The WordPlay Word-zine Volume VII, Issue 15 April 16, 2018 Dear ,
I have been rendered close to useless, after, not just last Monday's Irene Blair Honeycutt Legacy Award, but also more than a week's worth of celebrating with out-of-town friends and family. It's time to turn the page, get back to
"normal" life, tackle those piled up emails and tasks. But please bask with me just a bit before all that—in the love and community that all began when I walked into Irene Blair Honeycutt's writing classes, the love and community you are a part of as a member of the WordPlay family.
At the event, I shared a story about an assignment Irene gave our poetry class: to read the same poem every day for 30 days. We had to select one, and then get her approval. My first choice was a long, lush, complicated, prosy poem. I wish I could remember which. But think Walt Whitman at his most garrulous. “Oh, no, Maureen, you are already too wordy,
that’s the last poem you need,” is close to what I recall her saying. “Pick something else.” And I landed upon Mary Oliver’s "Trilliums," which you can read in its gorgeous entirety here.
I chose it for these lines:
I believed in the world./Oh, I wanted to be easy/in the peopled kingdoms,/to take my place there,/but there was none/that I could find/shaped like me.
There it was, the longing of my entire life, articulated exactly as I would have if I could have. And, at the very same time, right there in writing class, I was being given people “shaped like me.” We writers are a bit of an odd lot, if I may say so. But when we get together, we recognize kin, people shaped like us. It
was a joyous crowd.
There was a LOT of hugging. And I have to include one photo of me and Irene! Since
I shared how much my husband supported me every step of the way from fledgling writer onward, here's one of the three of us.
And because there IS a word of the week, and a featured piece of writing, I now give you a photo of me and my beloved friend Nora, whom I met when we were waitresses together at Elby's Big Boy restaurant when we were 17. We've been fast friends ever since, and Nora came all the way from Cody, Wyoming, to share the fun.
Each of the many years Nora still lived in Pennsylvania, she'd drive south to
my drive north, and we'd meet at the Otter Creek Campground near Glasgow, Virginia, for a weekend of Scrabble and conversation and hiking.
She taught me the names of many wildflowers, including the shy May apples that bloom UNDER those wide, bright green leaves behind her.
Here in Charlotte, the May apples bloom in April. What a joy it was to see them together all these years later.
May apples, as you'll see in today's featured writing, one of my poems that I dedicated to Nora, are one of my reminders that being is often more important than doing, and that the "time being" is really all the time we have.
I'm quite sure that my 30 days of reading Mary Oliver's
"Trilliums" had some influence on my wildflower poem. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks one last time for being a part of this heart-filling, joyous time in my life.
One last thought—if you love the natural world and writing, there is one more spot open in my "Spinning Words into Gold" class at the John Campbell Folk School that begins May 6th. I bet the May apples will be in bloom right on time there! It's a truly lovely corner of the mountains, and quite something to be able to spend six hours a day in writing community, with chunks of time to write alone as well. Details just
below.
Wishing you large swaths of time being true to your writing dreams!
Love and light,
Upcoming WordPlay
SPINNING WORDS INTO GOLD Does writing fulfill you? Do you wish you were writing more? Jumpstart your writing life and learn to keep your words flowing. Learn specific techniques and exercises to create nonfiction, poetry and/or fiction. Whether you would like to keep a journal for your own personal growth, spin stories for your loved ones, or further a career as a professional writer, experience the satisfaction of developing a writing practice
that works for you—come spin words into gold.
WHERE: John Campbell Folk School. 1 Folk School Road, Brasstown, NC 28902
WHEN: Sunday, May 6th through Saturday, May 12th, 2018
COST: $630 (plus room and
board)
TO REGISTER: To register, click this link to be taken to the John Campbell Folk School website to register.
That's Nora's hand, holding back the leaves so you can see the flower sheltered beneath. Dear N: A Confession
For Nora McCormish
I lost your letter, spent at least
an hour of my life looking for it. Little habits drive
us, don’t they? Meanwhile, along the path by McAlpine creek, the May apples went about unfurling
whorls of white beneath their wide umbrellas.
I know because at last I listened
to whatever in me was willing to trade your news for the scent of wild onion,
at least for the time being, which is all the time there is.
Until tomorrow, at any rate. Honeysuckle on the way…
Talk this week? Love, M
Maureen
Ryan Griffin from Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after
another? This week, it's "being."
PROMPT: Write five different sentences that contain the phrase "time being." Then, pick your favorite and weave it into a poem, story, essay, or scene.
It's fun to play with prompts in community with fellow writers, and to be able to share the results when you're done. You can find out about WordPlay classes, workshops, and retreats here. MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. One of her long-held dreams came true in July of 2015 when Garrison Keillor read one of her poems on
The Writer's Almanac. You can listen to it here. She believes, as
author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! |
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