Volume IX, Issue 28
July 8, 2020
Word of the Week: beloved
Dear ,
First off, if you are free tomorrow (Thursday, July 9th) between 12:15 and 1:15, you are warmly invited to my VIRTUAL prose and poetry reading at Chautauqua at 12:15 Thursday, July 8th via Zoom with my good friend Dr. Shahid Aziz. I would love to see your face (or your name, if you prefer not to use video). And please feel free to extend the
invitation to friends. Lunch munching encouraged!
First Chautauqua is a beloved place to me, as you are probably well aware, a place where I can "taste" both love and light! Which leads me to explain this week's subject line, which I owe to today's featured writer, Emily Wilmer, who graciously allowed me to share a poem from her new collection of poetry, Shaft of Light, with you. It's called "Light We Can Taste."
Emily is the daughter of my dear friend Mary Wilmer, who loved Raymond Carver's poem "Late Fragment" so much that I associate it with her.
In fact, I am pretty sure I first heard this poem on a writing retreat with Mary led by my beloved writing teacher Irene Blair Honeycutt. Here's a photo of Mary on the Upper Falls hiking trail during one of these retreats.
You'll learn more about Emily, Mary, and me below. How grateful I am for the writing community that I was fortunate enough to step into through my first writing class in Charlotte back in 1989. Mary was one of my first writing friends who helped me to "taste light."
When have you "tasted light"? Tasted love? Perhaps reading Emily's poem will remind you.
Love and light,
Maureen
WordPlay
Opportunities
Shaping Our Lives by Shaping Our Words:
Through the Pandemic and Beyond
What benefits can writing provide—physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually? We know now that the words we use and the stories we tell shape our daily experiences. Learn to shape words that bring out the best in you—and others. In this class incorporating Dr. James Pennebaker’s ground-breaking work, you’ll practice holistic, whole brain writing approaches that broaden your perspectives and deepen your
compassion. And, if you’re interested, you’ll create new poetry, creative nonfiction, and/or fiction.
For more information, visit https://learn.chq.org/courses/shaping-our-lives-by-shaping-our-words-through-the-pandemic-and-beyond.
WHERE: Online via Chautauqua Institution
WHEN: Monday, August 3rd – Friday, August 7th, 2020 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
COST: $115
TO REGISTER: Visit https://learn.chq.org/courses/shaping-our-lives-by-shaping-our-words-through-the-pandemic-and-beyond and click “Enroll Now”
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How Do I Say
Goodbye? and Praying You Goodbye
These two books are for anyone who is grieving the loss of a loved one—whether the loss is
impending, recent, or in the past.
The contemplative exercises within are a guide through the “many waters” of grief (from Madeleine L'Engle's A Two-Part Invention), including "treasuring" and "keeping" as well as regret and sadness.
What is grief, after all, but a sign of the depth of our love? On the far shore is always gratefulness, for, as the French proverb says, “Gratitude is the heart’s memory.” Those who enjoy writing will likely also find poems, essays, and/or stories emerging as they make their way through these
pages.
I created the process shared in these two books in June of 2002, shortly after my mother died, as a way to mindfully mourn this loss—and celebrate her life. I shared it with a beloved friend, the Reverend Rebecca Taylor, when she lost her father, and she encouraged me to make it available to others. Here it is, in two versions, both of which offer quotes, reflections, prompts, and space to write about your loved one, as well as beautiful photographs by Wendy H. Gill that enhance each part of the process. Either
version makes a thoughtful condolence gift for a friend or family member.
How Do I Say Goodbye? is for those of any faith, with quotes from many different sources to accompany the process. It can be purchased on Amazon here.
Praying You Goodbye is specifically for Christians, with accompanying quotes from Scripture chosen by Reverend Rebecca Taylor. It can be purchased on Amazon here.
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POETRY ROCKS!
Would you like your writing — prose and/or poetry — to be more graceful, powerful, beautiful? Do you sometimes find poetry confusing or intimidating and wish you could “crack the code”? Or do you enjoy writing and reading poems, but want a more thorough understanding of what makes a
poem good? Then this poetry extravaganza is for you.
Expect a good time exploring what makes a poem a poem, gaining the knowledge you need to confidently create and revise poetry, and strengthening your writing skills in all genres.
It would be a joy and an honor to share what rocks about poetry with you.
