MPM 23 Retrospective - Reflection on Process: "Remember Possible"

For Mindful Poetry Moments 2023, weaver and writer (and former Well Associate Director) Rowe Schnure led a special, in-person, writing and weaving event earlier in the year. Read Rowe's reflections on the experience below!

In April, during National Poetry Month, I had the opportunity to facilitate a two-part weaving and poetry workshop with The Well, producing a community-made weaving for the it’s space. This event was part of The Well’s program Mindful Poetry Moments, which pairs poetry, mindfulness and writing prompts. This year the poems were curated by Rimel Kamran (Cincinnati Youth Poet Laureate) and Yalie Saweda Kamara (Cincinnati Poet Laureate). 

At the beginning of every weaving there is a consideration of material for warp and weft. For this project I was also considering the metaphorical implications of the material as well. As a refresher, the warp is the structure of the weaving and it must be under the right amount of tension for the weaving to be created. The weft is the material put in by the weaver from right to left intersecting with the warp, thus creating the weaving. The weft must be flexible but also sturdy enough to hold the pattern. 

In an organization like The Well, the structure comes from its staff and board members—they hold the vision, mission, values and every-day activities of the organization. They are the warp. 

Beginning a weaving, one must prepare the warp. And so I began with the staff and board members of The Well. On a Friday afternoon we gathered in a circle to consider and respond to the Mindful Poetry Selection, “Remember,” by Joy Harjo. Some prompts included questions like: 

“What do you want people to remember when they are participating in a program of The Well’s?”

“What support do you want to provide for those interacting with The Well?” 

They each shared their writings and chose one to two lines to write onto a piece of ribbon that would become the warp of the project. Some lines included: “Remember what it felt like to exhale”; “Celebrate your freedom and special place in this world”; “Remember connection”; and more. 

A weaving can’t be made without its weft: the active thread moving back and forth between the pre-laid warp. In this case, the participants of The Well—those who move in and out of their programs and offerings to create the fuller picture—represent the weft. On a Sunday afternoon, 12 participants and myself gathered in a circle to consider the poem, “Possible,” by Carlina Duan. The questions we pondered on as a group were: 

“What makes you feel possible?”

“And/or when was a time that you felt possible?” 

Each person shared their poems and prose before choosing one to two lines to fit on a ribbon to be their weft. Phrases were shared such as, “the vocabulary of possibility”; “what makes me possible is all of my mistakes”; “the green world makes me possible”; and more. 

Then, one by one, participants got a turn to share their line and weave it into the warps created by the board members. Soon we could all see how the words were becoming obscured through the intersection of text and noticed a new poem was beginning to emerge. As our time came to a close, participants offered their feedback of feeling connected, grateful and inspired by this new process of weaving together words as a community. 

After the two sessions, I transcribed the poem that was made through weaving into a structured form that can be shared alongside the physical object. It now lives on in The Well’s event space to hold that moment of connection and inspire new opportunities for folks to Remember Possible. 

You can find Rowe's work and writing here. To learn more information about Mindful Poetry Moments, click here. If you're interested in signing up for our MPM 2024 Virtual Gatherings, check our events here!