Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EST January 10th 2025

31 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we read a poem “Some Things I Like” from Listener by Lemn Sissay, posted below.

Our prompt was: “I like...”

Participants are warmly encouraged to share what you wrote below (“Leave a Reply”), to keep the conversation going here, bearing in mind that the blog of course is a public space where confidentiality is not assured.

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Please join us for our next session Friday January 17th at 12pm EST, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions.

Some Things I Like from Listener by Lemn Sissay

I like wrecks, I like ex-junkies,
I like flunks and ex-flunkies,
I like the way the career-less career,
I like flat beer,
I like people who tell half stories and forget the rest,
I like people who make doodles in important written tests,
I like being late. I like fate. I like the way teeth grate,
I like laceless shoes cordless blues,
I like the one-bar blues,
I like buttonless coats and leaky boats,
I like rubbish tips and bitten lips,
I like yesterday’s toast,
I like cold tea, I like reality,
I like ashtrays, I write and like crap plays.

I like curtains that don’t quite shut,
I like bread knives that don’t quite cut,
I like rips in blue jeans,
I like people who can’t say what they mean,
I like spiders with no legs, pencils with no lead,
Ants with no heads, worms that are half dead.
I like holes, I like coffee cold. I like creases in neat folds.
I like signs that just don’t know where they’re going,
I like angry poems,
I like the way you can’t pin down the sea.
See.

Credit: from Listener by Lemn Sissay.

31 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EST January 10th 2025”

  1. inmostoutmost's avatar inmostoutmost

    Hi everyone. Here is my bit of writing. When I first heard the poem, I was reminded of how surprised my friend was when I told her that I liked soup so hot that it’s liable to burn my mouth.

    I like burnt rice, burnt tongues,

    I like the heart-pounding moment before sharing an in sight.

    See, this world looks different from the one you inhabit.

    Let’s meet clumsily in the middle.

    Like

    Reply
  2. Ella Mae Masamayor's avatar Ella Mae Masamayor

    Hi! I’d like to share the prompt I wrote for the session

    I like sleepless nights
    I like restless days
    I like friends who pick up anyway
    I like uncontrollable sobs
    I like quiet tears
    I like friends I haven’t seen in years.

    (Before this session, I came from a dinner with high school friends, and I realize how time and distance and life in general just pull you apart—how so much can happen in your life that they know nothing of. But thankfully, there’s a string that draws you back to each other).

    Like

    Reply
    • al3793's avatar al3793

      Ella, there is such a nice flow to the lines of your speaker. I hear a love for genuine friends, ones that despite the distance of miles and time remain connected to our hearts and in our hearts we experience those uncontrollable sobs and quiet tears.

      I was with a 92 year old friend today that can’t speak when he wants to say something about his wife of nearly 70 years and I tell him, you need to have that cry, let those sobs come, but he hasn’t been able to do it yet.

      I’m off to call another 90 year old friend who I haven’t heard from in a few months.

      Thank, Ella,

      Andre

      Like

      Reply
      • al3793's avatar al3793

        PS: While I got used to sleepless nights, many on call or in labor hall, I never got to like them. The trade-off was that some very good things happened some of those nights.

        Like

    • michele348's avatar michele348

      Ella, the friendships despite time and distance wishing to weaken them, endure. The ability to express your emotions, be it joy or sadness, is vitally important. It’s what makes us part of the living.

      Like

      Reply
  3. al3793's avatar al3793

    I like the new day

    I like the cold crispness of winter mornings

    I like the feel of the frosty sting on my cheeks

    I like how the bite alerts my senses, preparing me for the day.

    I like the solitary notes of the cardinal’s song and

    the “witchedy, witchedy, witch” of the wren.

    I love those winter solos reminding me of the richness of life

    driven by hearts beating at the speed of sound.

    I like writing poetry, despite the objection of others

    I like not worrying if anyone cares

    It is the writing that I like

    I like what I do

    I like the blessing of bringing a face or mercy and healing

    to the face of one who suffers and truly seeing that face.