HERE’S WHAT YOU GET:
- 23 poetry creation tools, delivered one per day (Monday through Friday) to your inbox — in honor of National Poetry month. Use them as you get them, use them when you can, use them over and over to create poems. Each tool zeroes in on one aspect
of poetry and provides an innovative method to approach writing a poem. Many of them are great for creating prose, too. The tools include:
* a purpose, so you’re clear what you will learn
* background information when helpful
* “how-to” directions to create a poem
* an example that illustrates the poetry tool in action
* a short reflection to solidify the concepts covered
* “Hone Your Craft” suggestions for further exploration
* a short reflection to solidify the concepts covered
- A PDF document of each tool that you can print or save on your computer
- An audio recording of each tool, so you can learn by listening and/or reading
- Instruction on the role of audience, reading like a writer, and the process of revision, including a handy Revision Checkpoint Chart — this information can be applied to strengthen your prose as well as
poetry
- Additional poetry resources
- An e-book that contains the information and resources covered, as well as your 23 poetry creation tools for ongoing use
WHERE: From the comfort of your own home, via the web.
WHEN: Any time you want! And once you receive all 23 tools, they’re yours to keep, which means that you can keep using them for years to come.
COST: $45
TO REGISTER: To pay with a check via mail, email info@wordplaynow.com for instructions. To register for Poetry Rocks online, click here.
More WordPlay opportunities coming soon.
Stay posted!
Featured Writer
Meet Emily Wilmer
Emily Wilmer (Alexander, NC) is spiritual director, retreat leader, licensed lay preacher, liturgist, and writer of poems, co-director of Oasis of Wisdom: Institute for Contemplative Study, Practice and Living (www.oasisofwisdom.net). Her poems have appeared in KAKALAK, Sufi Journal, Leaping
Clear, Braided Way, and various other journals.
A recipient of a Pushcart Prize Nomination in 2019, Emily has been a Thomas Merton Poetry of the Sacred finalist and a NC Poetry Society Poetry of Courage award winner. She was recently awarded Best of Category in Poetry by Flying South and will appear in their 2020 journal. Her chapbook, Shaft of Light, was published in May 2020.
Emily has over twenty-five years of experience providing spiritual direction to individuals seeking spiritual growth and discernment in their lives. She completed the two-year course in individual spiritual direction at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Washington, DC., and has also trained with Lauren Artress in San Francisco in the facilitation of the labyrinth as a spiritual tool. Emily has offered spiritual direction, workshops, and retreats throughout the USA and the UK.
She has been a children’s and youth minister, speaker, and presenter at national conferences, writer, actor, and licensed lay preacher in the Episcopal Church.
What Emily says about WordPlay
I first met Maureen when I attended my mother’s poetry group many years ago in Charlotte when I was there for a visit. It was invigorating to sit with and listen to the creativity and kindness shared in that room. This was my first experience of what it meant to have one’s poems critiqued in a supportive
environment. Across from me sat Maureen; I felt an immediate connection with her. On a later visit, Maureen and I met at a coffee shop for, what I now call, a meaningful conversation. We bounced around from poetry to the spiritual life, family life and vocation. Though years would pass before connecting again, a friendship was cemented.
Five or six years later, when I started to take writing poetry more seriously, Maureen was the person I reached for: would she critique/edit my work long-distance? I was in Ithaca, NY, she still in Charlotte. She got me started down this path with her suggestions, questions, and support. One of the
first poems I submitted 14 years ago was one she helped with and it was accepted. It is now the opening poem of my chapbook, albeit with a few more revisions – do we ever say a poem is really finished!
I remain ever grateful for Maureen’s encouragement, guidance, and friendship ….and her enthusiasm for all of us who do our best to put pen to paper and end up going places we hadn’t imagined.
Featured Writing
from
A Shaft of Light
by
Emily Wilmer
Light We Can Taste
for
Luke
Luke, our family physicist, stands at the log splitter;
morning sun glints through misted trees,
weaves a silver halo around his shoulders.
Gas-powered engine sputters to life,
offers steady rumble to the rhythm
of cracking wood, background for my cup of tea.
Only last night we sat together over glazed trout,
pasta and French white wine, my granddaughter
fussy and tired. I think of how she is
swimming in love, soaked to the bone,
unaware of life-giving water that is hers to drink.
Stepson, stepmother – I marvel I’m at the table.
Sun rises to zenith, glances
off hemlock and maple,
finds the open deck, dries
rain-soaked boards, warms potted plants,
splashes gold across kitchen walls,
infuses air with light we can taste.
Now he and I sit at the table,
turkey and cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit,
iced tea bless our work of wood and words.
We talk of things we love: physics, poetry,
stardust and spirit, galaxies and transformation.
I breathe in light and water, star and tree.
Find out more about Emily Wilmer's Shaft of Light
and purchase copies here.
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 “beloved.”
PROMPT:
Write about a time you, or one of your characters, experienced a moment so infused with light (and/or love) that it could be tasted.
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.
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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