Daily Nourishment for June 8: What Do You Want to Know?
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 40 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 11 minutes
“I would like to know who you spoke to along the way.”
- Victoria Chang
Pause.
Take six deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale then read this poem by Victoria Chang:
Gift
Is silence a gift?
I can’t hear my bones shrinking,
the lemon turning yellow.
The flag is louder
than my memories. How I
wish time were a wooden wheel.
“Gift” and five other poems by Victoria Chang are available online here.
Prompt.
“I would like to know if you took a train. If you walked. If you had pockets in your dress. If you wore pants. If your hand was in a fist, if you held a small stone. I would like to know if you thought the trees were black or green at night, if it was cold enough to see your breath, to sting your fingers. I would like to know who you spoke to along the way. If you had some preserved salty plums, which we both love, in your pocket.” - Victoria Chang, Dear Memory
Practice.
Read the quote from Dear Memory one more time.
Then set a timer for 10 minutes and write about what you want to know.
Pick one specific person, question, or thing and make a list of various answers you want that person, question, or thing to tell you. Try starting with the phrase “I would like to know if…” to get things flowing.
Want More?
Read Six Poems by Victoria Chang over at Lit Hub.
Read Dear Memory and The Trees Witness Everything by Victoria Chang
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Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
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