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

The Day

We walked at the edge of the sea, the dog,
still young then, running ahead of us.
Few people. Gulls. A flock of pelicans
circle beyond the swells, then closed
their wings and dropped head-long
into the dazzle of light and sea. You clapped
your hands; the day grew brilliant.

Later we sat at a small table
with wine and food that tasted of the sea.

A perfect day, we said to one another,
so that even when the day ended
and the lights of houses among the hills
came on like a scattering of embers,
we watched it leave without regret.

That night, easing myself towards sleep,
I thought how blindly we stumble ahead
with such hope, a light flares briefly— Ahhh, Happiness!
then we turn and go on our way again.

But happiness, too, goes on its way,
and years from where we were, I lie awake
in the dark and suddenly it returns –
that day by the sea, that happiness,

though it is not the same happiness,
not the same darkness.

—by Peter Everwine
Peter Paul Everwine (February 14, 1930 – October 28, 2018) was an American poet, who lived in Fresno, CA and taught at Fresno State university. Everwine is the author of seven collections of poetry. 

Next Read Around is August 21, 2020 at 4:00 PM PST

My Thoughts

Our days often run one into another, each with its own mix of good and bad, and often filled with the routines and duties of life. Most days blend into each other, pile up into a life with little to set one day apart from another while, on some level, we might wish it were otherwise. We might dream of some ease on a tropical beach, or some mountain adventure, or a simple day of joyful moments together with family and friends as if there is a template inside for a perfect day that we unknowingly measure our moments against. But every once in a while, we might have some day that feels “perfect'“ or stands out in some beautiful way. Everwine’s poem celebrates such a day. What strikes me about “The Day” is that it was not perfect by plan, or at least he does not indicate it was planned. It was “perfect” by the way they moved through it and how they inhabited the day together; and ultimately by their agreement that it was perfect.

The problem with planning out a perfect day is that plans often get thwarted and reality often has another agenda than the one into which we invested our joy. This is not to say that we shouldn’t plan and do our best to create “perfect days.” The word “perfect” is laden with expectation and a set up for disappointment. A “perfect” day may be more about what we bring to the day than what the day brings to us. Yes, it is easier when the sun shines and the world shimmers, and life pulls up the road blocks. But the roadblocks may actually be part of the perfection when our spirts are light and breezy and we find a rhythm with each other. If you think back on those days that stand out as “perfect,” or as really good or beautiful, you will likely find this was the difference that made the difference.

Week 18 Prompt Menu

1. Think of a day, or portion a day, that seemed “perfect” to you and describe it.

2. Write a poem that uses sensory details of a scene or experience to draw the reader in and then bridge to some abstract realization or truth that might be revealed by the experience. Note, for instance, how Everwine inserts the “thought” in the 5th stanza about how blindly we stumble ahead, which is also a nice play on the light and dark imagery that runs through the poem.

3. Everwine describes how his partner, or the other in the poem, clapped at the sight of pelicans diving. Describe some event in nature or moment in life that made you clap (or want to clap) or to which someone else clapped. You could write a whole series of events, experiences, or moments to which you want to applaud.

4. Contrast a moment in nature (the scene at the sea) with a moment in a human environment (the dinner table). Play with how these two disparate scenes might relate to each other or intertwine in some way.

5. Everwine’s poem moves chronologically through a singe day and then jumps to another time, in the dark, reflecting on the day years later. Write a chronology of events and then jump to another time to put it into perspective. For instance, Everwine ends the poem describing the return of that day’s happiness, but he notes that it is different. Write about how an event might change over time in your memory.

6. Write a poem about where happiness goes when it goes away and where it comes from when it arrives, especially when it arrives unexpectedly.

7. Write from whatever else in the poem inspires you or from elsewhere in your life.