By Zoë Mills
The most beautiful tree I ever seen
went way, way up and touched heaven.
It poked holes in the sun and all the yellow came spilling out
and landed splat in my eye.
I seen big black splotches with little silver linings
and a dozen buzzing dots.
I seen it through the window.
I wash the dishes and I see the yard with the hills and the fence and the tree.
And I see the pots and pans and knives.
And all the bubbles in the sink.
I see the counter with the mail and the keys and the mitts.
I see so many dirty dish towels, and cat food on the floor.
I hate that cat so much I could break my teeth.
But I am happy when I see that beautiful tree.
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This poem is brought to you in part by predictive type, and viewers like you.
The first line was created using only words that the keyboard in my notes app suggested to me. Once those words formed a coherent idea, I wrote them down and tried to build something with it: a sentence or a scene, anything, really.
Maybe I’m just cuckoo for composition notebooks, but I think little writing exercises like this are super neat and cool.
Try it out the next time you’re bogged down with writer’s block.