    Like

    Reply
    • michele348's avatar michele348

      I “like” the fact that you absorb the sights and sounds and struggles of those around you, allowing those individuals to find comfort and mercy in your words and actions. A gaze of mercy and compassion does more for healing than a vacant stare, one barren of feeling.

      To write, be it a poem or other form, is a means of sharing what lies within with the heart and mind of another. What truly matters is that the poet experiences a sense of fulfillment, satisfying the yearning that lies within.

      Like

      Reply
    • Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

      Andre-I would like to know who objected to your writing poetry— I’m glad you still right because it gives you so much joy and us too.

      Like

      Reply
      • al3793's avatar al3793

        Elizabeth, the objections are usually legitimate – always from publishers. The writing is such a source of joy, and it has gotten better over the almost 10 years I have been at it. Thank you. Andre

        Like

      • Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

        Like beauty being in the eye of the beholder, I believe poetry is in the eye of the beholder. Just because the publishers don’t like it doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience who will adore it. The most important thing you wrote here is that writing is a source of joy for you🙂—May it continue!

        Like

  4. michele348's avatar michele348

    I like~~~

    I like the big grins on my 6-year-old granddaughter’s face
    and the fierce hugs she gives me around my neck…
    you see, she has Down syndrome and she cannot speak clearly
    or move about easily, but she sure makes me incredibly proud
    to be her grandma!

    I enjoy the fact that two strangers can meet at the market
    and strike up a lively conversation about
    how bad the weather is and how they yearn for
    spring to arrive.

    I like the good Samaritan who pulled over to the
    side of the road to help me with an “evil” flat tire
    that had left me stranded on the side of a country road.

    I like seeing the trail of zig-zag footprints in a fresh layer
    of virgin snow, made by gray squirrels, cardinals, chick-a-dees,
    and titmice running about in the post-dawn hours, searching for
    birdseed that has fallen from the hanging bird feeder above them.

    I like the act of being… to be able to see and hear all the miracles of life
    that keep me going from one day to the next.

    These “little” things are the “big” things that continue to inspire me.

    Like

    Reply
  5. Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

    I like to doodle,

    and a career-less career,

    yesterday‘s toast,

    and curtains drawn near.

    I like rips in my jeans,

    and coffee that’s cold,

    also angry poems,

    because they’re so bold.

    I like the ocean,

    and also the sea,

    Now you know a little glimmer

    more about me.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • al3793's avatar al3793

      Elizabeth, I like your list, but not cold coffee. The sounds of your likes are strong – well chosen words and then you soften the “glimmer of me.” I also like that your speaker infused some rhymes, something that I almost never try.

      Like

      Reply
      • Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

        Thank you Andre. The strong bold preferences are true to my heart and the choice of the word glimmer was very intentional because of its magical softness and small amount. Sometimes we think we know someone because we know certain facts about them, but it’s only a “glimmer “of their personalities. Thanks for paying such great attention to my words.

        Like

  7. reneedaniels22's avatar reneedaniels22

    I like liking things. So much better than not. Things to like appear unexpectedly in the way a butterfly lands on your arm or an extra bag of Cheezits falls from the vending machine. One of my favorites is being greeted by a human voice when you call customer service rather than a list of numbers to press. Or hearing from someone you thought had forgotten all about you.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • michele348's avatar michele348

      Renee, life is so much better when we try to maintain a positive attitude. The Universe surprisingly rewards us with gifts at times. This Saturday, we received additional snowfall overnight, and our snowblower decided not to start up. I looked out the window, and our wonderful neighbor was out there using his machine to clear our driveway. I am so grateful for those kind souls that are part of our lives.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
    • al3793's avatar al3793

      Renee, “being greeted by a human voice …rather than a list of numbers to press.” It is ironic that in health “care” we are electronically routed around and digitized, neglecting the influence of a welcoming voice. Juxtaposing that thought with “hearing from someone your thought has forgotten all about you,” ices the cake. Andre

      Like

      Reply

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