Warbringer Starts the Vernal Changes

Your sign was in the sky last night or this morning.
They said that. I did not see outside.
Sleep brought the first dreamless rest in two days;
I needed protection from predictive shadows.

Others spoke of restlessness.
Light from the moon eclipsed part of the night.
Overbright beams poured into bedrooms.

Is this breaking our complacency?
How you stoke our bloodlust?
Fights break out over less.
Wars stay because no one has figured how to stop.

Hitting a Sandbar

            “This killer whale and a dolphin swim into a sandbar. You think you know where this is going.” The man pauses. His eyes furtively dart around the shadows at the corners of the room. He is looking for his time.

            He screams, “Extinction!”, which just about kills the audience. He lets a wry smile crack his lips so that just then he resembles a twelve-year-old boy.

            The look is gone as the laughter fades. “I know, I know. Way to kill a joke, Daniel.” Some titters prove the last minute addition was worth it, at least to him.

Craft Wednesday #28 Off the Top

This blog needed a place for talking about writing. "Craft Wednesday" will be me talking about all things writing: how to write, why to write, and my own craft journey. I hope to learn and to share experiences with you. 

Off the Top

   A creative way to write is just by writing anything that comes into your head. Anything at all. I typed Constellations off the top of my head without writing it down.  It does not matter if it is spelled correctly, or if it sounds cheesy or dark or something else you are embarrassed about. Writing off the top of your head makes writing fun again, and editing pretty darn satisfying. A rough draft like this means that when you mine for what is salvageable you will probably chunk off portions or polish them up, whatever is needed. 

   But when you exercise your creativity, it is best to unleash it fully in a messy, hidden, and safe environment, like a crumpled notebook you stash under your winter blankets. Creativity, like any creature, becomes stronger with exercise, so daily practice will make your imagination as strong as an elephant.

Remember, have a space to let your imagination run wild.

Constellations.

Constellations

     In the mornings the light through the broken shade quivers on the ceiling above our bed. Beside me your breath is still and even. Your back has tossed the covers aside. I see every line.

     It hurts, how much she hurt you. All of it was years ago.

     I am not sure what to do, but I want to heal you. Sometimes I believe that if I could hold you close enough I could glue you back together.  I just see how weakly I adhere to you and know that it is not possible, for me to be the glue that holds you, and me, and us together.

So Serious Saturday #26

Fiction needs a basis in reality. Exercising non-fiction muscles once in a while benefits an active imagination, channeling creative energies as it focuses on a subject. So Serious Saturdays will be an active place for critical essays or writing about reality in the context of real events - even when it is not written on Saturdays.

Type: Philosophical

Against

    Two people will disagree at some point somewhere. These different individuals may even argue aloud.

    Groups are similar, as they are composed of people, except that they will argue aloud. Who are they arguing with?

    In my experience I've seen that if there is someone fighting for, then there will be someone against, if there isn't a force already against it:

So Serious Saturday #25

Fiction needs a basis in reality. Exercising non-fiction muscles once in a while benefits an active imagination, channeling creative energies as it focuses on a subject. So Serious Saturdays will be an active place for critical essays or writing about reality in the context of real events - even when it is not written on Saturdays.

Type: Observation

The New Pottermore

     Pottermore recently launched sorting quizzes in what I like to call its grand reopening. Each registered user can not only discover their Hogwarts House, but also their personalized wand.

Visiting

     I had never been on the site before. Of course, I'd looked at its front page in the old version, but that was as far as I got. I did not want to enter into another online game at that time, fearing that I would visit it more often than Dobby says "Harry Potter". After some time I decided I would give the game a chance to enter my routine, but - wouldn't you know it? - the site was undergoing a radical reconstruction.

So Serious Saturday #24

Fiction needs a basis in reality. Exercising non-fiction muscles once in a while benefits an active imagination, channeling creative energies as it focuses on a subject. So Serious Saturdays will be an active place for critical essays or writing about reality in the context of real events - even when it is not written on Saturdays.

Type: Theological/Life Application

In Difficult Places

        "Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, "Give us water, that we may drink." So Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?"  And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, "Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"

                      Exodus 17:1-3

The Holy Bible, NKJV. Thomas Nelson, 1990.

      God commanded the children of Israel to go to a certain place, which turned out to be a desert without  water. God did not lead the people to a place of ease, where water or resources came easy. He led them to a natural place of death, where they and their families and economic livelihood would die without both food and drink.  So why did God lead them to a difficult place?