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This prompt, from last Friday’s session, began with each of us writing down the name of a place or thing we consider to be beautiful, each on our own sheet of paper. We then passed that paper on, receiving another from our left, and added a further example, until our own sheet was back with us…
When we had our own papers back, I asked each writer to choose one from their list, and turn over. We then divided the blank side into three columns. In the middle column I asked them to write five words they associated with, or that described, the beautiful place/thing they’d chosen.
In the column to the left, I asked them to write a heading ‘Zoom-in’, and I asked them to imagine zooming in on their thing/place. What did they see/notice now? Again, five words.
Finally, in the column to the right I asked them to write the heading ‘Zoom-out’, and again write five words as they imagined zooming out on the image of their beautiful thing/place.
All of which was a gathering of words, and a thematic exploration in preparation for…the writing of a poem. In ten minutes. This is what I wrote, raw and unedited – enjoy!
Pink, white, tiny
Petalled flags that signal life’s
Generosity and willingness
To feed if we’re willing to wait
Because they are just the beginning
Bees nuzzle in
Getting up close and personal
Drawn by the sweet scent
Life is full of sweet and sting
So very close together
Trees in rows
And rows the fruit
Grows beside longer days
Until some branches need help
To hold the weight of abundance
Children play among daffodils
And get chased by the wasps
Hidden inside, burrowed
Deep into the white pink
Tinged juicy flesh until
The sun has sunk a little lower
And the ladders come out
To lean against laden trees
Who keep their best at the tips
Of top most branches that
Sway just out of reach
Reach up and pick
An apple eaten straight
From the tree to fuel
Those gathering and placing
Carefully in boxes lest
They bruise the fruit that began
As blossom on a branch all
Those months ago
All those years ago
We had an apple tree
At the bottom of the garden
Plum and pear too
I wonder if fruit still grows
In the orchard of my childhood
If you enjoyed this prompt, then you can find more here:
and here:
https://wordsthatserve.wordpress.com/writing-prompts-the-elements/
wordsthatserve 
I love the idea of “zooming in and out”. I use this to help writer’s find the essence of their story, as well as concrete details to paint a picture.
Thank you so much Evelyn, for taking the time to read and comment so thoughtfully. I hadn’t thought of that but that’s a great idea, to use the same concept to get to the essence of a piece of writing, not just to fish for detail. Have a great weekend 🙂 Harula x