Tweetspeak Poetry

  • Home
  • FREE prompts
  • National Poetry Month
  • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • Teaching Tools
  • Books, Etc.
  • Patron Love

Poetry Prompt: Almanac of Last Things—Write From Your Now

By Callie Feyen 4 Comments

chocolate flower sunset

Almanac of Last Things: Write from Your Now

The first year Jesse and I lived in Washington, D.C., I signed up for a poetry workshop that was held inside the instructor’s apartment in Adams Morgan. For two hours every Sunday about five of us crammed into her living room and read, talked about, and wrote poetry. We stopped midway for cookies and tea.

It was absolutely not the writing workshop I wanted to take. I wanted to take a workshop where, you know, we actually wrote. In my wisdom and arrogance at the ripe old age of 25, I was confident that writing a lot of words equalled superb writing. But I went every Sunday, and every Sunday I came home proclaiming, “I’m outta here just as soon as I find a fiction workshop,” while at the same time being aware (and a little disturbed) of how alert my senses became after having spent time with poetry.

My fantasies of a writing life were not the only thing I was a tad mixed up about. I imagined (actually assumed) we’d live in a row house in Georgetown when we moved to DC. Surely it can’t be that much more expensive than living in South Bend. So we’d cut back on eating out, and OK, I’d stop going to Target. The reality was that Jesse and I could only afford a garden apartment (that should really be called a “dungeon apartment”) with an oven door that couldn’t open all the way on account of the fact that it hit the kitchen wall and a bathroom that was communal.

I do not think “communal” and “bathroom” should ever be used in the same sentence.

We settled on a 900-square-foot apartment on Connecticut Avenue. We were within walking distance of the Red Line and the Politics and Prose bookstore. We had a rooftop deck and a porch that faced the building’s courtyard. Our neighbor was a retired woman whose husband had died and left her with a three-bedroom, windows in every room, corner apartment. She was a docent at the National Zoo and just as chipper as could be.

I was not friendly to her. I was not actively mean, but every time she poked her head out of her apartment to say hello, all that light and space that came roaring out with her perky self made me angry.

I do not wear jealousy well. It also takes me a quite a long time to accept that I won’t always get precisely what I want.

//

One of the poems my writing group studied was Linda Pastan’s The Almanac of Last Things, a five-stanza poem proclaiming what she’d choose to hold onto and why: a spider lily “for the grace of its brief blossom.” January’s “chill lessons of patience and despair.” She chooses evening because the light she notices at her window tells her of the tension and beauty there is in something ready to go forward and something ready to be extinguished.

Our writing prompt was to do as Pastan did: What would we choose from the almanac of last things and why? The instructor, a woman who was in a wheelchair and would always be in a wheelchair, encouraged us to write from our “now.” That is, don’t consider what we’d take from our past, rather, what from our collection of moments in our present would we cling to? (Actually, she told us to do this. This woman was not an encourager.)

We were to write and then share — an exercise that stressed me out because, for one thing, I can’t write in front of people. For another thing, what if I have nothing to say? Or what if I do have something to say, but I can’t say it well? Plus, I didn’t want to choose to cling to my present moment. I wanted to cling to my two-bedroom apartment with the bay windows in South Bend, the bike rides along the St. Joseph River, the football games at Notre Dame.

“Five senses,” she said after what felt like three days of silence. I looked up from my very blank page, and she and I made eye contact. “Put yourself in your home and take what you hear, what you smell, what you see, what you taste, and what you touch with you.” Her arms and legs were crooked and didn’t have much muscle control. Her voice, though, was strong and clear. “Tell us,” she said.

I don’t want to write about the coffee
that fills this space
with its aroma
that slithers
its way into me every morning
whispering,
“It’s OK,” and,
“sip.”

Our landlord showed off
the mirror wall
“to create the illusion of space,”
and I don’t want
to write about the bookshelves
we placed in front of all those mirrors
that reflected nothing –
but the books took me anywhere.

I will not write
that the Metro
sounded like howling wind
when it approached
or that
I’ve travelled on
the Chicago el
the NYC subway
but I liked the DC metro best
for its rules
and its order

“When will we get a bigger place?”
I asked Jesse
sprinkling Old Bay Seasoning
over crab cakes
over fries
and I don’t want
to write
that it tasted
like a salty summer day
like the ocean
its rip current
pulsing at the side of my body:
“If only you could make this place your home.”

After a hurricane,
a roach climbed up our living room window,
it was pouring down rain
humidity stuck
to the walls,
and
my hair and skin
I saw the bug
and cried, “I want to go home!”

“We are home,” Jesse said,
and
I don’t want to write about that.

Try It: Almanac of Last Things

Write your own “Almanac of Last Things,” a five-stanza poem proclaiming what you would choose to hold onto and why. In the words of my first ever poetry instructor: Take your “now” — what you see, hear, taste, touch, and smell — and tell us.

Featured Poem

Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here’s one from Katie Spivey Brewster we enjoyed:

bright blossoms, green leaves
bursts of color, shiny light
all from planted seeds

water helps them grow
plants above, roots below
sun, soil, air and light

gently sew and tend
watch as they rise above ground
reaching for the sun

—Katie Spivey Brewster

Photo by Sharon Mollerus Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Callie Feyen.

Browse more poetry prompts

The Teacher Diaires Front Cover with Lauren WinnerI have been a fan of Callie Feyen’s writing for quite some time but I finished this book in almost one sitting. If you have ever been in 8th grade, fallen in love, had a best friend, or loved reading, you will love this book. As the mother of an 8th grader, my other genuine hope is that my son will one day have a teacher as gifted as Callie.

