancy Feast cat food with gravy, leaves from porch flowers (which include impatiens, coleus, petunias, and an orchid), geese feathers, red robe fuzz, Noxema face cream, soft pretzel, Pepsi, comfort shoes of any type, jamoca almond fudge ice cream, a fried cod finger, a lime, whole milk, olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Pound with cooking mallet and stir with large spoon until the concoction becomes a paste. Once paste has been made, place paste in small wood bowl. Once in small wood bowl, speak the following prayer over the paste:

May all you love surround you./ May health be your anchor./ May sunlight shine all your days./ May constellations guide your way in the dark./ May your windows and doors be open to goodness./ May the saints and angels hold your hands.

After the prayer, gently wash your hands with paste and dry hands.

Thank you for reading MONDAYS ARE FREE. These exercises are explorations of poetry and language and joy. Subscribe to the Wide-Awakeness Project to share this journey.