I find injustice
in the flattened baby deer
spotted in the road
Writing Down the Bones – Card # 12 Where Do You Find Injustice? How Do You Feel About It?
Being
This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. The prompt today captures the essence of what it feels like when you are all set to write, new journal and pens, time on your hands, the perfect chair, and nothing comes to mind that you feel like writing about. Today, Goldberg asks us to just write who we are, what we are feeling.
Layers of Being
when Dad woke up
after the shock
he announced he was
surprised to be here
and declared, I’m different
and it has me wondering
whether we exist in layers
of being
and when several get
torn away at once
we feel the going
How’s the Weather?
This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. Today’s prompt opens with a quote: “All of the sadness in the city came suddenly with the first cold rains of winter.” – A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway.
Goldberg invites us to write about weather – so I chose a shape poem for today’s writing, using a memory from Route 66, where I was so frightened by the sky I was practically trembling in the back seat. To see the shape, phone must be turned sideways…..(a real twister)…..
In Tulsa, Oklahoma
I’ve lived through hurricanes I’ve walked the eye in one
that came right over me ~ sunshine in the middle ~
but the wickedest weather I’ve seen was in
Oklahoma traveling Route 66 the sky
was yellow gray like a constipated
face only with the fear of the
stomach so ominous
it erased all
memory of
sunshine
What Did You Forget to Say?
This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. Today’s prompt asks this question: What Did You Forget to Say?
I forgot to say
my Heavenly Father took
care of forgiveness
I forgot to tell
you the details of it all
but you did not ask
and now that you’re with him
I’m sure that you know.
Favorite Cafes
This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. Today’s prompt asks to tell about a favorite cafe, diner, luncheonette, or coffee shop. One comes to mind before all others: The Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas on Route 66.
This little retro cafe is not what you’d expect. There’s a lady in there who makes the pies, and she’s the aunt of the young mom who was our server, who told us all kinds of stories about growing up right there and how she’s climbed the windmills before. She took the time to tell us about life in Texas and how she’s from a long line of Texans right there in that town.
I was listening, watching intently, savoring every sense of this place (especially the pie, the pie, the coconut cream pie) and thinking, even as I faced going back to school as an educator, that life right there is some sort of splendid destiny. How many people get to serve their aunt’s delicious pie in a cafe and meet people from all over the world, traveling to see a slice of America? It sounds like it should be the next Hallmark Christmas movie, really, this young single mother swept off her feet by a lost Texan who moved to Chicago to be some kind of an architect and got swallowed up by the CEO and business types but is called back to his home state to design new rodeo grounds and has a flat tire so he stops by for a piece of pie……or something like that.
That’s a place I need to return. I wish they shipped those pies and I could have a slice for supper. Best. Pie. Ever. And….did I mention that I don’t even particularly like coconut? Never have.
But that pie!!!!!
Chime in with your favorite cafe. I’d love to visit all the good ones and know just what to order.
Writing Down the Bones: Tough Thoughts
This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. Today’s prompt asks this question: What will you have to say goodbye to when you die?
Breaking the Glass
one day on
Michael & Kelly,
Strahan said
if you stay ready
you don’t have to get ready
and I think it applies to
Heaven too
so after losing Dad
who could never say
goodbye to seven storage rooms
and a house full of stuff
I started pitching things
so I won’t have much to leave~
maybe I’ll break the last wine
glass right before heading
into the light….
or maybe I won’t
Tell Me About Yesterday – or a Snippet of It
This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. Yesterday may be the most challenging topic on any given day lately. It all seems to blend together when every aspect of life is full tilt and you can’t even remember if you saw the light of day.
Yesterday
Death of a parent. Paperwork. Funeral planning. Cleaning out the house. Paperwork. Preparing for an estate sale. Sorting seven storage rooms. Life insurance. Paperwork. Executoring. Trusteeing. Video: grandson loses a tooth! Smile. Paperwork. School starting. Job description changing. Paperwork. TSH high. Synthroid increase. New prescription. Paperwork. Complicated spreadsheets. Meetings. Weight Gain. Paperwork. FaceTime: baby grandson sits up and accidentally says, “Nana” clear as day. Joy tears. Sleep. Wake. Strength for today. One day at a time. Sigh.
Four Memories of Silence
This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. Today’s topic is to share four memories of silence. I chose a list poem for this prompt.
Silence
my phone when I’m waiting on a call
my heart with the trees and crickets absent
the world when it’s snowing
my keyboard when the words won’t come
Writing Down the Bones Card #3 of 60 – I’m Looking At…
This month, I’m starting the journey of writing through 60 cards from Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, introduced by my writing group sister Barb Edler of Iowa. Last month, our small group of Stafford Challenge writers (Denise Krebs, Glenda Funk, Barb Edler and I) wrote using one of the cards, and this month – just last night on our Zoom writing call – we wrote using the prompt on another one. Today, the prompt is simply What I’m Looking At. I used those words to get started and let them meet me exactly where I was in that moment.
I’m looking at
the swirl of the birdbath
each drop from the roof
plunking in, rippling the surface
each morning breeze
casting dance shadows
with rain and wind
bringing the promise
of the changing seasons
a respite from the heat
to the cool, healing waters
just feet from where I sit
so close
I can almost touch it
Writing Down the Bones Card #2 of 60
This month, I’m working on finding the blessings after a month of sharing Dad’s journey through his final days. On the other side of grief, if there is a proverbial corner we turn, with joy that comes in the morning – – just like the Bible promises. One of the things that helps me find the joy is writing about the little miracles I see happening and the little smiles that come out of nowhere like urgings to notice a particular thing and think about what it means in the grand scheme of it all. I’m using Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones cards between now and the end of the year to try to write through all 60 of them, introduced to me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa.
Today’s card, #2, piggybacks to yesterday’s card about What I’m Thinking Of……and flips the script to what I’m not thinking of.
Here goes…..
I’m not thinking of all the threats
out there when I see a wren on a wreath
against the swirl of window glass
that leads to the world
~ no, I’m not thinking of
the bigger picture
in such a tiny circle of light
through the translucent barrier
we call safety and shelter
in the comfort of our walls
when tiny birds are fighting
for all they’re worth
every day just to survive
still lifting their eyes
to the heavens and
singing joyful praise
in the midst of it all
Common Threads 