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Poetry Prompt: For the Birds

By Callie Feyen 6 Comments

I learned recently that in order to fly, birds depend on resistance. It makes sense, and perhaps it’s obvious that they’d need something sturdy to push off from and lift themselves into the air. But as these things go, it took poetry for this fact to resonate with and inspire me.

In Jeanine Hathaway’s poem “Why Obedience Is The Only Vow,” she writes, “Dynamics of flight insist / upon resistance.” Here, resistance is mighty and positive. It’s a thing to celebrate and be grateful for. It is not a shield to protect, but rather something hearty to use to send yourself into the world.

This poem is an “ex-nun” poem of Hathway’s. The ex-nun is a character she uses in some of her poems in the chapbook The Ex-Nun Poems, and these are the ones I pay the closest attention to. I know Hathaway was a nun for a time, and so I read these poems as if I’m doing detective work, wondering what she is trying to say about what she understands about this vocation and herself. Since reading her ex-nun poetry, I’ve been contemplating writing stories with an ex-teacher as a main character. I think it would help me distance myself from the profession, as well as see what of teaching remains in me and that might be used.

Maybe creating an ex-teacher character would be the piece of resistance that would allow me to take flight.

Try It

Write a poem about what it is you can resist in order to take flight.

Featured Poem

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here’s one from Megan Willome we enjoyed:

“the heart dwells in unattended dark”–John O’Donohue, “To Bless the Space Between Us”

O weary heart, I attend to thee
with mangoes and moonlight
bicycles and thistles
cool tea and warm poetry
Though you feel too
full for a whole ‘nother day
you bump along through the dark
Bless you, heart

Photo by John Spade Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Callie Feyen.

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Callie Feyen
Callie Feyen
Callie Feyen likes Converse tennis shoes and colorful high heels, reading the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, and the Twilight series. Her favorite outfit has always been a well-worn pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, but she wants hoop skirts with loads of tulle to come back into style. Her favorite line from literature comes from Sharon Creech’s Absolutely Normal Chaos: “I don’t know who I am yet. I’m still waiting to find out.” Feyen has served as the At-Risk Literacy Specialist in the Ypsilanti Public Schools and is the author of Twirl: my life with stories, writing & clothes and The Teacher Diaries: Romeo and Juliet.
Callie Feyen
Latest posts by Callie Feyen (see all)
  • Poetry Prompt: Courage to Follow - July 24, 2023
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Filed Under: Bird Poems, Blog, Poems, poetry, poetry prompt, poetry teaching resources, writer's group resources, writing prompts

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About Callie Feyen

Callie Feyen likes Converse tennis shoes and colorful high heels, reading the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, and the Twilight series. Her favorite outfit has always been a well-worn pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, but she wants hoop skirts with loads of tulle to come back into style. Her favorite line from literature comes from Sharon Creech’s Absolutely Normal Chaos: “I don’t know who I am yet. I’m still waiting to find out.” Feyen has served as the At-Risk Literacy Specialist in the Ypsilanti Public Schools and is the author of Twirl: my life with stories, writing & clothes and The Teacher Diaries: Romeo and Juliet.

Comments

  1. Richard Maxson says

    June 29, 2020 at 11:15 am

    Blanket

    Not purled so neatly at the seams was mine,
    not perfect for the wind, my cape of dreams,
    knots pinned it at my neck, for me just fine

    in those suspended seconds from fence and beams,
    where weight and fancy fought for what was real,
    and I abandoned logic for extremes.

    For those moments was I the man of steel,
    so weightless with the clouds above the ground,
    to touch the wind and sky I longed to feel,

    or madness swift and comforting I’d found?
    Now safe within a later life I see
    these questions and the years were interwound.

    The wind has slowed as I move, I bruise
    more easily now. That is not to say
    with some things I can’t do as I choose.

    I wrote a poem today
    about my longing for the sky,
    how things have changed. And still I say

    there is no fault unless you never try.
    Once as a child I wore a cloak of dreams,
    twice knotted at my neck so I could fly

    within suspended seconds from fence and beams,
    where weight and fancy fought for what was real,
    and I abandoned logic for extremes.

    Reply
  2. Megan Willome says

    July 3, 2020 at 8:21 am

    (The woman I describe obviously found a way to take flight, with style.)

    Social Distance

    She rides her bike, decked out with banana seat and basket,
    Down our street, her grey hair blows free. She sports
    An N-95 mask
    Aviator sunglasses
    And white satin evening gloves, pulled tight around her elbows

    Reply
    • Dana Kinsey says

      July 4, 2020 at 9:09 am

      I adore this vivid portrait!!! This poem makes me really want to know her. The “white satin evening gloves” did it for me.

      Reply
  3. Michelle says

    July 3, 2020 at 12:02 pm

    She pushes off the pillow, rising with unsettled sleep
    She pushes off the mat, stretching for the unreachable
    She pushes off the counter, praying the coffee will give her wings

    She pushes off the mess, breathing deep among scattered dreams
    She pushes off the chaos, knowing it will be there tomorrow
    She pushes off the noise, finding a pocket of peace to refuel

    She pushes off the fear, moving it a little more this time
    She pushes off the negative, chanting “not today, not today”
    She pushes off the dark, revealing just enough light for take off

    Reply
    • Dana Kinsey says

      July 4, 2020 at 9:12 am

      Really gorgeous litany teeming with hope! <3

      Reply
    • Katie says

      July 4, 2020 at 11:50 am

      YES, YES, YES – Michelle!

      Reply

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