Every Sunday, I’ll publish a poem walk - or other activity that brings flash nonfiction to the front.
In a poem walk, the writer goes on a stroll and “writes” and memorizes a poem, then puts it to the page when they arrive home. The prompt for this week is: discarded things.
While strolling, find a single discarded object. It can be a piece of paper, a shoe, some kind of trash, whatever you find lying around. You don’t need to touch or interact with this object in any way. But memorize a single line about it. If you can memorize more, do/
When you get home, you can use your “poem” as a stand alone piece or use it to begin writing a page. For this one, I suggest capping at 500 words.
Your “poem” can be anything between one line and a whole paragraph - whatever you can memorize.
My poem:
The ORCA card has moved from one side of the sidewalk to the other, back and forth, for weeks. The small block print, the whale, the faded text. The rain moves it, people step on it, and, unlike any other trash that is left around the community mailbox, nobody picks it up. I think it is because we all share a single thought in common. It is like church, like religion, a belief or a prayer: someone is missing this card, and they will be so relieved when they finally find it. Together, I and at least a dozen strangers pass by this card every day or so. Together, we ignore it. We share a wish. We share a tiny, but glowing, hope.
And remember - poem walks are free once a month, but paid subscribers can access them weekly.