Prepared to Begin

and yet
how long have I
been preparing?

Until

And it could be, if we had
no unanswered questions
by bedtime

there would be
no dreams,
no song playing
in our head
when we awake.

When Inspiration Comes

At the Net

(For the "sudden" poetry prompt at Writer's Digest.)

After the first serve I rush
the net, attack like a tiger already

pouncing on prey. My graphite racquet
raised at the ready, I punch each volley

and make her run, sideline to sideline
until, instead of a curving forehand

trying to pass me down the line, she tries
a short lob. Grinning, I turn, confident

with an impending overhead bullet
but hear the pop of my ankle, rolled over,

and I roll in no-man’s land holding
an ankle already starting to swell.

You Cannot Hope...

…which sounds like another way to say:

If you want to be
a writer,
first be
a reader.

What Good Words Do

I read these lines from Tony Hoagland's poem, Note to Reality:

When my friend died on the way to the hospital
it was not his death that so amazed me

but that the driver of the cab
did not insist upon the fare.

- Tony Hoagland

My first response, my immediate desire, was that I wanted to be this kind of amazing. I wanted to amaze somebody the way this cab driver amazed his passenger.

This is the kind of writer I want to be.
This is the kind of reader I want to be.

Five-Minute Friday: Change

"But this is just normal. Everybody
does it!" cried she.

Face it, baby. If you're
gonna do a number

two, that's one diaper
that needs to be

changed.



(It's Five-Minute Friday. Join in!)

I Want to Be...

(Let's hope it's working!)

Fishing Tip

To spot a Rainbow
or Colorado Cutthroat in
a snowmelt-cold lake

at elevation
higher than trees
can grow, search

not for the trout
itself, camouflaged
from above, but for

the shadow
it
casts.

Knit

A gift of my own words
given back to me.
(Make your own gift at WordCandy!)

Book Spine Poetry: Water

Below are four poems on the theme of water. All poems are taken from book spines (book titles below)! See Tweetspeak's August Rain Project details, then jump in and make your own splash!

I

If all
the seas
were one sea,
paddle
to the sea.

II

Roll of thunder, hear
my cry after the rain.
The story of my life:
Through flood and fire
twenty-thousand leagues
under the sea (twenty
is too many), everything
that rises must converge.
Esperanza* rising.

III

Come over to my house. (We live
by the river between Walden
and the whirlwind.) Scribbling in
the sand by many waters over sea,
under stone crossings, we tangle-talk
a river of words—rain, drop,
splash.

IV

Alligators all around! Make way
for ducklings! Fly away,
fly away over the sea
to Gone-Away Lake!

*"Esperanza" is "hope" in Spanish.

Book titles (most are children's books):

If All the Seas Were One Sea, by Janina Domanska
Paddle-to-the-sea, by Holling C. Holling
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
After the Rain, by Norma Fox Mazer
The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller
Through Flood and Fire, by Robert W. Mackenna
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne
Twenty Is Too Many, by Kate Duke
Everything That Rises Must Converge, by Flannery O'Connor
Esperanza Rises, by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Come Over to My House, by Theo. LeSeig
We Live by the River, by Lois Lensky
Between Walden and the Whirlwind, by Jean Fleming
Scribbling in the Sand, by Michael Card
Many Waters, by Madeleine L'Engle
Over Sea, Under Stone, by Susan Cooper
Stone Crossings, by L.L. Barkat
Tangle-Talk, by W. Nikola-Lisa
A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, by Jen Bryant
Rumors of Water, by L.L. Barkat
Rain, Drop, Splash, by Alvin Tresselt and Leonard Weisgard
Alligators All Around, by Maurice Sendak
Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey
Fly Away, Fly Away Over the Sea, by Christina Rossetti
Gone-Away Lake, by Elizabeth Enright

To Become a Better Writer

It's really true.
To become a better writer, READ.



Infographic: Every Day Poems, used with permission.

It isn't flawless, but

Oh, good. I wasn't going for perfect, anyway.
Just a beginning.

It Just Begins (New Fiction Goal)

A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

- Emily Dickinson

I estimated ten years to finish my novel. That was 2004. Now, eight-tenths of the way there, I've written…

one chapter.

If I continue at one chapter per eight years for a novel with, say, a dozen chapters, to finish it I'll have to live significantly longer than the average American female. That, or step up the pace.

My new goal, then: write the first (and I mean first) draft of this middle-grade novel by September 2013.

A friend told me about the book, This Year You Write Your Novel. In the novella, The Novelist, Laura tackles Megan Willow's challenge to write a book "by September." These titles alone motivate me, though I haven't read them yet. (Indeed, the latter won't be available for another month! Can't wait!)

It Just Begins will be a place for fiction projects (whether self-assigned or otherwise), poetry, and thoughts on writing. Though no part of my novel-in-progress will appear on this writing blog, it will serve as a kind of accountability to myself and others. 

A novel in a year? We'll have to wait and see. For now, let me…just begin.

***

(I'll continue to post poetry and excerpts from my Bible-reading journal at my other blog, Know-Love-Obey God.)