Writing Workshop: Listening to the Silence (a practice in simile and metaphor)

We were assigned to go outside into the cold winter night and listen to the silence.  This is what I heard. 

The Sounds of the Clouds

I listen for the sounds of the clouds, the childish whisper of their grey floss like a cotton candy nightmare. 

They should be laughing like the dogs at play, but instead they bite, snarl and fight. 

The wind whistles past my ears and I strain to hear its secrets. 

All I hear is the waves of an angry ocean crashing on an abandoned shore. 

But the sea is far away and the clouds are angrier than a mother shushing noisy children as the baby peacefully sleeps next door.  

Writing Workshop: Listening to a Loved One

The assignment came via email: 


Please read and consider the following quote from Natalie Goldberg's excellent book, Writing Down the Bones.


"Writing is 90 percent listening. You listen so deeply to the space around you that it fills you, and when you write, it pours out of you....You don't only listen to the person speaking to you across the table, but simultaneously listen to  the air, the chair, and the door. And go beyond the door. Take in the sound of the season, the sound of the color coming in through the windows. Listen to the past, future, and present right where you are. Listen with your whole body..."


I'd like you to practice listening to someone you care about, someone you feel close to. Perhaps during a conversation with them sitting across the table from you. Practice listening the way Goldberg describes. What do you hear beyond their words? What else can you capture as they speak? Write about it. 


Wishing you all a week of listening with your whole body!

Late Night in Tzfat
We are spent, physically and emotionally, but we lay across from each other in the dark sharing thoughts, secrets, our hearts’ desires and pains as if we were teenagers again. I can’t see her, but I know the crinkle of her eyes as they smile, the furrow of her brow as she worries, the wonder in her face as we reminisce. 


“This reminds me of when we used to do this, what, 18 years ago?”  she says. 


I hear: 


Remember before we were sisters? Before legal-ties bound us, before our childrens’ blood bound us?  Even then, we were soul-sisters. 


I know you better than anyone on this earth. Better than anyone, now. I understand you. I know your fears, your pain, the place where it all begins, and I understand the true roots of it all. 


I was there, I watched it all.  I saw you fall for him and watched him love you. I know that it is because of me you were together. I know you are grateful for that. 


I hurt with you and for you.  I hurt for all that love you. Most of all, I hurt for me. Because I loved him too. Because I love you and love all who love you. Because I understand your emptiness. 


What more can I do for you? How can I help you through? I am doing everything I can think of, everything you ask, but I will do more. I need to do more, even though I am  beyond exhausted with my life, my challenges, I will shoulder your burdens. I will bear more. More than I can. 


She listens to my tears. 


I hear the darkness. I hear the peaceful night. I hear the whispering, mystical Tzfat wind. 


I hear that there will be light again, there is hope, and no matter what, I have love and am loved. 

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Megila reading, Museums, Night Hike

Writing Workshop: Personification

For this assignment, we were asked to choose from a variety of objects.  We were told to select the item that spoke to us. We were then assigned to speak in its voice. 


Fading Feathers
I am a masquerade mask and have been to many a party.
How I love to be wrapped around my bearer's face,
A night of rejoicing, flirting, and mystery ahead.
I have seen sumptuous tables laden with fare,
Drunken men making fools of themselves,
And beautiful women seeking attention.
Now, I sit on a shelf with faded feathers, torn and untidy.
Aging, as my bearer does.
I wish to be taken out for a night once more.
To feel her eyes wrinkle with amusement, the tears of her laughter.
To party again.

Writing Workshop: Personification and Indentification

For this assignment we were asked to choose from a selection of pictures of animals.  We were supposed to choose one that we felt some connection with, that we felt we shared a trait - either good or bad.

We then had to write a poem in the voice of the animal.

This is the picture that immediately jumped out at me.  

Here is my response:

Largess
I am enormous.
Big legs, big feet,
Big nose, ears, and rear.
My footsteps fall heavy
On the savannah floor.
Others shy away, frightened by my size.
Do they know I am loyal? Fierce? Gentle?
Do they know I love to splash? To laugh? To play?
Huge grey mass is all they see.
I only want them to see ME.

Writing Workshop: If You Were A ....?

I am currently taking a 4 part writing workshop here in ND run by a creative, earthy, inspiring friend. At each meeting (and sometimes in between) we are given assignments meant to spark our imagination and fuel our writing.

I will be posting some of the pieces from the workshop as I feel they offer a great picture into my life and psyche right now.  They are only slightly edited.  Please comment, offer constructive criticism, etc.

Here is one of the pieces from our first session.

The Workshop Facilitator asked us a number of questions that we were supposed to answer with the first thing that popped into our minds. The questions were all in the format of:

If you were a ____, what/who/where would you be?

Once we had a list of terms, we were charged with making them into a poem. This is my result:

I am a Mother
I was once 25, but now I am a puzzle.
Or am I a 2004 Blue Minivan?
My heart quivers and sobs,
And prays like Chana in Shiloh.
My life is a forest,
Full of twisted olive trees.
I hide like a bear amongst the musky scent.
I hear the strains of a cello calling me.
I want to feel the glow of my candlesticks,
The warmth of my oven, my soft, cozy bed.
I was once 25, but now I am a puzzle.
Now, I Will Survive.


You are welcome to try and guess some of the questions!!