Friday Writings #170: “April is the cruellest month”

Greetings, word lovers. 

So… for some strange reason, which has nothing to do with the chemo-perimenopause-double whammy currently fogging my brain, I was totally sure that today was April 2^nd. I must spend some time figuring out how this happened. I hope it’s case of calendar vandals or time travel, because the alternative involves wild hot flashes and mood swings. And who wants that? Hm, maybe April—since I’ve heard it has quite the poetic mean streak.   

While we are on the topic of poetic cruelty and other wonders, for today’s optional prompt, I invite you to find inspiration in the first line of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land: “April is the cruellest month”. 

Please, add the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant. 369 words maximum (excluding title). You may share old or new pieces of poetry or prose, write to the prompt or to a topic of your choosing. Visit other word lovers. Comment on their words. 

next week, we will invite you to write about the first or last time you did/experienced something memorable (it can be a small thing or a big thing).

Friday Writings #169: Answering Writing in Writing

 

 

Hello again, dear Word Weavers.

Have you ever written a poem in reply to someone else’s poem?

I’ve done it now and then with pieces by friends, people with whom I’m already in the habit of conversing about anything and everything. It can feel natural to respond that way to some of their poems too.

Occasionally I’ve done it with much more famous pieces, by poets I’ve never met (who might even be dead already) in which case it’s too one-sided to be called a dialogue. There’s also the consideration that one puts oneself at a disadvantage in attempting to reply to something really great: how can one’s own words possibly measure up? However, it can be  an interesting exercise in elucidating one’s own thoughts. (Sometimes we need to articulate them to discover what they are. Or sometimes we already know, and burn to express them.)

I did it once in answer to a prompt, responding to one of my favourite pieces by e.e. cummings with this – which certainly lacks the genius of cummings, but which I am pleased to have written, nevertheless. 

(I responded not as myself but in the persona of the 'Mister Death' whom cummings's poem addresses. But it's still my own ideas being expressed. Both poems are fictional ... but perhaps not entirely?) 

Recently, while still processing the aftermath of Ex-cyclone Alfred, I found myself spontaneously responding to a post of Rajani’s which featured poems (including one of her own) about rain. This then sparked the idea for today's prompt. My piece is the one I share here this time, and you’ll find there a link to Rajani’s inspirational post as well.

So, for your optional prompt this week, I invite you to write a reply to something someone else wrote: in verse to someone else’s poem, in a piece of prose to someone else’s story-telling – or you may even reply in prose to their poem, or in poetry to their story. Please include in your post a link to the piece you’re responding to.

Guidelines: One post per person, share it via Mister Linky below, 369 words maximum (excluding title and notes), old or new, poetry or prose, on prompt or not. Do please read and comment on others’ efforts, and feel free to talk to the team or each other in the Comments section below.

Advance notice: For next week’s optional prompt, you are invited to find inspiration in the first line of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land: “April is the cruellest month”.

 

By Aaron Burden, on Unsplash

 

Friday Writings #168: “I do not think it means what you think it means”

 

Greetings, poets and storytellers.

How is life in your bit of the world? Around my corner of New York City things are troublesome, frustrating, overwhelming, and many other things that leave body and soul exhausted. Then again, that’s probably mostly me. But you know how these things go… When our personal lives get rough, the whole world becomes sandpaper. I’m hoping for gentler things for me (and for you).

While we wait for gentle and soft to join the party, let us dance right into today’s optional prompt: where everyone is invited to find inspiration in misunderstood words or misconceptions.

Add the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant, por favor. 369 words maximum (excluding title). You may share old or new pieces of poetry or prose, write to the prompt or to a topic of your choosing. Visit other writers. Share your thoughts on their thoughts.

next week, you’re invited to write a reply to something someone else wrote.

 

Friday Writings #167: Self-Empathy

 

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! Miss Magaly asked me to fill in for her this week and the topic of self-empathy. Admittedly, I didn't know all that much about the topic. But I'm always game to learn more! So from the article she gave as a reference: 

Self-compassion involves treating yourself with the same kindness, concern, and support you’d show to a good friend.

Inquisitive person that I am, I found another article that talked about techniques to build self-empathy. I already make sure I'm around positive, supportive people, but I know I could be better about showing myself kindness.

So this week's optional prompt is to explore the concept of self-empathy in your pieces. Prose or poetry will do, as will fiction or non-fiction. Just be sure to keep it to 369 words or fewer and one piece per person please.

Next week, Magaly will return to tackle the topic of misunderstood words or misconceptions.