Good morning!
I read aloud the poem “Twenty Questions” by Jim Moore to my 18-year-old son on the drive to the airport on the day he left for a year in New Zealand. The poem is ultimately about the choices we make in our lives and the lingering doubt that underpins those choices. Its timing was perfect for my son’s departure, and its opening line has inspired me to look at the sky every day. (Check out #IowaSky on Twitter!)
Here are the opening lines:
Did I forget to look at the sky this morning
when I first woke up? Did I miss the willow tree?
The white gravel road that goes up from the cemetery,
but to where?…
Further on, this:
If I’d caught the boat
to Mykonos that time when I was nineteen
would the moon have risen out of the sea
and shone on my life so clearly
I would have loved it
just as it was?
…
The poem concludes with the haunting question:
Did I already ask that?
Here are the opening lines:
Did I forget to look at the sky this morning
when I first woke up? Did I miss the willow tree?
The white gravel road that goes up from the cemetery,
but to where?…
Further on, this:
If I’d caught the boat
to Mykonos that time when I was nineteen
would the moon have risen out of the sea
and shone on my life so clearly
I would have loved it
just as it was?
…
The poem concludes with the haunting question:
Did I already ask that?
Process
Today I invite you to write a poem of 20 questions. Start with whatever question comes to mind, then follow that thought to the next, then another. Continue to sift through memory and images until you have (maybe) twenty questions. Consider the choices that have made a difference in your life. Maybe end your poem with “Did I already ask that?”
You may use Moore's poem as a model, as I did for this one:
Twenty Questions From My Classroom
by Allison Berryhill
Why am I here?
In this chair, by this desk?
Am I flinging finite minutes
of my life into the dusty swirl of students’ too-full thoughts?
Are my words rolling tumbleweeds skirting across this barren plain?
Where is your hall pass?
Why am I wasting breath, breath, breath?
Will another Wednesday roll out from under me in 33-minute sprints?
What do they ask?
What did I miss yesterday?
Why are we reading this?
Where’s Corbin Logeman?
And why do we say “have run” and not “have ran”?
Does it make a difference?
And to who?
Or to whom?
What is the color of teal?
Where is the receipt book?
Can I go to the nurse?
Did they learn anything?
Did I already ask that?
I look forward to reading your poems! Please feel free to respond with supportive comments to the poets who are posting here!
Happy writing!
AB
Why am I here?
ReplyDeleteWhy am I staring at a blank screen, waiting for something to happen?
Why won’t the characters pop out of the page while I’m writing?
Are they not relatable enough?
Are they too boring, or too much?
Why do my words sound like the original Chex mix?
Am I making them too complex, or too dumb sounding?
Is my plot even interesting?
Is it worth picking up?
Would anyone even read it, let alone consider buying it?
Why can’t my words flow, like a calligraphy pen?
What am I doing?
Why do I write with such longing?
To exist in a world that does not exist?
To escape a world I’ve always known?
To leave the place I’ve known all my life?
Or do I have some superior motive?
Do I write to entertain, to scare?
Do I write for others?
Or do I write for myself?
Addie, I think my FAVORITE line is "Why do my words sound like the original Chex mix?" --I laughed out loud! I love how the poem ends with the final two questions of why (who) we write for.
DeleteTrack
ReplyDeleteWhy am I so nervous?
Haven't I done this all before?
What practice will be like today?
Will it be really hard?
Does he know I have gymnastics after this?
Why is it so cold outside?
Does anyone have an extra coat?
Why am I already out of breath?
Are we almost there?
How does everyone get here this early?
Why do we always have to go to the same spot to stretch?
Does it make a difference?
What are we doing today?
Who will I run with?
WHY DO 400S EXSIST?
Am I breathing still?
Do I still have legs attached?
Why are my eyes fuzzy?
Where is the finish line?
Can I take a nap now?
Nicole, I love how your questions take me into your head, into your experience. These lines really grabbed me:
DeleteDoes he know I have gymnastics after this?
Who will I run with?
WHY DO 400S EXSIST? (I like how you shouted this in caps!)
Why am I here?
ReplyDeleteSitting in front of a blank page?
Do I expect it to write itself?
Do I think someone will write it for me?
Is my entire life like a blank sheet of paper?
Do I have to make choices?
To live and write my own story?
Filling that figural blank page with all my choices in life?
Do I have a future?
Is that future written or do I have to live my life?
Why do futures exist?
Is it because we create them?
Can we all create a bright future for ourselves?
Can I make the right choices, put down the right words?
How will I write my own story?
How can I imagine what my future will be like?
Will it be adventurous, exciting, good?
Or will it be sad, dark, hopeless?
We never know do we?
The future isn't written for us, is it?
Did I ask that already?
Parker, I like how you begin with the question of the moment: Why am I here?
ReplyDeleteYour poem segues from writing a poem to writing your life. This line really nailed it:
Is that future written or do I have to live my life?
Ending on "Did I ask that already," like the poet, emphasizes the repeated nature of the question: How will we write our futures? Thank you for this thoughtful poem.
Time
ReplyDeleteWhy can it vary so?
How can it vary so?
How does it speed up when we sleep?
Or go ever so slow during a test?
Why does it change now rather than later?
What causes it to change?
Can we within our minds make it change?
How would one control this?
If they could would they?
What would they do?
What is the limitations of time?
Could speed by the fast moments?
And slow down the fun ones?
Or would that just ruin the human cycle?
Could we make time vary?
Did I ask that already?
Dante, I'm so glad to find your poem here this morning when I checked back! Time is such a strange and ephemeral concept. I was pulled into your question of how we would alter time's progression if we could...and would that enhance or ruin "the human cycle." You made me think. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWill it ever be enough?
ReplyDeleteBecause despite the strain and toil,
My body long endures,
The serpent continues to coil,
Will it ever stop?
How much more time is left?
My breath continues to grow thin,
As its death grip expands,
And I wonder if it'll forgive.
I had done so much yet so little,
So why wasn't it enough?
Nobody asked yet I provided,
Did I run out of luck?
Where did the praise that I sought,
The one thing I very crave?
How did it all go awry,
On a bright and sunny day?
The work is all done,
Though it wasn't complete,
Nobody had asked for it yet there it was.
Will I ever be enough?
Do I chose my fate?
ReplyDeleteOr was is it set in stone?
Am I the one who makes my decisions?
Why do we not know if we can change destiny?
Is destiny a real thing?
Or is this just an idea?
Who came up with fate?
And why don't they want me in charge?
Is someone else controlling my fate?
When did they decide what I'l become?
Can I go against what my path is?
Or is that apart of the plan?
Is fate day by day?
Or year by year?
Or is it life time by life time?
Will we ever know the answers?