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LONG WALK
by April Halprin Wayland
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Wearing sturdy shoes and wide-brimmed straw hats,
my big sister and I trudge across our farm’s sandy soil,
through Johnson grass, to the river.
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Lyra shoulders our soft-covered aluminum canteen,
I carry the brown paper bag
of peanut butter-and-honey sandwiches.
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A cold wind shivers us.
We wear long pants against star thistles
that scratch as we pass.
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Our swimsuits are under the long pants.
Just ahead, through the Johnson grass and star thistles,
is summer.
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(c) 2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved
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The story behind the poem:
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Looking for a structure or ideas for a poem, I came across the Poetry Resource Page’s listing of exercises. Today I liked this one:
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Body Exercise
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Make a list of fifteen physical experiences that you’ve had, such as falling out of a tree, riding a roller coaster, or jumping on a trampoline. Choose one from your list and use images to create a lyric poem about the experience.
(by Jay Klokker, from The Practice of Poetry, Robin Behn and Chase Twichell, eds.)
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So I did! My 10th idea triggered a flood of images and words. How about you? What fifteen “physical experiences” would you list? Which inspires a poem?
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