Sooke writer composes impromptu poems for strangers on typewriter

Laurann Brown was walking down the street with a her friend, in a deep discussion about the direction her life was going, when she noticed a sign attached to a suitcase saying, "Pick a topic. Get a poem."

Laurann Brown was walking down the street with a her friend, in a deep discussion about the direction her life was going, when she mentioned a scene in the movie Bruce Almighty.

“And Jim Carrey was like, ‘God! Why won’t you send me a sign?’” Laurann recalls, the actor asking for guidance from above.

And just as Laurann was explaining how Carrey’s character didn’t appreciate being suddenly cut-off by a truckload of street signs in the movie, Laurann noticed a sign attached to a suitcase saying, "Pick a topic. Get a poem."

“It was a sign,” Laurann recalls with a laugh. “We saw a sign!”

Which was followed by noticing a turquoise typewriter and a “peaceful-looking” poet who said her named was Fatima Hirsi.

“I said, ‘What are you doing?’” Laurann remembers asking. “And she said, ‘You just tell me a few things about what’s going on and I’ll write you a poem in 20 minutes.’”

So Lauraan agreed to spend a couple minutes answering Fatima’s insightful questions to inform a poem.