Khari Johnson Brownie October 23, 2008

In this memory you’re on my back, but now you’re swathed in black and white. Your tiny legs obscure my view, and alter the gelled up image. However, I’m remembering your smile; a flash of awkward, yet sure and confident white that shows that the world indeed has a leash, and that humanity isn’t all that human. What I would do to break that smile out of the glass, to save the small soul from its encasement behind a lifeless and apathetic screen. Into my arms. But I’d have to delve beneath the hospital gown to find the root of your grounding, a fantastic voyage that only a knife could take. I wish I could see you, see you outside of my expectations and false memories. I wish I could see you cuddle your Kayla, who’s just about as big as you.
Sentence 10: Write a sentence in which three or more words alliterate; that is, they begin with the same initial consonant: she has be left, lately, with less and less time to think . . .
Sentence 11: Write a sentence with two commas.
Sentence 12: Write a sentence with a smell and a color in it.
Sentence 13: Write a sentence with a simile (a comparison using like or as).
Sentence 14: Write a sentence that could carry an exclamation point (but do not use the exclamation point).
Sentence 15: Write a sentence to end this portrait that uses the word or words you chose for a title.
Next, read the portrait. Underline sentences in which you discovered new things about this individual or your feelings and attitudes toward him or her.
Now, use this portrait as a starting point for a poem or prose portrait or simply revise what you have. (Be sure to keep a copy of the original, so that you can examine the changes between original and revised piece.) Do anything you need to make this a piece of writing that you like. Choose a new title, use the person’s real name, and so on.