Recipe for a six room poem… February 14, 2008

As a writer I am always looking for words and images that will help me see the world a little more clearly – to really be able to describe the exact shade of purple I saw in the fading of the sunset, or how the yellow bowl filled with green apples looked set in the middle of the dining room table.

I find reading anything by Georgia Heard helps me to do this (Awakening the Heart; Creatures of Earth, Sea, & Sky; For the Good of the Earth & the Sun; Writing Towards Home).  Simplistic and stripped down, her writing simply illuminates the obvious, the stuff that was sitting right in front of your nose.  Yet it also provides enough detail that things can lodge themselves in my mind – helps me to see the small things that I might otherwise have overlooked.

One of the most useful of Georgia’s exercises is the writing of the “Six Room Poem”.  I don’t use it just to write poetry, but find it particularly helpful when I am trying to create/recreate an image, set the scene, or simply trying to breathe a little more life and a little more poetry into my everyday writing.  I have also used this exercise in a classroom setting with children to help them create poems.

This is how you do it: 

• Divide a piece of paper into six squares.
• In the 1st “room” think of something that you have seen that is amazing, beautiful, interesting, or that has just stayed in your mind.  Simply describe and write down what comes to your mind.
• In the 2nd room look at the same image in the first room – but just focus on the quality of light that surrounds the image (soft/harsh/daylight/moonlight), and what colors do you associate with the image.
• 3rd room – picture the same image but this time focus on only the sounds.  Are there any voices?  What is in the background?  What kind of silence do you hear?  Lonely?  Peaceful?
• 4th room – write down any questions you have about the image.  Anything you want to know more about?
• 5th room – write down any feelings you have about this same image.  Rage? Frustration? Peace?
• 6th room – look over the five rooms and select one word, or a few words/phrase/or sentence that feels important and repeat it three times.

Finished!  Now all you need to do is spend some time looking over what you wrote.  Other ideas/feelings might arise about the image as you spend some time reflecting on the image.  Now you are ready to create your poem/paragraph/whatever you want to accomplish with the image – by rearranging and eliminating the words or sentences you have created.

 Have fun!  I will try to post one of my “images” in the next few days.

These words still sound right… February 13, 2008

I was cleaning out my old teaching file this afternoon when I stumbled upon the following words. They were handed to me shortly after September 11, 2001. At the time I lived three blocks from the World Trade Center, and I actually still do. I watched as our downtown world became forever altered, and I have watched over the years as children and families and life have all returned to our once empty streets. These words gave me hope then, and they continue to ring true these many years later….

“Stop thinking this is all there is…Realize that for every ongoing war and religious outrage and environmental devastation and Iraq attack plan, there are a thousand counter-balancing acts of staggering generosity and humanity and art and beauty happening all over the world, right now, on a breathtaking scale, from flower box to cathedral…Resist the temptation to drown in fatalism, to shake your head and sigh and just throw in the karmic towel…Realize that this is the perfect moment to change the energy of the world, to step right up and crank you personal volume; right when it seems dark and bitter and offensive and acrimonious and conflicted and bilious..there’s your opening. Remember magic. And finally, believe you are part of a groundswell, a resistance, a seemingly small but actually very, very large impending karmic overhaul, a great shift, the beginning of something important and potent and unstoppable.”

Author – Mark Morford

Popcorn 101 February 10, 2008

I love popcorn!  (The kind you make at home, not the stuff they serve at movie theatres).  There is something about making popcorn that makes one feel young again.  Maybe it is because I have memories of the popcorn maker and how excited we would get as kids when my mom would bring out the blessed appliance!  The first one we had was one of the dome ones – where you used oil and melted butter on the top while it was popping.  We then updated to an airpopper – and we almost held our breath until the popped corn came rushing out the funnel.  The advent of microwave popcorn took something away from the entire experience, plus it just didn’t taste fresh.  Popcorn all of a sudden became just another processed food filled with strange chemicals and additives – instead, of a special treat.

Lately there has been a bit of “popcorn renaissance” going on at my house.  I have thrown out the microwave popcorn and have returned to the good old days of making popcorn in a large pot, with oil, on the stove.  I have also been playing with toppings other than simply “butter and salt”.  I have listed some of my favorite recipes below.  So go pop some corn, snuggle into the couch, and enjoy this mid-winter break!

My Personal Favorite

Plain and simple!  I melt a little Earth Balance and then toss it onto the popped corn and then sprinkle a little nutritional yeast on top – mix – and eat! You could also try spraying the popcorn with olive oil – you just need something so the yeast will stick to the kernels.

Spicy Parmesan Popcorn (The Garden of Vegan – Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer)

A very grown up way to enjoy popcorn!  Delicious and nutritious! 

1/4 cup flax oil

2 tsp spice mix (2 tbsp chili powder; 2 tsp onion powder; 2 tsp cumin; 2 tsp garlic powder; 2 tsp oregano; 1 tsp paprika; 1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp cayenne).

1/3 cup soy Parmesan cheese

large bowl of popped corn.

Stir the flax oil and spice mix together first; add to popcorn; then add Parmesan and mix. 

Ooey-Gooey, Feeling Sorry for Yourself on a Saturday Night Popcorn

Shredded soy cheddar cheese

Earth Balance Spread

Salt

Popped Corn

You might have to play with the quantities until you have the proportions right.  The amount of cheese and Earth Balance I use seems to vary with how sorry for myself I am feeling.  Place soy cheddar and earth balance in microwave, heat until melted, pour over popped corn.  Add salt to taste.