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 JANUARY ASSIGNMENT FROM

SUE SPIRIT  

 We often associate certain smells with particular memories of places of people. What are the smells you associate with the sacred? Make a list of such smells that have resonance for you. Choose one or more and write a poem about the relationship between some sacred space or act and the smell(s) you associate with it.

Example:

The Dream

I had a dream in the day:
I laid my father’s body down in a narrow boat
and sent him off along the riverbank with its cattails and grasses.
and the boat—it was made of bark and wood bent when it was wet—
took him to his burial finally.
But a day or two later I realized it was myself I wanted
to lay down, hands crossed, eyes closed…
Oh, the light coming from down there,
the sweet smell of the water—and finally, the sense of being carried
by a current I could not name or change.
     Marie Howe

Bring books, ideas, workshops, etc. to share briefly. We will do a writing exercise during our time together.