AYL Writing Class

  

 

FEELINGS

 

 

It is okay:

 

To be sad

 

To be old and have wrinkles

 

To sit in the kitchen window 

and watch the birds

with dishes in the sink.

 

To rock on the porch

to comfort the pain

 

To soothe the itch with cream

 

To be late to the party

 

To not remember 

And to not forget

 

To write off the line

 

To forget your passwords

 

To share your words or not

until you are ready or never

 

To get up early

or stay up real late

 

Say whatever you want on the page

 

To see messages in the clouds,

promises in the pink moon,

burning bushes everywhere

 

To be homesick at home

 

Be soft and malleable

allow new seeds to be planted

in old soil

 

Delete expectations

stay in the flow

 

To have had a good

life with enough

and not feel guilty

 

To get knocked down

 and stay there

rest awhile

 

It is okay 

to need help 

and not ask for it

trust your inner wisdom

 

 

Follow your feelings

Be Different!

 

 

 

 

 

Kindred Spirit Sculpture

 

Kindred Spirit Sculpture

Midleton, County Cork, Ireland

2017

 

Kindred Spirit Sculpture

Midleton, County Cork, Ireland

2017

 

 

 

Hunger

 Hunger

 

Listening to the wind

Listening to the singing bell

Remembering the hunger.

 

The DNA of hunger

the famine child’s hunger

empty belly, starving.

 

Schooled in the litany 

of the Irish troubles

 

Immigrant child

misplaced in the noisy city

longing for Ireland

the mists of County Clare

waves pounding Moher.

 

Reliving the stench

of the potatoes rotting 

in the ground.

 

Remembering the poor souls

who

broke rocks to build roads

going no where

for a slice of bread,

only to die

by the side of the road.

 

Now the Irish American children

live in fine houses 

nourished by soda bread

platters of ham and potatoes

never hungry,

 

without fear 

of having the cottage battered 

or being sent to the poor house,

 

 in a society

where young people 

starve themselves

to death. 

 

A different famine

on this side 

of the Atlantic

 

the wind blows

the singing bowl rings

the hunger abides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Module 2: Writing Prompt/ Nadia Colburn Writing Course

 Listening

 

I hear:

 

The surrogate baby’s cry as it waits to be claimed.

 

The old woman living through a war again,

weeping and shaking in the doorway of a bunker,

begging for the nightmare to cease. She only

wants to end her life in peace.

 

The bombs dropping, 

the buildings collapsing,  

the screams in the streets.

 

The ice cracking in my heart

leaving:

shards of compassion,

weak faith 

unused rosary beads.

 

 

The meditation tape hums.

Breathe-in, breathe-out

Visualize: Ukraine at peace

 

The engines sputter and die

 the abandoned tanks rust,

guns lacking bullets mound on the ground,

the whirr of planes without bombs hum 

hitting the tarmac 

 

The home-coming train whistle

announces

the return of mothers and children.

Squeals of joy mix with sobs.

A sigh, home at last.

 

Hear the squeak of boots as Russian soldiers 

with frozen feet go home to

warm socks, hot soup, dark bread, 

and a shot of vodka.

 

Breathe-in peace

Breathe-out relief.

 

 

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Ukraine: Prayer Intention

Pray: At noon (if possible)

Our intention is that peace be

immediately, completely and permanently

restored in Ukraine with no further loss

of life and that the country maintain its

sovereignty as an independent, democratic

nation.

Imagine peace as you envision it

for ten minutes.

Believe!

What do you see?

Where Did All the Children Go?

Into the bunkers

Out of the city

in cars and trucks or

walked for miles,

     teddy bear-in-hand

     weeping copious tears

     lost in crowds

Now refugees

      without homes or fathers

What became of the slogan:

       SAVE THE CHILDREN

Who will save the children now?

War: Ukraine 2022

The Painting

 

Love the painting.

Of course, I see Grace and Frances

viewing the future.

* Artist: Holly Erwin