What I Knew

This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We gather every month and daily in April — no sign-ups, no fees, no commitments. Come and go as you please. All that we ask is that if you write, you respond to others to mirror to them your readerly experiences — beautiful lines, phrases that resonate, ideas stirred. Enjoy. (Learn more here.)

Our Co-Hosts

Jennifer Guyor Jowett once was a child who explored the woods and fields within the twenty acres of her home, which was surrounded by farmland, a river, and towering oaks, and knowing them well enough to recognize they were never hers. She is the author of Into the Shadows and co-authored the poetry book Words That Mend. Jennifer is the creator of the DogEaredBookAwards, a student-led award given to middle grade and young adult novels each year.

Deborah Wiles is a Southerner with roots in Mississippi who grew up around the world in an Air Force family. She is the author of the beloved Love, Ruby Lavender and Freedom Summer, as well as the National Book Awards finalists Each Little Bird That Sings and Revolution. She is the pioneer of the documentary novel, in a trilogy about the 1960s. Her picture books We Are All Under One Wide Sky and Simple Thanks are poems for readers of all ages. Deborah lives in Georgia where she grows the world’s most beautiful zinnias, climbs Stone Mountain, and avoids the Atlanta traffic.

Inspiration 

Deborah Wiles has launched the StoryBelly Lab, a “warm-hearted community of writers, readers & makers… where she shares her stories and ways you can find your own.” I have long admired her writing and the generosity with which she shares the means of storytelling. She recently posted an exercise inspired from a writing mentor, Nancy Johnson. We’re borrowing and sharing the prompt here today.

Process

1. Write a list of places you have stayed in but not lived in.
2. Write a list of trips you have taken.
3. Write a list of people you once knew but no longer know.

Write a poem by picking a trip from list 2, along with a character from list 3 and incorporate a place from list 1.

Jennifer’s Poem

Once I Knew by Jennifer Guyor Jowett

I once knew myself
or at least I thought I did
I once stayed in nature
dwelling inside the words
the wind whispered
and evaporating into petal-scents
carried away on updrafts.
I wandered the woods
and pondered what the birds sang
to one another.
I watched sticks float along ravines
dipping and diving through rapids
and against rocky embankments
as they made their way to the river. 
I walked the paths of ancestors,
following star-embroidered skies
into milk-laden nights.
I lay amongst the clouds
while tethered to the earth,
the grass my place of rest
once I knew myself.

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to 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. 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. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers.