Monday, August 10, 2015

"Words!... a most powerful drug!"

Rudyard Kipling wrote:

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."

 In a recent class I attended, a poet named Mary Fell was the guest speaker. She was fascinating as she shared how to express vivid thoughts on paper. I am not a poet yet she brought to light how to write things that invoke thought. In her book "The Persistence of Memory", Fell poetically writes about various subjects we see and experience in life like " let us pour darkness into a dish and set it on fire, bless those who labor as we pray, praise God his holy name, strike for rest." Another sobering thought stems from a deep tragedy in life, " A cold rain comforts the sky. Everything ash-colored under the clouds. I take my place in the crowd..."
Image result for photos of Mary Fell, "The Persistence of Memory"
 Sometimes I feel like "Asia" when Kipling wrote: " Asia is not going to be civilized after the methods of the West. There is too much of Asia and she is too old."

 One exercise in this class with Mary Fell was to take approximately a half an hour and do a walk through a nearby woods or park. While walking of your designated choice, take a small notepad and pen and simply jot down what you feel, what you see, and what you experience, return to the class and read orally what you have written. 
 I did not go to a woods or park to perform this exercise, I had to go to Walmart (lol) to pick up some medicine. It is here I found some thoughts to write down and practice a more vivid form of writing.
 Her then is what I shared in this class:

" A man in a wheelchair with his eyes gazed upon his wife, trusting her to choose...the right container of strawberries."

"A little girl brings a new toy to show her Mommy. The Mommy's eyes were tender and displayed a sensitive passion as she calmly spoke and said: "No."

" A lady at the register smiles as I pass by, lowering her head, perhaps hoping I would not be there when she looked up once more."

" A woman wears a one piece suit with so many various zebra stripes, I became dizzy."

" A man standing in a check-out line, looking aimlessly, yet his eyes were looking forward, as if he were viewing...another world."

" A rather short man with his arms filled to the brim with a box of cupcakes, toilet paper, bags of chips, and a package of meat, suddenly extends the lower part of his right arm and reaches out with his fingers extended...to retrieve an apple."

" Oh, no, not again! Where is my vehicle? I raised my hand with my car keys enclosed. A man shouts "Lose your car?" as I hear the delightful sound of the horn from my vehicle."

" A slender elderly lady dressed in a black dress to her ankles. looking for someone while she stood with her cart full of groceries.  She pause, turns her head toward my direction...searching."

 Mary Fell is a poet who has received national attention. Her book is a goodread and available for approximately $8.00 in paperback, will encourage you to have a grateful heart in a new and adventurous way. 
 Oh, I really enjoyed her class as well.

Kipling also wrote: "The first condition of understanding a foreign country...is to smell it."

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