WORK HARD

 

QUIRKS

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

Poetry has never been the language of barriers, it's always been the language of bridges.

~Amanda Gordon

A MUST FOR 2022

 

SYLVIA PLATH.

 I am currently studying the life and works of Sylvia Plath. 

WORDS OF WISDOM

 Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.

~Theodore Roethke, Poet (1908-1963)

ALL WERE BANNED AT ONE TIME

 

MORE POETRY

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

The bond that links your true family is not of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.

~Richard Bach, Novelist (b. 1936)

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

CALDWELL- Idaho, Kansas, New Jersey, Ohio

MARIETTA- Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin

HAS HAPPENED A FEW TIMES

 

TALKING AND LIVING

 

       Jack Kerouac is one of my favorite authors. The architect of  the novels 'On The Road', 'Dharma Bums' and 'Big Sur', Kerouac actually lived what he wrote. Some have talked about adventure and exploits, Jack went out and did it. 

       Looking back, I remember the long drives to Colorado and Maryland from Kansas. I remember watching the sun set  in the Pacific Ocean while visiting California. I still derive much joy from hanging out in the countryside or sitting in Washington Square Park getting off on the vibes.

It's one thing to talk about adventures; it's another to actually experience it. As a child I wondered through the woods wondering what I may encounter. I still have that curiosity now that I'm in my seventies. I pray that it never dies. 

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

CARSON- California, Illinois. Washington

SUMNER- Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Oregon, Texas, Washington

WORDS OF WISDOM

 If my poetry aims to achieve anything, it's to deliver people from the limited ways in which they see and feel. 

Jim Morrison, Singer (1943-1971)

HAVE I BEEN HERE BEFORE?

 I put myself in a particular time and place when I write. There are places I know like the back of my hand. Then there are places that have never been to and yet I feel that I have. I transport myself back in time and imagine enjoying all the pleasures available. 

One could call it the places of the heart. In another sense there m a y be something about a place in that keeps drawing me like a magnet. It can be magical, alluring, strange, or I use my wild imagination.  I guess that's the whole idea of a writer; to go places where he/she have never been.

SYNONYMS

 

NEW RADIO PROGRAM

Coming in January, I will begin a new program on blog talk radio. It will feature all forms of literature. Poetry, fiction, biography, monologues, and others. I don't have a title for the program yet but I will share it when I come up with one. I will post the website when I have the first program ready to go.

WORDS OF WISDOM

How did it get so late so soon? It's the night before it's afternoon. December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flown. How did it get so late so soon?

~Dr. Seuss

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

 RIDGEFIELD- Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon

COMPULSION TO BE A WRITER

 

THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS

 

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

DAYTON- Idaho, Iowa, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon

STEVENSON- Maryland, Oregon, Virginia, Washington,  West Virginia

WORDS OF WISDOM

Thanksgiving, for me, is a time of reflection.

~Trish Regan, Journalist

TRAGIC HEROES AND HEROINES

I seem drawn to authors who experienced tragic lives. When I read their works and their biographies, I ask myself, how can someone so gifted be so self destructive?

Some of them had conflicted or troubled childhoods. Others experienced much loss (Edgar Allan Poe). Still others were so conflicted about themselves (Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath). I am amazed by the amount of work they put out. 

Would these authors be as famous as they were, if they suffered no tragedy and conflict? I'll never know. Perhaps this is where their genius is expressed. Some of the best writing is produced during troubled times. 

WORDS OF WISDOM

 

ORIGINALITY

 

TEA AND A BOOK

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

In a way, writing is an incredible act of individualism, producing your language, and yet using it from the heart of a crowd as opposed to individual performance is a conflicting thing. I do stand-alone, and yet it's not about being an individual or being ambitious.

~Arundhati Roy

A COMPLEX POET

 Sylvia Plath wrote some of the most poignant poetry,

 filled with metaphors, mythology, and conflicted feelings. 

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

NORMAL- Alabama, Illinois

SANDY- Oregon, Utah

POEM

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.

~Virginia Woolf, Author (1882-1941) 

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

HUDSON- Kansas, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina

LEICESTER- Massachusetts, Vermont

NORMAL- Alabama, Illinois

BE THANKFUL

 Be thankful for everything.

WORDS OF WISDOM

A good short-story writer has an instinct for sketching in just enough background to ground the specific story. 

Lynn Abbey, Author (b. 1948)

WRITE ANYWAY

 

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

 STERLING- Massachusetts, Virginia

WRITING DIFFERENT GENRES

Though famous authors are known for writing a particular genre, they have written other lesser-known works.

