Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! My dog Kit has come a long
way since New Year’s Eve. In those early days we were told to prepare for the
worst. Although it may be a while—if ever—before Kit can walk outside to do his
business on his own power, he now gets up and down on his own to walk a few
feet a couple of times a day (usually to go toward someone who has unfinished
food on their plate). And he will definitely walk a few steps to look out the door and bark at other dogs going by.
For those of you who'd like a prompt, this week I'd like you to shape your words around the phrase, "it's been a long time coming." I'm taking poetry and prose, fiction or non-fiction. Just please remember to keep your creations to 369 words or fewer and only one entry per person.
Next week, Rosemary will invite us to write something which completes the phrase, ‘In the face of disaster…’
Greetings, poets and storytellers. How is life treating you? I hope you’ve been
enjoying some gentleness, since everyone I know can use a bit (or a lot) of that these days.
I’ve
almost recovered from the last procedure that kept me slightly MIA the last couple of weeks—stitches are gone, my flesh isn’t hurting
too much, my gut is behaving herself (yes,
my gut is female and eternally irritated), and I have been writing (maybe plotting and outlining is more accurate) something
new. The process is going slow, but it’s going; and I’m grateful for that. Still,
if anyone would’ve told me a decade ago that my health would ever take so much
of my time, I would’ve probably laughed and told them to stop telling tales.
The last
bit is what inspired today’s optional prompt. You see, I’ve been decluttering. And
while I was going through some old papers, I found a letter I wrote to myself
in 2013. In the letter, I asked myself not to be too hard on me about finishing
a half marathon a few minutes over the average time for my age group. I was upset because my
time increased nearly 8 minutes from my last run. Well, I read that old letter
and burst into laughter. These days, I’m thrilled when I can run for 45 minutes
on my trampoline without my legs trying to turn into balloons and my joints screaming bloody murder.
I’ve
lost a breast, my hair, some teeth, my joints are a mess, my digestive system is
nuts, and I’m so freaking grateful to be alive to fight another day. When I shared
the last bit with someone who hasn’t known me for long, the person told me that
no one would ever believe it… which brings me to today’s optional prompt. I invite
us to write poetry or prose inspired by the following Neil Gaiman quote: “Life is always going to be stranger
than fiction, because fiction has to be convincing, and life doesn’t.”
next week,
our dearest Rommy will invite us to write what comes to mind when we see the phrase, “it’s
been a long time coming.”
I recently became aware of recipe poems. They can be literal instructions for food preparation, or they can be metaphors, about creating anything else you can think of – but they need to be structured to have some resemblance, however slight, to an actual recipe.
Here's a non-food recipe poem (by a poet I'm very fond of) which is quite famous, as I think it deserves to be:
One grand boulevard with trees
with one grand cafe in sun
with strong black coffee in very small cups.
One not necessarily very beautiful
man or woman who loves you.
One fine day.
So this week’s optional prompt, for those who would like one, is exactly that: to write a recipe (whether literally for an actual meal, or metaphorically for anything else at all).
You might also alter the prompt by writing about following a recipe or making a meal.
Image by Conscious Design at Unsplash
And of course you are free to ignore the prompt altogether and share stories or poems on other topics instead.
Guidelines: old or new writing, poetry or prose, 369 words maximum (excluding title), one post per person, link us to the url of that post in Mister Linky below.
Next week, Magaly
will invite us to write poetry or prose inspired by the following Neil Gaiman
quote: “Life is always going to be stranger than fiction, because
fiction has to be convincing, and life doesn’t.”
Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! I don’t know about you,
but the first couple of weeks of January seemed to drag forever—then sometime
in the last week, the days started flying past. I think that was also the point
where I felt more solidly into the new year (hopefully leaving the rocky start
in the rearview mirror). What about you? Are you still wrapping up 2022 loose
ends or are you fully into 2023?
For this week’s optional prompt, the word is “pivot”. You
can use that word (or a variation of it) in your poetry or prose pieces.
Remember, just one entry per person, and please keep your entries to 369 words
or fewer.
Next week Rosemary will invite us to write a recipe (whether literally for an actual meal, or metaphorically for anything else at all).
