Writing workout for Hope; Writers’ Workshop
Set a timer to 15 minutes & write
Write an ode to hope, describing it in terms of a memory, a moment, real or fiction, think of hope in terms of the five senses, what is hope shaped as? Smells like? What color is hope? How does hope feel like to the touch? Recall an experience where you discovered hope, or needed hope.
Example:
You are the first soft rain of Autumn, and my father telling me he is proud of me, you are the first call-back and the last full-house, you are 10 seasons of F.R.I.E.N.D.S known by heart, you are my high school study table turned into my workstation in 12 hours of painting, you are Ahed Al Tamimi, you are loud and unapologetic, you are the Egyptian woman using all her English to Shut Obama up, you are the Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at Bush, and the first Saudi woman to drive, you are the flowers on my table, you are shaped like that night, months ago under a sky full of stars, music, and friends who are not friends anymore, but the memory just as vibrant, just as kind,
you are the ability to love what was,
without denying what is
you are hundreds demanding women’s rights on Beirut’s rainy streets, you are Mar Mkhayel in June 2017, you are spending an all nighter playing cards with mama and my siblings, you are the rare times when we all go to Eid prayer together, you are sleeping in after months of alarm clocks, you are finalities, graduations, you are my mum’s face, you are her wishing to carry all my sins, so I can enjoy this life and the one after, you are my brother’s hug, and my favorite coffee mug, you are here, this now, togetherness, you are present in this space, in this moment, you are immortal and ever-changing, but ever present, you are loud when you need to be, and soft when you need to be, you are the love I have for you, and the love you have for me.
The writing workout has been developed and written by Dana Seif, the founder of The Poetry Passport. You can find her on Instagram here.
The Poetry Passport 