James Baldwin was a novelist, essayist, and playwright. How many people know that he has many collections of poetry? Sylvia Plath wrote short stories besides poetry. Though noted for prose, Herman Melville wrote poetry. Edgar Allan Poe is the inventor of detective fiction. Toni Morrison was a book editor besides being a novelist and essayist.

Writing different genres can stretch the mind and expand one's horizons. I wrote short stories, essays, and commentaries. I took to poetry a decade ago believing my story writing had grown stagnant. Since then, I have written a few plays, horror, haiku, and prose. 

Writing teaches me discipline and structure. I have written short stories since my teen years. When I tried poetry, I was locked in on my thought process. Since then I have written around three hundred poems.

CREATIVITY KNOWS NO BOUNDS

There are many talented and creative people in my neighborhood. Musicians. Actors. Writers. Poets. All ages, races, and backgrounds. Each person has their own particular style which I find fascinating. 

I'm not one to be married to a particular style. I read different styles of writing as it stretches my writing creativity in new directions. Edgar Allan Poe's poem, The Raven, stoked my interest in writing horror stories. 

I'm sure many creative works will come out in spite of COVID19. Creativity will always abound. Perhaps, many artists' horizons were broadened. What it has done for me is to support the arts more. 

WORDS OF WISDOM

The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, familiar things new.

~William Makepeace Thackeray, Novelist (1811-1863)

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

BOLTON- Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, Ohio

SYNONYMS

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

The big talent is persistence.

~Octavia E. Butler, Writer (1947-2006)

HAPPENS TO ME

 

INTROVERT'S NEEDS

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his life is written large in his works.

~Virginia Woolf, Author (1882-1941)

LIVING FIRE TO ADVENTURE

 

VIRGINIA WOOLF

I find Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) a compelling author. I read her book Orlando and enjoyed it. I need to read her other books. Though married, I believe Ms. Woolf struggled with gender issues.  I wonder if these struggles contributed to the numerous mental breakdowns she endured in her lifetime. 

 

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

BETHANY- Connecticut. Maryland, New York, Oregon, West Virginia

FLUSHING- Michigan, New York, Ohio

TROY- Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Montana, New York

WORDS OF WISDOM

Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life.

~Lawrence Kasdan, Producer (b. 1949)

ALWAYS A WRITER

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

 

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

SOMERVILLE- Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia

HELENA- Alabama, Montana

WORDS OF WISDOM

 Autumn's the mellow time.

~William Allingham,  Poet (1824-1889)

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

BEVERLY HILLS- California, Michigan

LOGANSPORT- Indiana, Louisiana

RIDGELAND- Mississippi, South Carolina

9/11-NEVER FORGET

 

POEM

COLOR

by Christina Rossetti

What is pink? a rose is pink

By a fountain's brink.

What is red? a poppy`s red

In its barley bed.

What is blue? The sky is blue 

Where the clouds float thro`.

What is white? a swan is white

Sailing in the light.

What is yellow? pears are yellow

Rich and ripe and mellow.

What is green? the grass is green,

With small flowers between.

What is violet? clouds are violet

In the summer twilight.

What is orange? why, an orange,

Just an orange.

THREE THINGS

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

I am a writer. I suppose I think that the highest gift a man has is art, and I am audacious enough to think of myself as an artist- that there is both joy and beauty and illumination and communion between people to be achieved through the dissection of personality.

~Lorraine Hansberry, Playwright (1930-1965)

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

ONTARIO- California, Florida, New York, Oregon, Wisconsin

OXFORD- Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Ohio

REMEMBERING LABORERS

 

KEEP READING A LOT

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.

~Edgar Allan Poe

AUTUMN IS COMING

 

CURRENT READING

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

The bible is very resonant.  It has everything: creation, betrayal, lust, poetry, prophecy, sacrifice. All great things are in the Bible, and all great writers have drawn from it more than people realise, whether Shakespeare, Herman Melville or Bob Dylan.

~Patti Smith 

A PLACE IN TIME

It's too bad we don't have time machines to transport us back in time-or into the future.  There are periods in my life I wish I could have put into a bottle and kept. When I read a story or a novel, I envision myself being there. 

I was reading one of Edgar Allan Poe's stories his description of English and French architecture. I felt like I was walking beside him as his sidekick. That's how real it felt. When I use my imagination it can feel as if I'm there. It also points out why reading and writing go hand in hand.  Writers are also readers!

OTHER INFLUENCES

I posted previously my main writing influences. Here are some more.

Jack Kerouac, Leslie Feinberg, Henri Nouwen, Edward Gorey, Bram Stoker, Plato, William Shakespeare, John Milton, James Baldwin, Rita Dove. 

