Daily Nourishment for April 2, 2024: Poems and More with Jose Hernandez Diaz
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 45 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 10-15 minutes
“Calm me down or lift me up” - Jose Hernandez Diaz
Pause.
Take six deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale then read the poem by Jose Hernandez Diaz on the third image in this Instagram post.
Prompt.
Here’s an excerpt from an interview with Jose Hernandez Diaz:
After drafting a poem, how do you approach revision?
After getting the first draft on the page I will go back and read it to myself until I get it just right paying attention to line break and form if it’s a poem, specificity of imagery, do I need more description, or less description, musicality, titles, awkward moments which need to be blended in a seamless way, and overall wow factor, does the poem leave me wanting to read it over and over in awe.
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When it’s time to revise something you’ve written, how do you know what to change? What do you typically need more of? What do you usually need less of?
Practice.
Here’s another excerpt from an inerview with Jose Hernandez Diaz:
The first poem of yours I ever read was “The Jaguar and the Mango” from the January 2020 issue of Poetry Magazine which is a prose poem. Why is the prose poem the perfect form for this sort of personified exploration in the poem?
I think it is the perfect form for condensed writing and you can still get a scene or an angle of storytelling in. Sometimes we just need a window into a scene not the whole backstory and inner monologues. We sometimes want to fill in the blanks on our own. Minimalism, haiku, short stories, have always been fascinating to me for their brevity and intensified mode/power of expression.
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Set a timer for five minutes and begin writing a prose poem using Diaz’s words about prose poems above as a guide.
Want More?
Read the entire interview with Jose Hernandez Diaz.
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Upcoming Workshops & Gatherings:
—Sunday, 4/7/2024: Thoughtful Readers Gathering with Jose Diaz Hernandez and Magic City Poetry Festival; Free, Book available for purchase
—Back by Popular Demand: Narrative Writing with Tanya Davis is back for another four weeks this spring. The Friday Cohort begins on Friday, 4/19. The Saturday BIPOC Cohort begins on 4/20. $49 for four sessions.
—AND our Four-Hour Retreats are back this month to help you write more often, improve your writing skills, and feel nourished by your writing practice. The Four-Hour group retreats will also help you have greater integration between your writing life and other areas of life so you can establish a more sustainable writing practice that works for you.
SDW Members: You are eligible for a Four-Hour Retreat discount equal to your monthly membership rate. Please email me at charlotte@charlottedonlon.com for your discount code.
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Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
*Please help us protect our intellectual property, our creative process, and the integrity of our work. Spiritual Direction for Writers® Daily Nourishment is covered under the Spiritual Direction for Writers® trademark. You are welcome to share this link with others, but any other use (written or spoken) is prohibited without written permission from Charlotte Donlon.