Lesson Introduction
A generative workshop about the place of unknowing we begin from when we write poetry - letting the words lead us, letting ourselves flow into the magic of the first draft. This lesson includes various short warm-up exercises, a discussion of one or two poems from the anthology that gesture towards mystery, and an exercise involving passing handwritten pieces to the left to have the next person circle moments of mystery or surprise, OR, a walk outside with a treasure hunt component, and bringing in all five senses to write after the walk.
Learning Objectives
- entering the space of unknowing, or mystery, behind writing poetry
- learning to embrace a state of flow
- understanding the exercises of free writing and nature observation as helpful tools in
composing a poem
Materials and Resources
- paper / notebooks
- pens or pencils
- printouts of two poems from the anthology (listed below)
- a non-digital timer, if possible
- excerpt from Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg