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 1/15/25 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 below

  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

Perhaps the singular superpower that separates humans from the rest of life on earth is the extent of our imagination. We can create entire worlds in our minds and, through imagery and language, invite others to join us . Everything we have created started as an act of imagination. We can use our superpower for good (creating community) or evil (building weapons of mass destruction). We often use our imagination against ourselves through worry and fear working ourselves into a frenzy over things that do not exist or never happen. Roger Robinson’s poem, A Portable Paradise, offers a beautiful way to use the imagination as an anchor to something or someone we love; an anchor that insulates us against the harms of the world and gives us a sanctuary we can turn to in times of trouble. What if you could carry your own portable paradise in your pocket, pull it out when needed and go to a place your heart feels loved and welcomed?

A Portable Paradise

If I speak of paradise,
then I'm speaking of my grandmother
who told me to carry it always
on my person, concealed, so
no one else would know but  me.
That way they can't steal it, she'd say.
And if life put you under pressure,
trace its ridges in your pocket,
smell it's piney sent on your handkerchief,
hum it's anthem under your breath.
And if your stresses are sustained and daily,
get yourself to an empty room – be at hotel,
hostel or hovel- find a lamp
and empty your paradise onto a desk:
your white sands, green hills and fresh fish.
Shine the lamp on it like the fresh hope
of morning, and keep staring at it till you sleep.

—Roger Robinson
https://poetryarchive.org/poem/a-portable-paradise/

Prompt Ideas

  1. Journal or write a poem about Paradise. What is paradise to you?

  2. If you had a portable paradise in your pocket, how would you use it?

  3. Journal or write a poem about a loved one who told you something that has served as an anchor in your life.

  4. Robinson’s grandmother told him to keep his private Paradise concealed. We usually think concealing things means that they are shameful or painful. Journal or write a poem about a secret you carry (or invent one) that you keep concealed because it is precious and you want to preserve it.

  5. What do you do to counter the burden of life when it puts you under pressure?

  6. Robinson talked about the “piney” scent and hum of song that anchor him in his Paradise. Journal or write a poem about sensory cues that transport you to pleasant memories of people or places.

  7. Use Robinsoon’s entry onto the poem as your prompt: When I speak of …., then I’m speaking of

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