Welcome to Gather Essentials: Writing for Friday April 4th. I'm a newbie. Let me tell you what happened.
I have no idea what he was on
When John Beck passed me his baton
Nor of what I was feebly thinking
Nodding "yes" while oddly blinking
As if I'd long been whiskey drinking
Clinking toasts to this new dawn
~
The following quote profoundly influenced my life from the time I was a young girl poring over our coffee table book of photos by Edward Steichen (proloque by Carl Sandburg) titled The Family of Man. It is an edited excerpt from the soliloquy of Mollie Bloom from Ulysses by James Joyce.
...and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes
and then he asked me would I yes...
and first I put my arms around him yes
and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes
and his heart was going like mad
and yes I said yes I will Yes.
~
What is it with women and the word "yes"? I admit that I like to say it and that I have often regretted saying it. More times though, I have noticed that my territory has expanded by obliging with the affirmative; yes to love, yes to marriage, yes to the pram (the baby carriage) and yes to this new weekly responsibility. Who, me? Follow John Beck? Why not? If he thinks I can do it then maybe I can. "The impossible is often the untried."
In addition to writing whatever you want (within the confines of the group profile) please tell me about when yousaid "Yes" and how it turned out. Your responses are eagerly anticipated.
In conclusion, I submit a heartfelt new poem on the subject of saying "yes."
News!
blessed joy
burgeoning
bubble
surely surges
springing hallelujahs
from my wishing well
purified joy cascades
into glistening pools
spills over the edge
wet lashes blinking
grateful flooding
fresh happiness
for new budding
first grandchild
a wild new life
a baby to love
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Comments: 55
The last time I said yes to something of note was when Mr Beelzebub asked to come to stay with me in West Oz and for me to show him around. The bugger hasn't stopped complaining about how hot it is here in the burning lands.
I'm sure your stint in the editorial hothouse will work out just fine ... if you remember to switch on the air-conditioning. LOL
Reviewing musings
two and three,
laughing here
and smiling there
as you read from
friends afar.
I am very happy to see the words Friday Writing Essential and Janet Louise H in the same sentence.
Welcome!!!!!
I'm a PM woman and I'm going to tell it like it is. I'm not out to make friends and I have ceased caring what people think. I'm not going to take any crap, anymore.
PM - post menopausal.
Now, as to your concrete poem of the bottle--it's some wonderful bubbly, made of words and a message of hope and love about the grandchild to be. Beautifully rendered , Jan, I think this augurs well for both the friday essentials writing group and your life in the next few months as expectant grandmom!
Thanks and have fun with this.
Well, I must say, that more than two years ago, I said "yes" to new love. We all know how that ended up. But I also said "yes" to trying to write poetry, and here I am. I hadn't written a poem since high school, but my then-beau, a poet, asked me to just TRY to write, and I did. And so here is where I am: writing poetry that my most respected and esteemed Gather friends admire and critique well, and have now acquired poetry mentors, after my loss of my first one. And especially, I have made friends who are loving and supportive in all phases of my life. So I say "yes" to it all, without regrets! And thank you.
Love
for me to use. i prefre to say "Maybe" when I am uncertain. I
wish I could say "Yes" more than I can....I have overused it
in the past and found myself unable to deliver everything I
promised and that leaves me with a horrible, pained feeling.
So I am learning to consider the time values of an answer
before simply saying "Yes" to ideas that I would cherish
being able to enact, but might not measure up to later.
I sya "yes" most passionately to love in all forms that
desires to weave wisdom and experience that is heart
based for creative exchange. I turn away from anything
that seeks to mold me from an ideal or theory that claims
superiority in an arena that should not be judgable fare.
This is something my living partner and I come to odds
with frequently. I love difference and love change and love
influencing versus dictating. So, my "Yes" factors most
recently went to a collaboration with a friend (R. Dean)
where we are putting togther his hand-written poem on
mermaids with my subsequent painting now being ren-
dered from my response to his beautiful poem. No rules
were ever laid out and the extension has proven to
be a fine inspiration for creating for me. I may put this offer
out to other poets in the future I am enjoying it so much
I say "Yes" to a Muse-like relationship I carry with a man in
Thailand who feeds off my writing and paintings and then
extends his own creative writing and musings on the
life he witnesses in both New Mexico and Thailand. We
have nurtured each other for years , with awareness of
both of our "mates" as to the friendship and are able to
fulfill many breaths that would otherwise go stagnant.
