Zahra Gordon

I have to confess that for some time now, I haven’t been focused on creative writing. You may have noticed that my last blog post was in June, 2017. When daily life requires more of my attention than poetry or other artistic pursuits, I lapse and it can be hard to get back on the creative wagon. I haven’t stopped paying attention to day-to-day activities, but I am making a concerted effort to get back to my true self as a creative. That said, it’s poetry month and I’m doing daily reading and writing exercises. I’ll be sharing some of these with you on the blog.

Yesterday, I worked on an exciting exercise created by the poet Rita Dove called Ten-Minute Spill. Having to write with a timer gave me an adrenaline rush. Writing exercises aren’t meant to create masterpieces, but to keep wayward and procrastinating writers on task. Meaning, don’t grade these poems please. 😉

Here’s the first exercise and poem!

Instructions: Write a ten-line poem. The poem must include a proverb, adage or familiar phrase that you changed in some way as well as five of the following words:

cliff                  blackberry

needle            cloud

voice              mother

whir              lick  

You have ten minutes.

I chose the adage “good things come to those who wait.” The change made is this: “the lazy ones spend all their time waiting.”

5 words chosen: needle, voice, mother, lick, cloud

Waiting for Glory

Growing up, his mother would lick all his wounds

And that was the root of the problem

He wasn’t grounded

Whenever he fell, he landed on her cloud

What he destroyed, she carefully stitched new with needle and thread

He didn’t have to lift a finger

He had no voice, she spoke for him

He had no choice, she coddled him

By her account, he was good and good things come to those who wait

It’s just that, the lazy ones spend all their time waiting