CHURCH FIRE
“Hold the cross high so I may see it through the flames!” — Joan of Arc
Seasoned wood burns well,
fire spreads fast,
roofs collapse, windows fall,
shards of stained glass,
revolutions, wars,
emperors, presidents,
ashes, ashes…
Hundreds of years young
it stands intact.
The same song rises to the spire,
and cloven tongues
as of fire
rest upon us.
Have a Blessed Triduum.
‘Whatever anyone talked about, and there was a lot of talking, you couldn’t tell anyone that what he was saying was wrong. You couldn’t tell anyone that. You had to say, “Yes, that’s right.” To say “no” was not allowed — death. And those folks wouldn’t stop saying, “Freedom.” How strange.‘
— K.A. Korovin, a famous Russian artist; a diary entry on the post-revolutionary Russia
Might be a neat idea for the writing month of November — starting a diary. Or, if you feel like socializing, check out ten online writing communities recommended by Writer’s Digest.
Whichever writing activity you choose — spring into action, and enjoy!
Image: K.A. Korovin, “Spring” 1917, public domain
Erica Verrillo has compiled a list of “twenty noteworthy publications that pay in the professional range for poetry. Most of these also accept fiction and creative nonfiction, and many are more than happy to nominate accepted poems for prizes.”
‘The point of reading a poem is not to try to “solve” it. Still, that quantifiable process of demystification is precisely what teachers are encouraged to teach students, often in lieu of curating a powerful experience through literature.’ (Andrew Simmons, The Atlantic, 2014)
Here’s more on how to read poetry: “curious wonder” vs. “critical judgement.”
Image: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. “A Montrouge”–Rosa La Rouge, 1886–1887. Oil on canvas, Overall: 28 3/8 x 19 1/8 in. (72.1 x 48.6 cm). BF263. Public Domain.
“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
These great lines pull you in, and you cannot help thinking: Holden really knows something, maybe even the meaning of it all, and yes, wouldn’t it be nice to be like him, to be the catcher in the rye?
Perhaps, we already are like Holden, even if we don’t fully realize it.
“Brad Gooch, the author of Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor, argues that O’Connor’s issue with Holden Caulfield is “the naiveté of his savior complex.” … Holden is at the center of his own world, and everything revolves around him. … Under the edgy surface of his coolness, Holden is a selfish boy who can’t see himself as he really is.”
So, what is the iconic quote from “The Catcher” about?
All of the above?
What does Salinger say to you?
Share in the comments. And if you’ve enjoyed the post, do press “like” and “share” buttons — thank you.
Image: Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Children Playing Ball (Enfants jouant à la balle), c. 1900. Lithograph in color on laid paper, Overall: 28 7/8 x 24 in. (73.3 x 60.9 cm)Image: 23 5/8 x 20 1/16 in. (60 x 51 cm). BF493. Public Domain.
If you do want to know the genesis of “Dance Me To The End Of Love” — here it is.
— C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Image credit: Vincent van Gogh. Houses and Figure, 1890. Oil on canvas, Overall: 20 1/2 x 15 15/16 in. (52 x 40.5 cm). BF136. Public Domain.
Attention, poets! Have you written, and published, poems that form a sequence when brought together? You might be eligible for the $20,000 Four Quartets Prize. No entry fee. Deadline: December 22, 2017. Submit.
“…poetry is and has been, from its beginnings, not about being cool or mysterious or sad or “deep,” but about the health of the human spirit, which cannot be healthy without xenia (hospitality), cannot be healthy when it denies the inner life, or the outer life, cannot be healthy when it denies the past, or the present, or the future, when it denies life, or death, the visible, or the invisible. The healthy soul, like the gracious host, must welcome every stranger.” — Read Ryan Wilson’s “How To Think Like a Poet”
A free monthly photo contest from childphotocompetition.com. This month’s theme is “Laughter & Smile” — submit your black and white, and color photos, and win!
Image: Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Girl with Pink Bonnet (Jeune fille au chapeau rose), 1894. Oil on canvas, Overall: 16 5/16 x 13 in. (41.5 x 33 cm). BF118. Public Domain.
Want to write a guest post for Indies Unlimited? Read this.
“But your poems are rather hard to understand, whereas your paintings are so easy.
Easy?
Of course — you paint flowers and girls and sunsets; things that everybody understands.
I never met him.
Who?
Everybody.”
Find out who the poet/painter is.
Do you pity yourself? Bully yourself? Choose to be free:
Attention, American-born poets. Would you like to travel for a year, write poetry, and receive $58K? Check out the details on Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship.
“Messy Fun.” Child Photo Competition’s Free Monthly Photo Contest is OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS, but HURRY: deadline Sept. 30th. Send your pics of “kids playing with mud, food, and everything that makes a mess.”
“…I think there’s value in translating all kinds of things –really popular literature, things that have something to say that might be what I call a brave failure, a book that is trying to do so many things, but it might not quite get there. What it’s doing is important, even if it’s not a literary masterpiece to stand aside all others.” — Dr. Karen Emmerich
Elise Holland, editor of 2 Elizabeths, a short fiction and poetry publication, shares five of the most frequent questions she’s asked. See the questions, and answers.
To write or not to write by hand? Are you a laptop person, or a “fountain pen and leather-wrap journal” person? See/join a discussion.
“What I advise you to do is, not to be unhappy before the crisis comes; since it may be that the dangers before which you paled as if they were threatening you, will never come upon you; they certainly have not yet come.” — Seneca, “On Groundless Fears”
Check out this list of contests with September deadlines compiled by The Masters Review.
Find out why I write poetry.
sasha a. palmer 