WOULD LIKE TO HAVE MET THEM

People dead or alive I would love to meet

Jesus

Martin Luther King

William Tyndale

Sylvia Plath

Frederick Douglass

Booker T. Washington

William Shakespeare

Jim Morrison

George Washington Carver

BOOKS HAVE LIFE

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

You don't make a poem with ideas, but with words.

~Stephane Mallarme, French Poet (1842-1898)

FAVORITE AUTHORS

MY FIVE FAVORITE AUTHORS

1. Edgar Allan Poe

2. Langston Hughes

3. Sylvia Plath

4. Paul Laurence Dunbar

5. Herman Melville 

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

 WILLIAMSPORT- Maryland, Pennsylvania

WORDS OF WISDOM

 Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.

~Thomas Gray, Poet (1716-1771)

REMEMBER!

 

HOPE

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

 You cannot find peace by avoiding life.

~Virginia Woolf, Author, (1882-1941)

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

WORCESTER- Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

SALISBURY- Connecticut, Maryland,  New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina

HAVE DONE THIS

 

INTERESTING TAKE

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or does it explore?

~Langston Hughes

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

BRIDGEPORT- Connecticut, New Jersey, West Virginia

WILLIAMSTOWN- Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, West Virginia

DRYNESS

 I'm sure many writers go through dry periods. I am in a dry patch but will emerge very, very soon. These periods are a good time to assess and reassess. where we need to go. One can look at dry periods as a negative. I view it as a positive. I have been reenergized or made some changes. I began writing poetry a number of years ago when my story writing felt stale. To date, I have written nearly three hundred poems. 

I've had periods that I didn't write at all. That was good for me because it cleared my mind of distractions and tensions of having to write something even when there was nothing to write. A writer's fear is that he/she has nothing more to write. It can seem like being on a desert road. There's no foliage or sign of life. Just barren wasteland. 

When there's nothing else I put down my pen and take in the situation. Dryness is telling me to stop and smell the roses. Enjoy the time from paper and pen. I can't tell how many times I come back invigorated, ready to start anew.

LOVER OF BOOKS

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

There's a mystery to writing, and you don't really know where most of it comes from.

~Neil Diamond, Musician (b.1941)

MINE NO MORE

A Neil Diamond song was in my head this morning. The song 'I Am...I Said' speaks to my feelings about where New York City is heading.

Well I'm New York City born and raised

but nowadays 

I'm lost between two shores

LA's fine but it ain't home

New York's home

But it ain't mine no more.

As a writer I see the rough edges and characters which defined the city giving way to conformity and a spirit killing sameness that I despise. The city has lost its soul. I can still go anywhere and sit and write down and write down ideas. Many of the places I visited, frequented, or passed by are gone. I understand change but a spirit killing change is not what I bargained for. 

I will find new places to go to. I still see characters out there. At times I feel like an outsider.

Like the song says; New York's home. but it ain't mine no more.

BE YOURSELF

 

WRITING MANY GENRES

I have a trunk full of notebooks of stuff written over the years. Poems, stories, commentaries, plays, and essays. I'm putting some poems in some kind of order as I am desiring to publish a chapbook. 

Though famous writers are known for writing in one genre, they wrote other works. Herman Melville wrote poetry and prose as well as novels. Dorothy Parker was a satirist beside being a novelist and poet. Maya Angelou is credited with a list of movies and plays. Known for her poems, she also wrote essays and autobiographies. 

Writing different genres has expanded my writing resume. I took to poetry writing when my story writing and commentaries grew stale. I've written a few plays also. I enjoy essay writing and dabbled writing horror. It's good to do something different for a change. I suggest giving it a try.

I CONCUR

 

MORE MOVIES

I'm happy that the movie venues have or are reopening.  I'm deciding if I will become a member of a particular place. Being a senior citizen the rates will be much cheaper. There are a number of places featuring independent films.  

What's being churned out of Hollywood is very disappointing. I don't relate to much of it. Some are a insult to my intelligence. It more about making money than putting out a creative film that will both entertain and educate. 

 I went the independent route a number of years ago.  If there's one thing the pandemic has taught me, it's to support and take advantage of the arts. I am going to attend at least one movie per month. 

WORDS OF WISDOM

Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I but when the trees bow down their heads, the wind is passing by. 

~Christina Rossetti, Poet (1830-1894)

MUCH WRITING AND READING

Been doing much writing and reading. Poems. Essays. Stories. Commentaries. Working on a couple of monologues.

