Day # 7 of 21 Days of Disciplined Writing
From Camari Carter-Hawkins
Happy 6am! It is always a blessing to wake up to see another day.
Today's Mission - Write a poem about the random blessings that we use on auto-pilot.
I.E. The sheets that selflessly keep us warm while taking the brutal hit of the cold, the sun that rises without our doing, the nails in the walls that holds our loved ones tightly)
We are surrounded by blessings. Write about them. Bring them to light.
Poem #1 What Would I Do Without You? – an interactive list poem.
Instructions: Make your own poem - pick one of the elements from the left-hand list and then match it with one on the right-hand list. It would go something like this - You rise to every occasion - elevator. Have fun! If you feel adventuresome, post your own personal poem, from the list below, on facebook. Have fun!
Okay. That was fun. Now for something a little more meaty.
Poem #2 - What Would I Do Without You?
I am grateful for my heart, endlessly surging lifegiving blood through me, into my tissues, without the need for a thank you, always on the job, always doing what it does best without me even having to ask.
I am grateful for bees who dance among the flowers shaking their tails in harmony with the blossoms they shimmy in. They frost themselves with the pollen the flowers easily give up, carrying their treasures from male to female, ensuring the fertility of the human race. Without them our plants would die. So would we.
I am grateful for my ears. Without them the world would be numb and soundless. If I had not had ears I would have adapted, like Helen Keller, gesturing for others to see and understand, but alas I have ears and tender cochlea which receive the vocal gestures of others. I am grateful.
I am grateful for music. Like the bees, I can receive the pollen of the vibrations of music. And sometimes there is a male to female thing going on there too.
I am grateful for teeth. I use them to chew my food and tear open packages and bite off the cuticle that is bothering me and nibble at my lover. So many opportunities here for sharing about the whole male to female thing or female to female or male to male or any other combination where love abounds.
I am grateful for my house. It is a sweet vessel that houses my things, that houses my body, that houses my dogs. Oh, and I am grateful for my dogs, especially the one that sits on my lap while I write, like now. Good morning Davis!
I am grateful for the trees in my yard. Though they are messy things that throw their leaves into my yard and onto the front of my house and into the street and down the block and the HOA comes around to help, sometimes, to blow those darn leaves away. Do you see a tree theme rising here? I am grateful for the shade they provide and the nesting places for the birds whose babies sing in the spring and a place to put my plants. I think that means I have another male – female thing going on here again.
I am grateful for the sun. He, we call the sun he but I’m not sure why. If you have ever seen a woman who is mad, think wicked witch in Snow White, she can be a white hot mess all on her own. But anyway, I am grateful for him. Even in winter he provides a necessary heat we would all perish without.
I am grateful for the moon. She, I call the moon she though we see a man’s face in it. She is the mover of tides and hearts and crazy people’s minds. If you ever worked in an emergency room on a full moon night you would know exactly what I mean.
I am grateful for breath. Because breath lets me appreciate all of the above. Breath keeps me alive and well and living in the now and because of breath I get to be with all of you.