Saturday, May 01, 2010

NaPoWriMo #27: self-portrait

Our next workshop prompt was based on "Self-Portrait I" by Tove Ditlevsen, which we were to use as a framework for our own self-portrait.


I Am, I Can

I can not:
keep my bathroom clean for longer
than a week at a time
play an instrument
run any more
remember to water my garden

I can not stop:
eating
dreaming in color
judging and resenting
writing out the demons
arranging my towels by color and size

I can:
mend a torn shirt
coax out a well-turned phrase
bake a pie from scratch
carry a tune
learn
and learn to let go.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello friend, please post Tove's entire poem--the rest of it (the rich, dark, sassy dimension) is needed.

chicklegirl said...

This was my own poem, which I wrote as an exercise based on the idea of Tove Ditlevsen's poem.