WriteNOW Workshop students continue to amaze me with their on-the-spot flashes of inspiration, their readiness to experiment and take risks, and their enthusiasm for sharing brand-new work with each other!
These pieces were sparked by brainstorming about “water.” Sometimes webinar writing is already fully formed, and sometimes it shows up as inspiring bits that students can incorporate into new or ongoing work.
The noise
Of rain
Drips
Through
The trees
The rain
Splashes my face
In a mixture
Of wind,
Dirt,
Bark,
Leaves,
And water.
My head is soaked,
My face is scratched
My cry is lost
With the cry of the wind
Which causes
Pain,
But also
Comfort
-Calypso
Storm
Rain falls quietly
And our birdbath fills up fast
Continuous rain.
At the pond nearby
Herons, ducks, and geese swim by
And the rain still falls.
And I hear thunder
And lightning comes down
From the cloudy sky.
-Jack
Lightning crashing
Boats striking,
Feeling the air,
The sea whipping you with its salty foam
Davy Jones’s locker, wide and open
Its mouth, a swirling typhoon,
Feeling the water shake and rumble, a tsunami’s coming,
People buzzing around the ship like bees, using everything to keep themselves alive
-Mason
Lost
I look down
As I blow a couple bubbles out my nose
I am surrounded by blue
Cold blue
A blue so cold that my heart shudders and my brain freezes
So cold that my tears freeze
I look at my feet
And down
Down
Down
I can’t see the bottom
But I keep looking
I keep looking
For something that I can’t find
I don’t think I even know what I am looking for
I blow a couple more bubbles out
And I get lost in you
-Maria
Tranquil Dream
Trickle trickle, Water in a stream. Splash splash, A tranquil dream.
Peace, calm, water, and love. The tiny stream, rain above.
Leaves drift, like rafts down a stream, this beautiful, river,
A tranquil dream.
-Wells
Drip plop drop
pattering rain dripping over wet hair
Sore eyes gazing up at tumbling drops and grey clouds
Splish
A puddle below stained shoes
Wet scrape of soles against pavement
Shuffling on
Breath in moist air
-Zoe
A Water Storm
Rain and thunder fall
Upon a little sailboat
As the waves churn and
Slosh, panicking cries are lost
With no meaning, but
As the waves settle
And the storm fades
The sailboat finds calmness
And finds the kind shores
Waiting to be walked
-Clara W.
In another webinar, writers experimented with using action verbs- in prose or poetry!
Sinking, Stumbling, Swaying, Craving, Wandering
I
Am sinking
I do not know where the bottom is
I do not know how long I have been sinking for
I
Am stumbling
I trip and almost fall over rocks and branches in my path
I trip, it seems, over every single one of them
I
Am swaying
Along with the wind, along with the leaves, along with the trees
I move smoothly and swiftly
I
Am craving
For something new, for something old
For something familiar
I
Am wandering
Hoping to find a way, hoping to find something
Hoping to find myself
-Maria
Harper’s red sweater swished against their green shorts as they walked lazily down the street. “I’m craving pizza, Greyson,” they said, sighing. “Let’s go to that pizza place by the park.” They pointed ahead to a familiar pizza shop a few storefronts ahead.
“Sure,” I said. I was kinda hungry too. The sun was rising higher in the sky, but it was still ferociously cold out. My fingers were shaking in my wool gloves. “How are you not cold in those shorts?” I asked, pointing out Harper’s knee-length green shorts held up by a clear oversized belt. They shrugged.
“I don’t know. It’s not even that cold. You didn’t need all of that.” They looked over their shoulder and pointed at my heavy jeans, thick coat, and soft gloves, then kept on walking. Slowly, they wandered into the pizza place, the smell of dough wafting out of the glass door in a rush of warm air.
-Zoe
Elijah stormed into the room, furiously searching for the person who stole his basketball. He was shaking as his heart beat with rage. Finally, he spotted Paul and pulled him aside for a private chat. Paul’s eyes wouldn’t rise to look at Elijah, as Elijah himself was ready to thunder back into his own room after taking back the ball.
-Kierra M.
Chased by the Phoi
Fortuna Prescott was calmly walking through the woods when she heard voices and whoever was saying them wanted to catch her. “C’mon let’s just catch her and bring her back to Yalwoona and then the boss’ll be happy and we won’t have to get hurt,” said one of the voices. “Yeah, I feel like we’re close but I can’t be sure,” said the second. Immediately, Fortuna got up and ran deeper into the woods she could hear the phoi behind her as she ran, stumbling over tree roots, and tripping over what seems like every rock and stone. Her legs scream at her to stop, but her feet push her on. Just when she thought that the phoi would catch her and bring her back to Yalwoona, a bear thunders out of the depths of the woods. She hears the phoi suddenly stop, and then runs. Her legs burn. She collapses breathing hard she says to herself “That was close.”
-Elise F.
After viewing an “emotion wheel,” students make their own original connections between colors and emotions, using varied sensory details!
