Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Yay! "Writing Down the Bones" A palm book...at last!

At bedtime, I am reading Natalie Goldberg's book, "Writing Down the Bones." The writer herself or her smart publisher must have thought to put her book in the smallest form possible (as to size).

I call this a palm book, since I don't know what the tiny sized books are called in the industry. I had seen the original book, which was a regular (6" by 9"?) book size; however, this tiny size makes the book easy to hold when in bed and easy to carry in my purse. They should make all books that small. The miracle is, compared to its small size, the print is easy on the eyes.

This book's smallness is only in size; there's nothing small or miniscule about it where the contents are concerned. Any writer who truly wants to write and needs an encouragement to get started or to continue when he feels alone should read this book. This should be a book in a high-school curriculum, no kidding.

Now that I have voiced my admiration, I'll write what I did last night while I was looking through the chapter called, "A Sensation of Space."

At the beginning of this chapter, Natalie Goldberg gives a few words and asks the reader to write three-line poems, using those words as titles. The rules are: the titles will be part of the poem (I guessed as the fourth line) and any one poem won't take more than three minutes. This is what I did:

Glass:
Wipe off, look from both sides, see through;
clearer than the soul
you hide from me.

Salt
tastes like sea foam,
adding flavor to air
then melting down in poignancy.

Water:
wet as tears,
embracing the planet
evaporates like years.

Light Reflecting
off the ocean,
frisking away fears,
blinds the eyes.

The Window
is a bag lady,
dressed in drapery
with her frame unflattering.

I had fun!