Today's poem also grew from the fact that I do love folding paper. Our dining room windows are still covered with white folded snowflake-stars, and I am slowly interspersing hearts amongst them. Writing about hearts and folding heart-shaped valentines got me thinking about how many people I love who are now far away from me, either by location or by death.
Have you ever written a poem by making art first? Try folding a few hearts by following the directions below, either the written or YouTube instructions. As you fold heart after heart, as this folding comes easier and easier to you, pay attention to whose faces appear in your own heart, which memories rise for you. For me, today, I am thinking about friends who once lived near to me but now live in new places, friends I would love to invite for a cup of cocoa and a long walk, friends who I now only see sometimes.
You might choose to make a valentine or two with your folded hearts and/or your poem(s). Remember this: handmade gifts of art and writing are meaningful and cannot be purchased. Such gifts are important gifts indeed.
And if you do write about one person...strive to use specific examples and stories as you do so. I began by writing that I remembered the things you always do and games we played together but then realized how I could paint more realistic and more specific story-pictures with a snorty laugh and a dressed up kitty and summer games of hide-and-go-seek.
Origami Heart (Folding Instructions) by EzOrigami
xo,
Amy
