Recently, I attended a poetry workshop sponsored by MassPoetry.org. The two workshop leaders did an active poetry effort intro/icebreaker that was motivational and inspiring.

The two leaders introduced and read a poem from this book: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820353159/ghost-fishing/ and then all the participants spent a few moments writing 1-3 sentences about ourselves in relation to water — describing ourselves as water. We were given a few minutes to free write first and then we each read our intro. It was wonderful — every attendee wrote something short simple and beutifully original.

Myself? Me?

I was frozen at first and then this memory grabbed me… a little stream I used to play in as a child. It flowed near this summer cottage where I used to visit with my grandparents in Mountain Lodge Park at the foot of the Appalachians and some consider this area to be the foot of the Catskills Region. With this visual in my mind, the words began to flow and I wrote my intro….

I am the Stream of My Memories

I am the stream of my childhood summers
Running down the hill near Grandma’s Summer Garden
A history of memories tumbling rolling spilling over rocks
Time and water intertwined
Seconds ticks and water drips

Sometimes trickling
drained by drought
working hard to nourish those that depend on me

Sometimes forceful
carried by rains
filled to brim by that which nourishes me

Always moving forward
Aware of what has filled my past
All the rocks and turns
Twists, bumps, and bruises
My journey clear in the colors of my skin
The hydration in my bones

I am the stream of my childhood
Pulling my past forward into the now
Carrying my waters with me
Wandering towards a path
I have not yet visited

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PS – everything on this site that is not otherwise credited is original writings, muse, poetry and song verse by me. In other words, it is protected and not yours. If you steal it, I have the power of WordPress data behind me so save yourself the legal battle and just ask permission. 🙂

© 2021 Randi Sumner