Professional writer here who only wrote poetry in elementary school and never since. Thank you for sharing Purple. I followed your instructions carefully, and chose to hear it in my mind in the voice of my favorite yoga instructor, Ted, as he eases us from position to position, just as this poem eases us from feeling to feeling. As always, really love your writing, Claire!
Sounds like Ted and I would be friends. And you should try writing a poem again, Zaar, for the first time in 20 years! (Because I assume you are in your 30's, yes?). Seriously! My Soul Writing instructor Joy gives us prompts which helps get things rolling, so here's a prompt from our last workshop: "The simple truth..." Set a timer for 8m, then write a poem from that prompt.
Poetry novice here, so naturally I paused to visualize all of my left turns which made a small circle in my neighborhood bringing me back to my house. The good news is I can find purple and love to sing/talk to my spirit team out loud <3 Thanks for the inspiration, Claire! My favorite part was about bringing our spirit everywhere and the need to feed it.
Hahahaha. You Head Type, you - of course you actually played this out in your brain all pragmatically. ;) I have a feeling poetry is waiting for you to finally befriend it.
Thanks for sharing! Another favorite poetry book of mine is "Black Girl, Call Home" by Jasmine Mans. Not a poetry book but has the same feel of a little hug or tug on your heart with each page: "The Comfort Book" by Matt Haig.
Also - I read "The Color of Water" by James McBride per your suggestion and I really really enjoyed it.
This makes me so happy! I have added both these books to my to-read list since I've decided we are reading twins. :) I just finished "I Miss You When I Blink" at your recommendation, and I absolutely adored it. Mary Laura speaks my language, both as a writer and as a raving perfectionist. I'm so glad you enjoyed "The Color of Water"! P.S. I enjoy the fact that your name is a homonym with the library eReader app "Libby".
I've been saving this in my inbox since it landed there in hopes to come up with more articulate feedback than [insert that gaping open-mouthed emoji who's half blue for some reason that makes weird sense]. But ... I got nothin'. I'm in awe of the poem itself (you better believe it's getting read at the start of a workshop one of these days), and the simple but perfect way you invite us to engage with it. You are using the force for good, dear Claire. You *are* a force for good. We knew that, and you just keep proving it again and again through all you create and steward. Thank you.
I am admittedly not a poetry reader, and sadly have a negative emotion connected to the idea of writing poetry thanks to a college professor who was not, shall we say, encouraging. That all being said, I loved Purple—thank you for so vulnerably sharing your poetry with us!
Delighted by your Purple! Poetry is sacred to me. In ancient China, poetry was the most important subject of exam for people who wanted to take a position in government. You can feel one's heart in their poems
Professional writer here who only wrote poetry in elementary school and never since. Thank you for sharing Purple. I followed your instructions carefully, and chose to hear it in my mind in the voice of my favorite yoga instructor, Ted, as he eases us from position to position, just as this poem eases us from feeling to feeling. As always, really love your writing, Claire!
Sounds like Ted and I would be friends. And you should try writing a poem again, Zaar, for the first time in 20 years! (Because I assume you are in your 30's, yes?). Seriously! My Soul Writing instructor Joy gives us prompts which helps get things rolling, so here's a prompt from our last workshop: "The simple truth..." Set a timer for 8m, then write a poem from that prompt.
Poetry novice here, so naturally I paused to visualize all of my left turns which made a small circle in my neighborhood bringing me back to my house. The good news is I can find purple and love to sing/talk to my spirit team out loud <3 Thanks for the inspiration, Claire! My favorite part was about bringing our spirit everywhere and the need to feed it.
Hahahaha. You Head Type, you - of course you actually played this out in your brain all pragmatically. ;) I have a feeling poetry is waiting for you to finally befriend it.
Thanks for sharing! Another favorite poetry book of mine is "Black Girl, Call Home" by Jasmine Mans. Not a poetry book but has the same feel of a little hug or tug on your heart with each page: "The Comfort Book" by Matt Haig.
Also - I read "The Color of Water" by James McBride per your suggestion and I really really enjoyed it.
This makes me so happy! I have added both these books to my to-read list since I've decided we are reading twins. :) I just finished "I Miss You When I Blink" at your recommendation, and I absolutely adored it. Mary Laura speaks my language, both as a writer and as a raving perfectionist. I'm so glad you enjoyed "The Color of Water"! P.S. I enjoy the fact that your name is a homonym with the library eReader app "Libby".
Oh I'm so happy you loved it! And yes, my friends and I love to joke that it was named after me, haha. I am a heavy user!
I've been saving this in my inbox since it landed there in hopes to come up with more articulate feedback than [insert that gaping open-mouthed emoji who's half blue for some reason that makes weird sense]. But ... I got nothin'. I'm in awe of the poem itself (you better believe it's getting read at the start of a workshop one of these days), and the simple but perfect way you invite us to engage with it. You are using the force for good, dear Claire. You *are* a force for good. We knew that, and you just keep proving it again and again through all you create and steward. Thank you.
I am admittedly not a poetry reader, and sadly have a negative emotion connected to the idea of writing poetry thanks to a college professor who was not, shall we say, encouraging. That all being said, I loved Purple—thank you for so vulnerably sharing your poetry with us!
Delighted by your Purple! Poetry is sacred to me. In ancient China, poetry was the most important subject of exam for people who wanted to take a position in government. You can feel one's heart in their poems