Read the introduction on how to participate in Free Write Friday

Poet John Clare spent the latterk part of his life in an asylum where he managed to pen out his most famous pieces of poetry. For years from behind four walls, Clare had to depend on his memory of life outside his cell to continue the writing that brought him there to begin with. The following is an excerpt from ”Remembrances”;

Summer pleasures they are gone like to visions every one
Summer pleasures they are gone like to visions every one
And the cloudy days of autumn and of winter cometh on
I tried to call them back but unbidden they are gone
Far away from heart and eye and for ever far away
Dear heart and can it be that such raptures meet decay
I thought the grimm all eternal when by Langley Bush I lay
I thought them joys eternal when I used to shout and play
On its bank at ‘clink and bandy’ ‘chock’ and ‘taw’ and ducking stone
Where silence sitteth now on the wild heath as her own
Like a ruin of the past all alone

This edition of Free Write Friday is all about writing from memory and challenges you to do as John Clare did and in as much detail as possible, describe something you cannot look at.

This excersise is to choose an object in your home, it can be a painting on the wall, or a centerpiece on your table. It’s a part of your life, something you see everyday but rarely look at. Once you select your subject, look away. Now, close your eyes and picture it for a moment. Its color, texture and shape. Where is it? What surrounds it? Does the sunlight hit it and if so, what does that look like? What memories does it bring back?

Ready, set, write!

Have a great weekend!

Magic in the Backyard™
©Kellie Elmore