Poets for the Planet warmly invites you to take part in writing an ecopoem by candlelight during Earth Hour (Saturday 25 March, 20.30 – 21.30).
You can either use the prompts below to work with a group of your own poets, or join one of our online workshops which will be running in both GMT and CET time zones.
We’ll be meeting up on Zoom at 20.00 (half an hour before Earth Hour) to share ideas and poetry prompts. Then, at 20.30, we’ll be turning off non-essential lights to show our commitment to the planet, lighting candles, and writing by candlelight for the next hour.
If you plan on running your own candle-writing event on 25 March we’d love to hear about it on Facebook or Twitter.
Hopefully we’ll find words to explore the dark and the silence while pointing towards life.
Workshop times
With Jacqueline Saphra, Saturday 25 March, 20.00 – 20.30 (GMT, in English) Register on eventbrite
With Emma Woodford, Saturday 25 March, 20.00 – 20.30 (CET, in English) Register on eventbrite
With Marielle Matthee, Saturday 25 March, 20.00 – 20.30 (CET, in Dutch) Register on eventbrite
Each half-hour workshop will be followed by an hour of writing by candlelight.
Poetry prompts
1. You could start from a few words about your candle or pen or paper or what you can see (or half-see) around you starting with the phrase “In front of me…”
2. Here are a few prompts about light and darkness:
i. Metaphor: if you were a kind of light what kind of light would you be?
ii. Portrait of myself as a (whatever kind of light you chose for your metaphor).
iii. Write a three-line poem about seeing a light through a window (of house, of boat, of train, of plane etc).
iv. Write a poem in one long stanza that describes changing light when you are outside.
v. Describe Earth Hour darkness and the nocturnal world.
3. For many of us, our love and awe of nature started in childhood. You could write about those first encounters / impressions.
4. Write down a poem consisting of questions that emerge now that you sit in front of candlelight.
5. Write a haiku (short three-line nature poem that aims to capture the smallness of one moment).
6. Write a poem from the perspective of the moon.
7. Describe a living creature using the main smells, sounds, touch, taste and visual impressions that make it come alive.
8. Write a poem with two stanzas: one about your most feared aspect of climate change and one with the most hopeful solution/mitigation.
Further reading
For some examples to get you started, we’ve put together a collection of stimulus poems about dark and light.
Sharing your work
Once you’ve written your poem, we’d love you to share it with us on our Facebook page. You might also consider signing up to the pledge on our home page (the pledge is located at the bottom of the page). This is also a great way to join Poets for the Planet and be involved in future actions.
Running your own workshop
Here is an outline plan if you choose to run your own Candle Write workshop:
1. Ask people to arrive five minutes early to ensure everyone is ready at the allocated start-time.
2. Encourage people to introduce themselves in the chat (or in person if a small group) – where they are, why they are here.
3. Introduce the idea of Earth Hour, using text from sources like WWF.
4. A few people could read out some stimulus poems, maybe screen-sharing.
5. Say that the time is coming to switch off the lights and prepare people using this metaphor exercise: If I were a kind of light (ie sunset, sunrise, table lamp, torch, candle etc), what kind of light would I be? Invite them to share this in the chat.
6. Remind people they can post their poems on the Poets for the Planet Facebook page and drop the link in the chat.
7. Decide if you want to check in after the hour of candle-writing.
Keeping it sustainable
Candles are often made from paraffin, a by-product of crude oil that releases toxic chemicals when burned. If possible, seek out a sustainably produced alternative made from natural ingredients such as coconut wax, rapeseed wax or soy wax, which are much less harmful when burned.