Not Waving but Drowning
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
—Stevie Smith, 1957
Write about your history with a type of movement or action, starting with the literal. If you have ever had a baby in your life, you might think about bouncing; if you dance (or have never danced) perhaps it’s bending. As you describe your chosen movement or action and its presence in your life, what you have done with it or what it did with you, perhaps you’ll find yourself examining the movement or action as a concept, too. Think about how an action word like holding might lead one person to think of holding in, another of holding on, another of holding back, another of holding off, etc.
If drowning can look like waving, what else is it possible to see?
Here are some movements / actions to consider:
kicking
carrying
lifting
hinging
hitting
pushing
spinning
pulling
strumming
bouncing
holding
waving
stroking
bending
swinging
wiping
waving
swiping
catching
reaching
grabbing
grasping
hanging
loading
dragging
You might need to think about this one! Fun. Let the idea of a concept of movement / action sit in your brain for a while. Questions left to burn make a hole in the pit of reality for something unexpected to come through.