words on wheels

I knew our visiting poet/author had arrived when I saw the car with California plates and poetry magnets all over.  The company that makes these magnets gave her a free batch as she is stopping by their plant in Minneapolis.

It was an amazing three hours of writing and sharing among the dozen of us that gathered.  I'm still decompressing from that (and from the choir's autumn kick-off as well as the annual Ministry Fair.  Not quite as crazed as an episode of the Vicar of Dibley, but oh so close.)

If you would like to recreate this in your cosy home, make something hot to drink, get a plate of nibbles and use these prompts/exercises:

• take eight post-its and write images from the last two days; choose one post-it and write the back story
• draw seven Scrabble tiles; create a word, pass it to the person on your left (uh-oh, guess this will be difficult on your own), write for 10 minutes using this word as a springboard
• read a poem (in our case, we drew one of the facilitator's from a cool wicker basket) and choose one phrase and create a poem or narrative from that one phrase
• write a 'how-to' manifesto
• and finally, choose a piece of clothing (or food) that you never wear, or that embodies you or that repels you

I came home with ten pages of my writing and this beautiful book (written/illustrated) by Maya.  A delightful way to kick off a new week.