Creative Prompt #2

Image description: Symposium organizer Kianna Middleton’s hand holds open Song for Anninho to pages 36 and 37 where the quotation from today’s prompt is found. The book sits atop a golden mat and the pages are covered with bold, dried purple statice flowers. Photograph by Kianna Middleton.

“That was the question, Almeyda, 
how we could sustain our love
at a time of cruelty.
How we could keep loving
at such a time. How we could
look at each other with tenderness. 
And keep it, even with everything.
It’s hard to keep tenderness
when things all around you are hard. 

A legacy of tenderness. 

Then you’ve lost nothing. 
You remember how to look at 
each other. How to touch.
Tenderness is a deeper thing
than cruelty.” 

–Song for Anninho by Gayl Jones, p. 36

Jones’ Song of Anninho (1981) is resonant in moments like this.  Arguably, we are still in “a time of cruelty” and in dire need for more tenderness and more touch.  How are we practicing tenderness?  How are we able to “keep on loving,” though cruelty makes intimacy difficult?

Take a few moments to meditate on the above excerpt before answering the following question: How do I practice tenderness and how do I maintain love? We encourage you to journal, sketch/draw, or even write a poem in response to Song for Anninho’s call.  

Image description: A close-up of presenter, John Mundell, sitting and holding a copy of Gayl Jones’ Song for Anninho for the camera. John appears here as a man with blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin, wearing headphones and a dark blue shirt. Behind him, a stack of books rises up. It includes Jones' newest book, Palmares. Used with permission.

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