INKWINGS WRITING ADVENTURE

INKWINGS WRITING ADVENTURE

My friend from New Jersey Linda Lanza invited me to join her class to undertake a writing adventure. Linda started the course at the outbreak of the coronavirus in the USA to help friends navigate a path through the virus lockdowns. I would like to keep a record of what I wrote during those sessions. I will also jot down the a number of words that have been floating around during our sessions:

ONE-LINERS

pick one leaf not the whole forest

what did the writing tell you

we are still in the boat

the dependable colours of old friends

the nurturing that is love

I see many things on the back of my eyelids

hate bites, joy sings

death divides, memory clings

IDEAS

swept away two words seen on a River Derwent walk in March 2020

WORDS caught

nourishment, food, friends, mother, father, freedom, acceptance, love, peace, comfort, space, freedom, burn tear, dissolve, share, save, raw, write, spring, seeds, courage, see, say, feel, thing, vessel, reflection, relief,  pause, peach, recess, trill, curls, elegant, finite, perfume, daisies, seconds, time, hour, day, slow, light, darkness, breathe, breath, sound, eyes, thread, sew, use, beauty, functional, dissolve, elusive, sensible, lonely, alone, elusive, intrepid, plant, blossoms, bloom, fortify, smoke, sleep, think, more to come

RAMBLINGS

seeds of the pen, the brush, a song,

a poem, lessons learned

lessons taught to keep my world turning

my mind working, my days tuned

in tune with the planted seeds

floating on this river of life

precarious as it is right now

aware of the river, the banks, the drifters

suddenly the world slammed shut

to be opened anew when the scattered seeds crack open

to reveal the new way forward

an endless afternoon became more apparent

time went by

pain, loneliness, fright

how did this happen

how did I get to here

abandoned by the loved ones

my own fault, really? was it

tears again … again … a child

tears again … tears still

when things got hard

I used to drive and keep on driving

why did I do that

why not stop and stand my ground

it was easier then to keep on driving

a single glorious thing

start of a new life

I couldn’t see that then, why

why why why

where was my sense of self

I let go

of that single glorious thing

what is the use of beauty

if it is to die

as time engulfs us, instead

expose the inner beauty

in us all

a candle for the end

what end

my end of course

when will that be

shall I light it

not yet silly

there is a thread you follow

it swims it dives it travels

it has a path of it’s own

go with it

it’s stuck

hold on

it’s stuck again

hold on, hold on tight

-----------------------------------------

the line of the thread is writing

your life’s story

until that day comes

for you let go

the thread

it sews the body bags

slipped into unnamed boxes

buried deep

deep en masse

take hart, it’s not your turn

my reaction upon seeing hundreds of bodies buried at potter’s field on hart island

I am the thread

I glide through the eye of the needle

I sew my life as a tapestry

a coloured cloth of insatiable

want for knowledge

just like an undeniable tsunami

the ill-wind came so swiftly

quietly

scaring the people of earth

the wind swirls harshly

touching every corner of the earth

the ill-will stays

it traumatises all in it’s wake

taking it’s own slow journey

whence it came.

right down there

in the thick of things

some people run to the top of the mountain

some people hide

some people are left behind, but

some people stay behind for

those who can’t fend for themselves

right down there in the thick of things

is compassion

the work of the world

is as common as mud

to be of use in that world

you must dive right in to that mud

and work with it.

make things, beautiful things

functional and helpful things

give of yourself this mud you have molded

to be left behind

one person’s creative legacy

write, write, write

write with your hand,

write with your head, and

write with your heart.

time will give it to us

what we seek

be patient with time

be sensible

be aware

love those close

keep them safe

if you’re alone,

do not be lonely

use time wisely

and that elusive seed will come