Missing #Verselove Already

Today was the first day that we didn’t have a poetry prompt for National Poetry Month at Ethical ELA. It’s May 1, of course, so I missed writing and reading others’ poetry. I went out looking for another prompt. I saw Kevin’s poem and tweet about his inspiration:

I then watched the video Kevin shared by George Ella Lyon talking about the creation and shape of her poem “Whole Round World,” about the “Trimates,” the three scientists who carried on Louis Leakey’s work with primates. You can watch Lyon’s interview here:

She suggested playing with the shape of your poem and using white space to make it like a a sculpture. She also mentions that you have to begin writing the poem first and let the shape emerge. So I went to a new favorite post called “141 Ways to Play, Process, Stretch, Express, Disrupt Words and Form” from Ethical ELA and found a prompt called “Synesthesia and Color” by Jennifer Guyor-Jowett.

I chose these two beautiful colors–Secure Blue and Sequin–because they reminded me of the colors of the skyscrapers here in Manama.

Secure Sequins

The    c  a  m  e  l  s    used to roam near Manama
where the sea foam came all the way up to Bab Al Bahrain.
Savory rice
w
a                 s
f      t
through the neighborhoods as the herdsmen
prepare to go    w   a   y     o   u   t      to look for
untouched ground for     g      r      a      z      i      n      g.
Sandy lots in the souq remain where bricks are formed by hands.

Now, come,
build the
skyscrapers
of progress
Speckling
downtown
sandy buildings
with panels
where the light
shines blue. Secure
for government and
finance. They wonder
at times if the ancestors
hoped for this advancement
when they walked the camels
through the villages to find enough to eat.

Memories of hopes for security and sequins in the desert

Bahrain Financial Harbour in the Manama skyline as seen from the mall where I was this afternoon.

4 thoughts on “Missing #Verselove Already

  1. Denise, thank you for sharing your words (and inspiration) today. I loved this word imagery of a place I’ve never been – you’ve allowed me to experience it here.

    1. Thank you, Jennifer. I loved looking through the color charts you provided and being inspired by all the palettes. Then when I chose two, making a list of all the synesthesia related to the colors brought me to camels in the past and a story I heard recently about flocks of camels passing by what is now my house in search of plants to eat. Your prompts are always so rich!

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