A celebration of writing, reading, and creativity
I had a pretty visitor.
Scheduled
And some days are about comfort
like furry cuddles and pizza
and foreheads full of purrs
that leave the big questions
unpondered or wrestled
and wrangled by other minds
while I wrestle warm blankets
and purloin pets
not striving
for more
These images fit with Of Maria Antonia’s 2022 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt “Pretty Little Things.”
As you can see, the snow is gone. I know I said I wasn’t going to publish all my word pictures here, but I wanted to show the result without the snow, and then I did some playing indoors.
The dVerse Poets Pub is open after a two week vacation and today Lisa invites us to write a “celebration” haibun. I haven’t written a haibun in a while, so I think I’ll give it a try.
Celebrating Release from a Beautiful Imprisonment
I saw large, white flakes fall during my white-knuckle drive home through thick rain and sporadic drivers with speeds from infrared to ultraviolet.
Ten days it snowed since we opened presents, and ate Mother’s delicious strawberry cake, everyone generous and grateful. I remained sustained.
Overnight snowmelt
frees me from joyous ice jail
I return with treats
And this image of the Mirrorworld fits with Of Maria Antonia’s 2022 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt “Chill,” I think.
I’m sitting at my desk, looking at these pictures, singing “This is freakin’ fun, this is freakin’ fun.” Though many of this morning’s experiments didn’t work (the filter didn’t work with my other lenses, so I couldn’t put “WONDER” on the mountain), I’m still so excited about my ability to put words in my world. I love to put wonder in the world and it is also one of Of Maria Antonia’s 2022 Weekly Photo Challenge prompts. It was also fun to discover that the color of the ink is captured, so that can add more possibilities. I’ve decided, as a little side project, I’m going to put my favorite words on my world, one a day all year. I won’t post them here, but maybe at the end of the year, I’ll make a book of them or something.
Poetic Bloomings Prompt #367 – Old or New challenges to write an “open door” poem or a “closed door” poem.
Opening Doors
A revolving door is
at first, fun, exhilarating
pushing the heavy bar
running in circles
watching sidewalk then lobby
park then escalator
man walking dog
woman with briefcase
through the glass
Now I’m stuck and want out
to reach my destination
but I’ve built up speed
and inertia keeps
a body in motion
I want new doors
perhaps heavy oak
with worlds of secrets behind them
I want keys to locked doors
big, ornate, heavy keys
that are kept in locked chests
that need little keys to unlock them
because the process
is the adventure
and unlocking those doors
opens awe and wonder
that won’t come around again
I haven’t heard from any of you yet about what you would like to experience this year on Experience Writing, so I thought I would try a poll. Thank you in advance for sharing your answers.
Today, in response to Of Maria Antonia’s 2022 Weekly Photo Challenge prompt “A New Year,” I tried something I’ve been thinking about. Using the same clear plastic that I used for my “snowglobes,” I created a filter with written words and put them in the world. This opens up so many possibilities, an exciting discovery to start the year.
It’s stream of consciousness Saturday. The prompt for today is “resolve.” I am resolved to have a day of stream of consciousness. Let those thoughts flow unfettered. When I looked up resolve, I was surprised to find it’s almost a janus word. It has the definition I expected: to come to a definite or earnest decision, but it also means to break up or disintegrate. It also has the musical meaning to progress from dissonance to consonance which could work well as a triple meaning in a poem. If my song ends resolved, is it determined to act, dissolved and broken, or just not dissonant? It can also mean to clear away or dispel (doubts, fears, etc.), so in that way it is a janus because if you resolve an issue, you can come to a decision about it or clear it away and dispel it.
For today’s new poem prompt I browsed my WordPress Reader and found:
Fandango’s One Word Challenge (FOWC). Today’s word is Harbinger. I am a big fan of the word harbinger.
Paeansunplugged’s Ragtag Daily Prompt Saturday is Light.
Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt #242 is Goodnight. This challenge includes a word limit of exactly 45 words.
On the Cusp
We have said goodnight but
light’s fingertips grip the horizon
the triumphs and horrors dissolve
and for a moment peacefulness
smells like melting orange dreamsicles
and the chill of brain-freeze
does not hurt but excites
almost every note I breathe
is a harbinger of resolve
If you’ve enjoy the photographs I’ve been taking, I’ve added some to my RedBubble store and I’m excited about the new products. The abstract bokeh really lends itself to product design. So fun. If you get a chance to take a look, please press the hearts on the images you like. It will help my work get noticed. Thank you.
