A couple of Thursday Writers* ago, my co-facilitator, Steve Montgomery gave us writers this prompt: “We fell in love again.” It’s taken from a poem by Ted Kooser, the first US Poet Laureate.
The idea of Thursday Writers is to write to the prompt, writing practice style—that is, go where the prompt takes you, write for a given amount of time (in this case, thirteen minutes) and when time’s up, read your writing aloud if you want to; no critique is given.
This is what I wrote from the prompt (some light editing for grammar, punctuation, etc):
We fell in love again, my memoir and I. We’d been a couple for a couple of years, but you know how it is with these things—someone gets a little bored (or boring), someone else stops coming home at night. Fingers get tired, pages get limp. Still we remained faithful for the most part. OK, so maybe I had a couple of quickies—you know, flashes that come and go. I took up with poetry for awhile, but it wasn’t serious.
The memoir, meanwhile, brought up more and more irrelevant scenes—a time in Dubrovnik that was really more imagination than fact—and kept wanting to go on and on about sunsets.
“Not another damn sunset,” I said when, once again, we were on a beach looking into the sea, sighing about past romances.
Personally, I wanted to stay in Budapest for while with Kati Mati, that stranger-at-the-crossroads wild woman I’d met. But there was memoir, putting us on another train.
At one point, during an off again of our on-again/off-again affair, I was feeling pretty bad, like it was really more my fault than the memoir’s. So I thought a change of scene would do us good.
I packed up all the notebooks, the files and photos and marked-up drafts from our writing group, cleared off a table next to my day-job desk, and set up the laptop with the Scrivener files. I dug out an old bulletin board and posted some photos. I made a mock-up of what I thought our cover might look like when we finally got to print. I even created a special candle, and collaged it with images from our old passport, and maps and pages torn from journals I’d kept.
Then, one morning not too long ago, I lit the special candle I’d made, booted up the laptop, and opened the Scrivener file.
“Honey,” I said, “do you still want to be with me? Do you still—“ and I choked up a little — “do you still love me?”
The cursor started blinking as if to say, “Yes, yes, I do. Yes.”
And just like that, we fell in love again.
—The End—
*Thursday Writers is a weekly drop-in writing practice group that I started in 1994 at The Writing Center, the precursor to San Diego Writers, Ink. We’ve been running ever since, with only a brief break in the early 2000s, and have been meeting at Lestat’s West, a performance venue of Lestat’s Coffeehouse in the Normal Heights neighborhood of San Diego for over fourteen years. Since March, when the “stay-at-home” directive was given in response to the corona virus, we’ve been meeting virtually. Still every Thursday from 5-6 pm and open to any writer who wants to join us. You can find out more about Thursday Writers here, follow us on our Facebook page, and sign up to receive information about our virtual meetings at Thursdaywriters@gmail.com
I remember when you read it at Thursday Writer’s. So clever, so Judy, so inspirational, as always.
Thanks, Janice. It was fun. I’m glad we get to have Thursday Writers as another meeting place.
xo
Judy
Falling in love again
Never wanted to
What am I to do?
I can’t help it
Love’s always been my game
Play it how I may
I was made that way
I can’t help it…
You were just drawn this way, Judy 😉
Big kisses to you and this ode to love!
HI Melanie,
What a sweet love poem and ain’t it the truth! Big kisses back to you and may love be your muse as well.
xo
Judy
Love this.
Thanks, Barb. I think you were at the Thursday Writers of its origin. So glad we get to share that writing time together (and all the others).
xo
Judy
Took up with poetry? Ink dribbling out of the corners of your mouth? Too bad Mark Strand is gone. He’d have eaten your poetry back, spitting out all the semi colons of course! See ya at Dime Stories? 🙂 dc
Well hi there, Dick,
Yes, you know how it is with poetry. A good iambic pentameter can seduce a woman.
I’m sending you a photo of a little graffiti (?) I created using that Mark Strand poem. I’ll send it via email.
Thanks for dropping in and sharing thoughts. And yes, Dime Stories whenever and wherever.
best,
Judy
Remember who said? “A man who can make a woman laugh….can make her do anything!!” Norma Jean. 🙂
dc.
Even wop him upside his head with a frying pan!
Shouldn’t tell you this but afew months ago i tried to get it up again for my motibund memoir. Took a hand full those little blue pills but due to prostate that’s like sitting on a pineapple, jblood got blocked and my heart got 7 inches longer!!!
Okay, 6.5. … All right y then. And if this isn’t dick lit…i don’t know what is 🙂
um, careful, you’re getting pretty close to the edge of not OK.
Loved your cute (wild woman) ‘qucikies’ allusion to poetry, etc.
Thus my attempt at ‘trying to get it up’ for my own limpid, sagging, pendulous and moribund memoir, an aging ole man’s response. The handful of little blue pills reference is from a retirement home standup set “Sex after 75” … which has been reviewed as amusing but short. 🙂 dc
Got it.
JR
Hi Judy,
A comment I made on an art post earlier this morning reminded me of my memoir too and after that I said oops. Yeah, oops. I do touch in once in awhile, she says in her defence.
Sigh.
Hi Linda,
Careful there, touching in can be dangerous. You know how those old affairs go.
Well, keep writing, however you do it.
thanks,
Judy
Judy – This is so romantic and funny too! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jill,
Thanks for saying hello. Yes, you and I have had some fun with our romantic relationships. xoxo
Lovely post and probably something every writer can identify with: the initial heady infatuation with our story and then somewhere along the way boredom sets in and we write with less enthusiasm. Until, one day, we are revitalized and in love again.
I have to say that, as much as I want quarantine to end, I am also loving the need to get together in virtual space for meetings and writing goals. I am part of a San Diego Writer’s Ink Accountability Zoom session each week and it’s become the best part of my week.
Hello Deborah,
Yes, yes, falling in love, and then… the veil is lifted, the feet land on the ground once again, the bloom, as they say, is off the rose. I had fun writing this and it’s only a little bit true. I really do love the memoir (and don’t tell, but I’m still seeing poetry on the side. shhh).
I’m so glad you found the Accountability group! What a difference it can make to have that kind of support. Good for you.
thanks, as always, for writing,
Judy
How delightful! Your spin on a love affair is so wonderful! And your writing is extraordinary!
Hi Marilyn,
Oh, thank you so much. Coming from you, what a compliment. And yes, we do have our odd love affairs don’t we. love you!
Oh, I so love this! Beautifully written, and that sensitive cursor. So glad you re-captured this for your blog.
Hey Steve,
Thanks for checking in. Your prompt, your inspiration. Love writing with you. xoxoxo
Judy,
Thank you so much for sharing this again. It is written beautifully and I fell in love too! I LOVE Thursday Writers. Much love and hugs from North Carolina ❤️💞
Hi LuAnne,
Thanks for stopping by here. I am so glad you’re in our Thursday Writers group now and participating in some of the other workshops. What a delight to work with you. I had so much fun with this piece originally in TW, that I thought it would be fun to share it with a wider readerships. hugs back at you in NC.