The exercise:
On Saturday we did a walking meditation on the grounds of Stanley Park in the area around our workshop. We walked slowly, we stopped often, we engaged our five senses and took everything in. The list of things I observed after only thirty minutes will give me writing ideas for weeks to come.
So go for a slow walk and find some tiny detail that sparks your imagination.
Mine:
The bark of this tree
Has seen more than me.
I reach out to taste
Slowly, without haste,
The wisdom it holds,
Stories it has told.
My fingers can hear
The voice of the years,
The wind against leaves,
The webs being weaved.
I do not see why
This tree cannot fly;
People of this earth
Would learn from his mirth
The richness of peace,
The joy of release.
Each year the same pain
Of loss, wind and rain;
Each year the same joy
Of sun and young boys.
The bark of this tree
Knows much more than me.
Showing posts with label Walking Prompt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walking Prompt. Show all posts
Monday June 16th, 2008
The exercise:
Go for a walk around your block. Pick one object, person, house or animal and tell its story.
Mine:
In a neighbor's front yard a caged trampoline stands quiet watch, waiting for its moment to perform. Bouncing blackness with yellow trim, ten cloud-white poles erupting skyward to support black netting, it is imposing to behold.
Whenever I look at it I think of cage fighters circling cautiously, professional wrestlers strutting and flexing, of bodies thrown mercilessly against the sides of the structure.
This contraption does not play host to such violence though, no not at all. The only combatants to climb inside do so hand in hand, three little girls with hair as wild and free as their spirits.
They jump and laugh and sing, screaming their cares to the wind. And the trampoline bears their weight without complaint, perhaps even with joy. For he will spend his life providing a little happiness to this world and he knows that not all structures of nylon, netting, springs and steel are so fortunate.
Go for a walk around your block. Pick one object, person, house or animal and tell its story.
Mine:
In a neighbor's front yard a caged trampoline stands quiet watch, waiting for its moment to perform. Bouncing blackness with yellow trim, ten cloud-white poles erupting skyward to support black netting, it is imposing to behold.
Whenever I look at it I think of cage fighters circling cautiously, professional wrestlers strutting and flexing, of bodies thrown mercilessly against the sides of the structure.
This contraption does not play host to such violence though, no not at all. The only combatants to climb inside do so hand in hand, three little girls with hair as wild and free as their spirits.
They jump and laugh and sing, screaming their cares to the wind. And the trampoline bears their weight without complaint, perhaps even with joy. For he will spend his life providing a little happiness to this world and he knows that not all structures of nylon, netting, springs and steel are so fortunate.
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