Welcome to Day 12! Today's prompt is an idea of what to write about: an emotion, through tangible images. The plan is: you pick an emotion to write about (I have a list of suggestions below) and then describe that emotion purely in terms of things that one can taste, touch, see, smell, or hear.
For example, my poem about Hope, specifically my hopes for my current novel, included lines like this:
I pin pirates on a page.In trying to write without a single abstract, even "writing my novel" became "I pin pirates on a page"; "I hope it will be published" became "I think of pages bound, even stitched, / a long way from kitchen tables and scribbled margins". Financial concerns became the specific sensation of cold mud creeping into a broken boot. And so on.
...
I think of Dickens and newsprint.
I walk, though it’s cold and muddy
inside my shoe, thinking of a new pair of boots, which I won’t buy
because ... I need to
pin pirates on a page.
I think of pages bound, even stitched,
a long way from kitchen tables and scribbled margins
...
We're so used to generalising outwards, from the specific experience to the abstract name we give it, that's it's a startling surprise to find out what happens when we go the other way: from that abstract right back to the very specific experiences. That doesn't mean you have to be literal: my broken boots were literal fact, but I didn't actually pin any pirates to a page, that was the most tangible way I could find to describe the writing. (Pirates feature heavily in that novel!)
This approach means you spend very intent time thinking about the emotion you choose, almost meditating on it. So you could use it as a catharsis for a difficult emotion, or if you'd rather send your mind down a happier path, here's a list of positive emotions to pick from:
| hope | determination | curiosity | excitement |
| satisfaction | contentment | amazement | tenderness |
| awe | amusement | love | calm |
If you'd like to combine this with a type of poem, I'd suggest a fold poem: its light rhyme scheme and snippet of repetition make it a flexible, flowing form, with enough structure to help guide your thoughts without being so contrained that you can't explore the idea freely. You can read more about fold poems here.
The Meddling with Poetry course explores a host of different poetry forms as well as the musicality of language, poetic imagery, and other aspects of the poetic. It's 8 weeks long, one evening a week, and absolute beginners and experienced writers are equally welcome. You can read more details and book a place here.
