Advanced Poetry/Fiction workshop: Naomi Shihab Nye

Monday, October 3, 2016

This is not really an attempt to say what anything is

by trying to describe what it is not for it is not

a representation of a thing and yet it is a thing,

a drawing which IS a thing but a drawing

need not BE OF a thing.

It is not just a three dimensional object reduced to two dimensions-

lines, circling, slashing across a large piece of paper

blue ink spilling across a blank space,

some THING emerging out of NO-THING.

It is not a singular mind’s creation—abstract or concrete—

and while it was intended to be collaborative, it is not

a collaborative work of art.

It is not a flame, a game, or the name of anything.

It cannot be defined, cannot be explained, cannot be found

In our words. Like the attempt to write a poem—

it is not solid and cannot be grasped in its entirety.

Piecemeal, partial, it invites us.

Go to Poetry Foundation link:
Look over Naomi Shihab Nye's poems and write a response poem to "Kindness" or one of her other poems.

HMWK: For Wednesday: Read Ch. 2,3, and 4--Select one of the prompts from these chapters and write a poem for sharing on Wednesday

Advanced Poetry/Fiction workshop