Friday Writings #150: How high the moon?

 

Fly me to the moon

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!

Blue moon, you saw me standing alone

Ah, Moon of my Delight who know’st no wane

In my craft or sullen art / Exercised in the still night / When only the moon rages

Bad moon rising

Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining.


The moon has long been regarded as the muse of poets. (Clearly this includes songwriters.) It made perfect sense to me when I discovered that The Moon is one of my ‘life cards’ in the Tarot.

Some years ago a woman called Maggie Strongheart invited people on facebook to connect with the moon every night for a month and write about it. Being poets, my friends Helen Patrice and Jennie Fraine and I of course wrote poems. We combined them into a self-published book, Three Cycles of the Moon. We’re still proud of it, and it’s recently been re-released on Amazon, as both an ebook and a paperback. 

In my case the moon has fascinated and comforted me since my childhood, when it shone for years in through my high, uncurtained bedroom window. Later, when I had children of my own and used to write my poems while the rest of the family slept, it shone through the window of my study.

I’m betting many of you have a relationship with the moon, too.

For your optional prompt this week, I invite you to write about the moon.

Guidelines: One post per person, poetry or prose, new or old, on prompt or not, 369 words maximum (excluding title and notes). Add a link to that post below; and please if possible visit others’ links and leave an encouraging comment. Also you may comment here with any messages for the team, or for the group as a whole.

Next week, our awesome Magaly will invite us to write poetry or prose inspired by the following lines, from Mary Oliver’s “The Uses of Sorrow”:

Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness. 

It took me years to understand
that this, too, was a gift. 

Friday Writings #149: The Joy of Walking Away

 

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. 

Friday Writings #148: Bittersweet October

 

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”.

quote by Carol Bishop Hipps

Friday Writings #147: What soothes you?

 

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 recites Kubla 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’.