 My name is Shelby and I am a poetry teaching artist and I'm really excited because if you're watching this video it probably means that you want to sit down to write and if you don't want to sit down to write maybe try anyway. You know you're here you're watching it you may as well and in my opinion and I think it's been scientifically proven free writing is actually a form of magic so if you want to engage in some magic today that would be pretty cool and the only thing that you need for this activity is something to write with pen pencil whatever something to write on paper or notebook and because our theme today is going to be the theme of remember we're going to be thinking about our past selves and we're going to be writing some reminders that we can read whenever we're feeling sad or not grounded so if you can you could right now go and grab a picture or a photo of yourself when you were a little younger than you are now it could be like one year ago it could be five years ago it could be you as a little baby whatever and if you don't have a picture you could maybe draw one or just think in your mind of what you were like when you were a little bit younger okay let's do our warm up so get out that pen and pencil and I'm just going to ask you a series of questions and I just want you to write the answer to that question whatever comes to your brain first the only rules here are don't judge yourself and just keep writing keep your pen or pencil moving I'm not judging you no one's judging you you don't have to share this if you don't want to so just be free with it see what comes to your minds all right let's jump in the first question that I want you to answer on your page is when and where were you born and if you don't know just make it up anything can happen in a poem you could say you were born on the moon but maybe you do actually know you were born so you can write that when and where do you know what month you were born in what season all right go ahead and start writing next question who is someone who takes care of you someone in your family a really good friend a pet just list out one person or multiple people or animals that take care of you are some plants that you love what kind of plants do you love trees flowers anything you can think of even if you don't know its name just describe it or say where you've seen it like you know that flower that I always pass and smell on my way to the bus stop go for it all right as you keep writing I want you to answer the question what are some animals you love these could be wild animals that you've never met you've only you know seen on tv or on youtube or it could be an animal that you know really well like a bird that you always see or your dog or your cat or your pet iguana or your chickens or whoever what animals do you love is your favorite weather that's your next one what's your favorite weather it can be really specific like two weather smush together what kind of weather do you love keep writing we've got another line coming next question for you what is one of your favorite memories just think about a day or a time in your life that you really remember with a lot of love okay last line of our warm up what is something you wish everyone knew to be true and what I mean by that is what's something that you feel is really true in your heart that you wish everyone on the earth knew was true like love is valuable or trees are our friends or every person is different what's something you know to be true write that down you're warmed up you got some ideas on the page now to get even more inspired we are going to turn to a poem by the poet joy hard joe who is actually our us poet laureate which means she's a really good poet and everybody knows it i am going to read joy hard joe's poem which is called remember remember the sky that you were born under know each of the stars stories remember the moon know who she is remember the sun's birth at dawn that it is the strongest point of time remember sundown and the giving away tonight remember your birth how your mother struggled to give you form and breath you are evidence of her life and her mothers and hers remember your father he is also he is your life also remember the earth who's skin you are red earth black earth yellow earth white earth brown earth we are earth remember the plants trees animal life who all have their tribes their families their histories too talk to them listen to them they are alive poems remember the wind remember her voice she knows the origin of this universe remember you are all people and all people are you remember you are this universe and this universe is you remember all is in motion is growing is you remember language comes from this remember the dance languages that life is remember now that we've got some inspiration from joy hard joe we're going to write our own remember poems using all those ideas that you already brainstormed in your warm up so for the first line of your remember poem i want you to write remember the sky in dot dot dot you could say remember the sky on the day you were born remember the sky in july remember the sky when it's raining just think about the sky what comes to your brain write it down it doesn't matter if it makes sense just keep writing mine doesn't make any sense it's great okay next line remember your birth something about your birth and if you don't know anything just make something up remember your birth on the moon with all of the stars singing that could happen if you say it happened it happened let's keep going remember how your blink took care of you think of someone that takes care of you maybe it's a parent but maybe it's someone else in your family and how did they take care of you what did they do they get to the animals think about some of those animals that you listed in the warm up and write remember the remember the dogs remember the toucan remember the birds remember the crows going home to roost whoever it was that you wrote about in that animal section just list some of those out keep listing you've got more lines coming to you as you keep writing want you to complete this sentence remember how the light looks at did you ever woken up really early and seen how the light looks at sunrise remember how the light looks in the afternoon think about the light anytime you've seen light maybe remember how the light looks in the living room go with it you feel when it is and here's where I want you to put in your favorite weather remember how you feel when it is raining and sunny at the same time or snowing or fall or what was that weather season that you thought about next line here's where I want you to include that favorite memory remember that day at the fair remember when you almost lost your balloon but you grabbed it right before it went up to the sky whatever that favorite memory was write that down as a reminder now this is your last line this is where I'm going to ask you to put in that truth that thing you want everyone to know and you can write it like this remember this truth everyone is whole or respect the trees whatever that true thing was for you write it at the end of your poem right now go for it finish up that last thought good job you did it you created a sort of a talisman for yourself and a talisman is a special thing that people hold on to when they need a reminder of how it feels to be grounded and that's what this poem can be it can be that reminder to yourself and to anyone who reads it and I really wish I could read what you wrote but since I'm like trapped inside this video I can't hear what you wrote but I can share with you what I wrote remember the sky when it's ripe as a pair as an apple bud remember your birth where you turned blue first remember how your sister mothered you making you as soft as a lion cub remember the crows the velvet dog and her lazy belly remember how the light made a room of sun and the egg yolks remember how you feel when the salmon berries flower promising fruit remember when the moon was a lollipop and she laughed remember that language was my ancestors homeland so that's what I wrote I really hope that you get to share what you wrote with somebody somebody needs to read what you wrote maybe it's just you reading it out loud yourself maybe it's you reading it to a friend a family member to your dog whoever um thank you so much for writing today my name's Shelby and I'm just so glad that I got to be connected with you as you created your own remember palm have a good day