How to Make a Map
Inklings First Friday Prompt Response
Happy Friday, poets. Thank you, Ruth, at: There is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town, for hosting our round-up this weekend.
This is the sweet seventh Friday of summer…which means I will report to work on Monday for the new school year.
Molly served up an August prompt:
How to Make a Map
Begin here--
this still place
on our spinning globe.
Place a pencil
on
your paper.
Imagine where you will go.
A river?
Jungle?
Outer space?
Home of someone who
puts a smile on your face?
Next, let your brain move muscles
that move the pencil along a path
a road
a line toward where you want to go.
Teach your pencil twists and turns and mountains--
lakes, streams
deserts or oceans…
maybe even layers of atmosphere to sail
where you want to go.
Your mind’s eye pioneers a trail,
you’re the first map maker from here to
where you will go.
Grab a marker, crayon or paint to make marks and places
to help a traveler see their way; street name,
bridge,
railroad track,
fence, field, launchpad, skyscraper, smokestack.
All these lines and colorful signs help us know where…
to follow, our friend, you who made a map
of where we can go
together.
Linda M. 8/7/26
Check out how other Inklings answered the challenge:
Mary Lee Hahn @ A(nother) Year of Reading
Catherine Flynn @ Reading to the Core
Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone
Margaret Simon @ Reflections on the Teche
Heidi Mordhorst @ my juicy little universe
Oh! I love "how to" poems and the form is a great fit for this challenge! The contrast of the still and the spinning in your first stanza really pulled me in. Your poem also feels quite apropos as you're on the brink of mapping out a new school year. I hope it's all smooth sailing!
What a delightful mapmaking poem and challenge to make one's own map. Maybe you'll share this with students. Have a great new school year, building relationships and maps for where to go together.