THE DRAWER

Kate Clanchy is probably best known for Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me, which I thoroughly enjoyed as an audiobook. So when I spotted her creative writing manual How To Grow Your Own Poem a while ago, I had to try it! It’s full of exercises and prompts based on the ideas and structures in existing poems.

The first assignment, Getting Started, began with The Table by Edip Cansever, plus a couple of poems in similar vein from her own students, followed by an invitation to respond with a new poem about putting things on a table – starting with physical objects and gradually moving to more abstract and metaphorical items.

I followed the format, but decided that getting stuff out of a drawer would be more interesting than putting it on a table…….

The Drawer

by Miranda Pender