The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

Tag: Poetry

  • How Photography Inspires Writing

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    How Photography Inspires My Writing

    By Simona Carini

    On January 18, 2016, walking around North Berkeley, I was brought to a halt by the look of a house: the right and left side were painted in different colors and the overall effect was that of a line bisecting the façade. I took a photo and resumed my walk but kept thinking about the house. At home, I wrote down what I had seen and the musings the sight had stirred, then distilled the material into my first poem “The Divorced House” which was published in the journal, Star 82 Review, together with the photo.

    At the time, I had been writing for almost 10 years, mostly about food and more recently memoir. Poetry was a new endeavor. As I developed my style and voice, I continued using my photos as writing prompts. I still do.

    I start by describing the image, not only the visual details, but smells, sounds, things I touched or that touched me, and/or the situation that led to the photo being taken. While I free-write I may remember something I felt or thought when the image was taken, or a story may emerge. Ultimately, the poem needs to transcend the description to a deeper theme, a shared emotion. What is the story? Why am I telling it? The process may remain a writing exercise, still useful as it helps me focus on sensory details.  

    I usually don’t know where writing about an image will lead me. The bisected house in Berkeley made me think about my parents’ divisions which affected my early life.

    Taking photographs for me is a way of taking notes. A photo helps me remember what I saw and what I felt. As writer I am a hoarder: of sights, sounds, smells, flavors, textures. I gather sensory details and musings and store them for immediate or future use.

    A bench overlooking the Pacific Ocean photographed on a foggy day (so that it appears to overlook nothingness) led me to think about refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea not being allowed to rest when they arrive wherever the waves pushed them. “The Bench” was published with the inspiring photo in Star 82 Review.

    The cover of my recently published poetry collection, Survival Time, features the photo that inspired the opening poem: It shows the inside of Lærdal Tunnel, in Norway. The poem references the experience of driving through that tunnel and weaves into it the experience of my husband’s cancer diagnosis. At some point the poem describes what the photo shows but in the broader context of the life event for which it is a metaphor.

    “December 31” (originally published in Italian Americana) is about the time I spent the last afternoon of 2018 on the beach of Pismo Beach, CA, bathed in glorious sunset colors, watching surfers ride the last waves of the year, and observing shorebirds. The poem describes them and meditates on breathing and death, as the year is about to die:

    The end

    arrives with our last breath. A long sigh the last

    sound we make. We carry nothing with us,

    not even a gulp of air. Will I, on the final

    exhale, remember kindness in your gaze?

    Simona Carini was born in Perugia, Italy. She writes poetry and nonfiction and has been published in various venues, in print and online.

    Her first poetry collection, Survival Time ,  was published in 2022 by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions. She lives in Northern California with her husband, loves to spend time outdoors, and works as an academic researcher.

  • Reality’s Ruse

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    Reality’s Ruse 

    By  Mary O’Brien  

    Summer shakes Winter’s hand,
    proposing a fling.
    Autumn’s wind scurries them
    both away –
    not a fan of farce.

    Martinis at three,
    come by and get me.
    Loose lips sink ships:
    my mouth full of
    sharp torpedoes.

    My reality is often
    a ruse, driven to other
    worlds on printed pages,
    between covers
    in greedy hands.

    I left my scarf in
    that dream –
    the one with the pulled
    thread I
    tied round your finger.

    We never made it to New York.
    That was your ruse
    to keep me interested
    long enough to marry
    in Vegas.

    “Reality’s Ruse” inspired by Just For Fun . . . Prompt #672 on The Write Spot Blog,

    Mary O’Brien is a Retired Trophy Wife (RTW) from the Pacific Northwest. She has volunteered for the Court Appointed Special Advocate program, founded local therapeutic hospital humor programs, and supported various other non-profits and do-goodery. 

    Enjoying the artistry of music, the music of words, the words of healing, and the healing of art, Mary is spending her pandemic hibernation immersing herself in art journaling, watercolor and writing. 

    She lives in Idaho with her tolerant husband near her comedic grandchildren, and is managed by an elderly, sugared golden retriever (send treats). 

  • Perspective . . . Prompt #658

    I like the idea of looking at familair things with a new perspective.

    This writing idea is from Kathryn Petruccelli:

    Look at something in your environment, perhaps something you’ve seen many times before, that you think you know well.

    It could be a piece of art hanging in your house, or a plant on your windowsill.

    Get close and look again. Re-see it.

    After you’ve spent some time with it, create a list of metaphors—things it looks like, or reminds you of.

    Don’t be too attached to logic, be free with your associations.

    Maybe the comparisons will get wild as you go along.

    At some point, break the pattern of the list and slow things down by going deeper into description for one metaphor (extend it and explain it in more detail), or by making a statement—a simple subject-verb sentence—that reflects on or summarizes what you’ve said so far.

    Note from Marlene: Use your list as seeds for future writing.

    Join Kathryn Petruccelli for a summer of poking around in poetry.

