Entering the Woods at Dusk by Norbert Krapf I love coming into the woods at dusk when darkness is about to settle and I want to keep going deeper inside where the water takes on depth. I want to let myself go down as far as I can and merge with the fish and other…
Author: Liza Hyatt
Licensed Mental Health Counselor,
Board Certified Art Therapist with
over twenty years experience;
Adjunct professor at St. Mary of the Woods College;
author of Art of the Earth:Ancient Art for a Green Future
Writing Prompt #10: Eco-Consciousness
Prompt: Eco-philosopher David Abrams writes, “A world made of story is an earth permeated by dreams, a terrain filled with imagination.” Maine poet Gary Lawless asks, “When the animals come to us asking for our help, will we know what they are saying? When the planet herself sings to us in our dreams, will we…
Writing Prompt #9: A Child’s Wonder
Prompt: Naturalist Rachel Carson writes, “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder… he needs companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.” While visiting the park with children (or with your memories of being…
Writing Prompt # 8 Example
At the Fort by Mary Sexson When I rode through here years ago – in shape, strong, suited to the bike I was so proud of, I’d come from my house, miles away, but as I circled the still lake, stopped and parked my bike near the dock, I had no thought of anything but…
Writing Prompt #8: Relationship to Place
Prompt: The more time we spend in a place, seeking to know it and be present in within it, the more fully connect to the world we become. Choose a park location that you will visit often with your journal. Perhaps you will sit near Fall Creek once a week for three months. Or perhaps…
Writing Prompt #7 Examples
This Moment: Our Present by Lylanne Musselman A stunning summer evening, so pleasant after the humid horrors of our heartland’s “feels like” 100° days. Here I sit, content, on a pier overlooking Fort Ben’s Duck Pond with my friend, Mary, who shares with me, her day: from riding high with her grandson – his newfound biking…
Writing Prompt #7: Family and Friends
Prompt: The park visits you share with others are full of moments worth writing about. Perhaps you came to the park for a picnic, or to sled, fly kites, or take the new puppy on a walk. Perhaps you’re here on a first date, or to celebrate an anniversary, or show the kids how to…
Writing Prompt # 6 Examples
A Feeling Which Needs Sun and Rain to Grow by Liza Hyatt Today the wind has been pushing clouds through the sky like questions pushed into the body. Rain came and went. Starlings gathered, covering the grass with black bodies, prisming the sun. Just now, rain came again. Suddenly, sunlight is throwing spears through every…
Writing Prompt #6: World Words
Prompt: Look for animal tracks, patterns in wood and rock, the flight of migrating geese, and imagine what special messages they might offer if you could decipher their secret language written from world to you. For example: In her story “Texts,” Ursula LeGuin writes, “…these foam words lying on the brown sand now had been…
Writing Prompt #5 Examples
Down by the Creek by Anne Murphy I love an August evening in Indiana, especially down by a sunlit creek. The mosquitoes are big, but spray keeps them mostly at bay. The breeze picks up as birds sing their young to sleep and crickets say their vespers. The ripples whisper their good night as they…
Writing Prompt #5: Felt Experience
Prompt: Nature Poet Mary Oliver carries a small memo-pad in her back pocket in which she records the “felt experience” of her time outdoors, writing down only what her senses perceive, without analysis, explanation, or abstract thinking. For example, on a bright autumn day, Oliver jotted down, “Look, the trees are turning into pillars of…
Writing Prompt #4 Examples
Ode to My Running Shoes by Liza Hyatt Oh, Saucony Grid Cohesion running shoes purchased in spring years ago, when new, and full of cushion, you helped me conquer the 13.1 miles of May’s mini-marathon, circling the track where Andretti once raced. Then you settled in, for the long haul, logging hundreds of miles on…
Fort Ben Writers 