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Creative Writing

Every year I take my students to a local (ish) museum so they can participate in the Writer's Eye project. My students tour a museum and look at specially selected pieces. They then write a poem or a piece of prose based on that work. The writing is only inspired by the work and not a description of it. I always write a piece with my students and this year I chose "Leaf from the Qissa-i Amir Hamza: Four Men in Combat" from India, Mughal, Akbar period, c. 1562–1577. You can find a description of the piece (second description) in the museum's packet.

I am pretty proud of my piece this year, so I thought I would share it with you guys. The title is a line that the docent said while giving us our tour.

“They Found it Being Used as a Curtain”

Inspired by: Leaf from the Qissa-i Amir Hamza: Four Men in Combat

They came at night—I panicked.

The Pakistani people had threatened this,

but I never thought I would be affected.

Really, no one ever does.

I did not really want to leave,

but I am not the type to stay and fight,

especially in 1947

when every conflict seems to turn in to a

World War.

In my panicked state I collected

things that I thought would

make me happy,

remind me of home,

remind me of where I came from.

In my father’s two leather suitcases, worn with overuse,

I frantically packed the first items I could get my hands on:

my grandmother’s wedding sari, the books I used at university,

the tapestry that always hung in my parent’s house,

toiletries,

a blue tie,

undershirts.

I left with the sunrise.

Now,

Looking at my own artifacts

I do not understand who I thought I was in that moment.

Who I really am is a lost adult in a sea of expatriates searching for a new way of life.

I should have packed

money,

gold,

anything I could sell,

because at this point I don’t care about what colors my grandmother chose on her wedding day—

it only reminds me of the henna that I will never smell on my nonexistent bride’s hands.

What makes me Indian here?

The fear of another conflict?

The fact that I cannot taste this British food for lack of spice?

I left my home because I am a coward,

I am not Hanza

I have not gone into battle for Muhammed

I ran from the challenge,

but I still feel a connection

because I stand out here with my accent and my skin.

Now I hang the tapestry up in my small room.

I hide from my own realities

and stare at this old cloth.

The battle,

I notice,

reflects my own struggles.

There are conflicts in the external world that forced me here

and there are conflicts in my own mental dealings that are battling my fears and my desires.

I like that.

This is my homeland.

This is my struggle.

It is small

And faded,

But it is mine.

And they can’t take that from me.

The spacing ended up being a bit weird when I transferred it for posting. My students do not have much time for creative writing and that is why I think this activity is so important. Many of them moan about it, but once they turn in their final products they are proud.

#writers eye #fralin #creative writing #personal #education

This is where I took my AP Language students today. We do not go on many field trips because the cost of taking a school bus outside of the city limits is ridiculous, so this trip was extra special. My students critically examined 18 different (amazing) pieces. We talked about the value of art and then we walked around campus until we found Poe’s dorm room.

They were super polite. They answered questions. They took notes. They made me look like a fantastic teacher.

In class tomorrow we will be writing rough drafts of poems and short stories based on the art we saw. I am so excited. I finished my first draft of a poem this evening and that makes me feel fancy.

#education #writers eye #uva #I am a poet and I didnt even know it