National Adoption Month

LifeLines posted about adoption awareness this month and stated in the U.S. there are over 100,000 children in foster care waiting to be adopted.  I'm joining the AlphaHop (& hope to get back to Magpie soon!).

F orever is

O nly this moment

R ounded

E dge, Slipslide

V ague notion of future and home

E ntertain

R eality not Hope



Domestic Violence Awareness Month Alpha Hop

http://lifelinesjournaling.blogspot.com/

An alphabet poem in honor of domestic violence awareness month.

Make believe earth as canvas

And peace a periwinkle ink

Gesso the landscape erasing
Ism’s, aggression and hate
Collage the whole in relationship
Airbrush strokes of harmony and love
Leaving space for diversity and growth

Mag 34

Mag 34


puppet shadows
caress the wall
mock the moment, flickers
of turned backs
whisper a silent story

as snowflakes blanket
naked limbs,
wounded words
twist in the air
the wick burns bare

Character Sketch

I recently came across some blog posts focusing on characters (I think there may have been a blogfest but I missed it).  In my "travels", I also came across this Character Chart.  I thought it was interesting and helpful.  For linear processers it will feel comfortable and for those more right-brained this chart can help organize thoughts.  As for me, to flesh out a character I need to use the senses as I find it much richer.  I'll use Shayla as an example.

Quick-List (these details originally came out as I've written her story):
15 year old female
A bit awkward, clumsy physically & socially
Pale
Colored red hair, black streaks
Long parted bangs covering eye
Enjoys writing and art
Intelligent
Divorced parents
Younger brother
home-schooled
Labeled with mental health diagnoses

OR, the actual character sketch that I wrote, which may look familiar as I included a variation of this in an earlier post:

Shayla felt like an alien transplant in a world filled with coffee shops and malls, tight clothing and short-shorts. Shayla could not stand the concrete crowds. She did not hear their thoughts. She heard their feelings, deep in her veins, pulsing through her heart. Insecurity feels like a flutter of baby bird wings not quite ready to hit the air current. Sadness feels congealed, sluggish;  blood moving through quicksand. Guilt feels like tapioca pudding. Anger matches the cliché of boiling blood combined with a brewing thunderstorm.  And happiness, well happiness tickles its way through my arteries, causing me to laugh out loud.

I used both emotional and physical feeling in this passage.  I will also explore Shalya by answering questions through story such as what color does she see the world, what song does she hum in the shower, what smell triggers a memory and what textures soothe her.  Oftentimes I will collage images for the visual and sometimes I come across an image that begs to be written.  Perhaps this is how others work with their characters as well?  [Although I've written for years, this sharing of thoughts with other writers is new to me:)]

Mag 33

Somewhere along my blog wanderings, I came across Magpie Tales, a blog that hosts writing prompts & links.  This week's prompt is this picture of a popular, upscale Italian fragrance from the 1930's - if Google is correct:)  Gazing at this picture brought to mind the next image (also found in my wanderings from Magic Moonlight) & together they formed:

Drops on pulse points

Hint of cathedrals and wine

A sharpened gaze under a nightsky

If I peel mosaic layers

Will you see

beyond the moonsplash on the arches and stairs

Or will you see crumbled stone

Concrete blocks of bone

Will you see lips, eyes, flesh

An artist's brush and awl

Or will you hear the aria in my spiritsong

Will my banner of shimmery stars

and lightrays fly

or will you raise your own

overshadowing all 

Random Words

Inspiration has been elusive, lost among a mulititude of obligations recently.  In an effort to piece words together - at this point I think I would even welcome See Jack Run -  I opened up a book to a random page and picked five words to string together somehow(sapphire, whisper, mesa, cradle, consort):

The silver whispering of the Shadow Goddess
Flutters on the wind
Evoking images of exotic power; her

Fingers mold mountains
Gentle exhale, a cool breeze
Tears cleanse, nourish soil
Feathered wings blanket the fatigued

Earth, her consort
Yields to her whim
Provides soil to seed
Entangles flowered knots in her hair
Bares glittering gems to adorn and to heal

A Sapphire-desire as
Lush vines entwine her legs
Lifts her to mesas
As she cradles the moon

Dark and Stormy Night

It was a dark and stormy night

Caressing my mood as
Mother Nature sings my song
Fingers of wind stroke chords
Rhythm of thunder matches rage
I scream in time
Lightening strikes in beat
Face uplifted, in harmony with rain
Only a sotto voice remains