How It Works:

1. Read the poem 

2. Do your own reflection on it, noting what it inspires in you

3. Feel free to use your own reflection as your prompt or…

4. Use the selection of prompts below

5. Pick one that inspires you and write (feel free to use only one or write several poems using different prompts) or…

6. Don’t use any of the provided prompts and follow your inspiration from wherever it comes

Truth is I would like to escape myself

Truth is I would like to escape myself.
  Detach my body from my skin,
peel it layer by layer to uncover
beneath the surface of petals
and thorns piled up year after year,
who I am and who I want to be.
I want to be the flower that grows
in dirt, the feather that flies free between
the cracks of fences. A wise woman
once told me, don’t worry about you,
worry about who you could be.
I want to be the woman who sits
on a desk and writes pieces of oceans,
rivers on a white space in a place
where imagination has no border.

Nour Alghraowi
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/people/nour-al-ghraowi

If you wish to attend the read around (t’s free, fun, a great way to share, and reading a poem is optional). Note: If you registered already, you do not need to register again, simply use the link sent to you in your confirmation email. Register Here:

Next Read-Around is 10/23/25 at 5:00 PM PST

My Thoughts

A friend recently confessed that she was so troubled by current events that she was seriously considering moving abroad. It's easy to be whisked away into an ocean of anxiety given the demands of the world, the necessities of life, and the drive of our desires. It is even easier in a time of social upheaval when cruelty trumps kindness. In such times, opting to escape the environment has natural appeal and may be a sound solution. But, unfortunately, it's not so easy to escape our anxiety when we make it a habit to harbor our troubles, embodying anxiety. A change of location won’t do. As Nour Alghraowi’s poem, Truth is I want to escape myself, suggests we have to peel away layers of petals and thorns to uncover the untouchable core of who we are and discover who we want to be. If we do, we may find oceans of peace even in a troubled world.

Prompt Ideas

1. Journal or write a poem about escaping yourself.

2. Write about the body you live in under the skin and the layers and layers of petals and thorns piled up after years of living.

3. Journal or write a poem answering the question, Who Am I?

4. Jornal or write poem describing who you want to be. Use metaphor (like Alghraowi does: a flower that grows in dirt, a feather that flies between the cracks in a fence; etc)

5. Journal or write a poem about who you could be.

6. Journal or write poem about a place where imagination has no border.

7. Write about anything else in the poem or in life that inspires you.