This is the Open Write, a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We are organizing 30 days of poetry in April for National Poetry Month: Verselove. Pledge here to write one or more poems with us.

Our Host: Dave Wooley

Dave lives in State College, Pennsylvania, and he’s not exactly sure how he got there! But, since he’s there, he’s working with pre-service teachers at Penn State University as they prepare to be high school and middle school teachers. He does some rapping, writing, and he’s recently gotten back on skis after a 20 year (or so) hiatus so that he can chase his 11-year-old down mountains. He lives with his wife and their youngest son and looks forward to when the other siblings are able to come home from college and get the band back together! 

Inspiration 

I’m writing from one of my favorite places–Grind City, Bluff City, the Home of the Blues–Memphis, Tennessee, visiting with my son and daughter in law. It just happens that one of my favorite persons from history, the journalist and anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells, is a Memphian. In 2021, the city (finally!) dedicated a statue to her to commemorate her activism, her bravery, and her brilliance. That got me thinking about the role of art and, specifically, sculpture in the creation of public memory. So, I thought it might be fun to take a little trek around Memphis to visit her statue and a couple of other statues commemorating notable Memphis legends and write some ekphrastic poems–poems about works of art.

The other part of my inspiration was a lesson that I observed earlier this week in which one of my student teachers was having her middle school students write “small poems”. The  poems could take any number of forms–haiku, limerick, tanka, cinquain, sijo, acrostic, kwansaba–as long as they were short. 

That made me think about how these forms might work together–small ekphrastic poems–to capture essential moments that are reflected in, or alluded to, in the work of art. Or, perhaps, how in reflecting upon a work of art, that might become a spark for a related idea that could be explored in the burst of a short poem. 

Process

My process included a lot of driving and walking around to check out these statues that I wanted to write about! But for your process, you can choose to follow the ekphrastic model and choose a piece of art upon which to base your poem. That piece of art is completely up to you, and that’s part of the fun about this form!

I chose the haiku as my “small poem” form, but feel free to use your preferred form (or no form at all). I wrote a set of three ekphrastic haiku poems because the idea of three 3-line poems as a poetic unit appealed to me, but again, I’d encourage you to explore whatever form you’d like. I also encourage you to look towards some work or art (any genre) for inspiration and to keep it short! After all, #VerseLove is right around the corner and you’ll need plenty of poetic stamina for that!  

Dave’s Poem

Travels in Memphis 

Reflections on Public Monuments

  1. Johnny Cash

Cast forever young
no crowsfeet crisscross, like a
highway’s gravel voice

  1. B.B. King

Muddy river rolls
behind, fingers pluck angels 
And ghosts as you smile

  1. Ida B Wells

Forged in fierce flames–
mobs burned the Free Speech–your Bronze 
figure still the Headlight

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. 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. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers.

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Susie Morice

GIRL with UMBRELLA at BLACKBURN PARK

She’s stands
in the rain
at the edge of the park
with her bumbershoot,
there these many years,
her elbows bronzed into place,
boots pulled to her knees;
she looks north
as if expecting someone
would miss her,
come fetch her;
in winter
we wrap pretty scarves around her neck
to soften her steely stance,
they blow away in February winds;
today she is ready for spring,
more rain,
she’s prepared,
as Rayo and I round the path
each morning
comforted by her capacity
to remain a child,
hopeful,
while we fools destroy
the world at her feet.

by Susie Morice, March 17, 2025©

IMG_9555
Margaret Simon

My husband and I bought a painting this weekend at an art show for Plein Air art done in our town this week. This painting is a bridge near our home. The artist Karen Philpott used a pallet knife to paint the sky. This technique is called impasto.

Bridge over water
connecting town to neighbors
with impasto sky

KPhilpott-Jefferson-St-bridge
Linda Mitchell

Sometimes, the sky has texture like that…I didn’t know that term, impasto. I like it in your haiku and the painting.

Susie Morice

Margaret — Isn’t that amazing!? What artists can do during a Plein Air session just blows me away. How cool that you bought it and have it in your home! The palette knife…I’ve been watching videos of painters making beautiful work with those knives. I have one but haven’t used it much. I’m inspired to try some sky work today. Not only does your piece connect “town” and “neighbors”…here we are across the country and beyond connecting with art and poetry. Ahhh, makes me feel so good. Thank you! Susie

Jennifer Guyor Jowett

Dave, I appreciate the offer of a short form on these busy school days. Each of yours is beautifully worded, and I cannot pick a favorite. But I love the lines “muddy river rolls” and “Forged in fierce flames.” The soft sounds of the first mimic the texture while those in the second emphasize the ferocity. (I need to stop reading the news before writing!)

