Prompt #127 pt.1, It’s Post Your Poems Day
Becoming landscape, pt.1
part 1, observation
We Write Poems:
Unlike our usual custom at this time, we are not asking you for a poem this week. Instead we’re simply asking for your “observations”, your direct perceptions as we asked of you, to simply observe some natural space easily available to you. Hopefully some place you could visit, and hopefully, more than only once during this last week. Your response can be simply some gathering of “notes” as you observed. What did you see and hear and feel? Really, we’re not asking you to write or share anything more than that. Sometimes it is good not to rush into writing, rather give time and attention to filling your sight and hearing of a place.
And no, we won’t say no, if your words came to paper in some poetic mode. (We don’t make “rules” that way!) But hopefully, you got our drift of intent.
We acknowledge too, the ways this suggested exercise might be a challenge just in itself. For most everything we do, usually the raw material can be gathered from memory alone. But we wanted to nudge ourselves (including all of us!) to step outside that usual mode and perhaps get back to immediate and direct sourcing of ourselves and the world we live within.
We acknowledge we have no idea of what result this prompt suggestion will deliver for any of us. So whatever result, please now share something of your notes and experience during this week. As always, your participation here is appreciated, however that comes for you!
**********
Don’t have a poem yet? Perhaps read a few done by others here, be inspired. There’s still plenty of time to discover a poem for yourself!
Leave the links to your poems in the comments of this post, then go visit your fellow writers’ sites and read their work. Remember to leave only positive comments in the spirit of sharing and not critiquing. We look forward to reading your poems!
Please remember to include a link with your blog poem post that links right back to here, this “Post Your Poems Day”, so that others reading your poem can also share in this community poem experience – maybe even someone new to We Write Poems!
If you are new to WWP, please be welcome to look around and read. The full prompt description you can find under “Recent Posts” on the top right of our page.
Comments are closed.
We Write Poems 
My nature notes, and my notes on nature notes are here: http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/nature-notes/
An “observation” about doing prompts:
You ever have that sense when you share and link a poem, “oh my, was that a good idea, well done, or just utterly wrong!” That abiding sense of doubt. Well, we here, doing prompts, we have that same experience about prompts!
I do acknowledge the couple comments that said weather and climate in part made this exercise difficult. My fault of experience, being a full time resident of the West Coast where we just got a first slight taste of rain and temperatures still range from mid 70’s to lower 80’s. (I’d like and hope to do this exercise again when climate is more universally doable.) Also I know, as for myself, this exercise process is time intensive (a real problem for myself as it turned out to be).
Moreover, here with WWP, by intent and purpose we strive to create prompts that at least sometimes push our own boundaries of comfort and ability – the better writer to be. Like us, poems have breath and experience, and that’s a dynamic rather than static procession of growth and change and learning we do hope.
Sometimes I think our best writing opportunities come out of not knowing how to write, not knowing what to say, including even when we fail to reach our desired intent. So too it is with prompts.
All that said, see, we’re not always sure about the prompts we offer here!
So be it. Good writing to us all. ~neil
I must admit a bit annoyed with prompt but circumstances granted an opportunity to be outdoors. I think it was brave to push me as poet out of comfortable indoor habitation, my usual writing zone. I did not write at the beach due to weather. However, this exercise made me question how I think it alright to ‘draw’ outdoors but writing is an indoor activity. I appreciate the time and decision-making to find a prompt for the week. Take care.
Your response is very much appreciated. Wasn’t all so easy for me either; harder than I expected. But I did learn a couple things along the way.
Thanks for letting me know your experience with this “thing”!
I often write outdoors – when walking I wear a bag round my waist with notebook and pen (sometimes my kindle as well). Pleine Air applies to poetry as well as painting.
I agree…small notebook and paper are a must when walking!!
I wish I had done more writing hikes when younger. I do not get out often anymore due some crabby health issues. This was a good poetry prompt as it had me wondering where I developed the idea that writing was an indoor activity.
Life is mystery, Neil. Not knowing is part of the deal, applies to prompts too. 😉
a journal pretending to be a poem
Please visit my blog
Marianv.blo
g.co.uk
days & there is not room for it here so I put it on my blog
What an amazing amount of activity for one back yard. Wind featured as well in my outdoor excursion. Enjoyed reading the journal entry. Thank you.
Interestingly, I wrote my poem before I saw the prompt, and then decided to offer this up today as an afterthought. It seems to fit the assignment 🙂 hard frost
The photograph is superb. Not sure how the frost is hard? Is there soft frost? Like the phrase ‘mid-morn lace eyelet fabric of white crystals’ as it suggests that gauze like material of frost settling upon items. Thanks for post Nan P.
Flowers need a promise
I’ll use my cold and being out of town on a unhappy mission to excuse writing a poem, which is exactly what you said not to do!
http://julesgemsandstuff.blogspot.com/2012/10/wwp-127-landscape-elfje.html
A summary of my week. I took several days worth of notes, but they all got summed up in eleven words.
silver dew falling… although those three alone are even more evocative as you’ve cradled them here. They all relate, all “the same” (like they say in those children’s matching games), yet each has a unique history of meaning too. There’s a lovely tension in that relationship, and inviting new vision of understanding common words. Well impressed. Well pleased. ~neil
Eleven words doth make a pretty picture. *blogger can’t verify*
http://roslynrosssmallstones.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/fan.html
It would be unfair not to write some response to this prompt exercise, so I did. Not so well to the suggestion as I’d hoped, but it is…
Pre-analytic observations taken from a hard stone perch
http://wordrustling.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/notes-on-nature/
I apologize for posting part one so late…this was fun and I look forward to PPD this next week! 🙂