We Went on a Ginkgo

 A ginkgo walk is a nature walk traditionally used to help you write haiku. You can go alone, or in a group with other poets, and look for inspiration to write. Haiku were originally written about nature, but today modern haiku poets are finding inspiration everywhere. 

Regardless of what genre you are writing, a ginkgo walk can be a great way to connect with nature and the world around you, and be inspired to write something… anything! Even if you only end up with one line of a poem, an interesting description or an original simile, then it is worthwhile.

Take a notebook or scrap of paper and pencil, and go for a walk. Feel the sunshine, the air, listen to the sounds around you. Notice the big things like sky, clouds, trees… and look for the small things like bugs, ants, leaves. Make some notes. Write a list. Take some photos. After your walk, try using one or two of your notes or images to inspire a poem, description or story.

Here are some photos of our Team Roto Writing Group on a ginkgo.

We went on a hunt for interesting things to put in our poems... a sort of a scavenger hunt for words. We looked for something small, something big, something moving, something changing, something surprising, something red, something that made us wonder.