Today's prompt asks you to begin with a question you have heard or have asked yourself. The mentor text is by Nizar Qabbani and begins with this stanza and a question from his son. (You can read the entire poem by clicking on the link.)
A Lesson In Drawing
My son places his paint box in front of me
and asks me to draw a bird for him.
Into the color gray I dip the brush
and draw a square with locks and bars.
Astonishment fills his eyes:
"… But this is a prison, Father,
Don't you know, how to draw a bird?"
And I tell him: "Son, forgive me.
I've forgotten the shapes of birds."
.........
I decided to use the question Why not? which has driven a lot of my choices over the years. I have found that there are always plenty of reasons NOT to try something and plenty of people who want to hold me back--often with lots of reasons something is (in their eyes) not a great idea. My poem tries to capture how I feel when people want to hold me back.
Here is what I wrote:
Bones
not Why, but why not?
my thin bones
(pale bones
at my core)
push against
barbed wire cages
stone unclimbable walls
the fences of reason
fuel my fury
my voice
my bones
...................
Give it a try! Write a list of five questions, then choose one to use as the jumping-off point for your poem. The question may or may not actually appear in your poem!
Happy writing!
AB
Thanks to Ethical ELA for many of the prompts I'm adapting for my students this month.
I stare at the bathroom mirror
ReplyDeleteSteam dripping down the mirror
The pastel blue walls decorating
A being who seems, not to be
My mottled tan and pink arms
Cling around my pale body
As greenish brown eyes,
Stare back at what appears to be me
But why am I me?
The question races in my mind
Sending every hardship I can remember
Rushing into my mind
I collapse onto the floor
Tears welling up in my eyes
As I search for the answer to a question
That has no definite solution
"Why am I me?" What a great question. "How am I me?" is another variation. Your use of a mirror works well as the frame for examining the question.
DeleteEyes
ReplyDeleteWhy not or not why?
My blue eyes
Staring from the front of my head
See things of wonder, see things of strife
When I look in the mirror, my eyes stare back at me
Those blue eyes full of fury and intelligence
What I see with my eyes these days
Fuels my fury, sadness, fear, and happiness
My voice
And my mind
Parker, I like the contrasts you create: fury and intelligence; fear and happiness; wonder and strife. I like how you used your blue eyes as the means by which you experience (see) the world's contrasts and how in the closing lines those experiences, in turn, become your voice and mind.
ReplyDeleteDecisions
ReplyDeleteSo many choices,
which one do I choose?
Choices make great changes.
Never knowing
what the other choice
planned for you.
Weights on your shoulders,
stress in your lungs,
rocks in your stomach,
adding to the pressure.
The consequences scare
the common sense out of you.
Just
Make
The
Decision
Where are you going?
ReplyDeleteSo many places
Beyond my adolescent reach
Only to ask
Where are you going?
Is it to the past
In the memories of what was
To the now
So slowly fading
We don’t dare look ahead
For it can cause harm
It’s full of downright
Despair
Where are you going?