A Jangle and Tangle of Keys & Change December 26, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Word Play, Writing & Writers.comments closed
If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?
Would you let go of something that isn’t working? Or reach out to latch onto something new?
Would you swap your house, your career, your hobbies, or something more subtle ~ like your definition of “happiness” or of “success”?
What doors would you open? What doors would you close? What doors would you LOCK tight and mark “NO ADMITTANCE”?
Would you keep the keys?
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A Quartet of Writing Prompts from Poets & Writers:
Change: Our lives are constantly changing as we navigate what we can and can’t control. Every day there is a new beginning and ending ~ in big and small ways. We fall in love. We lose an eyelash. Change is complex and emotional because it reminds us of our humanity and our mortality. Write a poem about how your life is changing. Be specific.
Keys: Keys remind us that the world is untrustworthy and unsafe, and that locks are needed to protect loved ones and possessions from humanity’s less appealing inclinations. Keys are also filled with memories ~ a first apartment, a new car, access to a home no longer occupied by a friend. Choose a key from your keychain, or perhaps one abandoned in the back of a kitchen drawer, and write a detailed description of the key. Segue into broader, more meaningful thoughts.
Homes: Our homes are extensions of our souls ~ the vibrant oil painting of a French villa hanging in the dining room, the tattered couch stained by a child’s bowl of ice cream in the den, the dead, blackened peace lily on an empty bookshelf. Write a poem about the home you were raised in. Focus on the decorations, the furniture, and the items that reveal the most about the people who lived among them. In our homes, everything means something.
Collections: People often collect strange things for unknown reasons ~ ceramic elves from Europe, antique trout fishing lures, bamboo back scratchers from around the world. What we collect often reveals our idiosyncrasies, and therefore our true natures. Recall someone in your life who collected something intriguing or odd. Try to define the attraction, and in the process, bring that person to life.
Related sites: Minto Florida
Spirit Lights The Way 