We are, each of us, life’s canvases

dโ€™Verse prosery

Friends, today we aspire to be poems, rather than to write or read them. Tune in to the rhythms of your heart beats and breaths; experience the air, its temperature and direction; take in the colors and shapes of your surroundings. Your senses produce letterless words; heed the language of being; listen to the song of Is.

This day, today, we shall each eschew the computer and bring no book – for this one day weโ€™ll give to idleness. Our fingers shall find no purchase on our keyboards; our hands shall remain empty of pens and papers. On this day, our goal is not to create, my friends; but, rather, to be created. We are, each of us, life’s canvases.

So, go forth and be, dear friends! Today is your final lesson as poets – sometimes, nay, often, we must do nothing… but be.


The prompt

dโ€™Verse prosery is flash fiction with a beginning, a middle and an end, in any genre of the authorโ€™s choice, no longer than 144 words. This very short piece of prose must include an assigned line from a poem, within the 144 word limit. Writers may change the punctuation of the assigned line, but they may not insert words within the quotation.

The assigned quotation was:

And bring no book, for this one day
Weโ€™ll give to idleness.

-from William Wordsworth‘s poem ‘Lines Written at a small distance from my House

70 thoughts on “We are, each of us, life’s canvases”

  1. “Your senses produce letterless words; heed the language of being; listen to the song of Is…” Wise words, and fortunately my deafness doesn’t come into play when listening to the “song of is.” Brilliant advice David. ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. I often feel overwhelmed with all the things I could be doing before I even start doing them. This is a beautiful reminder to drop everything once in a while. To just sit, breathe and observe.

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