“You do not have to be what you are not,” poet Dixie Lubin writes in this lively and evocative collection of poems from the Second Sunday Goes Fourth Writing Group. Readers will find ample inspiration and guidance on the everyday and extraordinary, such as how to “Simply step up on the pliant air/ And keep climbing” in Katherine Greene’s ,“Flying In Dreams,” what makes the best chocolate cake, and ways to foster greater insight on everything from insomnia to aging to spring fever. This book also shares the sparks of many innovative writing prompts that readers will—and should—be compelled to try themselves. Altogether, these poems remind us, as Lubin writes, to “sing/ your own song. Listen. Give thanks./ Walk into the future with your arms/ wide open, your mind wide open.”
~ Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, 2009-13 Kansas Poet Laureate, author of Miriam’s Well
This collection of unedited poems inspired by prompts and written in ten to fifteen minutes represents many pleasant Sunday afternoons at the Second Sunday Goes Fourth writing group. Iris Craver, the founder of the group, was leading a poetry writing group for inmates at the Douglas County Jail, and she thought it would be fun to also have a community writing group. We meet on the second and fourth Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m., thus the name Second Sunday Goes Fourth. There are usually 6 to 10 writers around the table.
Our rules are simple. No self-deprecation is allowed. We don’t critique others’ writings. Appreciation and enthusiasm are encouraged. We keep a bowl full of writing prompts to which we all contribute. When the pens are laid down we read around the table. Reading is always optional. One of our great pleasures is listening to what each of us has written and to see how our approaches are similar or different. There are always poems that are breathtaking in each round.
We hope you enjoy these poems and try your hand at writing from the prompts. You can use the prompts provided, or even pull a line from any of the poems to get you started in a flash! If any reader is interested in starting a community writing group, let us know by contacting the publisher. Have fun!
Second Sunday Goes Fourth