I'm supposed to be packing. Instead, I'm working on exercises I'll use to teach teenagers in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the end of the month. Actually, I have to work on these while I'm here because I won't have access to my books again anytime soon. *sigh*

so here's one I'm going to try writing on the flight to LA:

concretizing the abstract

sample poems:
- Stephen Dunn's “sweetness” and “sadness” (from “between angels”)
- Bob Hicok's “Truth about love” (from “insomniac diary”)
- Audre Lorde's “separation” (from “New York Head Shop and Museum”)

1. list ten or more abstract ideas you might want to address or have tried to address (war, love, abortion, sadness, sweetness, separation, etc.)

2. choose one idea. write it at the top of a page and list 10 objects and 10 verbs that come to mind when you see that word.

3. write 10 snapshots/lines/vignettes where those objects act on those verbs

4. use those as a skeleton for your poem

so we'll see! OK, now I really do have to pack.