This fall has been intense: jumping out of bed every day to explore new photography ideas and write a poem. I know exactly what I’ve been doing since October first, but what was I up to last January?
I’m glad I took a look because I don’t want this year to be an exact copy of last year, but I have the same revision goals. I made a lot of progress, but not as much as I would like. So this year, to switch things up, just a little bit, the focus will be on Novel Revision Motivation.
Last January, I didn’t post much, but I did discover TBR Con (To Be Read Convention) a free online writers convention that I enjoyed. I looked it up and the TBR Con 2022 schedule is up. Shelly Campbell, who was kind enough to do an interview about her revision process last February, will be part of the Worldbuilding 101 panel on Monday January 24th at 2pm PST.
In February, I also had a guest post by author Ferrel Hornsby with her revision tips.
In March, I took Cat Rambo’s online revision class and started a series of posts demonstrating my work revising a short story:
I also discovered Linda Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday (#SoCS) which I enjoy participating in each week. Having one day a week that is completely stream of consciousness is an idea I enjoy. Glad I checked over there today. Looks like Linda has a daily blogging challenge for January called Just Jot It January, in case you’re looking for a daily blogging challenge for the new year.
April brought National Poetry Writing Month, in which I wrote 30 poems in 30 days and the A to Z blogging challenge. This year I chose janus words which are very interesting words that mean one thing and its opposite.
In May I did an intensive demonstration of creating a poetry revision process and revising a poem. There are eight parts and it starts with Revising Poetry: Creating a process.
The final post in that series came out in June and then I took July off. In August I had some fun photographing and drawing flowers and I discovered the Changing Focus Challenge and made my first multi-media video with bokeh, music, and poetry. My piece is called Pathways.
In September Experience Writing had a guest post from author, poet, bioethicist, physician, lawyer and social critic, Jacob M. Appel called Vision and Revision. I attempted to do another multi-media video for the theme Reflections, but it didn’t come together.
October was October Poetry Writing Month OctPoWriMo, and Writober (flash fiction) and I found Tourmaline.’s Halloween Challenge which got me started with daily photography prompts.
In November, I made up my own daily photography prompts and continued daily photos and poetry, participating in Writer’s Digest’s November Poem a Day Challenge. I also won National Novel Writing Month attempting a rewrite of the novel I started in 2019. I wrote 50,000 words but the draft is far from complete. Guess what I’ll be working on in 2022.
And this month I made another daily photo prompt calendar, continued to write a poem every day, and made a multi-media project for the Changing Focus Challenge prompt Rest, Sleep and Hibernation.
That was a busy year. Looking back, I did a pretty good job of sticking with my revision theme. Though I did not complete as many revisions as I would have liked, I explored my process and have a better understanding of the steps I need to take to succeed. So here’s to a year of motivated revision!
New Year’s Resolution
And the cycle continues
but something has to change
the barefoot and bicycles
will arrive too soon
coming or going
they will circle
and what will I have finished
what sweet delight
prepared to serve
the gibberish and frothing
fills pressed pulp
like teeth in a shark’s
wicked grin and yet
I continue to chum
the dark waters
and the dollars and itches circle
coming and going
when will the attention rapt
be enough to keep me in my seat
carving to the revealed
that is supposed to be inside
but I find never finished
and we cycle again
the spokes bent
the tire always needing air
the road uphill both ways
the music and stars
will arrive too soon
and any interest in taming the gibberish
will float on the froth
and effervesce
Tomorrow all day The Poetry Project is having its 48th annual poetry marathon. Hundreds of poets will be reading their poems. What a great way to enjoy the first day of the new year.
I signed up for Sarah Selecky’s Six Weeks, Six Senses writing program to jump start some short stories this year. I get my first prompts tomorrow.
I was planning on taking a little time off, maybe switching to once a week for a while, but today, the final day of 2021, I will have posted new photos and poems every day for 92 days straight. It feels silly to stop 8 days short of 100, so I’ll keep it up through the first week of January.
