Wir freuen uns, eine Einladung von Marielle Matthee weiterzuleiten: Mit Poets for the Planet und dem World Wildlife Fund wird eine Kerzenstunde während der Earth Hour organisiert. In dieser Stunde, eingeleitet von einer halbstündigen Gedichtworkshop, sollen die Teilnehmenden bei Kerzenschein Ökogedichte schreiben. Man kann dazu an einem zentralen Zoom-Workshop teilnehmen oder aber nach Vorlage (siehe unten) eine eigene Werkstatt in kleiner Runde organisieren.
Waldschaffen wird keine eigene Werkstatt veranstalten, aber wir würden uns freuen, wenn möglichst viele mitmachen würden! Und wenn dabei Waldgedichte entstehen, würden wir uns über Zusendungen freuen, die wir im Blog veröffentlichen dürfen.
Für weitere Infos kontaktiert bitte die Poets for the Planet direkt, Kontakt s.u.!
CANDLE WRITE FOR EARTH HOUR
A message from Poets for the Planet
Poets for the Planet warmly invites you to take part in writing an ecopoem by candlelight during Earth Hour (Saturday 25 March, 20.30 – 21.30 CET).
You can either use the prompts below to work with a group of your own poets, OR we’ll be holding a workshop on Zoom at 20.00 CET (half an hour before Earth Hour) to share ideas and poetry prompts. Then, at 20.30, we’ll be turning off non-essential lights to show our commitment to the planet, lighting candles, and writing by candlelight for the next hour.
You’re very welcome to join our Zoom workshop (email
poetsfortheplanet (at) gmail.com for the Zoom link), or run your own candle-writing event on 25 March. Hopefully you’ll find words to explore the dark and the silence while pointing towards life and hope.
Poetry prompts
1. You could start from a few words about your candle or pen or paper or what you can see (or half-see) around you starting with the phrase “In front of me…”
2. Here are a few prompts about light and darkness:
● Metaphor: if you were a kind of light what kind of light would you be?
● Portrait of myself as a (whatever kind of light you chose for your metaphor).
● Write a three-line poem about seeing a light through a window (of house, of boat, of train, of plane etc).
● Write a poem in one long stanza that describes changing light when you are outside.
● Describe Earth Hour darkness and the nocturnal world.
3. For many of us, our love and awe of nature started in childhood. You could write about those first encounters / impressions.
4. Write down a poem consisting of questions that emerge now that you sit in front of candlelight.
5. Write a haiku (short three-line nature poem that aims to capture the smallness of one moment).
6. Write a poem from the perspective of the moon.
7. Describe a living creature using the main smells, sounds, touch, taste and visual impressions that make it come alive.
8. Write a poem with two stanzas: one about your most feared aspect of climate change and one with the most hopeful solution/mitigation.
Further reading
For some examples to get you started, we’ve put together a collection of stimulus poems about dark and light.
Sharing your work
Once you’ve written your poem, we’d love you to share it with us on our Facebook page. You might also consider signing up to the pledge on our website (the pledge is located at the bottom of our home page). This is also a great way to join Poets for the Planet and be involved in future actions.
Running your own workshop
Here is an outline plan if you choose to run your own Candle Write workshop.
1. Ask people to arrive five minutes early to ensure everyone is ready at the allocated start-time.
2. Encourage people to introduce themselves in the chat (or in person if a small group) – where they are, why they are here.
3. Introduce the idea of Earth Hour, using text from sources like WWF.
4. A few people could read out some stimulus poems (see our Further reading section for example poems), maybe screen-sharing.
5. Say that the time is coming to switch off the lights and prepare people using this metaphor exercise: If I were a kind of light (ie sunset, sunrise, table lamp, torch, candle etc), what kind of light would I be? Invite them to share this in the chat.
6. Remind people they can post their poems on the Poets for the Planet
Facebook page and drop the link in the chat.
7. Decide if you want to check in after the hour of candle-writing.
Keeping it sustainable
Candles are often made from paraffin, a by-product of crude oil that creates and releases toxic chemicals when burned. If possible, seek out a sustainably produced alternative made from natural ingredients such as coconut wax, rapeseed wax or soy wax, which are much less harmful when put to flame.