Friday Writings #41: TV Time

 Hello, word artists and admirers! We had a period of intense heat a few weeks ago which had many people staying inside trying to chill with their streaming service of choice. There have been a bunch of new shows that dropped in the last few weeks, with several new ones coming up in September. Are there any shows you’ve been excited about/ looking forward to seeing?

This show is very odd, and perhaps a little niche. LOL I fall within that niche.

I was so excited when I saw there was a release date for season 2. 

As always, we’re open to poetry and prose on any topic. But for those of you looking for a prompt, may I suggest creating a piece from the point of view of a television character(s). Just be sure to keep your prose pieces to 369 words or fewer and one piece per person, please.

Next week Rosemary will invite you to consider a choice you made (large or small) and tell us what followed – or to imagine how things might have been if you'd chosen differently, and tell us that.

Friday Writings #40: Lists in Ink

photo by Thomas Bormans, on Unsplash

I like lists. I enjoy making them. I find the process of listing things (and, when I’m lucky, crossing them out) rather therapeutic. How do you feel about lists and list-making?

Well, I hope you don’t mind lists too much. In fact, I hope you and your muse can delight in them. Because for today’s optional prompt, I wish you to write poetry or prose that includes a list—of things you love, of things you hate, of things you want, of things you’ve lost, of people you miss… of anything you wish.

“Sick”, by Shel Silverstein

 “I cannot go to school today,”
said little Peggy Ann McKay.
“I have the measles and the mumps,
a gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I’m going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox…”

Read the complete poem here (you might love the ending as much as I do).

 Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

 “What more easily explained and natural? With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word ‘intellectual,’ of course, became the swear word it deserved to be.”

If the list making prompt isn’t for you, share any piece of poetry or prose you prefer. New or old, fiction or nonfiction, short or longish (prose pieces should be 369 words or fewer). Share the direct link to your post. One link per participant, please. After you share your words, visit other poets and storytellers, read their contributions, let them know how their words make you feel.

next week, Rommy will ask us to write from the point of view of a television character from a show we like.

Friday Writings #39: Crafting

 

Hello, dear poets and storytellers. How do you go about your craft?

Our friend dsnake1 or Cheong Lee San, or Lawrence Cheong, recently shared with us a delicious piece called poetry lesson #12 (cooking a poem).

As I told him, I am not much of a cook myself – but I know enough about it to appreciate his ruminations on the matter.

And it got me thinking.

I have known people who equate poetry with dance. I guess I can see that – when I think of the rhythm and movement which are present in both.

For myself, I have always rather liked to think of poetry as akin to sculpture, something to be shaped. I like the way some sculptors have spoken of the form emerging from the stone as if it has been sleeping there, and the sculptor’s job is to chip away what’s extraneous until the form gradually reveals itself.

I am of the ‘How do I know what I’m going to say until I’ve said it?’ school of poetry – so allowing the form in the stone to gradually reveal itself strikes me as perfectly natural. But I am not a sculptor, so maybe I can think of a better set of instructions for myself, such as crocheting a poem.

And what about stories?

I remember one teacher who thought writing stories was like building, or perhaps bricklaying – laying the blocks down carefully, one on top of another. And there are novelists who liken their efforts to birthing a baby.

Your optional prompt this week:

How about you? How could you make a poem or a story? Gardening, sculpting, building, knitting, raising it like a child?

Please tell us the answer – or tell us something else instead – post to your blog, then link your to your (one) post in Mr Linky, below.  Please keep prose pieces to 369 words max. You may link back to us at your blog, with or without using one of our badges. And do have fun seeing what everyone else is sharing.

Thanks, dsnake1 for being so inspirational!

Next week, Magaly will invite us to write poetry or prose that includes a list—of things we love, of things we hate, of things we want, of things we’ve lost, of people we miss… of anything we wish.

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Post Script

~ Speaking of people we miss ~

There’s craft, and then there’s art. Nothing to do with our prompts – but the goodbyes continue. Let us take a moment to remember Judith Durham, beautiful lead singer of The Seekers, who passed away a week ago.

 

Post post script

As if that wasn't enough, another internationally loved Australian singing star, Olivia Newton-John, has now left us too. Both women deserve to be remembered not only for their talent but also for their courage and kindness. Olivia worked tirelessly for cancer research, Judith for research into motor neurone disease. The words gentleness and grace have been used to describe them both.

Friday Writings #38: To Burn

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! It’s summertime where I live, and we’ve already had a couple of heatwaves here in the northeast United States.  My cold loving dog wants nothing to do with it and refuses to walk unless it’s early morning or late evening. Even my heat loving self thinks its too much when I take myself for a walk at any other time of day.

With all this heat I decided to make this week’s optional prompt “to burn”. What comes up for you when you hear this phrase? Let us know in either prose or poetry form, fiction or non-fiction. Just be sure to keep your prose pieces to 369 words or fewer and one entry per person please.

Next week Rosemary will suggest we take a bit of inspiration from dsnake1's poetry. He recently wrote about cooking a poem. How else might you craft a poem or story - gardening, sculpting, building, knitting, raising it like a child …?