Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! Some people associate Autumn with letting things go. Sure, sometimes change can be stressful, but there are times when letting things go can feel more liberating than scary. I'm feeling my way through one that feels equal parts of both, most of the time. But there are moments where I actually feel giddy with all the possibilities. After all, once we say goodbye to the things that don't serve us, we get to enjoy more of the things that are wonderful. I'm definitely enjoying time spent with my husband, my kids, and my new corgi, Jelly Bean.
Sometimes letting go looks like fun
So this week's optional prompt is about the joy of walking away. As always, I'll take poetry or prose, fiction or non-fiction. Just remember, one submission per person and please keep your words to 369 or fewer.
Next week, Rosemary will invite us to write about the moon.
Greetings,
dear poets and storytellers. Can you believe that we are only about two months
away from the end of 2024? I know we (and
by “we” I mean “me) always say that time moves too fast.
But seriously, this year went by much faster than its predecessors. There are
so many things I wanted to do before the year was over, but… I won’t have time.
October
is one of my favorite months—the weather cools, the spooky season arrives, NY
Comic Con, pumpkin chili, skull cakes—so many wonders… Also, for those of us in
the Northern Hemisphere, October is sort of the sweet spot between summer and
winter (before we burn, after we freeze, October is just right). Bittersweet,
isn’t it? Well, I think so. And with that in mind, for today’s optional prompt,
I invite you to find inspiration in ‘bittersweet
October’.
Add
the direct link to your response to Mister Linky, please. One post per participant.
369 words maximum (excluding title), for prose and for poetry. Share old
or new pieces of poetry or prose. Write to the prompt or to a topic of your
choosing. Visit other poets and storytellers. Read what October brews out them.
Let them know what their words brew out of you.
for next week, Rommy will invite us to find inspiration in “The joy of
walking away”.
Hello, dear Wordsmiths. You may have noticed my complete lack of participation the last couple of weeks. Those who follow me elsewhere on social media know why; for the rest of you, it’s because I went to hospital – supposedly for a straightforward gall bladder removal, but various complications required a second procedure and kept me in longer. Luckily it’s a brand new, state-of-the-art hospital in our locality, and with beautiful views from the windows.
Still, I got a bit scared at times about my condition. All is now well resolved, I hasten to add, but while I was in some anxiety a dear friend told me that in such situations she recitesKubla Khan to herself, finding its metre soothing. I tried it and it did work – so long as I stuck to the first verse; after that the language and ideas demand attention in their own right, which interferes with the relaxation effect.
Since coming home (and finding that healing takes a lot of energy) I have been re-reading Three Simple Lines by Natalie Goldberg, the story of her pilgrimage through Japan to find remembrances of the great haiku masters (Basho, Buson, Issa, Shiki). It’s beautifully clear prose, somewhat like the spare simplicity of a good haiku – and she quotes a number of haiku in it. I'm finding that reading this has a calming effect.
(In hospital I wrote haiku. It began spontaneously with the first one:
suddenly from my hospital bed bright moon
I think that's a good haiku. The rest are really senryu, human-centred, with a touch of humour.
Doing this was something which soothed me, too.)
Optional Prompt: I wonder what soothes you in times of pain or fear? Please answer this question, in poetry or story.
Guidelines: One post per person, 369 words maximum, on the prompt or any other subject. Please read and comment on others' responses too.
Next week, Magaly will invite us to find inspiration in ‘bittersweet October’.
“Cooking requires confident guesswork and improvisation--experimentation
and substitution, dealing with failure and uncertainty in a creative way.”~ Paul Theroux
The word
substitution always makes me think of cooking and teachers. Not of cooking
teachers, not unless something has gone horribly wrong between the classroom
and the kitchen. So, when our dearest Rommy recommended substitutions
for this week’s optional prompt, I wondered what you and your muse would cook
up for us to read. * No teacher
should be cooked for this prompt. Really. I mean it!🤨
Add
the direct link to your response to Mister Linky, please. One post per participant.
369 words maximum (excluding title), for prose and for poetry. Share old
or new pieces of poetry or prose. Write to the prompt or to a topic of your
choosing. Visit other poets and storytellers. Comment on their words.
for next week, Rosemary will ask us to answer the question, ‘What
soothes you?’
Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! I am subbing in for Madame Magaly again to bring you the optional prompt of memories and dreams. Take a look at these juicy resources of inspiration and see where your words take you. I am accepting poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction. Just please keep it to 369 words or fewer and one entry per person please.
Magaly will be back next week to take over my optional prompt, substitutions.
Today I invite you to consider a poem by our regular participant Rajani Radhakrishnan:
It raises that vexed question, what are we wordsmiths to do in troubled times – especially in the face of the suffering, poverty, wars and effects of climate change we are all too aware of at present? Do we speak up to address those issues? Do we express political opinions which may in themselves cause more division? Do we instead focus on what goodness and beauty still prevails, so as to provide an antidote to the horrors?
Commentator Caitlin Johnstone recently said:
All
art is political. It either opposes the madness of the status quo,
supports it, or distracts from it. Creating vapid diversions for people
to sedate themselves with in a genocidal brainwashed dystopia on a dying
world is a political act, whether you call it political or not.
That's a valid and fairly widespread point of view (as well as an occasion for guilt trips if we let it be) and one that's been around a long time. Still, it is a point of view, not The Unarguable Truth.
In my youth I sometimes wrote fiery political poems – which, by their nature, didn't stand the test of time. At present I have been mostly struck dumb by the current state of the world, shocked to silence. And yet I am fortunate that my own little corner of it, while not free from increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as fire and flood and their attendant hardships, is still relatively peaceful and comfortable. I do write about the day-to-day things, but often feel remiss in that I'm not addressing more serious issues. But then, I also wonder what good can poems and other forms of creative writing do, really, even when they address the big issues? They are unlikely to stop armies or halt the extinction of species.
Perhaps they have other uses? Catharsis, or release of troubling emotions? Swelling the voices of protest? Or providing relief from disturbed thoughts?
Rajani's poem is a self-questioning, of course. In the comments at her blog she is quick to assure us that she doesn't seek to impose any strictures on other writers. Yet it's a self-questioning that many of us do – and no doubt we must answer it for ourselves.
I come back to a position I've always taken, that there should be no 'shoulds' in our field of expression. We can only write what is given to us to write, whatever that may be, and must trust that it will have value for those it reaches.
I think most people feel frustratedly helpless about having any impact on the huge problems of our times. It could be argued that using our words is one thing we writers can do – THE thing we can do. There's a case to be made that doing nothing is bound to be ineffective, so it's better to be doing something even if we don't hold out much hope for results.
What do you think? How do you personally resolve these questions?
For your optional prompt this week I invite you to answer, for your writer self, whether you think it's best to speak up or stay silent on difficult issues. I'm not asking you to take any divisive political stance – remembering we're all friends here, regardless of personal opinions – but to comment in a broader way on the question itself.
Guidelines: Prose or poetry, old or new, on prompt or not, one post per person, 369 words maximum excluding title and brief notes. (On the subject of speaking up or staying silent – noting that you may sometimes wish to include more lengthy notes which would take your word count way over our limit, we only ask that in that case you please keep them clearly separated from the main piece of writing so your readers can choose whether or not to include them.) Don't forget to have a look at what others share, leave a comment, and check back later in the week for any you'd otherwise miss.
Preview: Next week, Magaly will invite us to find inspiration in memories and dreams.
“Just scream! You vent, and the body just feels good after a
good old yell.” Carol Burnett
Have you
ever screamed? I’m not talking about shouting at someone who doesn’t listen or yelling
an answer in a classroom. I’m referring to the kind of screaming that leaves the
throat raw and the mind tasting of blood. I have—more than once, actually—and
the results have been… mixt.
For today’s
optional prompt, (Rommy and) I invite you to write poetry or prose inspired by what
makes you scream (out of fear,
frustration, joy, anger, etc.).
Please,
add the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant.
369 words maximum (excluding title), for prose and for poetry. You may
share old or new pieces of poetry or prose. You may write to the prompt or to a
topic of your choosing. Visit other poets and storytellers. Read their
contributions. Comment on their screaming words.
for next week, Rosemary will invite us to consider “Untitled -19”, a poem
by our regular participant Rajani Radhakrishnan.
