Tag Archives: creative writing

Cinquain/X

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this dust
is an offense
which manifestly must
be uprooted with an intense
defense

 

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My maternal grandmother was a skilled miniaturist who painstakingly created a beautiful collection of small fascinating rooms. This short poem was inspired by her “Victorian Parlour.”

Photo-009

…a final parting…

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An indolent orange spirit drifts across
the mountainside as the day draws to a close.
Pulling a leaden cloak over the forested canvas,
she offers no quarter to my flagging frame.
I stretch a cautious limb in front of me,
searching for a secure footing while sap soaked
leaves protest under an inquisitive tread.
A half a dozen steps ahead, your raven
tresses swing to and fro, occasionally
meeting the soft light that sinks in the west.
I stop my ascent for a crack to watch your
slender span navigate the shadows.
You will soon round the binding bend and
then I shall never see you again.
TIME – please be merciful with my memories.
Absolve them of their debts.
I beg of you.

At The Buffet

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She flicks that golden braid over her shoulder
onto a rhinestone studded collared jean jacket
as she sings her soul out under hot teal lights.
The greens and pinks of her floral skirt swirl
around dimpled knees while both hands raise
above heads to clap us into submission.
She’s a robot.
She’s a swallow.
She’s a Canens at battle with the night.
She can be anything she wants to be.
She’s got all her love to give.
She WILL survive.

나가는 문이 없는 방/Room With No Exit

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나는 나가는 문이 없는 방에 갇혀 있다
모든 것이 나오지만 아무것도 나갈 수 없다
결국 지친 내 몸은 살살 열리고 잠들게 된다

I am trapped in a room with no exit.
Everything comes in but nothing goes out.
At last my weary body gently opens and sleep comes.

*Korean translation edited for clarity by Seok Jin Wook

Morning Calm

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Your tongue came crushing through the splintered pine
To grant me worthless words which linger still,
In wells of bitter torment ripe with swill
That drown this hellish fate which you named mine,
To make me swallow notions, “poor and fine”
Until I bowed and broke a moment shrill
With waste of your dull thesis laid to spill,
So fondly folded by malignant wine.
Compose thyself and be a man of worth!
Is it a credit to blood and allies
To talk in circles with no tail or root?
Cease barking!  Rally heels and heart to earth,
For now we march ahead to raise our cries
Against disciples who shall soon be mute.

Five For My Eye: I

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Every night I sit in this nook.
Every night I knock down this whisky.
Every night I watch that woman.
Five balls left on the billiards table.
Five blokes left in this room.
There aren’t enough corners for our wretchedness.
Maybe I’ll slip into the drop pocket.
Gretel sets the cue on the ledge to watch
the raindrops mingle with the window panes.
The streets lamps were lit hours ago,
yet the shadows are what she craves.
She snatches up the stick.
Four balls left
With her 1941 Volkswagen figure, Betty Boop cheeks, and
Hansel haircut, she’s not out of the woods yet.
The only men who sleep with her are the ones
who don’t want to lie down with their wives.
They have their turn, building a house of cards on her
ample bosom before returning to tuck their young
ones in for the night.
Nobody seems to be picking up her crumbs.
She’s been playing against herself since the day she was
born, emerging from the womb with that black wool
skirt molded to her frame, brown pumps scraping her
mother’s insides on the way out.
I’m lucky I can still count to five.
Three balls left
The young dentist from Biesdorf steals a glance at
his watch before emptying his shot glass, wiping
his damp forehead with a trembling palm.
His eyes have been playing ping pong with her backside
for over an hour but we all know that he discarded his
nerve with his galoshes when he walked through that door.
This tooth fairy won’t be pulling anything tonight.
Two balls left
We exchange the penitent dentist for a burst of frigid air
which greets each one of us with a firm handshake.
Once again the heavy door plugs up the path to privation.
Gretel winks at me.
One ball left and she’s poised to strike.

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This is the first in a series of five poems inspired by the photography of Constantine Brassaï.