—Celena Roldan

BUY THE TEACHER DIARIES NOW

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
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: Women Are Dancing - March 20, 2023
  • Poetry Prompt: Found in the Library - March 13, 2023
  • Poetry Prompt: Library of Memories - March 6, 2023

Filed Under: Blog, Poems, poetry, poetry prompt, poetry teaching resources, Poets, writer's group resources, writing prompt, writing prompts

Get Every Day Poems...

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. L.L. Barkat says

    November 7, 2022 at 9:16 am

    Callie, I love your poem about what you don’t want to write about. Thank you for putting it out here for our hearts.

    Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      November 8, 2022 at 5:44 pm

      Yes, thank you for this poem and prompt.

      Reply
  2. Katie Spivey Brewster says

    November 7, 2022 at 10:08 am

    Thank you for sharing my haiku:)
    In reviewing it I think I would swap the first and third ones and name the triplet “Horticulture”
    Gratefully,
    Katie

    Reply
  3. Katie Spivey Brewster says

    November 11, 2022 at 2:29 pm

    Here are some “five senses, now” haiku I wrote while outside a few days ago:

    fushcia petunias
    variegated coleus
    sedum ternatum

    breeze swishes fall leaves
    airplanes whine toward runways
    crows caw up above

    tea, cane sugar sweet
    water quenches better yet
    moist muffin comforts

    autumn sun warms face
    cooler temps give me shivers
    sweater stops goose bumps

    acrid burning leaves
    soup simmers, steams in the pot
    cornbread calls from stove

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cute Comic

😊

The Sadbook Collections

A stick-figure human sure to capture your heart.

Take How to Read a Poem

Get the Introduction, the Billy Collins poem, and Chapter 1

get the sample now

Welcome to Tweetspeak

New to Tweetspeak Poetry? Start here, in The Mischief Café. You're a regular? Check out our March Menu.

Patron Love

❤️

Welcome a little patron love, when you help keep the world poetic.

Now a Graphic Novel!

"Stunning, heartbreaking, and relevant illustrations"

Callie Feyen, teacher

read a summary of The Yellow Wallpaper

meet The Yellow Wallpaper characters

Your Comments

  • Raymond Hattingh on “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” – An Old Poem, a New Artwork
  • L.L. Barkat on Poets and Poems: Marly Youmans and “Seren of the Wildwood”
  • Bethany on Poetry Prompt: Scribble a Poem for “Scribble Day”
  • Katie Spivey Brewster on Poetry Prompt: Found in the Library

How to Write Poetry

Featured In

We're happy to have been featured in...

The Huffington Post

The Paris Review

The New York Observer

Tumblr Book News

Stay in Touch With Us

Categories

Coloring Page Poem Printables!

Get all free coloring page poems now

Learn to Write Form Poems

How to Write an Acrostic

How to Write a Ballad

How to Write a Catalog Poem

How to Write a Ghazal

How to Write a Haiku

How to Write an Ode

How to Write a Pantoum

How to Write a Rondeau

How to Write a Sestina

How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Villanelle

5 FREE POETRY PROMPTS

Get 5 FREE inbox poetry prompts from the popular book How to Write a Poem

Shakespeare Resources

Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18

Common Core Picture Poems: Sonnet 73

Sonnet 104 Annotated

Sonnet 116 Annotated

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Character Analysis: Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Why Does Hamlet Wait to Kill the King?

10 Fun Shakespeare Resources

About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright

Top 10 Shakespeare Sonnets

See all 154 Shakespeare sonnets in our Shakespeare Library!

Explore Work From Black Poets

About Us

  • • A Blessing for Writers
  • • Annual Theme 2022: Perspective
  • • Annual Theme 2021: Generous
  • • Our Story
  • • Meet Our Team
  • • Literary Citizenship
  • • Poet Laura
  • • Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches
  • • T. S. Poetry Press – All Books
  • • Contact Us

Write With Us

  • • 5 FREE Poetry Prompts-Inbox Delivery
  • • 30 Days to Richer Writing Workshop
  • • How to Write Form Poems-Infographics
  • • Poetry Club Tea Date
  • • Poetry Prompts
  • • Submissions

Read With Us

  • • All Our Books
  • • Book Club
  • • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • • Literacy Extras
  • • Poems to Listen By: Audio Series
  • • Poet-a-Day
  • • Poets and Poems
  • • 50 States Projects
  • • Charlotte Perkins Gilman Poems Library
  • • Edgar Allan Poe Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Blake Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Shakespeare Sonnet Library

Celebrate With Us

  • • Poem on Your Pillow Day
  • • Poetic Earth Month
  • • Poet in a Cupcake Day
  • • Poetry at Work Day
  • • Random Acts of Poetry Day
  • • Take Your Poet to School Week
  • • Take Your Poet to Work Day

Gift Ideas

  • • Every Day Poems
  • • Our Shop
  • • Everybody Loves a Book!

Connect

  • • Donate
  • • Blog Buttons
  • • By Heart
  • • Shop for Tweetspeak Fun Stuff

Copyright © 2023 Tweetspeak Poetry · FAQ, Disclosure & Privacy Policy

We serve poetry with our cookies. Because that's the way it should be.
We serve poetry with your cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you... accept the cookies with a smile.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
update cookie prefs

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT