June Open Write Day 3 of 3 with Leilya Pitre

Leilya Pitre of Louisiana is our host today for the last day of the June Open Write. You can read her full prompt here. She inspires us to write poems about small acts of kindness. If you’ve ever curated a music playlist on a theme, you know there is excitement in the discovery of related verse – it’s an addictive cognitive hobby. Leilya has done that – curated a group of poems on a theme – and offers several model poems to use as inspiration. She shares these below:

• “The Gift” by Li-Young Lee – A tender memory of a father’s small act of care.
• “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye – A profound reflection on grief and the roots of kindness.
• “Forgiveness” by John Greenleaf Whittier – A 19th-century meditation on the challenge and grace of forgiving.
• “Small Kindnesses” by Danusha Laméris – A contemporary celebration of everyday gestures that connect us.
• “The Mower” by Philip Larkin – A quiet reflection on unintended harm and the resolve to do better.

She explains the process and urges us to write an etheree or nonet as our poetry form.

1. Choose a small action or quality that you believe helps make someone a decent human being or good citizen. It may be kindness, honesty, fairness, patience, curiosity, listening, speaking up, sharing, helping, apologizing, forgiving, welcoming, learning, planting, voting, mending, repairing, thanking…
2. Brainstorm what this word or act looks like in daily life. How does it show up? Who taught it to you? How do you practice or witness it?
3. Write a poem celebrating or exploring this quality or act.

• Nonet → 9 lines; starts with 9 syllables, decreasing by one each line.
• Etheree → 10 lines; starts with 1 syllable, increasing by one each line.

A Gift of Dill Pickle Chip