    Write Spot Blog Posts about similes and metaphors:

    Describe colorful character using similes and metaphors

    Innovative Technique for Creative Writing

    An experience in nature

    Just Write!

    #iamwriting #iamawriter #justwrite #iamapoet

  • Winter Solstice 2021

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    Winter Solstice 2021

    By M.A. Dooley

    This blessed day when the light returns,

    I stand on the mountain of my home 

    Grounded at 7:59 AM and look up. 

    The round moon wanes floating over 

    Saucer clouds docked in the west. 

    A soft haze hangs between me and my Shire,

    Layered hillocks of veiled emerald, 

    Taste wet and lush as if the drought is over. 

    The sun rises behind a filter of grey

    Cotton balls connected at fluffy centers like 

    Fat caterpillars in the sky. 

    When the time rings for a celestial split, 

    A tear in the cotton,

    A thin sliver of blue blinks open 

    And the sun sears my eyes 

    Carving the womb of awakening.

    I am the field of green softened by one ray,

    I am the strong back of the moon, 

    Light as the wind that whips my tassels

    Reverent as a child witnessing a miracle

    I welcome life and light this Solstice sunrise.

    M.A. Dooley is an architect and writer from the Santa Cruz Mountains, Sonoma County, and the Sierra Nevadas. Dooley has been published in “The Write Spot: Musings and Ravings in a Pandemic Year” and in “Poems of a Modern Day Architect,” Archhive Books, 2020.

    #amwriting #justwrite #poetry #iamawriter

  • Dinner Lines

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    Dinner Lines

    By M.A. Dooley

    Empty lines without a script,

    Two old lovers sit stiff like bricks

     

    Empty lines planked blue wood top,

    Inviting ages of warmth and weight.

     

    Warmth and weight, young bricks cool,

    Purpose wanted held at bay.

     

    Warmth and weight, mason’s hands

    Stack staggered bonds, build a wall.

     

    Build a wall, the server piles

    Flowers, wine, the table splits.

     

    Build a wall to be broken down

    With drink, pleasure, taste and texture.

     

    Taste and texture laughter blooms,

    Edges soften like molten stone.

     

    Taste and texture spills red wine

    Dripping, seeping fills empty lines.

     

    Empty lines, hushed hands held,

    Old lovers’ warmth and weight meld. 

    M.A. Dooley is an architect and writer from the Santa Cruz Mountains, Sonoma County, and the Sierra Nevadas. Dooley has been published in The Write Spot: Musings and Ravings in a Pandemic Year and Poems of a Modern Day Architect, Archhive Books, 2020.

  • Circles of Life . . . Circles of Death

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    Circles of Life . . . Circles of Death

    by Peter Perez

    Just as the sun circles the globe each day, and the moon circles the globe each month, so do we follow the paths and orbits of our lives, crossing and intersecting the family, friends and events that crossroad our voyage.

    It is the choices that we make at those crossroads that put us on our journey and lead us to the next adventure. To be willing to accept your instincts is what keeps life fresh and exciting. And as one explores life, so must we be prepared for the next adventure . . . death. Our ancestors believed that death was the purpose of life and the beginning of the next evolution of spirit . . . in another dimension.

    Embracing Death gives more meaning to Life . . . and embracing Life gives more meaning to Death. It is what we do while we are here that makes the difference.

    Whether you are living to die . . . or dying to live will describe your journey.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Peter Perez has taken on new lives and lifestyles throughout his existence. His first life was that of an immigrant’s son who used his artistic talents to buy a one-way ticket to New York after graduating from one of the country’s best art schools.

    From fledgling artist growing up in an Anaheim, California barrio, to Madison Avenue superstar, Perez has now metamorphosed back to his cultural heritage to become a renown Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) creator and curator.

    “The Day of the Dead celebration awakened deep personal roots that had been lost and forgotten,” said Perez. “Spanish, my first language, and a connection to my native culture, had been erased at an early age.”

    During a reunion visit to his Anaheim, California high school in 2016, Perez told students about being renamed Peter from Pedro and being forbidden to speak Spanish. His story was especially relevant to the arts students who see Perez as someone from their own background who became a successful artist despite the odds.

    “Be the best at what you do and success will come naturally,” he told the students.

    Perez is responsible for sparking the City of Anaheim’s Day of the Dead celebration. It was, in fact, sparked by the death of his nephew, an Anaheim resident who died in a motorcycle accident in 2009. Initially not embraced by city officials, Perez persisted and, with the help of the Anaheim Heritage Council, Arts Council, Downtown Association and several volunteers, a new tradition was started that has evolved into celebrations being staged throughout Orange County.

    For Perez, the opportunity to paint and explore the life of the dead has resulted in solo shows, group exhibits, and serving as a curator for fiestas, art and altar exhibitions for the largest Dia de los Muertos celebrations in the nation. He has also introduced the celebration to areas in India and Australia. His Dia de los Muertos installations draw rave reviews.

