I've never been very good at letting moments go. Not skyscapes. Not heartaches. Not eighth-grade talent shows or that moment at graduation when the caps are frisbeed to the sky and the dividing line has been drawn between the future and the past.
So that when I taught young writers for seven consecutive summers, I was, always, in my mind, with those young writers—traveling with them back and forth, trying to see past their page, thinking myself into their process and back out of it again—for their sake, in both directions. And when, today, I was joined on the second floor of a favorite local coffee shop by nine young women, I knew I'd go home with an ache in my heart—they'll all grow up; I'll never know where their lives now will take them.
Their talent runs deep, as does their capacity for thoughtful mutual critique. They listened—they heard—the fragments that I read out loud, some even asking later for titles so that they might read the wholes. There were among them the philosophical and poetical, the one who could write through time and the one who embraced the one moment, the one with a talent for original saturation, the one who knew how to suggest the possibilities of a character's life within the stretch of a single sentence. There was joy as we walked the streets with our cameras in hand. There was compassion for the child we found sitting near a grate, waiting for her mother to come to—well, what, we wondered: to rescue her?
Remain who you are, I urged them, at the session's end. Keep living: whole. And then I read them "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver, a poem every true heart must know.
The closing lines:
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting—
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
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By: Beth Kephart ,
on 2/24/2009
Blog: Beth Kephart Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: inspiration, Mary Oliver, Wild Geese, Seeing Past Z: Nurturing the Imagination in a Fast Forward World, writing workshop for teens, young women, Add a tag
By: Beth Kephart ,
on 2/23/2009
Blog: Beth Kephart Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: the Oscars, Jack Gilbert, Sven Birkerts, writing workshop for teens, Pablo Neruda, Mary Oliver, Barcelona, Stanley Kunitz, Salvador Dali, Gerald Stern, Natalia GInzburg, Forrest Gander, Add a tag
It was a movie weekend—"Slumdog Millionaire" at ten on Friday night, "Frost/Nixon" at 4:15 Sunday, "Mongol," courtesy of Netflix, in between, late Saturday afternoon. And then the Oscars, a tradition strong as Christmas here—a semi-glamorous meal delivered picnic style while the "barely mint" dresses float by. The Oscars always make me cry. Call me a sentimental fool (you won't be the first), but I like seeing dreams fulfilled. I like the idea that it's possible.
In between, I was walking about my humble abode feeling knocked-down grateful for all the book recommendations that came my way via Looking for Book Love, for all the passion that is out there, still, for stories that cling to the page. While I considered the titles that came in, I read essays on writing and craft—re-read them, I should say, in preparation for Tuesday, when I'll spend a chunk of the day in a coffee shop with aspiring young writers. Sven Birkerts, Natalia Ginzburg, Mary Oliver, Jack Gilbert, Gerald Stern, Stanley Kunitz, Forrest Gander, and of course Pablo Neruda will keep me and the girls company throughout a day that will also be spent collecting and sorting the details we hunt down with our cameras.
We'll yield to six exercises, which I've named the following way. I plan to write right alongside the girls, for I am not the sort of writer who believes she definitively knows. I'm the sort who keeps trying to find out. Who learns as she teaches, and as she goes.
The class in brief (should you wish to write along...):
Leveraging Involuntary Memory
The Perceiving I
The Hunt for Character
The Fair Release of Story
The Act of Autobiography
Vulnerable Fictions
I'd never heard that poem before. It's lovely. Thanks for sharing.
I really enjoy your writing.
Came here from an Aerial Armadillo. It is my dream to one day teach others everything I was taught about writing.
One day ....
Oh I love Mary Oliver and I know that poem well. Thanks for a new perspective on it. :)
Sounds like a wonderful day!
You may not see those girls grow and change and move on, but they will certainly take today - and your inspiration - with them on their journeys.
What a gift, Beth.
XO
Anna
Ditto what Anna said, along with vice-versa.
I am, frankly, still so filled up with this day that I stutter to try to find the right words of gratitude for all that you have written to me today. Thank you, Right on. Thank you, David, for stopping by. Thank you Blicky Kitty. Thank you, Sierra (were you there, someway). Thank you, Anna, and Sherry, too.
(())
Love Mary Oliver - she gets to the heart of exploring and loving the world in such a magical way.
What a marvelous experience for those girls, who will now see the world and words in a different way, thanks to you :)
I absolutely LOVE the poem.
New poem to me, too. Thank you...
Encouraging teachers of the world UNITE...lovely poem, thank you for sharing it with us and congrats on Post of the Day mention...
Sandi
found you through post of the day. I really admire your endeavor to teach and learn with these writers. And I admire how much you value it.
You can visit me at http://iamthevengeance.blogspot.com
Hi Ms. Kephart!
Ms. Diana linked us to your blog and I just wanted to thank you so much for your wonderful workshop and the time you spent with our group. You are definitely a huge inspiration for me to keep writing! thanks so much!
~Nancy-the one who can take you through time =)
Hi Ms. Kephart,
Thank you so much for everything! You were a great inspiration to all of us and I came out of your workshop with a newfound urge to write. I had a great time and I'm glad to hear that you did too!
-Wendy
Nancy and Wendy—
How cool is this, to find you two here? Well. And hello, then. I hope the rest of your writing week was superb.