Ten-Minute Poems by a Mixologist-Writer & Her Daughters

As part of our 10*10*10 video series—ten days of guided prompts for writing poems in ten minutes—we’ve received an outpouring of poetry from children and adults, sometimes writing alongside each other, from New York to Washington State to Italy to Germany, and other places around the world. Natalka Burian, of New York City, wrote in with poems by herself and her two daughters in response to writing prompts about food and place.

Natalka is the co-owner of two bars, Elsa and Ramona, as well as the co-founder of The Freya Project, a feminist fundraising reading series. She is also the author of Welcome to the Slipstream, a novel, and A Woman’s Drink, a cocktail book. 

My daughters and I have been completing your daily ten minute poetry challenges, and they have brought so much joy during our time of isolation. (My first-grader was actually supposed to visit Poets House on a field trip this month–which was obviously cancelled–and this activity has really helped her feel like she didn’t miss out.)

This is such a generous thing to offer the community. Here are three of our favorites. Thank you for your kindness!

Warmly,

Natalka

 

 

Where We

Where we went paddle boarding and I kept falling over
Where we tasted the salty water when we fell over
Where we see a blue footed booby, the bright blue feet standing out next to the dark rocks
Where we sleep on a boat and sometimes get seasick
Where we see frigate birds, their chests popping out like big red heat balloons

—Viola Burian-Schneider, age 9

 

 

Clams

Salty circle
on a soft bed of pasta
When you crunch
feels good

—Leonora Burian-Schneider, age 6

 

Ice Cream

Arctic slope
in my cup
a flash of cool in my mouth
joyful, quick, gone

—Natalka Burian

 

Videos of the 10*10*10 workshops are available on our website for free! We invite you to join in and send us your poems, as we develop a community anthology.