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A Blessing for Writers

By L.L. Barkat 13 Comments

Tree Reaching by Lyndhurst Mansion-A Blessing for Writers Poem

A Blessing for Writers

Tonight I had the chance to speak with a group of writers in Colorado. The glories of Zoom!

(There are some glories. Truly. Because, without Zoom, there is no way I could have made it to Colorado by 9 pm ET after putting in a full workday here in my tiny Tudor on the east coast. Thanks to virtual travel, I was able to share a little about how to move forward in your writing life when you’re feeling stuck, uninspired, or unsure. That was a blessing to me.)

At the end of our time together, I invited the group to write a “blessing for writers” — a prose poem — and to share it with their larger association at some point. I also invited the group to share their “blessing for writers” prose poems with us here. And now I’m inviting you.

I’ll start, with the poem I read to the group…

A Blessing for Writers

For you: a string, silken, sometimes. Sometimes narrow, twined, sometimes wide. A ribbon, if you will, midnight velvet when you need it. Crimson. Turquoise as a southwest sky. Occasionally ivory. The line of it, slipping through the open palm of your hand. In the box where you keep what no one ever thought was yours, look for opal, tiger-eye, sapphire. Quartz of common hue. Jade, beryl, topaz. Ruby tucked in gold. Whatever your fingers want to bead and turn. Make a string of all white stones on a day when you are feeling endless and pure. Choose a single ebony when you mourn, or feel alone, or want nothing more than the unadorned strength of it. For you: the will to keep it all right where you can easily find it. Pull it out. The string, the ribbon, the gems, the stones. Make something. Know that it is yours. Put it on. Somewhere on this side of the world, I will be holding up a mirror for beautiful you, wearing your beautiful string of words.

— L.L. Barkat

Compose Your Own Blessing for Writers

A blessing for writers graphic

I’m inviting you to compose your own poetic blessing for writers, too.

Try using language that holds together image-wise — sights, sounds, textures, fragrances, tastes from specific categories like food & drink, clothing, a craft, a geographic region, architecture, or something else.

Alternately, try using a form like cataloging and let that be the thread that holds your poem together.

(Cataloging is repeating opening and or closing phrases of your poem lines. Just when it starts to feel too repetitive, you can stop the catalog for a line or two before beginning again.)
 
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L.L. Barkat
L.L. Barkat
L.L. Barkat is the Managing Editor of Tweetspeak Poetry and the author of six books for grown-ups and four for children, including the popular 'Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing.' She has also served as a writer for The Huffington Post blog and is a freelance writer for Edutopia. Her poetry has appeared on NPR and at VQR and The Best American Poetry.
L.L. Barkat
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Filed Under: Blog, Poems, poems about writing, writer's group resources, Writing Life, writing prompt, writing prompts

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About L.L. Barkat

L.L. Barkat is the Managing Editor of Tweetspeak Poetry and the author of six books for grown-ups and four for children, including the popular 'Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing.' She has also served as a writer for The Huffington Post blog and is a freelance writer for Edutopia. Her poetry has appeared on NPR and at VQR and The Best American Poetry.

Comments

  1. Cheryl Velk says

    April 19, 2021 at 9:18 pm

    Thank you for spending the evening with us! Inspiring ideas and fun time together. Looking forward to exploring your site. Loving the form poems section.

    Reply
    • L.L. Barkat says

      April 19, 2021 at 9:24 pm

      Cheryl, it was my absolute pleasure. 🙂

      I hope to read some poems from you sometime! (Almost every Monday there is a poetry prompt. That’s a great place to dip your toes in: https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/category/poetry-prompt/ )

      Welcome to Tweetspeak.

      Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      April 20, 2021 at 12:33 pm

      Yes, welcome to the Tweetspeak community! 🙂

      Reply
      • L.L. Barkat says

        April 20, 2021 at 2:21 pm

        (I love the way you welcome, Bethany. And? I’d love to see the way you bless, too. Maybe a “writers blessing” poem is stirring on the quiet porch? 🙂 )

        Reply
        • bethany says

          April 20, 2021 at 8:48 pm

          Thank you, L.L. 🙂

          Reply
  2. JoyAnne O'Donnell says

    April 21, 2021 at 11:28 pm

    Holy Water

    Bless our poems
    with the halo’s light
    glowing with words just right
    filling us with warm bread
    reading and seeing butter spread
    as we read listening to the beauty
    of a blessed poem.

    Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      April 21, 2021 at 11:48 pm

      Thanks for sharing your poem with the community. I particularly enjoyed your line, “filling us with warm bread”

      Reply
  3. Katie Brewster says

    April 24, 2021 at 5:59 pm

    Writers are Blessed:
    just imagine it
    we get to play with tame and wild words
    sculpt powerful paragraphs
    invent varied verses
    paint pretty poems
    design dramatic drafts
    shape silly sentences
    build big ideas
    posit thoughts and theories
    wield pens and pencils
    tap on keyboards
    dictate to apps
    mull memories into memoir
    forge fantasy from dreams
    conjure mysteries
    share short stories
    auto biography
    fictionalize history
    create pieces we’ve mastered
    . . .and others that need more revision;)

    This ended up as more of an ode.

    Reply
    • Bethany says

      April 26, 2021 at 10:06 am

      I enjoy the fun I feel behind and throughout this, Katie. Thank you for sharing it with the Tweetspeak community!

      Reply
      • Katie Brewster says

        April 26, 2021 at 5:08 pm

        Thanks, Bethany. Was fun to write:)

        Reply
  4. Jenna B. says

    April 26, 2021 at 7:20 am

    For your weighted mind, a walk in springtime;
    rotund blossoms on the Redbud tree
    drooping across your nose;
    purple tulips opening like bowls
    of golden dust.

    To help you listen, a birdsong
    you do not yet recognize, calling out
    over the neighbor’s weed trimmer;
    a ripening breeze scattering
    mulch down the alley.

    For your hope, kind strangers
    who smile your direction; quiet blocks
    of broken sidewalks and heart-shaped
    leaves, green foliage to fill your fingertips,
    then lose inside your pockets.

    Reply
    • Bethany Rohde says

      April 26, 2021 at 10:05 am

      Thank you for sharing this beautifully crafted poem. All the details sensory elements. The overall calm — the blessing

      “for your weighted mind, a walk in springtime”

      “birdsong/ you do not yet recognize”

      “quiet blocks/ of broken sidewalks” and that whole last stanza <3

      Reply
    • Katie says

      April 26, 2021 at 9:00 pm

      So lyrical, lovely:)

      Reply

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