This water cycle is a collective work by a group of auspicious poets who pilgrimaged to Antelope Island on 3/10/24. Gathered and distilled by nan seymour

Come back to me, your body, and be holy.
Writing to you feels like a prayer.

Writing to you feels like a prayer.
The secret of my presence; you within me.

You within me; the secret of my presence,
a riot of abundance, a mother’s rage.

A riot of abundance, a mother’s rage,
whispering your true names in salty songs.

Whispering your true names in salty songs,
I wear your story like a second skin.

I wear your story like a second skin.
We’re one flesh combined in each other, imbued.

One flesh combined in each other, imbued.
Freezing, rapid waltz, in the valley.

Freeing rapid waltz in the valley—
Come back to me, your body, and be holy.

~

I know nothing but change.
I need you. The birds watch. The bison alert.

I need you. The birds watch the bison, alert.
Fiercely, I love you anyway.

Fiercely, I love you. Anyway,
this is a homecoming. The meadowlark sings

this is a homecoming. The meadowlark sings
seek beings that make you feel light and full.

Seek beings that make you feel. Light and full,
we had never seen mountains, yet we believed.

We had never seen mountains, yet we believed
surfacing, without recall, we’d be held.

Surfacing, without recall, we’ve been held.
Silent whistler, weaving desires, you clothe your body .

Silent whistler, weaving desires, you clothe your body.
What you need to do now, dear one, is sing back.

What you need now, dear one, is to sing back,
knowing there is nothing but change.

                         ~

What is a Water Cycle?

A water cycle is a formal collective poem with a shape inspired by the poet Jericho Brown’s duplex.

Like the duplex, the water cycle is organized in a series of couplets with repeating lines. The second line of the first couplet becomes the first line of the next. The second line of the second couplet repeats as the first of the third, and so on. ( See example above.) Variations in repeating lines may exist, but they are intentionally slight. The poem begins and ends with the same line. Unlike the duplex, water cycles are written collectively and thus vary in their number of couplets in order to match the number of writers in any given circle.

Water cycles have emerged from a generative community writing practice called River Writing, especially from groups of River Writers who have devoted their practice to witnessing specific bodies of water. The majority of existing water cycles have been born of folks putting pen to paper along the banks of the Colorado River Basin, the shores of Great Salt Lake, and her tributaries.

Water cycles are created in conversation with water and offered back to the water in the spirit of reverence, relational repair, and reciprocity.

How to Create a Water Cycle:

1. Begin with a timed writing session devoted to a specific water body.
2. When finished, participants are asked to review their own writing to find a line or phrase they would like to bring forward. The line does not need to be a complete sentence.
3. The line will ultimately need to become 9-11 syllables in length. Read several example lines aloud to help writers hear the length of a 9-11 syllable line. Most folks do not habitually count syllables and may feel intimidated, so the facilitator will need to help keep this part playful and light-hearted. Lines can be shortened later.
4. Time the phrase-finding activity for 3-5 minutes. Those that finish quickly can be invited to select an alternative phrase as well. However, it is not helpful to have more than two lines per person and one is absolutely enough.
5. Participants rewrite the phrase in their notebook. Check syllable count. Shorten if necessary by eliminating a phrase, dropping articles, and/or adjectives.
6. The facilitator takes on the role of composer and asks who has a line that could start a conversation? Whoever speaks is offering the first line which the composer records in their own notebook.
7. The composer then asks the group: Who has a line that speaks with this one? Could be in agreement, maybe in contrast…The composer continues inviting and recording until every voice in the room is included.
8. After the last new line is written, the composer writes the opening line down at the end. The rough draft of the poem in now complete.
9. The composer announces the new work and dedicates it to the water. They read it aloud in repeating line form, making sure to end with the first line.
10. The composer takes the draft home to polish it with the following guidelines in mind:
    1. Do not reorder or eliminate any lines.
    2. You may alter verb tense and pronouns to create coherence.
    3. Eliminate excess words if needed to unify line length.
    4. You may choose to play with punctuation, and/or slightly modify some nouns.
    5. All lines must remain recognizable. Every participant should be able to easily recognize their own voice in the poem.