silly random write

SINKING THE 8 BALL

Numbers scatter
stopping points matter
on long green tables
pushing woods of maple


earth forms of white
push solids and stripes
in shirtless pockets
from elbow sockets 

junkyard quotes

1. I'm going to paint the world with change!  heard channel surfing again
For me, this is reminiscent of the romantic writers.  There is such an innocent optimism here that is not jaded or cynical.  The voice of this poem really believes in the possibility of their success in "painting the world with change."
 
2. No one suffers like the poor, baby.  Henry Chinaski aka Bukowski Barfly

I love this quote.  I like an advocate for the poor, unlucky and downtrodden.  A universal theme that is very personal to me.

3. Gods voice is small and still, like that of a sparrow in a cyclone.  My husband told me this quote but he thinks its from the bible used in a Stephen King novel.

What I like about this quote is the notion that what is God like and true is not always this big booming thing, sometimes you have to strain to hear thru the clutter of daily life.  You have to try and still yourself to hear it. 
 
4. Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.  Benjamin Franklin

How great is this!?  If we are to use these quotes as inspiration for our writing then this quote reminds me that writing doesn't have to always be so serious.

5. We could totally write the poor man's urban guide to survival!  Husband

Reading Response Chapter 2

The question/answer expansive method did not appeal to me.  I plan on rereading this portion again in hopes of finding a little bit of me in this process.  However, I do see the benefits of this exercise. Especially since I do have commitment issues with preconceived phrases or ideas.  Using another person's answers for raw materials in writing a poem provides another viewpoint to use in conjunction with my own ideas. Therefore I am given a unique opportunity for originality.  The contraction strategy, creative erasure was my favorite portion of this chapter.   This tool is invaluable to me because it helps with two weaknesses in my writing: redundancy and wordiness.

Reading Response to Chapter 1

The first chapter, Establishing Practice, has been one of the most beneficial readings I have read in a long time.  The most important aspect I received was giving me the realization if I start the process of writing with a specific message,  it can be detrimental to the creative process.   I tend to commit myself too early with a specific theme or passage forcing me to limit the direction of my writing.  Usually when this happens, I get writer's block and give up or write something that doesn't feel good intrinsically.  Another valuable tool I received from this chapter is the notion of "showing not telling."  If poetry is language and performance, then the performance without painted imagery is not going to challenge the audience or give them something new to take away for further contemplation or enjoyment.  It's easy to tell, but showing forces a creative process.

Percolating on a leap of faith RANDOM WRITE

The second day of class, Professor Ellison asked us why we were taking creative writing.  I have been percolating on this ever since.  Why did I sign up for this class?   I have no desire to be a writer, or an english teacher.  My grammar sucks too bad anyways.  (As you will see.)  Well for starters let me give you a little bit of history.  It has been years since I originally dropped out of college to do the "band thing," and for years I was satisfied with being dirt poor and just playing "for the sake of playing."   When its just you and your band, (guitars, live drums, amplifiers) and the 4 walls that separate you from the outside world, the pinnacle of ultimate freedom is felt.  However, there is a downside.  After awhile getting paid with a pitcher of free beer and a few hundred bucks to split between 4 people can be frustrating to say the least.  And since that's not enough to live on,  I took a job that allowed freedom to play and rehearse: bar tending!!  Surprised? Yeah, didn't think so.  Eventually the high I felt from playing was not enough to make up for the very limited lifestyle I had.  Especially after the economy got so terrible which in turn effected my bar wages. I did what I wanted in my youth and now I'm a little bit older and want something else.  Since I am not qualified for anything I decided to go back and finish college. (Hoping that will help prevent me from working in a restaurant the rest of my life.)  I love school anyways, always did.  If I were a rich man's daughter I would have been a career student.  So, when it was time to chose what classes I was going to take, after a 14 year break, I decided to take whatever I wanted, regardless of my major.   In choosing this class, I knew it was going to challenge me and do it in a way that I haven't been challenged in years.  I've always enjoyed writing and there is something in me, fiercely tugging at my instinct, saying somewhere down the line this class will be beneficial in your life.  Where I least expect it.  So, here I am.  Taking this class on a leap of faith.

junkyard quote

Only a fool can count on getting what he truly deserves... heard at work from friend Wooton!

junkyard quote

Before you can make good music, you just have to shut up. Then the music can say what it has to say.... musician  Kristin Hersch


This is very similar to the way one should write.  Even in our reading from chapter one, writing poetry, the authors state you should just go with it, and not let the possibility of failing prevent you from writing.  The act of writing should be joyous and the more you work the craft the better you get.

classmate response to Jamie Lynn's Bartender

I feel this poem does well in executing archetypal imagery.  I visualize the witches pot, apothecary bottles, billowing smoke, and the power the bartender has over the stereotypical bar guest.  "Venomous concoctions reeking of death", sets a moody feeling that can truly be felt in a bar.  Perhaps the creation of monsters can be explored to continue with this theme.   

junkyard quote

"doesn't matter where you've been, as long as it was deep, yeah."  Lyric from Cars tune, Just What I needed.

Now, I have been singing this song for many years.  The lyrics are so etched in my memory that I didn't even realize what I was saying until recently. I love this line in the song because it can be a mantra for all poets everywhere, stating the nature of our daily existence.  Because as writers, good and bad, don't we all wear a badge of honor declaring some sort of existential angst? or is it just be me?

junkyard quote

"heroin made me feel like the sun shined upon my soul"  .....heard while on television channeling surfing, from the show intervention.

I know this is a provocative quote.  However, I like the emotional dichotomy  it brings. There is joy from such an obvious tragic situation.   There is a universal, almost mythic feel about something forbidden or evil, that we as humans have a hard time resisting.

silly random write

cigarette butts everywhere
morning noon and night
cigarettes butts remind me
of a creeping cancer fight

cigarettes butts everywhere
not one can be smoked
cigarette butts taunting me
"they're past that line, you'll choke!"

cigarette butts everywhere
picking up one anyways
cigarette butts win again
your habits here to stay

Randrom Write:

Sprightliness wind below pesters the already apprehensive walker
But duty reigns over comfort
Comfort surrendered from a warm pillow
Comfort steaming from a cup of hot cocoa, moistening a dry upper lip.
This undertaking at times feels like a nagging paper cut
nagging at my subconscious gnawing under my skin
a task that must get done at an unfortunate 5am
Three miles down the road, the sun now about to rise

Drains the dread just felt
Once the apprehensive walker sees a furry wagging tail.

junkyard quote

"the enemy of art is the absence of limitations" Orson Wells to independent filmmaker Henry Jaglom

Not a recent quote I've come across, but it has stuck with me for years.   Essentially when you have no resources you are forced to create them, create solutions, and whatever the final process is will be much more imaginative than if you would have had all the money in the world.