"I began with my own soft but tense body to seek words"

an unlocking prompt from Kimiko Hahn's The Narrow Road to the Interior

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Have you been wanting to start writing and creating again but every time you sit down to write or draw, all that comes out is fumes, so you reach for your phone, or someone yells out for a snack and then that’s it, you’re done? Today, I want to share a prompt that’s helpful for getting going again after a pause, even if it’s just a pause of a day or two in which you did 1000 logistical things and don’t even remember your own name.

I talked about this prompt with

Erinn Batykefer

in an interview for The Long Pause back in December. This prompt is based on a structure I gleaned from Kimiko Hahn’s remarkable book of poems, The Narrow Road to the Interior (2006). Hahn’s book primarily uses the Japanese form zuihitsu, a prose-poetry form that literally translates to “running brush.” If you’re curious about this form, Hahn writes about the zuihitsu in “The Zuihitsu and the Toadstool” at American Poetry Review. I recommend this essay as a starting place for learning about the form, as well as simply reading this book, which helps you to see the zuihitsu—its range and complexity—in action.

link to order this book

I think of this prompt as an “unlocking” prompt. It was one of the key forces that helped me slowly and steadily come out of my long pause and get in touch with my creative mind again. To fall in love with images and sound and the presence it takes to see and hear in a deeper way. Just this morning, I used this prompt again while my family members were still asleep and the world was dark, and, this seemingly simple structure worked its magic to bring me a few lines I want to follow.

The first page of Hahn’s zuihitsu, “Pulse and Impulse”

PROMPT

1. Write down today’s date. Maybe add where you are, too (your town or street, where you are in your home)

2. For a few minutes, write whatever comes into your mind—continuous writing—keep your hand moving and breathe, and/or describe what you see around you with specific detail.

3. Then, read a bit and quote something from your reading that resonates or vibrates for you in some way. If you don’t have any books around you now and don’t want to deal with the vortex of the internet, here are a few excerpts from poems I love:

“In the tidal pool a half dozen hermit crabs scuffle over an empty shell which the largest wins but cannot fit into. That.”

—Kimiko Hahn from “Wellfleet, Midsummer” (from The Narrow Road to            the Interior) (note: this is a tanka)


“I think sometimes, you just have to say, okay -
even if you don’t understand.

Sometimes, let the world of flames speak
for itself.

Let the radiant life shine”
—Jan Beatty from “Psych Intake w/Flames” (from Dragstripping)


“Listen to me. I am telling you
a true thing. This is the only kingdom.
The kingdom of touching;
the touches of the disappearing, things.”

—Aracelis Girmay, from “Elegy” (from Kingdom Animalia)

4. Pose a question or two and see where they take you

The magic of this prompt is that it helps you drop down deeper, below the surface-level logistical brain we spend a lot of our days operating in. For me, it feels like I’m unlocking the door to a space that it’s often hard for me to reach, especially if I only have ten minutes to write in a given day.

Writing continuously at first without a destination clears the channel and starts loosening your mind. Then, engaging with someone else’s language and ideas, and shifting back to your own voice by first posing a question, rather than an “answer” helps you enter the space where you are on your way to writing something resonant. This prompt might take you into writing zuihitsu and exploring this form, but it also might help you discover new threads in your writing that takes you elsewhere formally.

Try this and modify it with what feels right for you. It won’t always deliver a draft, but I find that if I do it for a few days in a row, there’s an accumulative power as I start engaging with what I read or listen to in a new way. I’ll notice that I’m formulating a question as I’m doing the dishes or noticing the light on my daughter’s face in a new way.

My current favorite light. What are the names for these colors?

You can hear me talk about this prompt with

Erinn Batykefer

at The Long Pause at this link at 32:25, and read the rest of the interview about my long creative pause at this link. Also: ONLY POEMS just published some stunning Kimiko Hahn poems and an interview with her. Check it out here, friends.

If you try this, I’d love to read anything you’d like to share, either some lines or something about your process. You can leave a comment below with your thoughts… xo

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