You Will Know Me

SCATTERED  ORGANIZED

CREATIVE ANXIOUS

LOYAL

You Will Know Me

Creativity is the Creator's will for me

Throughout my world I see endless possibilities

A shining vessel perched atop the fire

To it, I will add my heart's desire

Aromatic spices and fine cuts of meat

You will know me when you sit down to eat

A coil-ringed notebook sits waiting for words

A voice for the reticent, meant to be heard

Onto the page spills my heart and my needs

You will know me when you sit down to read

Bolts of cloth gather, longing for shape

Colours and textures into which I escape

Garments and quilts with love they're adorned

You will know me when you feel the warmth

A dark thief lies in wait for my creative being
My eyes are a mirror, the seen keep on seeing

My limbs rendered useless, they hang in despair

You will know me when you taste my tears 

My pen as my sword, I will fight my dark lover

I will not succumb though the line I may hover

At the end of the day I plan to break free 

And then you will know me....creatively

Creativity is the Creator's will for me

Throughout my world I see endless possibilities

This week's prompt at Mama Kat's Writing Workshop:

Describe yourself in five words. Choose one, and write a poem.

Trapped

 

She felt trapped in this grey November day and trapped in this life.  The black, heavy clouds pressed down upon her like the lead vest at the dentist's office rendering her limbs heavy and clumsy.  The dentist's office was a memory from another lifetime, one in which she could afford such things as dentists.  She wielded her tattered umbrella like a prescription for Prozac in an effort to protect herself against the persistent droplets of misery that dampened her threadbare coat and her failing spirits.  She plodded along, her head down, trying, unsuccessfully, to avoid the puddles.  The water seeped into her boots through holes that were put there by previous feet, feet that belonged to people whose toes were probably dry right now, having had the luxury to exchange the holey boots for a new pair.  She didn't usually succumb to feelings of self-pity such as those that were seeping into her thoughts today but the weather was getting to her, making an already impossible situation worse.  She just hoped for a little sunshine.  Things always looked better through the filter of sunlight.  She stepped off the curb and onto the street, her head still down.  The sound of a blaring car horn startled her and her head snapped up just in time to see the startled face of the man driving the grey car as it pummeled into her.  

She awoke in a state of confusion.  There were people moving above her, shouting words that she couldn't understand.  She listened to them from a distance.  She tried to open her eyes, just a crack, but closed them again right away because the bright light above her was shining directly into them.  Her last thought as she drifted back into a deep peaceful sleep, a little smile touching the corners of her mouth, was that she was warm and everything was okay now because the sun was shining again.

 We had two different options this week at Little Red Writing Hood: write flash fiction based on the prompt "Trapped" or "I truly enjoyed spending time with them. I just had to decide which of them I would kill." 

Check out The Red Dress Club here to see the other posts that were inspired by these prompts.

Smorgasbord for the Senses

Today's prompt is provided by Ali Edwards.  "Ali’s passion resides in that very special place where the stories and images of life intersect"

THE PROMPT: Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).

This piece was published on my food blog, It's a Food Life, on October 26th, 2010.

This past October,  I had the pleasure of attending the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival which was held at the Granville Island Market.  It was a veritable smorgasbord for the senses.  

The famous Market is a foodie's paradise and my eyes thirstily drank in the beautiful displays  - luscious blackberries piled in a blue-black pyramid; fresh, tender balls of  boccoccini;  jellied, rosemary chicken confit; and elaborate, exquisite desserts that were too lovely to eat.  

My ears tingled with pleasure as they listened to the many authors of various genres share their insightful advice and read from their own works, published and unpublished, but my ears were especially thankful to experience the men's choir, Chor Leoni, perform alongside the author, Jack Hodgins, as he read from his numerous and humorous tomes. It stirred my soul.  

The feel of the intermittent, cool, light breeze on my face, as we dined al fresco on the balcony of the Sandbar Restaurant overlooking False Creek, was so refreshing in the otherwise, balmy October air.  From this vantage point, we had a most perfect view of the city lights.  

