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: of course, gratitude.
Last week for many folks, gratitude moved to the front, or at least, it was supposed to. Lots of people talk about gratitude as a practice, and certainly we will be focusing on gratitude in our workshop this month.
On your walk, though, allow yourself to be at the center. Think of one thing you are grateful to yourself for. Or, you can think of something you believe another person should be grateful for, something that you do. This is just the beginning, and hopefully it will inform your longer work should you engage in the workshop. You can think of a line: I am grateful to myself for __________. Or, you can even get feisty about it: That dude should totally be grateful to me for________.
When you get home, you can use your “poem” as a stand alone piece or use it to begin writing a page. You can write it as a list as well. For this one, I suggest capping at 500 words.
Here is the beginning of my list:
I’m grateful to the part of me that pushes through even when the rest of me does not. I’m grateful to the hips that tell me when to rest and the mind that tells me to get a little bit more done before I do. I’m grateful to the way I laugh at the wrong thing at the wrong time but sometimes at the right time (when you laugh, too). I’m grateful to my hands for growing stronger and my body for growing longer, rescuing me from the smallness of childhood.
And remember - poem walks are free once a month, but paid subscribers can access them weekly.