Posted on by kimhaynesjohnson

Writing Down the Bones Card #3 of 60 – I’m Looking At…

This month, I’m starting the journey of writing through 60 cards from Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, introduced by my writing group sister Barb Edler of Iowa. Last month, our small group of Stafford Challenge writers (Denise Krebs, Glenda Funk, Barb Edler and I) wrote using one of the cards, and this month – just last night on our Zoom writing call – we wrote using the prompt on another one. Today, the prompt is simply What I’m Looking At. I used those words to get started and let them meet me exactly where I was in that moment.

I’m looking at

the swirl of the birdbath

each drop from the roof

plunking in, rippling the surface

each morning breeze

casting dance shadows

with rain and wind

bringing the promise

of the changing seasons

a respite from the heat

to the cool, healing waters

just feet from where I sit

so close

I can almost touch it

18 Replies to “Writing Down the Bones Card #3 of 60 – I’m Looking At…”

  2. Kim, your poem is “pure August” with “respite” and the “promise of fall.” I never turn the calendar (or notice the new month on my phone) without that acknowledgement that the summer has changed into becoming fall – even in these parts where school does not start again until September for students!

    Lovely – and your group of writers is pure inspiration as well

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    1. Thank you, Anita. I really look forward to meeting with them each month and having that time to write together. There is power in that. Thanks for reading and commenting! I’m counting the days until Fall.

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  3. Kim,

    This is lovely. I could stare at that bird-bath for hours. It’s mesmerizing. It’s amazing how three little words can give birth to a poem. Every image creates calm: the ripple, the drops, the cool breeze. It’s all lovely. I love our little group and the love I feel from and for you all is a warm hug in an often unkind world.

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  4. Oh Kim – what a wonderful group to be part of! I took an online course with Natalie Goldberg a number of years ago now. I need to go back and repeat some of those exercises. Thanks for the reminder! I love your poem – it is cool and healing – just like water. Wishing you calm and peace this August.

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  5. This box of prompts is waiting in my cart at Amazon. I love how simply you turn to what’s around you to find poetry for daily living. Our birdbath doesn’t have a pump but I wonder about how to get one. I’d love to hear the sound of it and know it was hope and health for the birds.

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  9. What a wonderful way to grow with your writing. I love the idea of a small zoom group with the motivating card topics. Your descriptive poem drew me in, making me feel like I was sitting right there, too.

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