If you wish to attend the read around (t’s free, fun, a great way to share, and reading a poem is optional). Note: If you registered already, you do not need to register again, simply use the link sent to you in your confirmation email. Register Here:

Next Read-Around is 8/10/23 at 5:00 PM PST

How It Works:

  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 in the column on the right

  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

My Thoughts

Every life has its tiny transformative moments. A small gesture or offhand comment can create a post script for what follows. We are often unprepared for these ripples in the space-time of our lives when someone drops a line or a look on us that can elevate or destroy our confidence, especially when young and impressionable and especially about creative arts. Vidyan Ravinthiran’s poem, Artist, beautifully covers both sides of the critical comment. It is written to his wife whose youthful creativity was squelched by a sibling’s comment. The poet admires her vigilance in taking up the brush again. He is especially touched because he was the negator in his family and he learns, from her effort, a new appreciation of what might constitute art.

Artist

When you were young you’d draw and paint.
Then your brother said all you could do
was copy down what was in front of you.
So you stopped. Sometimes you start again.
He’s bought you watercolours. He is a saint
but what’s done is done. I don’t,
for more than a rearriving moment,
understand. For his role in your family was mine
in mine. How could I never learn,
till watching you, what sketching means:
touching with your eyes what has been given
again, and again, and again. It’s the way you were raised.
The way you were erased. But I envy your line
that self-forgetful vigilance – its hesitation, even.”

by Vidyan Ravinthiran
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/vidyan-ravinthiran

Prompt Ideas

  1. What creative pursuit(s) did you take up when young? What inspired you to pursue it?

  2. Similar to the poem, I temporarily took up drumming when a teenager and an older neighborhood boy slammed my limited skllls. This combined with Mom’s compalints that I gave her a headache when playing put a quick end to that pursuit. What creative act did you try when young that you gave up either from negative comments or from your own frustration.

  3. What hobby or interest did you forfeit when young that you picked up again later in life. Or write about something that you are currently learning to do about which you lack confidence or do hesitantly.

  4. Journal or write an ode to creativity.

  5. The artist’s brother, despite the negative impact of his comment, is described as a saint, He even gave her watercolors to support her craft. Journal or write a poem about how something you said (or that someone said to you) may have backfired even though you meant to be supportive.

  6. Vidyan’s insight is that sketching means touching with your eyes what has been given. What is sketching (or painting or writing) to you?

  7. Journal or write a poem about a time when your viewpoint or understanding of art (or architecture, or drafting, or sports) was expanded. 

  8. What about you was encouraged and what was erased in your upbringing?

  9. As usual, write about anything else in the poem or in life that inspires you.