Friday Writings #219: Looking Back

 

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! I've recently been going over all of the old posts in my blog. It's definitely been an interesting experience, seeing how my writing and the themes I've focused on have changed through the years. It's also been fascinating seeing how much I've changed in other ways. For instance, one of the funniest is seeing the shift in books I love, especially when it comes to my current favorite series.

Harry who? LOLOLOL

Artwork by ALemonLeafArt, available on Etsy

So for this week's optional prompt, I would like to you take inspiration from the idea of "looking back". 

Feel free to interpret it in any way you wish, through either fiction or non-fiction, poetry or prose. Just please remember that it's one post per person, and keep your submissions to 369 words or fewer.

One of my favorite songs on the playlist Matt Dinniman 

created for Dungeon Crawler Carl. Honestly the whole

playlist he put together is amazing.

Next week, we shall ask you to write on something about which you feel deeply.

Friday Writings #218: The World Is Burning, But…

I am cranky, my dear poets and storytellers. Constant throbbing pain has that effect on me. Sometimes, my crankiness tries to get the better of me, nudges me to glare and bare my teeth at random people. Then I remind myself of the good things: My insurance pays for all these surgeries, my body and mind can withstand the physical trauma and mental stress, my spouse adores me, spring will be here soon (and I’ll get to garden!), I have excellent friends, I’m not alone… 

Those thoughts brewed today’s optional prompt: please, share poetry or prose which includes the following phrase: “the world is burning, but…” 

“Phoenix Pine Cones Rise from the Ashes of Forest Fire” 
via

Add the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant. 369 words maximum. Share old or new pieces. Write to the prompt or to a topic of your choosing. Visit other writers. Comment on the wonders they ink into the world. 

next week, we’ll invite you to find inspiration in the phrase, “looking back”.

Friday Writings #217: Your Message to the World

  

 

Dearest Word Weavers,

Lately I’ve been looking through my prolific output of blogged poems, to see which ones might be worth collecting in a book. Or maybe they need different books with different themes. So many are about the trivia of my personal life! That doesn’t necessarily make them ‘bad’ poetry, or uninteresting – but I wonder what I have to describe which other people haven’t already experienced and come to terms with. What, I ask myself, do I have to say that is worth hearing? 

And is it necessary to say different things in different poems – new things? Hmm, perhaps, if each of those things matters. But maybe some things bear repetition. 

I think of Mary Oliver, so widely beloved (including by me). She basically gave us the same message over and over again: pay attention to our beautiful earth; it’s worth it, it matters, it’s supremely important. I think that’s a message worth repeating; in fact I think we can’t repeat it often enough! And Oliver’s uniquely beautiful, direct, deceptively simple poetry made it new every time. She knew how to touch hearts!

 

What do you think? Perhaps sharing our human experiences is enough? Or is it better to use whatever platform we have to say something more arresting, and/or more vital? If you decided to try and deliver a crucial message to the world, what would it be?  

Optional prompt this week: Please (a) write for us your personal message to the rest of humanity, the thing you most need to communicate, on the assumption that all humanity will get to read it and take note, or (b) write about why you are not going to do that. 

Guidelines: Poetry or prose, old or new, on prompt or not, 369 words maximum (excluding title and notes), one post per person, link to that post below. Please link to us here at your post, please read what the rest of us submit and leave us some encouraging comments, and you are welcome to make comments or ask questions here too.  

Next Week: We will invite you to share writing which includes the following phrase: “the world is burning, but…”  

 

Friday Writings #216: Just Dance

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! Inspiration can come to us in so many different ways. It can show up when you're watching the most amazing sunset surrounded by friends. It can come to you in the shower as you're rinsing out your shampoo. It can also come to you when you witness an awe-inspiring display of artistry.

What does that have to do with this week's theme of writing about dancing (a specific style or dancing in general)? OK, sure... it's ice skating, not dancing. But both are joy-filled examples of movement. And we could all do with a bit more joy, right? Just go with it.

I'm taking poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction. Please be sure to limit yourself to one entry per person, and keep your pieces to 369 words or fewer.

Next week: We shall request that you (a) write for us your personal message to the rest of humanity, the thing you most need to communicate, on the assumption that all humanity will get to read it and take note, or (b) write about why you are not going to do that.

Friday Writings #215: The Flamethrower at the End of the Tunnel

I’ve been rereading my favorite passages/quotes from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. Life has been… extra interesting lately—and not always in the best of ways—so, spending time in stories that make me think and cackle is soothing.

I always enjoy what brews out of Terry Pratchett’s words/worlds. So, dear poets and storytellers, you won’t be too surprised that for today’s optional prompt, I’m very happy to invite you to write poetry or prose that explores one of Pratchett’s quotes: “There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it was a flamethrower.” 

background image by MARIOLA GROBELSKA, on Unsplash

As always, add the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant, please. 369 words maximum. Let your entry be new or old. Write to the prompt or to a topic of your choosing. Visit other writers. Read what brews out of their words… and share your thoughts. 

next week, we’ll invite you to write about dancing, a specific style or dancing in general.

Friday Writings #214: Love, love, glorious love!

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Word Weavers, 

Tomorrow is of course Valentine’s Day. 

OK, so this is predictable and even corny – so what? Let’s do what poets are most renowned for, on this most appropriate of occasions, and write about love! 

Even Shakespeare did it, and if it was good enough for him… 

(Have a listen here to Paul Kelly singing Shakespeare):

 

 

 

Optional prompt: Write us a love poem, or a love story, or at least one about love. (I am subverting my own prompt today, for reasons which I trust will become clear as you read. That's another option for you, too.)

