Narrative is what I come up with when I put my niece to bed and she says, “Tell me a story.” I tell her a story, I don’t tell her an article. ~ Janet Rae Brooks, Salt Lake Tribune My friend Mara who is studying creative writing at Hollins University (VA) tells me that the […]
The following was inspired by a Sunday Scribblings prompt “Wings.” Back in the 50’s, before ipods, video games, and Disney World, skipping stones and feeding ducks was a common weekend activity in our family. We piled into a car without seatbelts and ended up somewhere that seems dreamlike to me now. My grandmother’s husband, Frank, […]
Pink tutu Tightlipped Siesta Two lips
1. My camera is becoming like a second pen. I pick it up and snap almost as much as I jot down notes. Taking pictures is a lot less work than writing is. With one good click you get an instant story. 2. Every time a bird lands on my birdbath angel’s head I think […]
The weekend porch vacation was moved to the yard. It involved sunbathing and flowers and bees buzzing on the bright heads of dandelions. There was the scent of wild onions in the air. A woodpecker tapped, a phoebe protected her nest, and two yellow finches politely waited for their turn at the birdfeeder. A green […]
Sometimes it takes a poet to speak the unspeakable in a way that is pointed and yet melodic enough to make us hear with more than our ears. Our April Spoken Word night at the Café Del Sol in Floyd took place five days after the Virginia Tech shootings in Blacksburg. With Blacksburg being only […]
I forgot how to write poetry like I forgot high school French, shorthand, and fractions I don’t know the date of the Magna Carta I don’t remember my old locker number Forgetting how to write poetry isn’t like forgetting where I live It’s more like forgetting my own phone number how many two’s what comes […]
A Sunday Scribbling: Like the broccoli and kale starts I’ve been planting in my garden, I was taken from the safety of the greenhouse of my childhood and transplanted somewhere else. I used to lie in bed at night as a young girl and think about life. Why in the world would I want to […]
AKA: Word for the Wise 1. Resiliency 2. Possibility 3. Community 4. Renewal Photos: 1. A cut-above tree branch seen at the New River Valley Mall. 2. My Garden as it looks right now. 3. Chairs in the country store before they got filled with Friday Night Jamboree attendees. 4. New sculpture on the Harvest […]
1. I have three re-occurring characters on my blog; my Asheville potter son, Josh, my Scrabble playing poet friend, Mara, and my pink sneakers. 2. THIS chair is pretty strange, but THIS crooked house in Poland is truly mind boggling. 3. Blogging has been a good remedy for my shyness. My camera is like a […]
Katie Couric is in Blacksburg and President Bush has uttered the unlikely words “Virginia Tech” and “shootings” in the same sentence on national TV. Governor Kaine has cut his Tokyo trip short to fly home to be here. My son Josh called from Asheville, my mother and brother Joey from Massachusetts to see if I […]
1. Escape 2. Innocence 3. Easy Come 4. Easy Go Photos: 1. Riding home from fluffing a friend’s pillow who is recovering from a hernia operation, I saw a red balloon. 2. Kaylee’s new bedroom. I’m jealous. Joe asked if her bed had a mosquito net around it. I told him, no, it’s a princess […]
