A Kept Woman

Day 4 of the Writer's Digest November challenge: write a poem of a life imagined.

A Kept Woman

A kept woman has an apartment with a view of the city.

She has beautiful clothes and a neat kitchen with a wine rack and a bar.

She sleeps in silk negligees and her makeup is perfect.

Her furniture is top of the line, and everything is paid for, even her.

He visits, but rarely stays.

She listens and nods; murmurs now and then and sympathizes.

She is a haven, a stress-relief, a port in a storm.

She straddles him and does what he (and she) desire.

When he travels he takes her and they pretend they are all they have.

She belongs to him.

She loves him.

And she tells herself he loves her, too.

And when he’s gone,

home to his lovely wife and 2.5 children,

she curls up in the overstuffed chair and cashmere blanket

with a cup of tea and a romance novel,

and she imagines him across from her.

It would be different for them.

He would love her totally,

and she would make sure their home was welcoming and calm.

She would make him dinner every night and

he would make love to her after the children were put to bed.

When he headed out the door

to go back to the office to finish up some forgotten work

she would smile and think

what a great provider he is.

She sighs as she opens her book.

Someday…

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If I'd Only Followed Directions (DRAFT)

Yesterday was Day 3 of the Writer's Digest November Challenge.  The prompt was "If I'd Only ________".  Here is my interpretation:

If I’d Only Followed Directions

The directions my parents gave me always seemed so stuffy,

so grown up and

unbelievable to me.

Get an education,

get a job,

meet someone,

fall in love,

get married,

buy a house,

have some kids,

grow old together.

Add in the standard don’t smoke,

drink in moderation,

don’t do drugs.

Mix it up with treat others as you would have done unto you,

turn the other cheek,

always be kind.

All of this would guarantee me a

picture

perfect

life.

Except somewhere along the way I messed up

and following directions got screwed around and not for me. 

I was unique and I marched to a different drummer.

I did everything backwards and upside down.

I still look for that picket fence and those children

with the dad that takes care of everyone.

I wonder if he would have made a difference in our lives,

made my life easier,

made it so that I wouldn’t have had to make so many decisions.

Oh, if only I’d listened!

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Live, Learn and Have Some Fun!

Recently, very recently (this October!), I joined Writer’s Digest Platform Challenge (Writer's Digest).  I did so with some trepidation because I am in no way even close to becoming a seriously published writer, and I had no idea if I could put myself out there.  However, Robert Lee Brewer(on Twitter @RobertLeeBrewer) has a way of making one feel like there is value to who they are and what they write so I took him up on it. 

Every day I print out the directions and staple them into my notebook and carry it around with me so I remember a few things.  One, that I am part of this group, and two, that this is a challenge I am going to step up to and complete.  I have been awful in posting to the challenge page every day, and engaging in the #platchal conversations on twitter.  I’ve considered going back to when I stopped and just posting “Done” for every day I missed, but I feel like that was just a part of the challenge I missed and if I get dinged, well, that’s my problem. 

I will tell you this – it was a really cool experience.  I’m glad I did it and I look forward to using some of the tools we gleaned from this exercise, but I will also step back and see what is working for me and what isn’t.  Being on social media takes a lot of time out of a person’s day!  And it takes twice as much time when you have personal and professional sites!  The fun part of this challenge was meeting so many different people and connecting to them through this craft that we all have in common.

I also joined Yeah Write! (Yeah Write!) for their weekly challenges.  Already I am learning that just submitting something you wrote isn’t good enough.  One needs to know the challenge fully before beginning and how to use correct punctuation to be considered for public judging.  Unfortunately for me, I raced through the challenge idea with my eye on finishing the challenge and submitting it on time.  As easy as that sounds, it was not easy at all.  And it was just plain dumb.  I’m a better reader than that, and I am a better writer. 

That said, I never realized my punctuation was wrong.  I’m still having trouble processing that and it worries me.  Will a good editor eventually take care of that for me?  At this point in the game, I’m a little bit set in my ways and I don’t want to worry about whether a quotation mark is in the right place.  Is this wrong of me?  If someone corrects it enough times will I finally get it?  I wish my aunt was still alive.  She would set me so straight! 

Even though I got shot down with my first submission I am going to try again next week.  This group at Yeah Write! seems like a pretty good group to be in, with a lot of feedback and folks interested in the same thing- writing.  They give good advice and take one’s questions seriously.  They post interesting things to think about and seem to genuinely want your opinion.

Another challenge that I came across with this submission was linking a link-back to their page.  I had never done one and even though the directions were clear on their part, and even though I have been blogging for over a year, I had no clue how to get the link to work!  After some help from my new on-line friends, I was able to get the link right!  I guess you could say I learned some new things this week that might not help me out on Jeopardy, but should help me in my writing and blogging.

It’s not like I didn’t know writing was a challenge.  I always knew my novel wouldn’t write itself.  But for now, I realize I’m not alone in it.  I have found community through the Writer’s Digest Platform Challenge and through the Yeah Write! group, and for that I am ever so thankful!

It's a journey I'm going to take.

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Being (A Little) Bad

     My friend, beastlybearfiction, turned me on to this writing challenge yesterday at YeahWrite.  It's pretty cool, you should check it out.  I would have participated had I read the guidelines sooner, but I did not.

     Here is what I would have submitted:

     Wolverine banged on their doors while I waited, amused.  Old ladies peered out their windows, cautious.  Children laughed seeing him standing there, swaying just a little.  I told him he was early, but no, he just had to go trick or treating.

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PAD - Day 1: Resistance

I have decided to participate in the 2015 Poem A Day Challenge for the month of April.  This should be interesting...

 

I wait.

Please move.

Don’t stand so close to the paper thin door.

Please.

Go to another room.

For the love of Pete, just go!

I won’t go.

I can’t.

Not ‘til you’re gone.

Leaving…

I bolt for the door and lock it shut behind me.

Quickly I turn the water on

And even quicker, I drop my drawers and take a seat.

Sweet Jesus, there’s nothing like peeing when you have to hold it.