Artistic Afternoons: Write a poem using another writer’s words as the “seed” of what grows there on your page. Begin your poem with the borrowed line, and then allow it to become what it will—which is something very different in your own context than the original poet’s! We often fear unoriginality when we are creating. Let this practice allow you the freedom to utilize what has already been produced by previous generations of artists, taking root in your own self, and being expressed in your own way—your one and only voice. Even if every single one of us started with the same line from the same poet, it would reproduce itself differently in every case, as it passes through the medium of our bodies onto the page. See what your body and soul are trying to express through language today. Make it a prayer.

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2023-04-25 20:30:50 UTC