Our Creative Playground makes poetry
An experiential blog by Aurelie Harp & Marian Rich
Read, feel, listen, dance… and come create with us.
Next playground: May 2nd from 6.30-8.00pm on zoom. Register here.
Every first Thursday of the month, with anticipation and wonder, we open our Creative Playground. April is Poetry Month.
Who will show up? How will they show up? How are we, Marian and Aurelie? Beautiful to collaborate, play, design together. Each brings such sweetness.
Stirred up emotionally as we write. Such love for all, with a special tenderness for our monthly creators.
We started the Creative Playground in 2022 with a collective intent: that exploring creativity together is therapeutic. Close to two years… Making a discovery together… Playground after playground…
Creativity is therapeutic.
We create our ensemble, a creative ensemble, a performing ensemble, we collectively create. Coming together with our day, our emotions, and our lives. We begin … What is your emotional weather report?
An ensemble of emotions, Storms, fog, sunshine, so playful and tender. Tenderness is impactful for us all living in a world with so much violence - large and small. Now we turn things over to Elen to explore and experiment with poetry…The nervous anticipation she shared before the Playground is slowly transformed into curiosity and wonder.
Will these exercises I made up work?
〰️
Will these exercises I made up work? 〰️
M' ca crê vivê asin
Sen sentib li ma min
Ês perguntam que c'um tem
M' respondês cum suspire
M' passá poc temp ta
parsabe que era bo
Um razao pam surri
Ta t'chga dia d'voltá
Dam bo, ca crê fcá mi só
Dam bo, m' crêb li ma mi
Dam bo, ca crê fcá mi só
Dam bo, m' crêb li ma mi
Mysterious language, how it comes into being. Into our being together?
Not knowing, we jump into this beautiful pool of water. No one will let the other drown. We swim in our collective creativity. Feeling the tenderness of us. In silence.
Elen’s eyes are smiling. Proud and amazed. We sit in silence, writing, frowning our eyes, smiling and writing more. The minute is over and by magic, we all have a poem to read.
How exquisite to look at each other and wait. These delicious anxious seconds of expectation and possibility.
And here we go, one by one, sharing our poems: In English, Portuguese, Spanish, French and Romansh…
Our ensemble’s eyes are filled with joy. We hear languages other than English delivered in no order … Messy.
We are bathing in languages that we don’t speak or understand. And yet so much meaning. We discover the mysterious words Dam Bo is a song!
And more poetry…
Chair de poule sensuelle,
Miel coulant de la vie
Déambulant de beauté
Interrompant la tristesse
Réchauffant le coeur
Et les pensées amères
Delicate Substance de tendresse
Délice des sens dans l'âtre du ventre,
De la poitrine, du coeur, des reins
Flottant et enrobant
Elen paints a watercolor.
And here we go once again poeting together.
New participants share how they feel.
“Grateful to leave the day behind.”
“It’s weird, I felt present and then tried to make it go into a box I know and I could not.”
We create our final poem collectively.
A pirouette in pink,
Unfurling since the dawn of time,
A garden on canvas,
Shower of colors, shapes, love, and caring as we all swirl in the delightful world of creativity and not knowingness of life.
Fully immersed in the immensity of our creative possibilities in poetry,
The necessary feeling to feel comfortable,
My soul wants more of this, reaffirming the beauty and power of creativity,
Creating is LIFE,
Our beating hearts in bloom,
I re-discovered: how much other's experiences and stories enchant me, that I can do new things even if I am scared; That good comes out of good.
Grateful and full of joy,
Smoothly flowing with sounds and colors of warmth,
Music and love have the power to heal.
Giving to each other how we feel, who we are. Transformed by the power of our collective poetic creativity.
We dance out with joy!
Creativity is therapeutic.
Thank you Elen, Erica, Tilla, Simone, Ava, Rachelle and Gayle.
With love and development,
Aurelie and Marian
