{"id":9696,"date":"2020-10-30T13:46:10","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T20:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/?p=9696"},"modified":"2020-10-30T13:46:17","modified_gmt":"2020-10-30T20:46:17","slug":"never-the-same-prompt-533","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/never-the-same-prompt-533\/","title":{"rendered":"Never The Same . . . Prompt #533"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s prompt is inspired by a poem I wrote in response to the fires that ravaged Northern California, October 2017 and to the devastation throughout the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sentiments seem true today, especially \u201cadjusting to a new normal\u201d and the feelings of frustration, anger, and hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 10, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Marlene Cullen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Santa Rosa will never be the same.
Las Vegas concert goers will never be the same.
Hurricane victims will never be the same.
This City, That City . . . the list too long.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

new perspectives
new fears
new ways of thinking<\/p>\n\n\n\n

frustrated with nature
angry with wrong-doers
angry with bureaucracy
angry in general<\/p>\n\n\n\n

now we know what we don\u2019t want to know
the unimaginable can happen
there are no guarantees<\/p>\n\n\n\n

what will we take away
what have we learned
what do we need<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we need time to process
we know the five-year drought
and the heavy rains
made tinder that caught sparks
fueled by heavy winds
creating flying embers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but the why lingers\u2014why this devastation
our beautiful Northern California landscape
disfigured by ash and rubble
looks like war was fought
in its yards and parks and on its hillsides<\/p>\n\n\n\n

this scarring of the earth
the inconceivable, unthinkable
happened<\/p>\n\n\n\n

how can so many people lose everything
I am affected emotionally and spiritually
I have my house, my belongings
but do I have my right mind<\/p>\n\n\n\n

tears spill down weary cheeks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we carry on, adjusting to a new normal
trying to make sense of that
which cannot be understood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

there is the before
and now\u2014the after
the camaraderie and sense of community
the amazing goodness of people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

my writing partner asks if I\u2019m okay
I answer, no, but I will be<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing Prompt: Write about the mood or theme of the poem, a stanza, a line, a word.<\/strong> Just start writing and follow whatever comes up for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“October 10, 2017<\/strong><\/strong>” was published in Phoenix Out of Silence . . . And Then<\/em>. Redwood Writers 2018 Poetry Anthology, edited by Les Bernstein and Fran Claggett-Holland. Available through Amazon<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s prompt is inspired by a poem I wrote in response to the fires that ravaged Northern California, October 2017 and to the devastation throughout the world. The sentiments seem true today, especially \u201cadjusting to a new normal\u201d and the feelings of frustration, anger, and hope. October 10, 2017 by Marlene Cullen Sonoma, Napa, Solano, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[1437,1436,501,1435,337],"class_list":["post-9696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prompts","tag-fran-claggett-holland","tag-les-bernstein","tag-marlene-cullen","tag-phoenix-out-of-silence-and-then","tag-redwood-writers-anthology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43Dj8-2wo","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9696"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9701,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9696\/revisions\/9701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}