Dare you write a poem?

Phew! I’m only part-time as Reader in Residence, so I can hardly complain. And to be fair, the lovely staff here don’t have me on a hamster wheel, nor do they have any instruments of torture (unless  you count chocolate), but I feel like my feet have hardly touched the ground this first month.

So, you might be wondering, what on earth have I been up to? Well, I was invited to take part in Poetry for Fearties on National Poetry Day with Wendy (our lovely librarian) and Donna (our wonderful audience development worker, who’s also a talented writer).

Poetry for Fearties was a very well attended event, and I don’t think that was just because of the home made lemon drizzle cake. (Confession: I’ve put on several pounds in weight since starting work here. Imagine if I was full-time; they’d have to call me The Fatty Feminist!)

Anyway, back to Poetry for Fearties. I led the creative writing part of the workshop, using Alice Walker’s powerful poem, ‘Remember’ to provide a pattern. Some amazing poems were produced as a result. A very creative group of Fearties indeed. I was slow off the mark and didn’t prise any of them from their hands, or I would have asked permission to post one or two here.

So if you’d like to have a go at writing a poem. (Go on! It’s fun. Honest.) Then here’s an easy way to get started.

First: read through Alice Walker’s poem ‘Remember’ a couple of times. (It’s at the foot of this post.) Alice has based this poem on her own life, her own experience. That’s where the best poetry comes from. As a child she had an accident with a shotgun, which explains the references to the ‘wounded eye’ and the ‘melted ear’.

Second: Note the pattern she uses in the poems. (Poems form patterns, though that’s not always easy to see.) The pattern here starts with ‘I am the girl who’. Think back to your own childhood. Blast out a list of things -a favourite toy or dress, something you loved doing, something you were teased for doing. You might choose both happy and sad memories. Now choose those that seem strongest to you and start your poem. For example I might begin:

Remember me?

I am the girl who loved to whistle

to race round and round on my bike.

I am the girl in the lemon cotton dress

with the twigs in my hair

and grazes on my knees.

I am the girl who fretted over my work

whose fingernails always seemed filled with dirt

See how easy it is?

Then, when you feel you’ve built up an image of the child you, write the line

Now I am the woman who 

and write some lines about yourself now. For example, I might write

Now I am the woman who

still loves to whistle

who has brought three children into the world

who eats too much cake

who cries every time another war breaks out

another child dies hungry

Now, think about how Alice Walker brings her poem to a conclusion. She names what she would give to the world. What would you, as a grown woman, give to the world?

You might like to think of a metaphor (an image) that would add something to the poem and represent your gift. But don’t worry if you can’t think of anything. Now read back over your poem. Read the lines out loud so you can hear the flow and the rhythm.

And there you have it! A beautiful poem.

If you do try writing your own ‘Remember’ poem, I’d love to read it. Just email it to me at magigibson@womenslibrary.org.uk

Or if you’d like to read more poetry but aren’t sure where to start, then email me and I’ll see if I can help. If you’d like to meet to chat a bit more about books and writing, then I’d be happy to meet you in the library. Tuesdays and Thursdays are best, but do email first to book a time.

Happy reading and writing!

Magi

GWL has a good selection of books by Alice Walker, including both poetry collections and novels

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Remember?

Remember me?

I am the girl

with the dark skin

whose shoes are thin

I am the girl 
with rotted teeth

I am the dark

rotten-toothed girl

with the wounded eye

and the melted ear.

I am the girl

holding their babies

cooking their meals

sweeping their yards

washing their clothes

Dark and rotting

and wounded, wounded.

I would give

to the human race

only hope.

I am the woman

with the blessed

dark skin

I am the woman

with teeth repaired

I am the woman

with the healing eye

the ear that hears.

I am the woman: Dark,

repaired, healed

listening to you.

I would give

to the human race

only hope.

I am the woman

offering two flowers

whose roots

are twin

Justice and Hope

Let us begin.

by Alice Walker (from Horses make a Landscape Look More Beautiful)