Lift your skirts, ladies
Liberty’s no longer free
Prepare for pillage

Kim Johnson

Jennifer, The Handmaid’s Tale comes to mind, and you’ve captured the essence of this reality. In a haiku of seventeen syllables, you have nailed the truth of the times.. It’s where we ether already are or where we are headed. Scary world.

Linda Mitchell

Yes, ma’am! We’ve got to bond together and protect what we can. Love the “l” sounds and the alliteration in the last sentence.

Susie Morice

Jennifer — This is ominous and so so so true. Every day I am saddened beyond words by what is happening. Already I have friends and family being harassed, fired, and put in danger’s way. These aren’t “friends and family” euphemisms…they are real people, hardworking, huge contributors to the world around us… scientists, social workers, teachers, people protecting our children …I could go on and on… the “pillage” is in high gear. Lady Liberty… oh my gosh…that isn’t the Atlantic at her feet, it is the ocean of tears.

Kim Johnson

Thank you for hosting us today, Dave! Love your tribute to these statues of music legends. Our coffee shop on the town square has a unique photo journey of its restoration, and I wrote a tricube (3 stanzas of 3 lines of 3 syllables) today as my short form.

1828 Coffee Company: A Work of Art

coffee shop
art shows the
time journey

restoring
origins
hardwood floors

window panes
still the same
come, peek in!

Jennifer Guyor Jowett

Kim, even the name of the coffee shop is a work of art! I feel as if I’m peeking in with you. I’m not sure if it’s all the Hometown Makeover shows I’ve been watching but I can envision this entire location. I think this poem needs to be on the marketing brochures.

Linda Mitchell

That’s so fun…ending the poem on an invitation to “come, peek in!” Why, I don’t mind if I do via your tricube.

Susie Morice

Kim — Oh yes, I want to be there right NOW! Love this place through your words. Susie

Dave Wooley

Hi Kim,

“Restoring origins” really resonates with me; the history in place and in buildings. And that last stanza is a really playful invitation! (Sitting in a coffee shop right now as I respond, btw!)

(I agree with Jennifer, too!)

Fran Haley

Fun prompt, Dave, and I am appreciating the “keep it short” advice! Love your inspiration and the haiku, especially the one about Cash. Magnificent word choices for the statue’s youthful depiction, before the “crowsfeet crisscross” (how lyrical!) and the “highway gravel voice.” You nailed it.Your phrasing even imparts a sense of his travels, his life’s journeys. Amazing!

My granddaughters (ages 9 and 3) have started a little art project at my house…

Envisioners

Segmented cardboard
pulled from a shipping package
is now repurposed

by the magicians
(known as my two granddaughters)
with markers in hand

a dragon rises
from their creative efforts—
Franna provides eyes.

Jennifer Guyor Jowett

Fran, oh, how I miss a good cardboard constructed playland! There is nothing more magical than a plain brown corrugation being transformed into whatever a child imagines. What a joyous addition to your house. Fly, dragon, fly!

Fran Haley

The work in progress.

IMG_7719
Dave Wooley

I love the creativity at work!

Kim Johnson

Children with imaginative creativity become the best writers. Franna, you provide far more than dragon eyes. You are the apple of theirs.

Linda Mitchell

ooooh, those grandgirls are my kind of girls! A few markers and a lot of imagination is my idea of a good time. I love how you have given them magical powers. I miss those days of my kids doing this—and yet, it was always messy!

Dave Wooley

Fran,

What a wonderful poem! My youngest son is the artist in the family–any time we go to a new place we have to hit the art supply store. The poem structure kinda mimics the structure of the segmented art pieces–so cool! I really like the characterization of your granddaughters as magicians with markers in hand.

Linda Mitchell

ooooh, I love this prompt! There is a new statue in my city for Jennie Dean. She founded a school (among other things)for African Americans in the early days of Reconstruction. I love the new statue and it’s perfect for an ekphrastic short poem!

full of faith and fight
learning was her lamp and light
brothers, sisters, see!

Jennifer Guyor Jowett

This is a beauty, Linda. You do honor to this new statue. Thank you for sharing another trailblazer with us in Jennie Dean. I love how the thread of light continues to see and the rhyme of light and fight, which often are necessary next to one another. Love!

Kim Johnson

Linda, I am always in awe of a haiku that speaks so much in so few words and syllables. A new statue in your city – – and such a tribute.

Dave Wooley

Hi Linda,

Thank you for adding Jennie Dean to the list of historical names that I should know! And an educator! I love the parallel rhymes and structure and the dual recognition of her mission and a call to witness in the last line!