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.