In these days of social distancing and quarantine, for many of us taking a walk and enjoying the outdoors is pretty much the key to sanity. So, next time you take a walk, why not let it be the beginning of a new poem? Allow Corsons Inlet to be the inspiration for your new poem. Note the freedom with which Ammons explores the landscape of the page in his poem, which in many ways seems to replicate a walk along the shoreline. Note, too, his attention to his physical surroundings as well as the wanderings of his mind.
So, for this exercise, Take a long, slow walk. The more meandering—the more aimless—the better. Bring a notebook with you and jot down not only sensory information, but also intellectual and emotional information, too. What do you see, smell, hear, taste, see, think about, dream about, wonder about, get annoyed about, worry over? You are recording not only sensory information, but also intellectual and emotional information, too.
Then, using Ammons as your inspiration, write a poem of at least thirty lines that uses your notes to help you write a poem describing your walk. Experiment with line length and use the “white space” on the page to help convey certain physical and metaphysical aspects of the walk. This should not be an evenly spaced and organized poem, but instead should be an investigation of both inner and exterior landscape.
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