1. Read the poem 

  2. Do your own reflection on it, noting what it inspires in you

  3. Feel free to use your own reflection as your prompt or…

  4. Use the selection of prompts below the poem

  5. Pick one that inspires you and write (feel free to use only one or write several poems using different prompts) or…

  6. Don’t use any of the provided prompts and follow your inspiration from wherever it comes

Any Morning

Just lying on the couch and being happy. 
Only humming a little, the quiet sound in the head. 
Trouble is busy elsewhere at the moment, it has 
so much to do in the world.

People who might judge are mostly asleep; they can’t 
monitor you all the time, and sometimes they forget. 
When dawn flows over the hedge you can 
get up and act busy.

Little corners like this, pieces of heaven 
left lying around, can be picked up and saved. 
People won’t even see that you have them, 
they’re so light and easy to hide.

Later in the day you can act like the others. 
You can shake your head. You can frown.

—William Stafford

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-e-stafford
To see some of Stafford’s poetic process, his writing and editing in his own handwriting, go to: http://williamstaffordarchives.org -> poems -> poems

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Note: Next Read Around is: Sep 17, 2021 at 4:00 PM PST
No read arounds on August 20, 27; Sep 3 or 10.

My Thoughts

Most of us have a time of day the we cherish: some special time that we feel is ours. The two most common slots for “me time” are early morning or late at night; but it can be a space in the middle of the day on a walk or the time after work and before dinner or any other “between” time.  William Stafford writes about such a time in his poem, Any Morning. Two things seem to make it special: One, he is free do simple things that bring him pleasure, like lying on the couch being happy and humming a tune—the kind of idleness I heard was the “devil’s workshop” when I was young. And that is the second reason it is special: he feels as if no one is watching or judging.  And Stafford wrote this poem before the advent of social media where judging eyes can come from anywhere in the world and pop up in a notification on your handy handheld device at any time day or night. I, like many others, am a morning person. I usually rise early and use the time to sit with myself, to meditate or do nothing, or even to nap followed by a routine that includes writing time. Sometimes I even go so far as to sing in the shower! These moments are now getting some scientific support: research indicates that creativity is enhanced by “diffuse time:” time doing nothing or engaging in an activity for the sheer joy of it. Idleness can be the devil’s workshop; but it is more likely to be the Muse’s workshop!

Prompt Menu

  1. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Or do you have some other time that you feel is, or that you make into, your “me time.” Write a poem or journal about what makes it special to you.

  2. Describe your version of lying on the couch being happy and humming; what is some simple act that you do for the sheer joy of it; especially something that you might not do in front to others.

  3. How does the awareness of others and the possibility of being judged impact you. Or think of some context or situation where you would be “on your best behavior” and journal or write a poem about that experience. How are you different in thought, emotion, and action?

  4. How does the social monitor Stafford mentions appear in life? Personify and write about the “Judge” or “the monitor.” Or write a dialogue between you and the monitor.

  5. Take the position of the monitor or judge and write about its intention and desire for you and the world. What are its concerns, its sorrows, its joys?

  6. Dip into your memory and find an experience that was “a little corner, a piece of heaven,” and turn it into a journal entry or poem in order to save it. Or find three of them and write about what they hold in common.

  7. Write about something that people don’t see about you. Or write about what it is like to hide your authentic or true self. It does not have to be autobiographical—create a character or write about it metaphorically.

  8. As usual right about anything else from the poem or in your life that he inspires you.