This week, dear readers and writers, the prompt is about what we cherish, so it’s only fitting we begin with a quote by Kurt Vonnegut, who reminds us that it is in fact art that we should cherish more than anything.
Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.
Soul growth is a life goal of mine, so that quote really resonates with me. And knowing he wrote it to a class of grade school kids really moved me.
I was also recently inspired by the poem, “Ode to the Yard Sale,” by Gary Soto (see below). I love the shape of this long, narrow, poem, and its seemingly silly homage to inanimate objects. But the poem takes an unexpected turn at the end—the best poems always do—and he surprises his readers by making us think about our own connections to (sometimes) ordinary things.
The Prompt: I read the poem to my participants, then asked them to generate a list of objects they valued. Then we each chose one from our list and wrote in response. I invite you to do the same. Choose one and write about it for 20 minutes.
The result was some gorgeous writing about what we hold close, and also about what we can’t control. You can find the poem below, followed by some of my list, and my own written response.
Finally, at the end of the post, please enjoy the amazing poetry of Andrea Gibson, with a special video of her reading and performing her work. I discovered Gibson on Instagram, where she is using her voice to chronicle her battle with cancer. If you don’t know her work yet (or her story), you’re in for a powerful treat.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Writing Catalyst: Prompts, Recipes, and Inspiration to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.