Guidelines: Poetry or prose, old or new, on prompt or not, 369 words maximum (excluding title and notes), one post per person and link to that post below. Please link to us here at your post, please read what the rest of us submit (not forgetting to check back for those who arrive at the end of the week) and leave us some encouraging comments, and you are of course welcome to make comments or ask questions here too.

Next week: We’ll invite you to find inspiration in the following Terry Pratchett quote: “There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it was a flamethrower.”

Friday Writings #213: Pick a Pair

 

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me. I had a business trip that was extended a few more days because of the storms hitting the Northeast and the Midwest. While I did find ways to relax on those days, I definitely had to play catch up at work when I got back (deadlines do not care about snowstorms).

And Jelly Bean doesn't care for snowstorms

Thinking about how little time it took for relaxed to become crazy busy made me think of opposite pairs. So for today's optional prompt I'd like you to take a look at this trio of pairs:

1. flesh/spirit, 

2. spring/winter

3. love/indifference

Pick one (or more) of these pairs to inspire your writings. I'm accepting poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction. Just be sure to keep your entries to 369 or fewer words, and one piece per person, please.

Next week, we shall ask you to write a love poem, or a love story, or at least one about love.

Friday Writings #212: Luxurious Feels

Luxury (like any other complex term) is in the eye of the beholder. After weeks half-freezing in wintry swamps, a simple hot shower is the high of luxury. If you’ve ever scrambled (and eaten) a couple of eggs (okay, a cup of egg-like substance) in the middle of the desert, while the wind is feeling particularly frisky, then you know real luxury would involve scrambled eggs without a sandy crunch. 

But could you (while sitting at home, comfy and warm) really think of a shower and eggs as real luxuries? Some of us would say, “Of course not!” While other of us understand that some days, having enough energy to get out of bed and shower AND then scramble some eggs is not just a luxury but a miracle. See? Luxury is totally subjective. 

So, with that in mind, my dear poets and storytellers, for today’s optional prompt, I invite you to write poetry and prose about something that feels luxurious to you. I suspect the possibilities will be as vast as personalities… 

Please add the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant. 369 words maximum (excluding title). Let your poetry or prose be old or new, inspired by the prompt or by a topic of your choosing. Visit other contributors. Read their writings… Let them know what their words do for your feels. 

next week, we invite you to write poetry or prose which includes one (or more) of the following 3 sets of words: 1. flesh/spirit, 2. spring/winter, 5. love/indifference.

Friday Writings #211: Night and Day

 

  

 

Good morning or evening, dear Word Weavers – depending on when you happen to see this. Or even, Good afternoon!

Night owl as I am, I am starting to write this at 10.31pm (my time, here on the eastern seaboard of Australia) – not rushing to get off to bed, but happily beginning the pleasures of my late evening writing and reading. 

 

 

 

I’ve always enjoyed night-time. Perhaps it began with reading books under the blankets with a torch as a child, and never mind that my parents had ordered lights out hours before. Then, I habitually stayed up late during my student days, working on essays with deadlines. When the time came that I had young children of my own, it was only in the quiet night hours that I could work on my poems in peace and bring them to completion.

I know people who love the dawn. On the rare occasions I’ve seen it, yes I too find it beautiful. But I also love sunsets, starry skies, and the moon. For me there’s something very peaceful about the wakeful solitude of deep night.

Well, you know all this about me of course, as you’ve been reading my poems, which sometimes celebrate it.

How about you? Do you love the late nights or the early mornings, or perhaps the afternoons? And why do you?

 

 

Is it always the same? Or, on specific days, does it depend what's happening when? E.g. on your birthday, is it when you blow out the candles or when you start opening your presents? On the first day of your vacation, is it the moment when you first awaken and savour your leisure, or the one when you arrive at a place or begin an activity delightfully unconnected with your work? And so on.

Optional prompt: Please write about the time of day you like best, and why.

Guidelines: Verse or prose, old or new, on prompt or off, 369 words maximum (excluding title and notes), one post per person. Link to the post, below. At your post, please put a link to us here, to help other writers and readers find us; and please visit other participants and let them know when their writings move you.

Next week: We will ask you about something that feels luxurious.

 

Photos:  Moon © Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2018; Sun © Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2019.

Friday Writings #210: Great Combination/Collaboration

Greetings, dear poets and storytellers. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you see the phrase “great combination/collaboration”? The first time I saw the words, I thought of Good Omens, a collaboration by two of my favorite authors; then I thought about rice and beans (I was missing my island). Today, when I reread the words, I was craving sugar, so… I thought of peanut butter and jelly on warm bread and (now my mouth is watering, so I best move on).   

Don’t you just love it how our thoughts and environment affect the way we see things? Well, I do. I think it’s one of the things I love most about writing prompts. The same words, images, thoughts… can inspire so many different (and interesting) things. With that in mind, for today’s optional prompt, I invite you to write about (or find inspiration in) a great combination/collaboration. 

As always, add the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant, please. 369 words maximum (excluding title), for prose and for poetry. You may share an old piece or a new one. You may write to the prompt or to a topic of your choosing. Visit other lovers of words. Read what “combination/collaboration” brews out of the muses. Let them know what their words brew out of you. 

 

photo by Dragne Marius, on Unsplash

photo by Nima Naseri, on Unsplash

 

Next week, we will invite you to write about the time of day you like best, and why.