  • Claudia

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    Claudia

    by Nona Smith

    We held our wine glasses up and tapped their rims together. Clink.

              “Do you know why that’s done?” Claudia asked.

              “I have no idea,” I said.

              “The French began the custom centuries ago. It’s to make us appreciative of all five of our senses.”

    Claudia had a treasure trove of that kind of information.

     “Ahhh, les Francais; ils savent tout,” she added.

              She spoke three languages fluently and had enough vocabulary in others to find bathrooms in foreign countries and order wine in restaurants. Born in Germany and well-travelled, Claudia had European sensibilities and a sophisticated sense of style. Her hair was cut by a Sassoon-trained stylist, she wore only Italian-made shoes, and the walls of her dining room were painted Chinese red, seasons before that trend appeared in Architectural Digest. She owned a few expensive, elegant gold pieces, but most of her jewelry was purchased during her travels from local artisans or at art fairs at home. It was this we bonded over.

              On her first day working as a travel agent at Trips Out Travel, I admired her earrings: thumb-nail size, straight-back chairs, crafted from black metal. Definitely not gold, but certainly expensive. Something she might have found in a museum gift shop.

              My compliment caused her to tuck a strand of red hair behind her ear and caress her earlobe. “I found them in Taormina. I had to sort through all that cameo crap they sell there before I found anything interesting.”

              Claudia had opinions. Very firm opinions. About food and clothing and what was worth spending money on. Her generous smile drew people to her; her sharp tongue sent them away. She possessed a quirky, wicked sense of humor and had a flare for the dramatic. She’d once been married and had a son Adam she adored, but when I met her, Claudia was living alone in a one-bedroom gem of a house secreted into the Berkeley hills. She took her cockapoo Milo, a yappy attention-grabbing dog, with her almost everywhere. And Claudia was devoted to the game of What If… What if you weren’t a travel agent; what else would you be? What if you didn’t live in this country; where else would you like to live? What if you knew how to play a musical instrument; which one would it be?

              Milo was not with us the afternoon we dined at our favorite dim sum restaurant in the City. We’d already polished off a bamboo steaming-basket of shrimp dumplings and a platter of al dente Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce when Claudia nodded to the waitress rolling another dim sum-laden trolley towards us. “We’ll have the shu mai and the pork buns,” she said with authority.

              We held our wine glasses up and tapped their rims together. Clink.

              “What if,” Claudia began, “you were on Death Row and going to order your last meal; what would it be?”

              I don’t recall what I answered, but Claudia’s answer came quickly and definitively. She waved her chopsticks over the bountiful table. “This is what I would order.”

              Late the next morning, Adam called. “It’s bad news. It’s Mom. She died yesterday.”

              “Oh, Adam,” I said. Tears sprang to my eyes.

              He continued to speak, “… alone in the house … Milo was with her … brain aneurism …”

              I heard his words, vaguely, but the picture in my mind was of Claudia, her chopsticks held aloft, pronouncing the dim sum her last meal of choice.

    “Claudia” by Nona Smith is one of the featured pieces at the Artists’ Co-op of Mendocino, Traditional and Contemporary Fine Arts 2021 Ekphrasis X Exhibition, where writing is paired with visual arts. You can see the artwork inspired by “Claudia” and the other winning entries at 2021 Ekphrasis X Exhibition.

    Ekphrasis: Art describing other art. Writing is paired with visual arts.

    Nona Smith is the author of Stuffed: Emptying the Hoarder’s Nest and numerous short stories, humorous personal essays, and bad poetry. She was a long-time board member of the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference and currently sits on the board of the Writers of the Mendocino Coast and is editor of the club’s annual anthology. Nona lives with her patient husband Art and two demanding cats.

    Her writing is featured in many anthologies including The Write Spot: Musings and Ravings From a Pandemic Year. Available at Gallery Books in Mendocino, Rebound Books in Mill Valley, Book Passage in Corte Madera, at Amazon, and through your local bookseller.

  • Poetry

    Founded in Chicago by Harriet Monroe in 1912, Poetry is the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world.

    Poetry wants “Unique poems that are surprising” and Poetry welcomes book reviews and other poetry-related prose.

    Explore Poems

    Featured Bloggers

    Submit

    #amwriting #justwrite #poetry

  • Blue Lake Review

    Sonoma County poet Dave Seter has a poem “Relative Strangers” in the Blue Lake Review (online journal), November 2020 issue.

    Blue Lake Review

    Our goal is to bring compelling, meaningful, insightful fiction and poetry to you every month. Something you can ponder and gnaw on. Something to bring light, or at least, growth and understanding to our readers on a regular basis. No frivolous pieces here. Your time is too valuable. We’re serious about our words, and are selective in what we present to you, sifting through the mountains of words to pull out the diamonds. 

    Submission Guidelines

    You, too, can see your writing in Blue Lake Review. Write. Revise. Polish. Submit!