Rain Light
W.S. Merwin
(
listen to it here)
All day the stars watch from long ago
my mother said I am going now
when you are alone you will be all right
whether or not you know you will know
look at the old house in the dawn rain
all the flowers are forms of water
the sun reminds them through a white cloud
touches the patchwork spread on the hill
the washed colors of the afterlife
that lived there long before you were born
see how they wake without a question
even though the whole world is burning
It's always nice to see poetry getting some attention. A few weeks ago, W. S. Merwin appeared on
Bill Moyers. You can
watch the whole hour here, which includes Merwin reading the above poem.
Close the door, turn off the phone, grab your journal and a pen. Or a notebook and a pencil. Or a laptop. Give yourself the gift of 30 minutes. Read the poem and consider these prompts:
1. "When you are alone you will be all right/whether or not you will now" Have you been afraid of being left alone, then found out you really were alright? Maybe as a child, a first babysitting job or even the death of a loved one? Write about your fear and anxiety vs. your actual experience.
2. Write "all flowers are forms of water" on the top of your page. Try a fast write, then go back and highlight the lines that really grab you. Can you arrange them into a poem? Maybe all poems are forms of water too.
3. Make a list of the first ten things that come to mind when you read "the washed colors of the afterlife" Maybe a poem? Maybe the opening lines of 10 short essays?
4. Write to any line that speaks to you in the poem.
5. As always, follow your muse.
Remember that Carol Burnett song from the end of her show? "Seems we just got started and before we knew it/Came the time we had to say, 'So long.'" If you were just getting started in 30 minutes, consider coming to our
WRITING MARATHON on August 1st.
