Where do I get my ideas? From anything and everything. A phrase here, a mentioned incident there, or a memory blast from the past. I read the paper thoroughly and the teensiest news items can trigger a flash fiction. People watching can inspire the creation of a character for a book. Or sitting in line at a Taco Bell and watching a piece of scrap paper cling to a chain link fence gave me a poem.
No Escape
Scrap paper whooshes past me
clings to chain link fence
splatted flat, it wavers
frays
disintegrates
And there's the deck chair in the backyard (see picture)
Ancient deck chair
leans closer to earth
attracts bird splatter
sticky spider web slats
creak, groan
screws rattle
age spots
slurp spray paint
gasps for more
seat wiggles
another season
It's all word play. Some folks play computer games. Others niggle at words. I've re-read the first chapter of my book a zillion times and probably change a word, a comma, or delete a paragraph every single time. Depends on the mood of the day. That's the challenge and the journey.
Then there's the day when the sky is gray, the page is blank, and I've got nothing........until something triggers a fresh bout of word splash.
Joanne
No Escape
Scrap paper whooshes past me
clings to chain link fence
splatted flat, it wavers
frays
disintegrates
And there's the deck chair in the backyard (see picture)
Ancient deck chair
leans closer to earth
attracts bird splatter
sticky spider web slats
creak, groan
screws rattle
age spots
slurp spray paint
gasps for more
seat wiggles
another season
It's all word play. Some folks play computer games. Others niggle at words. I've re-read the first chapter of my book a zillion times and probably change a word, a comma, or delete a paragraph every single time. Depends on the mood of the day. That's the challenge and the journey.
Then there's the day when the sky is gray, the page is blank, and I've got nothing........until something triggers a fresh bout of word splash.
Joanne
Again, love your images. The one about the deck chair reminds me of a song I love. One of my favorite singer/songwriters is Kenny Chesney. He wrote a song called Old Blue Chair about the chair he's sat in for years when he's on the beach at his place in the caribbean.
ReplyDeleteOLD BLUE CHAIR
There's a blue rocking chair
Sittin in the sand
Weathered by the storms and well oiled hands
It sways back and forth with the help of the winds,
Seems to always be there,like an old trusted friend
I've read a lot of books,
Wrote a few songs
Looked at my life where it's goin, where it's gone
I've seen the world through a bus windshield, but nothing compares
To the way that I see it,
to the way that I see it,
to the way that I see it when I sit in that old blue chair
From that chair I've caught a few fish and some rays
And I've watched boats sail in and out of cinnamon bay
I let go of a lover that took a piece of my heart
I prayed many times for forgiveness and a brand new start
I've read a lot of books,
Wrote a few songs
Looked at my life where it's goin,where it's gone
I've seen the world through a bus windeshield, but nothing compares
To the way that I see it, to the way that I see it,
to the way that I see it when I sit in
that old blue chair
That chair was my bed one New Year's Night
When i passed out from too much malibu and Diet
And woke up to a hundred mesquito bites,
I swear got 'em all sittin right there
In that old blue chair
There's a blue rockin chair
Sittin' in the sand
Weathered by the storms and well oiled hands