My Muse relationship with John Walter is a huge "Yes"
that garners fluctuating weight now, but rewarded me
with one of the finest and dearest friends I have ever had.
I say "Yes" to anything my family ever needs, no questions
asked...that is a given. I say "yes" to anyhting my best
friend, Nickki Hill, ever needs or desires...that is also a given.
I most often do not place myself in relationship where the choice of
"Yes" or "no" is a detterminant...I much prefer dancing in the spaces
in between and allowing transitions to naturally create their directional
flow from growing and inspired tangents and extensions that dream
best without outline or walls.
I say "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS" to this
joyful news of your first grandchild and will be so excited
to eventually see photos. Ed's new grandchild melted my
heart, especially with his mentioning of her having "his lips".
I hope this beautiful grandchild of your inherits your gentle heart
and beautiful spirit and talent for warming hearts with words
and images that are gifted for extensions of joy to wash
over this tired planet and revitalize the life forces everywhere.
To you, Jan, I sing, "YES!" for so, so much. Thank you. You are
going to be a fine Friday and anyday editor wih your broad
sweeps of questing soul-fulfilling intent.
Possibilities. Our sense of adventure. If we say a curt or a long pausing 'no' everything stops right there on a dime. There is no mystery as to the events to follow. If we say yes? there's a can of worms just waiting to be tried.
This morning I have said yes to my inner urgency to get a package in the mail this very day because our daughter-in-law told us she would take prenatal vitamins if we sent them to her. So you can see that I delight in your new poem and share more of its spirit than I would have thought because ours too will be a first grandchild. I'm delighted that John has asked you to guide this day and I very much look forward to what you do with it. You're off to an auspicious start.
That last line, "a baby to love" - sweetest words. So much promise in them.
Yes is a Sally Potter film I saw recently. Can you imagine the cool and collected Joan Allen as a sexy, sexy person? The guy opposite her role is, too! And there is a cadence to their language like poetry.
When last did I say yes? No telling.
Being on the west coast means that I must rise early on Fridays in order to moderate the group.
Tracey you are a great example of saying yes. You keep very busy with your Gather groups and articles. I am so glad to be getting to know you better.
A baby to love...Yes!
It was the best move I ever made!
Hey Wade, I'm still waiting...
John Philipp I appreciate your welcome and your offer for assisitance as a fellow Essentials editor.
Cheryl, as you know, your response poem was featured. Thanks so much.
Anne, your two-line-but-full-story comment is so appreciated. I cannot wait to say "yes" to my grandchild!
JFW, You know I'm not the only one who adores your comments. I learned about the Andalusian connection and the flower when looking for the source of the poem by Joyce. It was interesting to me how he was edited for the Family of Man book. Thanks for your support dear mentor of mine.
Faith, your encouragment has been a continual blessing for me on Gather. I treasure our friendship.
Kathryn, you have been a role model from the moment I met you. Thanks for your support and for your humorous comment Ms. P.M! I am also a member of that club. Is there a PM Gather group yet?
It was fun to include the big news of my future grandmotherhood in this article.
Boris...now I am going to have to share the poem I wrote to John Beck when he suggested that I think about taking the job. Hold on...I'll go get it now.
I haven't a clue
what I would do
if I chose to put
my little foot
into your sharp minded shoe
I fear I would suck
being tongue tied and stuck
And so must sadly pass the proffered buck
My lack of education
plagues me with frustration
When it comes to the writing field
Though slowly I'm learning
And for recognition yearning
To a more expert member must yield
By your thought I am flattered
By my confidence battered
But hoping one day to be healed
This was written after sleeping on the idea for one night
After a couple more nights...I decided to say "Yes."
Oh, and J Corn...please do respond to the prompt. You can submit it to Writing Essentials at any time...if it is next Friday, I'll be sure to read it.
For the female species,
I suspect,
"No" is the hardest word
to utter.
It is laced with ancient guilt,
embedded in female DNA,
nourished in the womb
where it lodges beneath the surface.
The guilt of "no"
is the whisper,
the breath that precedes each "yes".
Congratulations on the impending birth of your first grandchild!! I have already written a poem about this experience. I wrote it when my sister was expecting her first grandchild. With 3 of my own, I'm an old hat at this wonderful life chapter!