Deep Time
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Time
Time has no color
It is more
Both black and white
Yin and Yang
Black cat and white cat
But
It might
Just might
Be like
A purple
An indigo
A swirl
Of maybe one,
Maybe hundreds
Of similar shades
Of indigo
Of violet
Of purple
With sharp streaks of vibrant blue
And sparks of yellow, gold, orange
The whole crew
And another color
In the swirl
A hint of new
A hint of awe
A hint of wonder
A hint of math
Colorless
And yet colorful
Indescribable
That little hint
Contains all
-Grant
pink
pink
pink is excitement
pink is bright
pink hypes you up before a big event
pink is warm
pink is energetic
pink wraps you in a warm hug when you need it
pink reminds you to smile
pink
-Maria
ignorance
–
there are teardrops falling from your face,
your eyes are a rainbow.
words fall out of your mouth-
a red waterfall.
you sit in a clearing.
green surrounds you.
you do not observe,
and so you cry.
you tell me how the world is failing-
can you not savour what you have?
as pink and blue and white and yellow
paints the world,
can you not open your eyes?
you sit here,
you do not lift your head,
you do not meet my gaze,
you do not want to face your ignorance.
-Adeline/apis
Green.
The color of nature, trees, plants.
The color of excitedness as spring comes in.
Not winter anymore. Not brown and white.
Green can be annoyance too, as the green leaves block
your view of birds in the trees.
But for the birds, that’s good.
The color of hummingbirds:
joy, as they hover at your feeder and fly around.
The sound of the birds chirping in the trees.
The color of hope: hoping to see animals, in a forest.
A forest of green.
Surrounded by green.
Green.
-Jack
A
Tint
Which implies
A bigger
Story
It makes
You feel as
If you
Could explore
It’s depths
A color
That,
Depending
On your
Mood,
Could
Make you cry,
Or
Make you feel
Happier
Than you’ve
Ever felt
A color like this
Has never
Been
Found
But for me,
It exists,
In
My mind
-Calypso
Green
I accept what is, Like a tree in the wind.
I do not push back against waves.
What is, is what is and that is to be.
I am Neutrality, I do not fight back.
I let the world take me to where it does.
There is no fortune and bad luck,
there is only what happens and what is to be,
I am the green of neutrality.
-Wells
Pearl night blue
The air
Is hot
And heavy
It seems
Like
Everyone
In the world
Got up
And left me
Standing here
In my prom
Dress and shoes
Waiting for something
I know won’t come
Known
Since
Last Tuesday
When they sent the
Out
Telling people that
‘We regret
To inform you
That the prom, and other school activities
Are hereby suspended
Until further notice.’
All the grown
Up words
That mean
Forever
So here I am
The sky turning
Blue-black
Like a
Bruise
Standing here
With tearstained makeup
Don’t know why I’m here
Stupid
Feelings
Want to be
A blue
Robot
But then
I here
A car
Pull up
And my heart flutters
But it’s
My father
He starts to laugh
At me
‘Why are you
Dressed like that’
And I hate him
And myself
Then
Thunder
Rain
Blue-black
Skies
Why bother
I flop down
Tear off the dress
Cry
Salty
Tears
On the
Bathroom floor
This is
How
Hope
dies
-Audrey
Dark red is a color that sounds like the lowest string on a bass guitar. It smells like licorice and nail polish. It tastes like cherry jelly. Dark red feels like soft velvet as you run your fingers across it. It reminds me of a restaurant with very few windows on a warm night. The taste of the rich food. The feel of the worn leather seats beneath you and the slight chill in the indoor air.
Blue grey reminds me of the sound of wind chimes and themuffled sound of rain on a roof. It feels like the cold that spreads across your fingertips when they’re wet. It tastes like icing and food that’s too salty. It reminds me of a hurricane and the violent water lashing at the windows while you sit inside, a mix of calm and dread washing over you.
Beige reminds me of the walls in my room. It tastes like fast food and rice with no flavor. Bland and bleak. It sounds like sand being blown around in the wind. And of the static sounds from a radio. The beach. The desert. It feels rough yet soft, like pillows not meant for sleeping.
-Zoe
Purple is the mystical creature of which stands alone. Purple is the mysterious person merely a step away from meeting me. Purple knows his flourishing power, and so do I. His touch frightens away all who come near, except me, captured by his presence. The air turns into crisp, sweet smoke as he disappears once again, leaving me behind with his memory. But then, just a moment later, I spotted the distinct silhouette of his physical and spiritual body once more. Purple wants independence, but he needs emotional support. Reaching out my trembling, soft hands, I took his and gazed into his sharp, violet eyes. I promise to be by his side for the rest my lifetime, and to protect him from the scarier phenomena of the universe, and he will do the same for me.
-Kierra
Green
Green floods my scales when I’m terrified, green streaks my scales when I’m scared. I only get flashes of green when I’m startled but it’s just part of me like a second language.
-Elise