Do You Remember?

Welcome to Day 5 of the September Open Write. A big, big thank you to our hosts: Denise Kreb, Wendy Everard, and Susan Ahlbrand. You’ve taken such good care of our writing lives this month! To learn more about the Open Write, click here.

Susan Ahlbrand and her husband Jason are a month into being empty nesters.    Both teachers in the small southern Indiana town of Jasper, they often spend their weekends road tripping to visit one of their four kids in Kentucky, Tennessee, or Mississippi.  Their two daughters are in the working world, and their two sons are in college.  Susan has taught 8th grade English language arts for 35 years;  she reads and writes with her students daily, and she eagerly anticipates the five Open Write days each month and the entire month of April.

Inspiration

Do you remember?

Do you remember the 21st night of September?

Songs tap into our memories, our emotions, like few other things.  I was in 7th grade in 1978 when Earth, Wind & Fire released the now-epic song “September.”  I remember learning to do different dances to it while at a parent-hosted party at a local dance hall.  I remember loving it as my teenage crush’s birthday was in September;  it was a sign.   As I grew into adulthood, the song was a staple at parties and gatherings and weddings.  It always seems to bring joy into whatever space it reverberates.  

The meaning of that song took a weird turn when I was dancing to it in a kitchen (because who doesn’t dance in a kitchen) with some of my closest friends.  For the first time, 

I connected the specificity of the date in September (“Do you remember the 21st night of September?”) with the date my dear father passed away.  How on earth had I listened to that song for years since his death and never connected that?  The joy-bringer instantly took a turn.

The wine-laden dancing in the kitchen turned to tears as I was so mad at myself for not realizing the date in that song as being so monumental.

Process

You have a few options for your poem output for this prompt:

1. Check out the lyrics to “September.”  Pick out a line (there are some good ones in the midst of a bunch of “bah-dee-ya”s.  Use it to inspire a poem.  Any form, any length, any mood, any topic.  Maybe something in the song facts below the lyrics inspires you.  Consider using the NONET form since September is the ninth month.
2. Choose a date when significant took place.  Write about it.  Consider using the RONDEL form.
3. Write about a time when something that once brought you joy took a turn and brought you sadness instead.  Consider writing a SESTINA (two stanzas would certainly be enough).
4. Write three rhyme royals.  Rhyme Royals are seven-line stanzas that have the following rhyming sequence: ababbcc.   (3×7=21 . . . get it?).

Susan’s Poem

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe.