(upbeat music)
-: Hi there.
My name is Shelby and I am a poetry teaching artist.
And I'm really excited
because if you're watching this video,
it probably means that you wanna sit down to write
and if you don't wanna sit down to write, maybe try anyway.
You're here, you're watching it, you may as well.
And in my opinion, and I think it's been scientifically
proven free writing is actually a form of magic,
so if you wanna engage in some magic today,
that would be pretty cool.
And the only thing that you need
for this activity is something to write with,
pen, pencil, whatever, something to write on,
paper or a notebook, and because our theme today
is going to be the theme of remember,
we're gonna be thinking about our past selves
and we're gonna be writing some reminders
that we can read whenever we're feeling sad or not grounded.
So if you can, you could right now
go and grab a picture or a photo of yourself
when you were a little younger than you are now.
Could be one year ago, could be five years ago,
could be you as a little baby, whatever.
And if you don't have a picture,
you can maybe draw one or just think in your mind
what you were like when you were a little bit younger.
Okay, let's do our warmup.
So get out that pen and pencil
and I'm just going to ask you a series of questions
and I just want you to write the answer to that question,
whatever comes to your brain first.
The only rules here are don't judge yourself
and just keep writing.
Keep your pen and pencil moving.
I'm not judging you, no one's judging you,
you don't have to share this if you don't want to,
so just be free with it.
See what comes to your minds.
All right, let's jump in.
The first question that I want you to answer
on your page is when and where were you born?
And if you don't know, just make it up.
Anything can happen in a poem.
You could say you were born on the moon.
But maybe you do actually know where you were born
so you can write that.
When and where.
Do you know what month you were born in?
What season?
All right, go ahead and start writing.
(gentle music)
Next question.
Who is someone who takes care of you?
Someone in your family, a really good friend, a pet.
Just list out one person or multiple people
or animals that take care of you.
(gentle music)
All right, next one.
What are some plants that you love?
What kind of plants do you love?
Trees, flowers, anything you can think of,
even if you don't know its name, just describe it
or say where you've seen it.
Like that flower that I always pass
and smell on my way to the bus stop.
Go for it.
(gentle music)
All right, as you keep writing,
I want you to answer the question,
what are some animals you love?
These could be wild animals that you've never met,
you've only seen on TV or on YouTube,
or it could be an animal that you know really well
like a bird that you always see or your dog or your cat
or your pet iguana or your chickens or whoever.
What animals do you love?
(gentle music)
What is your favorite weather?
That's your next one.
What's your favorite weather?
It can be really specific
like two weathers smushed together.
What kind of weather do you love?
(gentle music)
Keep writing.
You've got another line coming.
All right, my next question for you.
What is one of your favorite memories?
Just think about a day or a time in your life
that you really remember with a lot of love.
(gentle music)
Okay, last line of our warmup.
What is something you wish everyone knew to be true?
And what I mean by that is what's something that you feel
is really true in your heart
that you wish everyone on the earth knew was true?
Like...
love is valuable
or trees are our friends
or every person is different.
What's something you know to be true?
Write that down.
(gentle music)
Okay, you're warmed up.
You got some ideas on the page.
Now, to get even more inspired,
we are gonna turn to a poem by the poet Joy Harjo,
who is actually our US poet laureate,
which means she's a really good poet and everybody knows it.
I am going to read Joy Harjo's poem,
which is called Remember.
Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star's stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun's birth at dawn,
that is the strongest point of time.
Remember sundown and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath.
You are evidence of her life,
and her mother's, and hers.
Remember your father.
He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life
who all have their tribes,
their families, their histories, too.
Talk to them, listen to them.
They are alive poems.
Remember the wind.
Remember her voice.
She knows the origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people are you.
Remember you are this universe and this universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.
Now that we've got some inspiration from Joy Harjo,
we're gonna write our own remember poems
using all those ideas
that you already brainstormed in your warmup.
So for the first line of your remember poem,
I want you to write remember the sky
in dot, dot, dot.
You could say, remember the sky on the day you were born.
Remember the sky in July,
remember in the sky when it's raining.
Just think about the sky.
What comes to your brain?
Write it down.
(gentle music)
It doesn't matter if it makes sense.
Just keep writing.
Mine doesn't make any sense, it's great.
Okay, next line.
Remember your birth.
Something about your birth.
And if you don't know anything, just make something up.
Remember your birth on the moon
with all of the stars singing.
That could happen if you say it happened, it happened.
(gentle music)
Let's keep going.
Remember how your blank took care of you.
Think of someone that takes care of you.
Maybe it's a parent,
but maybe it's someone else in your family.
And how did they take care of you?
What did they do?
(gentle music)
All right, now we're gonna get to the animals.
Think about some of those animals that you listed
in the warmup and write remember the,
remember the dogs, remember the toucan,
remember the birds, remember the crows going home to roost.
Whoever it was that you wrote about in that animal section,
just list some of those out.
(gentle music)
Keep listing.
You've got more lines coming to ya.
As you keep writing, want you to complete this sentence.
Remember how the light looks at.
So if you've ever woken up really early
and seen how the light looks at sunrise,
remember how the light looks in the afternoon.
Think about the light, anytime you've seen light.
Maybe you remember how the light looks in the living room.
Go with it.
(gentle music)
'Kay, keep going.
Remember how you feel when it is.
And here's where I want you to put in your favorite weather.
Remember how you feel when it is raining
and sunny at the same time.
Or snowing or fall or what was that weather,
season that you thought about?
(gentle music)
Okay.
Next line, here's where I want you
to include that favorite memory.
Remember that day at the fair,
remember when you almost lost your balloon
but you grabbed it right before it went up to the sky.
Whatever that favorite memory was,
write that down as a reminder.
(gentle music)
Now this is your last line.
This is where I'm gonna ask you to put in that truth.
That thing that you want everyone to know,
and you can write it like this.
Remember this truth, everyone is whole.
Or respect the trees, whatever that true thing was for you,
write it at the end of your poem right now.
Go for it.
(gentle music)
Okay, finish up that last thought.
Good job.
You did it.
You created a sort of a talisman for yourself.
And a talisman is a special thing that people hold on to
when they need a reminder of how it feels to be grounded
and that's what this poem can be.
It can be that reminder to yourself
and to anyone who reads it.
And I really wish I could read what you wrote,
but since I'm trapped inside this video,
I can't hear what you wrote,
but I can share with you what I wrote.
Remember the sky when it's ripe as a pear,
as an apple bud.
Remember your birth where you turned blue first.
Remember how your sister mothered you,
making you as soft as a lion cub.
Remember the crows, the velvet dog and her lazy belly.
Remember how the light made a room of sun and the egg yolks.
Remember how you feel when the salmonberries flower,
promising fruit.
Remember when the moon was a lollipop and she laughed.
Remember that language was my ancestor's home land.
So that's what I wrote.
I really hope that you get to share
what you wrote with somebody.
Somebody needs to read what you wrote.
Maybe it's just you reading it out loud to yourself,
maybe it's you reading it to a friend, a family member,
to your dog, whoever.
Thank you so much for writing today.
My name's Shelby and I'm just so glad
that I got to be connected with you
as you created your own remember poem.
Have a good day.
(upbeat music)