And of course, I could not give a sensory account of the weekend without mentioning the cornucopia of tastes and smells - sweet and sour lemon chicken; white-chocolate latte with chocolate whip (oh, em, gee!); warm, cinnamon crepes; deep, rich Shiraz; lemon-zested Dungeness crab cakes; tender, sweet, lightly-battered calamari; crispy bacon and fried eggs with baked beans; tender Chinese dumplings dipped in a light, sweet soy sauce; the salty, sweet air of the ocean breeze (happy place!); fresh, crusty bread dipped in Balsamic vinegar reduction and extra virgin olive oil; globes of creamy chocolate; sharp, herbed, pungent Cheddar cheese; Sockeye Salmon with Red Curry-Coconut Sauce alongside aromatic Basmati rice and delicately flavoured fresh, plump, raspberries in a salad of crisp tender greens and so much more.

Our hotel suite was equipped with a full on kitchen so we decided to stay in for dinner on Saturday night.  We enjoyed the view of Vancouver, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, through the floor to ceiling windows of our lofty suite.  The low, sexy strains of Leonard Cohen permeated the room as we supped on fresh Sockeye salmon and sipped on deep, dark aromatic red wine.  Very Canadiana don't you think.  Hard to take.

Step Away From the Computer

Today's writing prompt for Reverb 10 is brought to us by Leo Babauta.  He is the author of the book, focus : a simplicity manifesto in the age of distraction.

THE PROMPT: What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?

Well, I go to work everyday and, unfortunately, I can't eliminate that.  Yet.  Seriously, though, in the time that I do have to write, there are so many things that I do that are non-productive and most of them involve the computer.  Facebook, twitter and blog-hopping seem to draw me like a magnet.  In order to write and not be distracted by such things, I find I need to remove myself from in front of the computer.  Usually, when I am ready to write without distraction, I will sit in my overstuffed, red, Ikea chair curled up with my notebook and my pen.  Not only is this chair very comfortable but it also provides sufficient space between me and the computer in order to be free from the temptation to tweet or to Facebook -  just one more time. 

 

Lately, it seems, I have been finding my way to my red chair less and less, for reasons such as procrastination, perfectionism, apathy, anxiety... I could go on and on with the excuses but I won't, instead I will read Leo Babauta's book and recite my mantra of the day: 

Step away from the computer, step away from the computer, step away from the computer, step away from the computer, step away from the computer, step away from the computer, step away from the computer.....

Peace in My World

To sum up a whole year with one word is a difficult thing.  There are many words that come to mind when I reflect upon the year 2010.  Words such as anxious, scattered, beginnings, endings, family, friends, joy, sadness, healing, passion and creativity are only a few that come to mind.  

If I have to choose just one word, though, I would say SEEKING.  This year, I have been trying to find my place in this world, trying to find the life that I am meant to be living, trying to find my niche, trying to find an outlet for my creativity and trying to find some healing.  Through this process, I have attempted many new things and to some, I imagine that I must appear very scattered and desperate.  It is difficult to find what you are looking for when you don't know what it is.  It is not all bad, though.  In my quest to find "it", I have found that I really love writing and the benefits of this discovery are two-fold.  Through words, I have found an avenue for my creative longings as well as a very effective conduit for healing.

At risk of sounding like a beauty pageant contestant, the word that I am hoping will be my theme for 2011, is PEACE.  Not world peace, although this would, truly, be a wonderful thing, but peace in my world.  Peace that comes from letting go, peace that comes from being truly comfortable with yourself, peace that comes from the clarity of knowing you are right where you should be, doing exactly what you should be doing and peace that comes from putting your heart down on paper and having people "get it".

It isn't enough to talk about peace, 

one must believe it.
And it isn't enough to believe in it, 

one must work for it. 

~ Eleanor Roosevelt