Reflection in poetry

December 27, 2013

Harder to Live

A karate kick

to my heart

delivered

the day Glen died 

taught me 

I do not want to be 

the last one standing. 

Watching  

mom’s health decline 

illuminates  

what it is like to be 

ninety-three

I do not want to be

the last one standing.

I do not want to live 

without 

my sisters 

my children

my family 

I do not want to be 

the last one standing. 

Jean Louise Blanchard

remembering Glen’s words: “it’ll be harder for you than for me...”

Holiday Reminiscing

The end of the year is for me a time of reflection. Lately I've been reminiscing about the holiday time when I was a kid in the 1950's. A lot has changed yet much remains the same. Lots of material for a short holiday story. When did we get a christmas tree? I remember Dad brought a tree home the weekend following Thanksgiving. He'd trim branches then cut several inches from the trunk and put it in a bucket of water out on the porch. He said the tree needed at least a week to soak up the water and replenish itself after its long journey from the forest to our house before we decorated it. Do folks still immerse their trees in water today? We kids spent a lot of time hunting for signs of christmas packages. Mom hid them in a closet, high up on a shelf in her sewing room. Today I see parents shopping for gifts, with their children in tow. Some kids even tell their parents what to buy as they shop! Mom put electric candles, with blue bulbs, in our windows. (Where the bulbs blue or am I misremembering?) Last year when I visited my Mom before the holidays we looked through the various decorations she still kept; the small items she would display around the holiday. My most vivid memory is standing in the darkened living room, looking at the christmas tree all decorated and lit with multi-colored lights and hearing a voice tell me, "you have alway been and will alway be." I was five at the time. These collective memories could make a fine story.

See new post on Dubious Grief page.

Let it snow!

Holiday time from Thanksgiving through the end of the year is typically a time when my attention shifts away from writing and onto daily life. I spent Thanksgiving week visiting my son and his family in CA. When I returned I began my frantic holiday beading - necklaces for the women in my family. It's a tradition I keep up year to year. Not so different this year until the end of last week brought snow to Eugene OR. This is a city where everything stops when snow falls. We are totally unprepared for it. Since the storm hit on Thursday night the temperatures have not gotten above freezing so the snow remains on the roadways, packed down and slippery. This year in particular we are stopped in our tracks - last night the temperature fell to a record shattering minus 9 degrees. Just keeping the pipes from freezing and staying warm is a challenge. No holiday shopping here. Instead several days to write, write, write. This may be my most productive writing time during the holidays ever!

New post on Dubious Grief page.

Time for reflection

After several weeks dealing with health issues - I'm back in the grove writing again. While I suffered through a head cold, coughing and sneezing through my days, I reflected on a new structure and wrote notes to remind me of my insights once I had enough energy to write. With direct questions such as 'what is the purpose of this chapter' and 'how can I draw the reader in' I have a solid framework to use in revising materials. Now that my head has cleared and coughing subsided, I am able to integrate these notes. Amazingly my notes still make sense (mostly) and I write, write, write these ideas into restructured chapters.

A multi writing approach

I've discovered that writing three different books at the same time has helped me avoid getting bogged down due to my resistance in performing some writing tasks. I can't seem to edit pieces for very long before I get bored. One project, my memoir about my grief journey, at times overwhelms me and I can't seem to write. Research for my historical novel can become tedious. So having three writing projects keeps me moving along.

See new post on Novel Ideas page.

Opening scene draft

Just returned from a visit with my sisters. We talked about our experiences during the 1960's & 1970's. Thinking about where to begin I decided to write a working draft for scene one of the novel.

"It's strange, even bizarre when I ponder it all now." Rosemary grinned stiffly, her round eyes opened wide. In her peripheral vision she caught a glimpse of Molly frantically scribbling on a yellow notepad. She had refused Molly's repeated requests to record their meetings.
Everything had begun a lifetime ago yet sweat sprang from Rosemary's pours. Her rigid body shuddered. Voice low, barely a throaty whisper she said, "You never forget the sound of a bullet passing inches above your head..."

New post on Dubious Grief page.

A road map approach

This piece (story about social movements and change) is the first time I will use a 'road map' (historical events) to develop a novel. Most of the research about events from the 1960-70's is completed. The question I now address is: Where is my protagonist and what situations during this timeframe provide the greatest opportunity for her to change? Thinking about these critical moments I am sketching out possible scenes, encounters where the protagonist moves from one perspective and into a different way of viewing her world. What is she looking for and how does she get or not get what she wants. I will write, write, write these scenes and see what happens.