We thought the blog would be a great place for members to share their Free Fall writings. So every Friday, we will post snippets from the most recent Free Fall session.
The Free Fall Friday group meets every Friday from 10am to noon at the Alexandra Writers Centre Society. For more information, please contact Mary at mary.k@shaw.ca or phone 403.210.2295
Fragments of Free
Fall Friday Issue 2
One Friday
morning, the Free Fall Friday (FFF) group wrote from the text and photograph of
an autumn leaf in all its bright colors. Entitled Ask, the card included this
mediation:
Be specific, know what you want. Breathe, ponder and take
the time necessary to form your question. Ask openly, and then move ahead with
clarity. Know inside you the answer exists.
Here are some
snippets of what came out of that prompt.
~~~
ask;
be specific-
in such a landscape of possibilities
it’s like herding sheep-
not likely
and
not impossible-
both
true
ask;
don’t ask;
open,
close.
clarity bangs like the preacher
on his pulpit- his fist raised,
thumping the solid oak dais-
its echo in the church-
it isn’t something that comes
in
like a lamb, by god;
it’s
the roar, the thunderous roar
of
the lion-his mouth open
wide-teeth
nestled in a drooling
mouth
gaped, gormless
and the sheep
their
baas
like
lanterns
in
the dusk
repeat-
show
the way
on
heather filled moors.
ask-
don’t ask
open; close
shut
it is a choice, yours, mine-
sheep
or lion?
-Angela Simmons
~~~
ASK
Don, you are the only person I know
who sort of thinks like I do and are powerful enough to carry me out of the
bush. I want you to stake one placer
claim in your name so that no one will know where it comes from. I’ll bequeath you the map so you and Barb can
find it if it takes too long to fashion a hand drill that will work this
time. You get all the bush gear to make
this happen, the IP, the GPS, the sawed off shotgun and the maps. Just say that you’ll do it dear boy. They’re not going to buy your hot spring thing
for years yet, so you need a reason to be in the bush and teach Barb what I never
did. Gold will always be hot while your
hydro-thermal stuff will take a decade of patience and infinite proposals. This is now, with an odd of chance of
financing yours down the road stuff.
-Nick
Gass
~~~
ASK:
She’s waiting. Same corner as last week, huddled
under the scant overhang of the sandstone facade, trying to absorb what little
warmth it’s retained from the day. She’s waiting. Just like last week,
trembling - whether from cold or fear, anticipation - matters not. She’s
feeling fragile, leaning against the building so as not to topple from the top
of her heels.
She asked, she begged, she prayed
She never wanted it to be this way
But this way it is, and this way
Her hopelessness would have it stay.
She never wanted it to be this way
But this way it is, and this way
Her hopelessness would have it stay.
Waiting time is inversely proportional to hopefulness.
Despair, desperation seeps and sets. Some days she can’t tell her tears from
the rain. Still, survival instinct – remnant of hope remains. And hope is the
only ammunition she’s got to get her to where she wants to go.
She asked, she begged, she prayed
And still she’s waiting for that day.
And still she’s waiting for that day.
-Maraya Loza-Koxahn
~~~
Ask. Be specific. Know what you want.
Breathe. Ponder. Ask your question.
I breathe.
I ponder.
Daily.
From moment to moment.
At times, my search process becomes a
mantra rather than a focussed specific question.
As in prayer, that if I rush to mumble
the words
I learned as a child in my mother’s
tongue
and in English when I was a school-aged
child,
my thought waves flatten and my brain
activity slows.
When I realized my mumblings are
meaningless, I stop.
I place my right index finger in the
centre of my forehead
and I breathe,
drawing breath deep into my belly,
into my soul, my spirit.
I note the rhythm of my breath,
The quiet in and out.
The tension in my shoulders eases,
My neck grows longer
And the havoc – the hodge-podge of
ideas roiling in my brain
Begin to slow and disappear.
-Mary Kurucz
The Free Fall Friday group meets every
Friday from 10am to noon at the Alexandra Writers Centre Society. For more
information, please contact Mary at mary.k@shaw.ca or phone 403.210.2295
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