The Brain Dump

Our Host

Barbara Edler taught English Language Arts, Speech & Drama, and TAG students for forty-two and a half years. Although she misses the classroom, she keeps busy as The Keokuk Art Center’s Executive Director where she enjoys planning artistic endeavors and hosting artist receptions. She loves to write poetry, flash fiction and more. You can find some of her poetry published in editions of Lyrical Iowa and Grant Wood Country Chronicle, and the book Teacher-Poets Writing to Bridge the Distance: An Oral History of COVID-19 in Poems which was published due to the efforts of Dr. Sarah J. Donovan and Caroline Lopez. She’s a firm believer in karma and follows her Great-Aunt Adeline’s advice: “When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot, and hang on.”

Inspiration

One of my favorite ways to begin writing poetry is to free write about anything that has captured my interest. I try to write quickly, capturing thoughts, emotions, and memories while hoping to gain a wealth of words and ideas to explore. After drafting for five minutes or so, I go back through my text to see which words, phrases, and ideas most appeal to me and circle them. Then I use the selected words and phrases to craft a poem. I am not always sure about my intention to begin with, but I might have a goal in mind. For example, I may want to expose something happening in the world that is angering me, or I may want to celebrate a particular event or person.

Yesterday I attended a workshop led by Kelsey Bigelow, a spoken word and page poet held at the Keokuk Art Center Round Room Galleries, a lovely space in which female artists’ works were being exhibited for March 2024. One watercolor that particularly appealed to me was of three sheep. When I met my husband many years ago, he was a farmer. Once I moved onto the farm, I learned a lot to say the least. The beautiful painted sheep had me thinking about those farm days which led me to write freely about all those memories. 

Process

Get inspired. Look around. Is there a photograph, object, or person you would like to write about today? Perhaps you need to process something that recently occurred or you want to share an experience or memory you treasure. Once you’ve chosen your topic, take five minutes to write freely. Do not worry about making sense, just write quickly attempting to capture your flow of thoughts. Let your brain “dump”.

After free writing, review your piece. Circle the phrases and ideas that you find most appealing or compelling.

Begin crafting your poem. Write a free verse or use a poetic form, it’s totally up to you. Of course, write about anything you wish to share today. 

Kelsey’s Poem

A GRANDFATHER’S HANDS

tell more than he ever will

Don’t look at them too hard or you’ll get distracted
on the surface

Instead
see how his scarred and re-scarred thumb tells
of the times he cut himself
hunting and his callouses talk
of the years spent mowing cemeteries and brushing grass from family headstones
Which is to say
he silently put himself through pain
if it meant caring for family

His dirt-covered fingers share stories of arrowheads
and search for his birth family’s ancestry
awing over Cherokee paint pots and drill bits
while his soil-covered nails relive the years he tended garden
picking green beans for that night’s dinner
Which is to say he let his hands find life in mess
because dirt has always been washable

Wrinkles on his wrists laugh as if they still carry his wiggling giggling grandbabies
who rode along as he mowed the lawn
and the spots on the backs of his hands still sing as they polka Grandma around
as if their teenage care-free never left
Which
is to say
a grandfather’s hands tell of more than a single lifetime
so long as he lets them speak for him

Barb’s Poem

City Girl’s Baptism

I remember

being baptized into farm life
its fertile water trough
glimmered with sunlight
blessed silos, barns, and a chicken coop
where rabbits were fed then butchered,
baby chicks were attacked by raccoons,
a spooky stray cat lolled in the rafters,
live mice, rats, and too many
dead lambs

learning
heat and poverty
navigating tractors
bailing hay
docking lambs
walking beans
driving a stick shift
breakfast, lunch, dinner, lunch, supper
making gravy

hearing
wandering cows moo
outside the late-night window
smelling fresh cut hay, manure, and
Joker’s warning bark, alerting
me to rise from my warm bed
to witness a UFO hovering
at the end of the long lane
its bright lights ascending

I remember

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe.