Thinking poetically is an excellent start to the day.  Place a book of poetry by your bedside so that when you awake you can begin each day by reading and reflecting on a poem.  If you prefer, just glance out the window and let your imagination poetically play with the morning sun.

 

Each morning the sun rises in the east, no matter where on Earth you are.  Whether you observe it or ignore it, feel warm or cold, the sun is always there.  Does the sun just sit around shining for us all day, or does it have something else to do?

 

Secrets of the Sun

 

Read the secrets of the sun as it looks down on our solar system day after day. It looks upon many planets, moons and other stars.  Do you think it has a favourite planet?  Imagine what the sun thinks about each of the planets, and describe it as if it were a child, a flower, or in some other metaphorical way.

 

Planet

Sun’s feelings towards its planets

* Mercury

* My first born and closest child.  He has a bad temper, but is the most loyal of all my kids.

* Venus

*

* Earth

*

* Mars

*

* Jupiter

*

* Saturn

* The sweetest and shyest flower in the family.  She is mysterious, always dreaming of beautiful colours.

* Uranus

*

* Pluto

*

 

Power of the Sun

 

Imagine how the sun views its own power.  Consider how the sun sees its own colours and feels its own heat.  Does the sun need to exercise to keep strong and healthy?  Like all of us, the sun has many duties and responsibilities to do each day.  Make a list of the sun’s itinerary as you imagine it.

 

Sun’s Schedule

Symbolic Meaning

1.  Put more wood on the fire

1.

2.

2.

3. Adjust the gears to keep rotating

3. Must take good care of our own health.

4.

4.

5. Increase temperature for summer on Mercury

5.

6.

6.

7. Decrease gravity to let Pluto have freedom

7.

8. Go to solar officer’s meeting

8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Symbols may appear in your description of the sun’s feelings and actions.  While writing about the sun, you may unconsciously or accidentally also be describing your own feelings and hidden emotions.  Review your responses to the above exercises and identify which descriptions may have symbolic meaning. 

 

Sunrise during Sunset

 

Watch the sun set and describe every detail of the changing sky.  Write your description in the left column.  Imagine somebody on the other side of the world experiencing the sun rising at the very same moment.  In the right column, write a poem from the other person's perspective.  This gives practice in seeing more than one perspective at the same time.                                   

                                   

Here it is Dawn

Here it is Dusk

1. The sun whispers its first breath of pink

1. The eye of the sun is red and weary

2.

2. A long day of fire and weight

3. The glow rises before its smile is seen

3.

4.

4.

5. Clouds scatter inspired, in awe

5.

6.

6. Gravity pulls the sun darkly beneath the horizon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compare the two perspectives.  You may choose to develop the two perspectives into two parts of a single poem, into a narrative poem, or into a dialogue between two voices.

 

Writing your final Poem

 

With your imagination and visualization warmed up, you are prepared to complete your poem.  Write a poem about the sun itself, about life on earth, or about your own life.  By exercising various perspectives, you should be able to see your own world in a new perspective.