COLOR ME: Discovering Coloring Books for Adults

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Coloring books are only for kids, right!?  Wrong!

This morning, I accidentally stumbled upon the fascinating world of coloring books for adults while surfing the net for information on the Korean idiom 담배를 피우는 호랑이/a pipe smoking tiger.  I became curious about the idiom after my husband’s students referenced it in regards to an unexpected and brief sun shower that we experienced yesterday.  The students explained that the occurrence of a sun shower is as rare and as strange as the sight of a smoking tiger, therefore it is a fitting expression to use when we witness something that takes us by surprise and that is difficult to believe.

담배를 피우는 호랑이

I thought it was both a curious expression and a delightful mental image, so I logged onto the net to do a little investigating.  After inputting a few appropriate keywords, I was directed to a 21-page student oriented pdf document about Korean Myths and Folktales that had been prepared by the San Francisco Asian Art Museum. On page 19 of the pdf document there was a short explanation of the smoking tiger idiom.

“Once upon a time, long, long ago, when the tiger smoked a pipe” is a
familiar phrase at the beginning of children’s stories.  The tiger-and-magpie
motif is popular in Korean folk painting, as Koreans once believed that tigers
embodied the spirit of mountains and had the power to ward off evil and harm,
and that magpies were harbingers of good news.

http://blog.asianart.org/pdf/education/previsit/Korean-Myths.pdf

If Korea’s smoking tiger  is analogous to once upon a time in a land far far away, then it only makes sense that one might use it to describe something that could seemingly only emerge out of a fairy tale.

Beneath the above quoted passage lay an attractive coloring page that depicted a smoking tiger and a magpie of the kind that are commonly found in Korean folk paintings.  At the bottom of the page in capital and bold black letters was the directive, COLOR ME.    It was such a striking image that I really couldn’t help myself and as I teach children between the ages of three and nine years old, I always have crayons and markers at my disposal.  So, while I should have been prepping for my afternoon lesson, I grabbed a set of crayons and went to work.  I haven’t put crayon to coloring book in ages – let’s say 10 years or more. As I meticulously filled in the page I found myself becoming more relaxed; I even found myself smiling. And like a five year old, when I was finished, I proudly affixed my “masterpiece” to the refrigerator door with a magnet.

AdobePhotoshopExpress_2014_06_16_13_24_40

 

“Silly!” you say?

Maybe it is a bit ridiculous for an adult to find a little Zen in the pages of a coloring book, but I truly enjoyed the experience and became curious about what kinds of coloring books were out there for adults.  After doing a little web searching, I found a bevy of beautiful books that are best suited for older children and adults.  From the Fauvism of Matisse to the mathematically inspired M.C. Escher to decorative tile designs and Celtic knotwork, there is something out there for just about everyone.  These books are also often educational in nature as they usually contain information on the images contained inside.

So, why not have a coloring party?  Get a bottle of wine and some good food, invite a few friends over, and break out the crayons.  At the end of the party, you can hang everyone’s finished work in a makeshift “gallery”and play art-critic.  Don’t want to make coloring the theme of the party?  You could just put a coloring book or two on a side table and leave it at that.  At the very least, they might make an interesting conversation topic.

Need a unique gift for a special occasion?  For the right friend, a coloring book and crayon set just might be the ticket.  Sure, it won’t be up everyone’s alley, but I bet you can think of at least one person who would appreciate such a gift.

Plato once wrote, “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”

Go ahead!  Give yourself permission to take just a little time out of your day to play and draw as you did when you were young.

You don’t even have to stay in the lines!

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Coloring Books Mentioned Above:

http://www.amazon.com/Color-Matisse-Paintings-Dover-Coloring/dp/0486400301

http://www.amazon.com/M-C-Escher-Coloring-Book-Abrams/dp/0810926350

http://www.amazon.com/Celtic-Knotwork-Kaleidoscope-Coloring-Book/dp/0982625944/ref=cm_lmf_tit_3