Zoom into the Imaginative Storm 9-21-24
I look through the litter and find old remnants of myself
Please join us today for the Prompt of the Week at 9 am PT / noon ET. Click here for the Zoom link.
And please invite anyone you think would enjoy our session to join us! You can share this email or send them the following link:
https://imaginativestorm.com/writing-prompt-of-the-week.
This page explains how the Prompt of the Week session works and why it works. Maybe it will encourage more people to try it out -
The Zoom links for both Saturday and Thursday sessions can also always be found in the footer at imaginativestorm.com.
Next “Write What You Don’t Know” 10-week Zoom course begins Tuesday, October 8
"This has really been valuable. For me the best thing was learning how to develop plot—something I've always struggled with. The variation and quality of writing in the group were amazing."
— Kaye Roll, Torrance, CA
A few spots left! Click here to register.
Last week’s Exquisite Storm: “Rain On My Grief”
An Exquisite Corpse (so named by the Surrealists) is a “found poem” made up of disconnected parts, but we prefer to call it the Exquisite Storm. Each writer in our Saturday Each writer in our Saturday Prompt of the Week session offered one line from the 10-minute piece they generated.
Last week we were inspired by a photo found online. The title comes from the first line, spoken by Melissa Malm. To hear it read aloud by the writers, click through to YouTube.
It can rain on my grief of the loss of those past years of all-consuming motherhood, where I lost myself in the joy of it. Who am I now without it? So many torn memories I held whole in my heart. Reality understands where the clatter and clunk of searchers plumbing the depths of our detritus to sustain them another day. Pause the conveyor. Never forgotten, never to be found. Lost in abundant rain, made large by joyful shrapnel., toothless wonder gone. Full of cheeky monkeys, bounding their way through her mind. He shuddered, relaxed a bit, and lowered his head, receiving the palpable kindness. I'm fascinated by the way the brain works. What makes a serial killer? At home, a long way from home, this beauty queen lasts like a perfectly preserved cracked vase, still smiling so close to the ground. Sometimes, I look through the litter and find old remnants of myself. Rip me open is what my skin tells the trees; and I will bare it all. The baby's face is in the flowers. No remnant of my lush green life on Lake Ontario. But all the branches that shelter, sparkly eyes, and smile have moved on. These are not torn memories, rather messages laughing on a breeze. Lined palms like twigs, weaving a circular wall. The eternal finger always clawing. The tornado came out of nowhere, ripping everything from the home. Pictures strewn across the connecting counties. Full of hope and faith. I was new to life, and all things every day was an adventure. A blues croon on slide guitar that the inner child of an alley knows. The mud in your eyes is the silence of our present creative writing.
ORDER OF SPEAKERS: Melissa Malm, Arlene Shapiro, Katerina Tana, Zebith Thalden, Andrew Smith, Genevia Hendry, Kyra Strasberg, Maria Wasson, Lyn Rothman, Dar Vander Hoop, Kathleen Wilson, Sandi Dittmer, Linda Smith, Ellen Clay, Jocelyn Wasson, Kaye Roll, Krista Thornburg, James Navé, Allegra Huston, Glenna Tinney, Jane Goldberg, Dragon Rose-HeArt, Maria Eugenia Ortega
This week’s podcast: The Poetics of Education with Cynthia Schumacher and Ocean Vuong
Today, I’m excited to introduce you to poet and educator Cynthia Shumacher, who at 95, is still actively writing and publishing.
Cynthia’s latest works, Polished Stones and Soul Flowers reveal her masterful ability to convey the emotions we all feel but often struggle to express. Through a carefully crafted combination of words, she paints a relatable and refreshing picture of the human experience. Our conversation touches not only on her poetic journey but also on her deep commitment to education. A career teacher for 33 years, Cynthia has been a champion of student empowerment and was even briefly fired in the 1960s for her courageous activism during the civil rights movement. Her insights into poetry, teaching, and the power of language are a testament to her lifelong dedication to both the arts and social justice.
I’ve paired my interview with Cynthia with a past conversation I had with poet Ocean Vuong. Together, their perspectives bridge generations and remind us of poetry's timelessness. Join us for a rich discussion that spans history, poetry, and education.
If you’d like to make a contribution . . .
. . . to keep the Imaginative Storm Prompt of the Week going, you can find our “tip jar” in the footer at imaginativestorm.com. If you already support us, thank you!
The Prompt of the Week will remain free to all who want to join us. Please invite your friends!