Wednesday, July 30, 2014

SQUEEZE--SUMMER STRETCH



We all need to warm up before we sing, exercise or write! We will be sharing ideas here to help you “work out” your writing muscles. Take a deep cleansing breath and stretch! For more writing inspiration share your stretches with us. We will be happy to post them.

Remember how nice it felt to squeeze Play Dough between
your fingers and to make what ever came to mind?. . . 

We should  treat language like Play Dough when we write. . .  When we use our imaginations and play with words, it’s exciting to see the shape. . .  that emerges. ~Margriet  Ruurs




SQUEEZE Play Dough and let your mind wander. WRITE a poem, a paragraph or a page. Your topic: Childhood is . . .
Post your "squeeze" in the comments.


Sailor’s Delight by Janie Reinart



Childhood is

Perched on a

Pink sky summer night

In a red maple tree

Reading

Feeling safe

As my Father

Walking by

Looks up

With a grin

Once more

So Strong

So Wise

Ready to protect me






12 comments:

  1. Janie,
    Thank you for sharing not only the spot-on quotation, but your evocative poem.
    Jan

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    Replies
    1. Jan, I always climbed up high in a red maple tree in our backyard to read. I was hidden by the leaves and rocked by the wind. Hope you share a stretch about childhood with us too!

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    2. What is it with trees, books & gurls?
      Mine was a back yard dogwood tree.
      With a triangle of x-tra plywood, that my dear Dad nailed, for a perfect perch, midway up.
      During bloom season it was like living in a bouquet.

      Delete
    3. We are just tree huggers and branch sitters. :) Love the line living in a bouquet!

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    4. Thank you.
      Did you happen to get up into a tree this summer?
      Not me, yet. There's still time!
      On for it?

      Delete
  2. Love the analogy to squeezing play dough! Beautiful poem, Janie!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tina, my Dad was in the Navy in WWII. He taught us --“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.” I associate summer time, and the freedom to read books and stay up late with childhood. Please share a stretch with us. :)

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    2. Tina, I smile when I read that Red sky at night.... as my mother recited it to me. I think it's originally from a longer poem but I'm fuzzbrained at the reference at this minute. My cousin is a (retired) Coast Guard capt. I will try to remember to pass it by him when I see him next at the Fl coast.
      (see what you started Janie?)

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    3. Jan, thank your cousin for his service. Love hearing about the connections!

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  3. Once again, an amazing post! I'm inspired!

    My Wolf Walk
    By T.S. Burleson

    Walking down the icy- muddy -red road
    I stop at a snap in the dark pine forest

    The noisy nighttime forest has grown silent

    I wait
    The whole forest waits

    Coyotes yelp just out of reach and then all goes quiet
    In the distance I hear my first faint howl

    Hairs on my neck rise with pent up excitement
    There, the only sign I’ll ever see: big thick paw prints go spooling down the path

    Somewhere further on, he lets out another long, slow yowl
    It warms me inside-cheeks and nose still numb from winter’s mean frost

    I stand there with a smile on my face

    I wait
    The whole forest waits

    I stand still like a stone statue and listen
    I listen so hard I hear my own heart beating in my ears

    Finally, from somewhere up the hill, I hear it once again, the long, slow howl
    This time there is an answer and I decide to send my own too

    I wait
    The whole forest waits

    Then together I hear their reply trickle off into the night

    I wait
    The whole forest waits

    The forest begins its chorus

    I walk home with a smile as wide as a two lane road

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brave, you are, O, poet T.S.!

      When I heard coyotes out in the field the summer I was housesitting caretaker at a nature preserve, I wouldn't step off the back wood porch. Ahooooooo!

      Appreciations for the crisp imagery you paint in words here.

      Delete
  4. Love your poem Todd! Favorite lines: I stop at a snap in the dark pine forest ,I wait
    The whole forest waits, Coyotes yelp just out of reach , only sign I’ll ever see: big thick paw prints go spooling down the path, This time there is an answer and I decide to send my own too, Then together I hear their reply trickle off into the night.

    ReplyDelete