Choose one line from CAConrad’s (soma)tic exercises or poems, or one line from Bhanu Kapil’s “Verge Notes.” Write it down to include in your piece.

First, read these 2 texts:
CAConrad, excerpts from A Beautiful Marsupial Afternoon
Bhanu Kapil, “Verge Notes”

Instructions for the collaborative exercise:
READ ALL THE STEPS before you begin! And please send me a message if you’re confused.

Choose one line from CAConrad’s (soma)tic exercises or poems, or one line from Bhanu Kapil’s “Verge Notes.” Write it down to include in your piece.

Write one instructive/imperative statement that involves an act one could do with their body.

For example, “Smear the banana on your forehead” or “Look directly into the camera” or “Quack excitedly in duck language for the first three hours of your day for three days.”

Since this is an instructive/imperative statement, you’re telling someone to do something.

Take a moment to be aware of your body and how it feels.

Is it relaxed? Tense? Upright? Bent?

If you’re anxious, where and how do you feel that in your body? How does your stomach feel? Your toes?

Try to describe how your body feels right now using as detailed description as possible:
(“My stomach is roiling with ants” or “I’m floating through the house like a balloon losing helium” or “there is a line running from my heels deep into the earth”).

Finish this line from “Verge Notes”– “No, not poems, instead: …”– with a phrase or series of concrete images.
(As an example, look at #2 in “Verge Notes” to see how Bhanu Kapil finishes her line).

State a desire you have, whether it’s impossible or easily resolved (“I want the end of all politicians” or “I want an ice cream sandwich” or “if only my cat and I could carry on long conversations”)

Take some time to make notes about #2-5. Let yourself write freely if other things come to mind.

Use your notes to write a short piece

The piece should be at least 10 lines long.

You can include the different elements (the instructive statement, desire, body feeling, etc.) in any order you wish.

It’s ok if all these elements aren’t clearly recognizable in your final writing—be true to wherever your process takes you.

Don’t worry if your piece doesn’t feel perfect. This is just an experiment!
Use the last line of the most recent post in the discussion as your first line.**

It’s okay if some people end up using the same line if they post around the same time.

** Whoever posts first will use this line as their first line:

reading link Bhanu Kapil, “Verge Notes” : https://readwildness.com/23/kapil-notes

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