Sparks

Night Knight

Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Night Knight By Su Shafer We spend almost every night together. I’m not away from home often But when I am, I ache And I don’t sleep well. I am uncomfortable with The hardness of strangers The impersonal coarseness Or aloof purist sterility. There is never the welcoming I get at home. The soft embrace, The understanding. At home there is no judgment Or pressure that I am not doing enough, No criticism that I am not enough My bed cradles me like a mother. I am held in a cocoon of love I never want to leave. I close my eyes and my bed hums A silent lullaby           Sleep dear one           Tired caterpillar           Your work will wait           Dream of wings           And drinking flowers           Wake up the butterfly That you…

Sparks

Herald

Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Herald By Su Shafer After all these years She’s letting go No more worrying If she’s too fat Or too old Or what he’s thinking Or feeling Or if he’s alive or dead No more waiting For the rock to roll The hope when it moved a little But found a new dead end to be still So she’s letting go Dropping the over-packed luggage She carried with both hands For so long Her arms feel like wings As she walks in the sun Her steps so light, she might take flight On her way to the mailbox She sees a golden jewel beetle Resting on the sidewalk A living gem that stuns her breathless Spreading amber wings, it lifts effortlessly Into the air and buzzes regally away Sometimes messengers are more beautiful Than you can…

Sparks

Burgeoning

Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Burgeoning By Su Shafer How many petals are in a peony? There’s no way to tell from the bud – a closed hand           holding more than you can imagine. They unfold slowly, the way a smile spreads           before a secret is told. Each petal           a curled finger uncurling           an alluring promise of beauty to come           a whisper – just wait, just wait… And then suddenly It blooms Su Shafer is a creative crafter, fabricating bits of writing in poetry and short stories, and generating characters that appear in paintings and sit on various bookshelves and coffee tables.

Sparks

The Sound of Wind

By Su Shafer The sound of wind is cold – gray waves, frigid and broken,  rushing up a Northern shore. It’s a hollow sound, like a flute without music. An echo undying. Emptiness longing to be filled. A mournful wail unanswered. The despairing lamentation  of invisible hands searching, sweeping ahead blindly. Dry leaves scuttle sideways like old crabs on stick legs. They rattle their empty claws at its passing, then lay still. Su Shafer is a creative writer and sometime poet who lives in the Pacific Northwest, where flannel shirts are acceptable as formal wear and strong coffee is a way of life. There, in a small Baba Yaga house perched near the entrance to The Hidden Forest, odd characters are brewing with the morning cup, and a strange new world is beginning to take shape . . .

Sparks

The Inner Critic Tar Pit of Doom and Despair

By Su Shafer Beware the trap that writers often fall into: The Inner Critic Tar Pit of Doom and Despair—the black hole of fear in your head that says you have nothing new or exciting to say or that even if you are personally excited by what you’ve written, it’s not good enough for someone else to read or hear.  The Tar Pit of Doom and Despair is a creative quicksand that will sink the soul right out of your writing, further feeding the fear of mediocrity. The only way to escape this pit is to get out of your head.  I’ve found doing timed free writes is a great way to do this. When your time is restricted, you don’t have time to obsess over a word or a phrase and there simply isn’t enough time to polish. There is something freeing and reassuring about that.  And having a time…