A to Z Poem: Be Like the Flowers

Apple blossoms, hidden within
Buds, tightly shut, yet shy of the weather
Cold, creeping through, ever so sly
Dancing amongst the warm breeze
Encounters of the past frigid season
Flow intermingled with the merry sunlight
Giddy children
Hopping along, enticed by the mere thought of school year's end
Instant joy, warm and penetrating
Jostles me forth to action
Kindly taken by the sunrise with it's buttery pools of inspiration
Light of creation, igniting inside
Meandering amongst the honeybees homes
Nectar-alluring, dainty daffodils, clothed in a splendid white array
Over and back they bend and bow
Praising the wind's creator
Quietly, so as not to disturb them
Resting cattails, poppies, and anthills
Silently admiring their craftsmanship
Tenderly cupped in my hand I feel the flower's sweetly-scented skin
Upon which are tiny veins thirsty for water
Vexed to find an end to their yearning
While reaching upwardly each day until death
Extricating themselves from the strife of never reaching their true destination
Yearning as the flowers do for the sun and a permanent resolution to thirst
Zealously I follow their lead, for I know the end shall not be found in vain.

From Writing Class: 10 Minute Free-Write - "The Mask He Must Wear"

(Note: This piece was inspired by the novel I am working on. It's not included as of now, but I might find a way to work the premise of some of this into my work.)

The new king was afraid, shaken by the horrible death of his father, and the sudden disappearance of his mother. Everything he did was second-guessed. Each move was made with an air of uncertainty, despite his noble upbringing.

He sits alone each night upon his throne, feeling misplaced. A surreal feeling overwhelms him, as though he were suspended above himself, disconnected from body. A lost spirit looking on at a life he hadn't foreseen.

Whiskers sprouted up, and his eyes were bloodshot. He paces the courtyards and shivers in his sleep. He awakens in the deep twilight to retrieve his purple robes, admiring the way the velvet ripples through his calloused hands. He sizes himself up in the mirror, almost as though he dares the reflection to take him on.

With an austere look on his face, he straightens himself, putting the mightiest oaks of the kingdom to shame. Nobody knows how alone he is. He must be brave, for he is the king.

Journal Dump: Random Collection of Entries and Sentences from March 2012

"This is what a horse looks like swimming", he said, holding up a horse-shaped Stouffer's animal cracker - with it's legs bit off.

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The hot pink eyeshadow stood alone as a stark contrast from the rest of her plain Goodwill uniform. The florescent lighting, along with Justin Bieber's "Baby Baby" streaming over the intercom just seemed to amplify her make-up choice.

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Continually dripping, the liquified remainder of this winter seeps back into the earth.

From Writing Class: 10 minutes free-write - "The Docks"

Massive outlines stood back-lit over the gleaming water, almost as though frozen to the core in the icy chill of Lake Superior. The interchange of long metal beams appeared black and solemn in the night air.

I wondered what these fantastic structures could be. I imagined the great tasks they must have been built for. My mind reeled with thoughts, but all of them popped out before they came to fruition, just as a light bulb suddenly pops and dies out; lots of light, a sudden flicker, a startle, and it's gone.

I've since learned that what I silently witnessed in awe that night - staring with eyes glistening from the moonlight, amplified by the deep waters. They were iron ore docks, an essential structure for Minnesota, since our state is depended upon greatly for the metal.


(Note: I couldn't think of much to write that night so I picked something from our then-recent trip to Duluth. Not the most exciting piece. Sorry for the abrupt ending.)

Emotion

Today when I was writing, I decided to listen to soundtracks. It's a common occurrence for me to come up with ideas via this route. The way the sounds make me feel will strike up an image in my mind, and then I can write about it.

It's amazing to me how the sound or the smell of something will produce an idea or a feeling. When you really think about it, the human mind is full of memories, and viewpoints.

Here's a really strange one for you. Every time I think of sneezing, I think of sitting in the backseat of the car with my mom and dad, pulling up to an old grocery store in my hometown, called Lammer's Food Fest. I can see the exact point on the road we are at. I couldn't really tell you why all this comes to my mind in a split second at the mention of sneezing, but it does. Perhaps I sneezed when I came to that point in the road. Maybe the giant "L" as the logo for Lammer's is shaped like a big nose and thus makes me think of big honkers sneezing. Haha...I don't know.

So when I listen to music, a multitude of memories pull together in my mind out of nothing. I think it's really neat to hear of C.S. Lewis putting together The Chronicles of Narnia all by starting with the image of a faun carrying packages by a lamp-post. That idea really carried off didn't it? :)

Creativity

I really admire people with a high sense of creativity. It really takes a lot these days to come up with a truly unique idea. I'm amazed by the amount of remakes and sequels there are in the movie theaters these days. And when you look at the line-up on TV, it's easy to tell that they have run out of ideas.

Sometimes I just stare out the window while my husband is driving the car and think of anything that I can. My goal is to think of things that people never thought before. If I can think of an idea and know that it was truly mine, it gives me a great sense of accomplishment.

In a way it kind of reminds me of when I was a little kid. One day I was strolling around by our mammoth-sized willow trees and a similar thought occurred to me. I thought about how everything I say has been said before by at least one other person in the world. The thought consumed me and made me so frustrated. In the midst of my angst I started jabbering the most strange sounds I'd ever made, just as an attempt to say at least one sequence of noises that had never been uttered before. Weird, right? Yes. But to me, it meant defeating the idea that everything has already been done.

My goal in writing is to do something that hasn't already been done. When I read, I don't want to read about things I already intricately know. Take me somewhere I never knew existed. Reveal to me characters that I will never be graced with the opportunity to meet. Make me aware of who I could be, what courage is, how beautiful the ordinary is, and how complex this life is. Give me creativity.

A Quick Update on My Novel

Yesterday I didn't write a whole lot, but I came forward in leaps and bounds in my ideas and plot twists.  I got a lot of help from my husband again.  I really don't know what I would do without him.  He forces me to not have writer's block!

I'm going to be picking up some books from the library on Wednesday so I can do some research  about the setting and formalities of certain things that are included in my book.

I've been working on re-writing my beginning so the first thousand words are out of this world.  I realized my beginning was too boring and wouldn't really give the reader any idea of where the book is going.  So I have included my best writing styles, (action, dialogue, emotion, awesome setting, foreshadowing...) and it is going well.  I have no idea how long this book is going to be.  The way we keep adding more and more complications to it, I'd say it will be pretty long, but you never know.  I need to figure out how many book pages are the equivalent of one Microsoft Word page.

Another little update on my life is that I can now read eBooks on my laptop.  I downloaded free software called Adobe Digital Editions, and I can download library books on there which is pretty cool.  I'm reading more than I ever have now that I'm writing a novel, because it's how I get full of creativity, and it helps me to see what I like about other authors and what I can do to better my writing.

I guess that's about it for now.  Back to writing!  And just in case I don't write another post for a while, I hope you all have a great Christmas!