Friday Writings #252: Looking Through Glass

 

Hello again, dear Word Weavers!

I'm sad to say I seem to have mislaid – I hope not really lost – a tiny kaleidoscope a friend gave me many years ago.  Its small size didn't prevent it from producing spectacularly beautiful patterns and images.

In better news, I have been seeing just fine without spectacles for about a year – after wearing them from the age of nine! At my annual eye test a year ago, my optometrist informed me that I no longer needed my licence endorsed for wearing specs – though she said I would still see a little better with them. I supposed that cataract operations had taken care of my astigmatism, and that the longer-sightedness of ageing had gradually corrected the very short sight I was born with. But I did keep on wearing the specs, in the interests of seeing that little bit better with them – until finally one arm broke off, and I was about to book an appointment to get my glasses replaced when I suddenly thought, 'Why am I going to pay for something I don't actually need?' 

So I have been managing fine without them for a year, and recently when I renewed my driving licence they gave me an eye test which I passed. 

I perceived a bit of a theme here. So, your optional prompt for this week is to write about looking through glass – in whatever way you like to interpret that. 'Through a glass darkly' as in either the Biblical quotation or sunglasses, or through spectacles, or through a kaleidoscope, or a telescope, or a microscope, or a window ... or even through a mirror, i.e. a looking-glass, or 'through the looking-glass' in an Alice in Wonderland kind of way.

Guidelines: Poetry or prose, old or new, on prompt or not, 369 words maximum (excluding title and notes), post to your blog, add your link to that blog post to Mister Linky below, and please read and comment on what others share. (Also you may talk to us and each other in the comment box below.) 

Next week, We will invite you to find inspiration in this quote: “Don’t be afraid to start over again. This time, you’re not starting from scratch, you’re starting from experience.”

Extra: This is not the only garden to play in. With some other poetry prompt sites disappearing, you might like to be reminded that Poetic Asides (part of the Writers' Digest site) is still going strong. Currently, Robert Lee Brewer is offering his November PAD Chapbook Challenge, as he does every year. Write a poem a day, as prompted, for the whole of November. Share them at the site, or not, as you choose. Then you may use December to revise them, compile them into a chapbook, and submit that to compete for being judged the winning chapbook. (The honour and glory – and the publicity – is the prize.) Yes, I know, November has already started, but you can still catch up.  Just write two a day for a few days!

 

Friday Writings #251: Halloween and Día de Muertos

 

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! Over the next couple of days we'll be hitting two of my favorite holidays, Halloween and Día de Muertos. Sometimes people think of them as the same thing, but that's not really the case, especially if you're thinking about the modern, more mainstream version of Halloween.

Halloween today is usually associated with things that are scary or at least a bit spooky. Skeletons are just another member in the menagerie of monsters, alongside vampires, goblins, and Frankenstein's monster. 

I love indulging in spooky media this time of year. My husband and I have been watching From these last couple of weeks and I just got done reading Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher.

Literally, This is Halloween

But the skeletons on Día de Muertos is less Jack Skellington trying to scare the pants off you and a lot more like getting together with a loved one you don't see too often. The skeletons represent people who have passed on. It's meant to be a comforting celebration, honoring the connection you had in life and welcoming their spirits into your home.

This is Día de Muertos

Mexico has the most well known Día de Muertos traditions, but other Latin American countries celebrate it as well. In Peru, where my family is from, there are graveyard picnics complete with music, dancing, and a special sweet bread.

I have a lot of people I remember on this day. A close friend of my husband and I, who was best man at our wedding. A dear friend who was closer than a sister to me. My mother and father in law. I think this year, maybe I'll have a Star Trek marathon to also honor the late Walter Koenig and Sir Patrick Stewart. All of my lost loved ones enjoyed different versions of that franchise. So while it might not be a festival in a graveyard, I think they'd all appreciate it.  

This week's optional prompt will be to write about Halloween and/or Día de Muertos. I'll take fiction and non-fiction, poetry or prose. Just remember to keep your pieces to 396 words or fewer, and one post per person, please. 

Next week, we'll invite you to write about looking through glass.