Photo by Ricardo Angel Gomez on Unsplash
Time to Pause: This Moment Prevails
Beginning with the shocking events of October 7th, I have grieved about the hostages held by Hamas, beloved family members all of whom should immediately be released and returned to their families, and the violent war unfolding and taking so many innocent Palestinian and Israeli lives. The sorrow is so palpable that the air seems to weep—so many gone and such heartbreak.
Only a few years ago when COVID overtook our world, I was fortunate to experience my dear daughter’s return from Japan (more on this below), and I am enormously grateful for that blessing.
Although my blog is effusive with the joy of verse, my spirit is solemn in this moment, focused on this crisis in Gaza. What can we do to cope with the magnitude of this event? As writers, we can journal and craft verse and narrative to express our thoughts and feelings about this excruciating time. Emily Stoddard, author of the Poetry Bulletin substack, thoughtfully offers our task to include imagining a better world. Absolutely. As readers, we can peruse the news, dive into insightful commentary, focus our prayers and meditations on the names and faces of those who are suffering. We must then seek respite and renewal in our places of comfort.
Sensory Images Take Center Stage
Photo by Clint Engel
Back to our fall verse songs: Did you write about autumn or Halloween? How did your free-writing process go? In poetry, images rule. They can range from the smell of freshly mowed grass to a growling canine, from sunlight glazing tree trunks to sweat beading your brow and your pulse racing during a morning run or a terrifying and unexpected experience. Images make your writing come alive: Readers see, smell, hear, taste and feel your experience. In future posts, we will dive deeper into connecting images to our emotional realities.
The holidays present a golden opportunity for sensory writing, a time when many celebrate with family and enjoy the sight of lit jack-o-lanterns; the startling, wide-open scent of a decorated evergreen tree; the taste of succulent turkey or of other anticipated seasonal dishes. Simultaneously, we may be overtaken by sorrow or feel bittersweet as we mourn the loss of those we love. A range of emotions often overwhelm us. We can release these feelings into lines of verse.
Below is a short portion of my long poem, “Janken,” written in anticipation of my daughter’s return from Japan in October 2020. I wrote this poem in sections to reflect the game of “rock, paper, scissors.” The selection below comes at the end of my poem. Claire was scheduled to arrive home in early October. My thoughts turned to many past Halloweens when we would carve jack-o-lanterns and place them on our outdoor stoop. I would roast the seeds in the oven. Then, we would pop them in our mouths, the taste of Halloween!
from “Janken” Hasami katto-shi Scissors cut paper Halloween is coming, Claire,/ and you will be home. // Counting down days, / I gaze at the origami turtle and swan/ you cut and folded years ago.// We will score wide grinning jack-o-lanterns,/ place them glowing on the front stoop,/ swallow salty seeds … -Diana Ewell Engel
Notice the simplicity of my lines, how I bring the reader into my loneliness for my daughter by drawing a picture of myself looking at the calendar and noting how long it will be before I see her. My love is conveyed by the sight of two origami animals she made which I treasure. The Halloween images speak of my hopeful anticipation of her return and the joy of celebrating the holiday together.
Today’s Book Pick
Photo by Diana Ewell Engel
No one captures the joy of verse and the fun of imaginative writing like Susan Goldsmith Wooldrige! Check out her book, poemcrazy, from your library or buy a copy. Get your hands on this treasure of a writing guide. Chapter 44, “the image angel,” will help you see your world differently and begin to uncover hidden messages and meanings from the objects that surround you.
Returning to “Beech Mountain Meteors”
In the last post, I shared my poem, “Beech Mountain Meteors” and explained about the process of free-writing, the first thing I do when wanting to craft a new poem.
Below is my free-write for this poem. The bolded words are those images I circled and included in the title and lines of my poem.
Early morning, 4 a.m. chill as we step out on the balcony in Beech Mountain. You caped in condo quilt; I in my cardigan. Called by Dad to “come see the meteors.” The sky above a cradle of light. No pollution; glinting diamonds. Above our heads, Orion’s belt, a triangle of small lights. Sudden and quick streak; shooting star through Orion. Meteors entering the warm tongues of the Earth’s atmosphere like the snowflakes you caught in your mouth as a little girl, disintegrating into icy drops down your throat. Such visible and beautiful velocity dissolving to become part of the air. Purposeful beauty like the dry rustling hickory leaves we hear in the wind falling to decay, to enrich the earth. What purpose can our deaths serve? Because we can’t stay, our hearts quicken at the sight of sunset mellowing ocean waves. The bells that toll within when we hear church bells strike the hour through the day, taking us back to a dinner bell rung by a grandmother, school recesses, the ringing-in of holidays, signaling time moving like autumn geese embroidering flying “v”s across the sky, honking their migration song. Because we can’t stay and because we learn the pain of losing those we love, we draw close, hold others through suffering, become community, small universes glinting light. -Diana Ewell Engel
Readers, take note: This free-write has themes that branch out from my main mission. My purpose was to recount the sensory experience my family enjoyed during the meteor shower. But, here also are lines and ideas that found their way into other poems of mine; that is the reward of the free-write process. I uncover images that eventually work their way into other writing.
Photo by Lukas Becker on Unsplash
Below is my final poem crafted from my free-write. This time, I have bolded the images I took from my initial free-write.
Beech Mountain Meteors Cradling constellations, / evening swells to far horizon / where highways stream a constant light circuit. / Mountains frame night’s brooding landscape. // From this lofty canopy we could pick stars / like apples if we wished. / Diamonds glint between oak branches. / Brittle leaves rustle; we huddle behind balcony rails. // In this late October air, / we crane necks upward, witness asteroids / streaking through Orion’s belt, / melting on warm tongues of atmosphere.// I watch my daughter, / rapt college student pulling a quilt tight about her, / remember a toddler racing into first snowfall,/ ice flakes dropping into her mouth, eyes chirping wonder. // -Diana Ewell Engel
Takeaways
Think of everything you see, hear, taste, feel, and smell as images.
Start an image journal for inspiration.
Pay close attention to yourself and everything surrounding you, looking until you see hidden facets of the things in your world.
Record your observations!
Use free-writing as a tool to reveal your unique perspective and original images.
Meteor is very moving, Diana! It's like a painting with "feels".
I believe a poet has got to be a pretty vulnerable, porous soul. ❤️
Diana, It was funny that we spoke about Halloween, because I just now saw your picture with Claire and your jack-o-lanterns. Wonderful picture! Your awesome poem, moreover, evokes familiar feelings of my sacred time with my son on that fun holiday.