Writing Prompt: CHERISH
Visual inspiration + mental exercise to start your writing week
I smelled cardamom from the bakery across the alley, soft with the sweetness of bread fresh out of the oven. The kind you can’t wait to taste, to hold, to enfold as if the promise will last forever. We said hello again and stepped closer, shyly emboldened by the night.
Metaphortography Prompts are free visual and verbal writing prompts for inspiration and reflection. This is an occasional Monday section of Aimee Liu’s MFA Lore. Our Wednesday section includes Well Published! live videos and Writer In The World, a curated collection of essays on the writing life by acclaimed MFA faculty and alumni. MFA Core essays on the craft and business of creative writing drop each Saturday. Receive this MFA-level intel directly by subscribing now:
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CHERISH
We met in the dark, circling at first, with quiet hellos and little laughs aimed at chest and shoulder, hands that didn’t know what to do with themselves, knees that wobbled and eyes that didn’t yet dare. The breeze shuddered around us, wobbly as our knees but warm and kind as this perfect spring evening. I smelled cardamom from the bakery across the alley, soft with the sweetness of bread fresh out of the oven. The kind you can’t wait to taste, to hold, to enfold as if the promise will last forever. We said hello again and stepped closer, shyly emboldened by the night.
CHERISH: Middle English cherisshen, from Anglo-French cheriss-, stem of cherir to cherish, from cher dear, from Latin carus
1a: to hold dear : feel or show affection for
b: to keep or cultivate with care and affection
2: to entertain or harbor in the mind deeply and resolutely
Here is your writing prompt:
As you contemplate the image above, write a scene with two individuals who cherish each other with gentle affection, care, softness, trust, sensitive touch and vulnerability BUT challenge yourself by writing without any mention of physical touch, sex, or named feelings or emotions between the two. Instead, convey the experience of cherishing indirectly using less obvious devices, like dialogue, interiority, metaphor, or more subtle gestures and body language.
Share your results in the comments!
Loreates’ Corner
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Anthony Otten writes Anthony Otten:
Devon Halliday writes Devon Halliday:
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