Mattie's Pillow

This time of year, we gather with family, seeking the continuity that contact brings.  For some, this is a time to return to the nourishing environment we grew up with.  For others, a time to test how far we’ve come from the struggles of adolescence.  And every family has its stories–the comic, the tragic, the darkly mysterious.

So here’s  a variation on a challenge I often give my basic writing class as a journal prompt:

Write about a story that’s told in your family.  Who tells it?  When?  What else is going on in the room–or below the surface?  Start with a single detail of the moment of telling, then run with it from there.   Include food.

Tags: family, negative space, not complaining, poetry, winter, writing, writing prompt

This entry was posted on December 28, 2009 at 7:49 pm and is filed under Poetry Challenge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.