ARE SOME CHARACTERS ME?

Over the years I have written many different characters. I have wanted to be a few of them; others I will write about then forget about them.

There are a few characters that have sparked aspects of my life I never knew existed. I am a loner who enjoys quiet spaces. Could I explore an abandoned house and not be spooked by my surroundings? Could I be that person who dives into the adult film industry? Can I be that crazy eccentric shunned by society? I feel like all three at various times. 

Writers do change over time. Herman Melville wrote about numerous sea adventures. Later he would write of the horrors of war. There are times I wish I could be transplanted to another period in time to experience what life was like.

It's interesting how connected I feel to certain characters. At times, I wish I were them. Writing about them is fun in itself. How far I will delve into a character's psyche only time will tell.

REREADING

 

Reading this book again. 

WORDS OF WISDOM

I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.

~Edgar Allan Poe, Poet (1809-1849)

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

ANNISTON- Alabama, Mississippi

GERMANTOWN- Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania

MORTON- Minnesota, Mississippi, Texas

IF WALLS COULD TALK

 I enjoy reading the history of old New York. There are so many interesting places that have been around long before I was. I bet there were many great conversations in places like O' Henrys in Gramercy Park or the Cotton Club in Harlem. I have an interest in the now-closed Elk Hotel in Hell's Kitchen.

What really went on in these places? I would have liked to have heard the conversations and activities that when on in these places. Oh, if only the walls could talk. Probably would scare the mess out of me. Sometimes one has to put aside their own fears and preconceptions if they want to know about a person or place. Shoot! Maybe someday a wall will talk to me (LOL!) 

WORDS OF WISDOM

Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air, and you.

~Langston Hughes 

BE POSITIVE

 

DEPTHS AND ALONENESS

 I find myself going into depths that take me to some unusual places. I think that's why I enjoy reading horror. Several years ago I went through a tumultuous time in my life where I was falling into a bottomless pit. The changes in my life would be radical. It was a road that I traveled alone. In the end, I emerged a new and different person.

My writing has undergone some changes and that's a good thing. I enjoy dark and quirky characters because they are more interesting. They also reveal my own idiosyncrasies. When the veil was lifted I possessed more than I imagined. 

My focus at the moment is aloneness. The dictionary may describe it as being lonely, however, in my instance, that is not the case. I enjoy being alone. I'm wanting to write an essay about the subject. It may take me to some dark place and that's alright.   

WORDS OF WISDOM

 We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.

Ernest Hemingway

MATURING CHARACTER

 I am expanding the character description of one of my protagonists in my stories. Np one can remain in their twenties forever, so a change is in order. 

DADS!

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

 I have found stories and poems in the mundane things in life.

~Genevieve

THOMAS CHATTERTON

      Reading Thomas Chatterton's life story, I saw how cruel the literary hierarchy can be, particularly for someone outside of it. 

SOME OF THE BEST WRITERS ARE OFFBEAT

 

WORDS OF WISDOM

I have felt great advances in my poetry, the main one being a growing victory over word nuances and superfluidity of adjectives.

~Sylvia Plath, Poet (1932-1963)

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

BAINBRIDGE- Alabama, Georgia, New York, Washington

CLINTON- Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey

HILLSBOROUGH- California, Florida, New Jersey, North Carolina

RICHLAND- Alabama, Minnesota, Mississippi, Texas, Washington 

ECLECTlC TASTE

I would describe my reading tastes as eclectic. I read everything from history to Shakespeare to biographies. I follow sports, politics, religion, and economics. Reading different genres and subjects expands my mind in directions.

Several years ago I took to writing poetry after feeling that my short story and essay writing had grown stale. It sharpened my focus on pace and expression. I have written over two hundred poems (one per night). I find myself wishing that I lived at a particular point in time. I love the time elevated trains were a common sight in New York City. Same thing with trolley cars. I was just a kid when the els and trolleys were fazed out. 

Reading an unfamiliar genre helped my vocabulary as well as my writing style. I have a file box full of words and their meanings. I'm more of a non-fiction reader, so the occasional fiction story is a break from the sometimes intense real-life story. Somewhere in the future, I will try another genre (love to challenge myself).

BIG BOOKS

 

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

HAZELTON- Idaho, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, WestVirginia

LINWOOD- Kansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas

NEW CASTLE- Delaware, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia

WORDS OF WISDOM

For a lot of people, becoming an author is a change in occupation...they are coming from something that totally has nothing to do with this. If they are expecting to come into a room full of people praising them, then they are in the wrong place.

~ Eric Jerome Dickey 

WRITE IT ANYWAY