Instead of creating a new photography prompt calendar, I will use Of Maria Antonia’s 2022 Weekly Photo Challenge Bingo Card:
So come back tomorrow and join me for some photography and poetry for the new year, and maybe I’ll have some ideas of how we can stay motivated to revise our work.
Enraptured
What joy to play with light
to join it frolicking
blue flashing white
orange blushing pink
or smiling yellow
I slow the shutter
and move the lens
thinking I can control the dance
but the ecstacy
is in the unexpected
when what I’ve captured
is a delicious panoply
no longer of its parts
but a melded mutation
in motion and now singular
to be copied, resized, or manipulated
but never reproduced
Yesterday’s post was my 90th day of posting new photos and poetry every day. Though the new year is a good mile post for starting something new, I’ve decided to keep going until I hit 100 days. That will take us through the first week of January. Then it’s time to get back to revision and other writing experiences.
What would you like me to explore in 2022? What would you like to experience here on Experience Writing? What are your writing and reading plans for 2022? Any questions I can help you with?
Oh Sun, We Have Missed You
Today we worship the sun
eyes closed, we absorb
It pets us with photons
enters us and makes us light
See orange turn to pink
behind our lids
filled with warm calm
our cheeks lift
as our faces float
We curl up and breathe it
let it fill our cavities
like bird bones
The vibrating surface
reflects its caresses
like blown kisses
shimmering fire hearts
sent across the lake
The shadows have already shifted
the sun moved to the next window
but our eyes still glow
Today’s photo prompt “mittens” inspired me to get wrapped up in my snow clothes and go play in the snow. Kitty came out to guide me home.
Slippers for Hands
I don’t own any mittens
I searched the drawers
and the cubbies in the closet
I have gloves
gore-tex gloves for skiing
knitted gloves lined with fleece
wine colored gloves with white fur cuffs
but no mittens
I shouldn’t be surprised
but I am
I always had mittens
growing up
off-white wool mittens
from Sweden
but you don’t need mittens
in New Orleans
since I never liked mittens-
I found them restricting-
why would I replace them
after evacuating
the closest thing I have
to mittens
are the slipper socks
I got for Christmas
when I first saw them
I pulled them over my hands
and tugged them up my arms
and said “or sleeves”
so I pull them on now
they are so soft inside
they reveal how dry my hands are
so I remove them and slather my skin
with moisturizer-wait-then apply again
I want the full softness experience
I pull my mittens up
over my elbows
like fuzzy opera gloves
the navy, white, and sky bumps
feel good on my face
I have no fingers
I have no thumbs
I can pick up my book
open it to my bookmark
but the pages turn in bunches
I cannot turn to the next page
after much trial and error
I bend down and stick my tongue
to the upper right corner
at first the saliva collects
tiny blue fuzz
but then
success
I read that page
and the next
with warm hands
wrapped in soft hugs
Today I learned that I can make bokeh shapes with sparkles on the snow. If the sun had stayed out, I would have played with all my filters, but it only peeked out from the clouds for a moment.
Snow Day
Sunlight dancing on the snow enraptures
sparkling rainbows on every surface captivate
blissful seagulls dive and rise in thrilling chase
floating, flying fervent frenzy of freedom
rapturous revival raw and wild
the still silence entrances
a dreamy delicious day
This morning I received a real snowglobe world.
The prompt at Poetic Bloomings today is Prompt #366 – Many Happy Returns which challenges us to write a return poem.
Fleeting
She will never return
that woman of yesterday
before this morning’s snow
before the candycane
melted in this coffee
she is but a blip of history
a snug memory
of the woman I used to be
She will never return
that woman of this morning
before putting on boots
to make footsteps in the snow
before grabbing the camera
to make snowglobes
before jumping back
under the covers
to cuddle with the cat
and listen to him purr
she was still half asleep
and she stayed there
with all the possibilities
ahead of her
I will never return
the me staring out the window
at the large white flakes
falling from the thick gray
meeting the water, so I
really do feel like I’m
in a snowglobe
I am but a moment
now a snug memory
a blip in history
I will never return
If you’ve enjoyed the photographs I’ve been taking, I’ve added some to my RedBubble store and I’m excited about the new products. The abstract bokeh really lends itself to product design. So fun. While you’re looking, please click the hearts to like the images on the RedBubble site. It will help my work get attention. Thank you.
Experience Writing