An invitation to write a group poem today

Poems for Palestine.

This week, I shared a group poem which was created in a matter of minutes by participants in an online workshop. It was a celebrating the culture and ecology of wetlands …. it gave rise to this conversation between me and the poet Chrissy Banks in the Substack comments:

Chrissy: “That's an incredible group poem. It seems so coherent and the imperatives starting each sentence give it the sense of being one certain, purposeful, guiding voice”.

Clare: “I really enjoy working online as it opens up the possibility of this sort of collaborative writing. All it takes is the imperitive, or a repeated phrase, to create what can feel like a coherent, living, breathing poem which writes itself as you watch. It's quite magical.”

This afternoon, I’m reading at a local fundraiser for Palestine … and as it seems like entirely the wrong event for ego, and exactly the right place to build a collective voice, I want to share some work by other poets, including Naomi Shihab Nye’s Gate 4, which ends with the line: Not everything is lost.

Even - or especially - as we protest against the genocide and atrocities taking place in plain sight, it seems crucial to remember this. I’m going to invite everyone at the event to help construct a poem to take away with them - and I’d like you to take part too. Please would you post in Comments any reason why “Not everything is lost”. Give me your examples of kindness, solidarity, hope, change, resistance or healing. Give me the things which sustain you, and which help you to believe in a shared world.

I’ll share the result in the coming days.

Thank you so much. And if you’re in the vicinity of the Calder Valley - come join us. there will be music, cake, and a live link with friends in Bethlehem. Here’s your link for tickets: Songs for the Grieving, Poems for Palestine