The Past, Present, and Future Self

Time yourself as you write in some way (with a timer, the length of a song, or the length of a page). Write for roughly 10 minutes in response to the following prompt. Try to write for the whole time, without stopping, in sentences, with no line breaks. Work to get all of your thoughts on the page, without worrying about what you are writing, or how. It is encouraged to follow wherever your mind leads.

Prompt:

Imagine you are speaking to yourself at a particular time in the past. What advice would you give yourself to help prepare for the current moment? What do you wish you would have known before? With what you know now, how could you have acted or thought differently?

Read “A Center” for Ha Jin.

Questions to consider, in writing, or in discussion with others:

• Who is the “you” the speaker addresses?
• Why is it important to hold a center? What does it mean to hold a center? Is the center a thing or an action?
• What threatens the center in the poem?
• What changes from the beginning of the poem to the end?

Writing Assignment:
Focus on one practical action that you wrote about in the beginning, and write a poem that helps guide another person, or your past self, through what you have weathered. Start in the real and practical, and allow yourself to explore the magical or mythological realm.