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Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025

11:50pm EST

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Ten-Finger Exercises

by Wren

Rated: 13+ · Book · Biographical · #1096245

Just play: don't look at your hands!

What a dumb title for a person who never got a single star

on her piano lessons!

Daily practice is the thing though: the practice of noticing as well as of writing.

However, I'd much rather play duets than solos, so hop right in! You can do the melody or the base part, I don't care.

Just play along--we'll make up the tune as we go.

I'll try to write regularly and deliberately. Sometimes I will do it poorly, tritely, stiltedly, obscurely. I will try to persevere regardless. It seems to be where my heart wants to go, and that means to me that God wants me there too.

See you tomorrow.

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Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Kåre เลียม Enga

Oct 13, 2021 at 7:21pm
In response to "the tree from my window"

Well... almost 7 years old but I read it today. Mid October after two frosts and the leaves are falling.

alfred booth, wanbli ska

Nov 10, 2014 at 1:42pm
In response to "Class-ism"

I had extremely little idea of what my classmate's father's did to put bread on their tables. We all were homeowners, but I wouldn't have thought we were better than others because my mother spent her money on lavish dinner parties and I ate less "well" when at friends' houses. Her day-to-day cooking wasn't very appetizing. She never deemed her own family "audience" enough for her best results in the kitchen.

I think that's one thing I will definitely miss from the American culture as I continue to age here in France: they availability of serious study possibilities for those beyond university years. I'm not even sure I could enroll in one and take their classes.

And of course, since I am a foreigner here not writing in French, I cannot benefit from the writing groups I might be able to find.

Online situations (as proposed here, for example) are not very enriching, alas.

alfred booth, wanbli ska

Nov 10, 2014 at 1:36pm
In response to "the tree from my window"

I love how you close the poem with the very real image of what happens when the leaves flood our lawns.

Lovely work, Wren.

1 Like

alfred booth, wanbli ska

Oct 29, 2014 at 4:05am
In response to "An Untimely Death"

Which is your title: An untimely death or Time paradigm?

I like this quite a lot. My first read had me thinking about buttons in the first paragraph. Then I realized you were talking about watches. I would, however, leave out the word "time" until you mentioned the word watch, in order to let the reader wonder just a bit longer what you were truly describing. And the better poets would try and eliminate any direct reference to watches and time-telling pieces in order to perfectly describe these elements without using the telltale words people expect to be written when describing them.

Be careful of repetition: tick, ticking and ticklessly. This last is brilliant. Find other synonymous so the expected word "tick" arrives at last with your highly poetic variation.

A great start, Wren.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Oct 15, 2014 at 3:12pm
In response to "Too Much Obscurity?"

I like that last image of "tearing out the loving stitches".

Canning applesauce? I'd think zucchini...

...my cousin in Prineville has been making chips. An overwhelming year in southern Oregon.

alfred booth, wanbli ska

Oct 14, 2014 at 3:04am
In response to "Too Much Obscurity?"

I think it's perfect the way it is. The message is strong.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Sep 29, 2014 at 9:36pm
In response to "forgive us for coming for pardon and not renewal"

I have been homeless too. Incredible people. Amazing survival skills. I stayed in a shelter and know all about the demeaning side that Chewie mentions. Not fun.

As for wars... we haven't had a war on American soil since 1865. We forget. The situation in Summer of 1968 was bad... but nothing like it was a century before. Pray for those who aren't only homeless today (here, abroad) but have no social network to sustain them. Many do not survive.

Weeds will be taken care of by winter by-the-way...

1 Like

Chewie Kittie

Sep 23, 2014 at 10:39pm
In response to "forgive us for coming for pardon and not renewal"

I have been homeless. Being homeless doesn't always mean the shelter or the streets or even being jobless. Sometimes it is a hidden thing that no one is allowed to see. There is as much stigma attached to being homeless as their is to mental illness in this country. People want to quantify and pigeonhole you. I was homeless with a job and a car. I lived in my car. I showered at a local laundromat with pay for use showers. I just didn't have a roof over my head. They have rules and conditions and treat you like a dependent child in a shelter. Not an able bodied adult with a temporary problem.

1 Like

An apple a day....

Apr 22, 2014 at 8:25am
In response to "Easter Monday"

What a pleasant surprise to see you this morning! Hope all is well with you. On Easter morning I always wake up singing Easter Parade for some reason (must be childhood related). Secular it may be but anything that brings a smile can't be all bad. Thanks to Irving B.

I love your poem. It brought back many memories

alfred booth, wanbli ska

Apr 22, 2014 at 3:38am
In response to "Easter Monday"

I remember new Easter clothes worn for the first time to Easter service. The family meal afterwards and the egg hunt. That was the 60s. Don't remember chocolate. Consumerism has taken over everything that used to have spirituality instead. A sad state of affairs.

Glad to see your blog pop up. Hope you are well.

#669. the tree from my window
ID #833564 entered on November 8, 2014 at 4:39pm

#668. Class-ism
ID #833518 entered on November 7, 2014 at 6:29pm

#667. An Untimely Death
ID #832577 entered on October 28, 2014 at 7:12pm

#666. Too Much Obscurity?
ID #831090 entered on October 13, 2014 at 11:38pm

#665. forgive us for coming for pardon and not renewal
ID #828843 entered on September 23, 2014 at 11:38am

#664. Easter Monday
ID #814588 entered on April 21, 2014 at 10:45pm

#663. Go Seahawks!
ID #805465 entered on February 2, 2014 at 1:23am

#662. Congeniality
ID #805213 entered on January 30, 2014 at 10:15pm

#661. Can you ever be too neat?
ID #805116 entered on January 30, 2014 at 2:32am

#660. Monday beginnings
ID #804852 entered on January 27, 2014 at 9:29pm

#659. Wren and Margot Chat Again
ID #782896 entered on May 25, 2013 at 1:29pm

#658. april 15
ID #780674 entered on April 15, 2013 at 11:47pm

#657. cold Monday
ID #780085 entered on April 8, 2013 at 10:55pm

#656. unpoetly
ID #777769 entered on March 17, 2013 at 12:37am

#655. thanks
ID #775698 entered on February 21, 2013 at 11:32pm

#654. alone
ID #774390 entered on February 9, 2013 at 10:01pm

#653. homeless teens
ID #773153 entered on January 29, 2013 at 11:25pm

#652. eggs and silence
ID #772824 entered on January 26, 2013 at 10:39pm

#651. sun gone, left some hope
ID #772744 entered on January 25, 2013 at 11:50pm

#650. Jan. 19 and 20
ID #772265 entered on January 20, 2013 at 8:04pm

#649. oops, it was past 9
ID #772048 entered on January 18, 2013 at 5:04pm

#648. okay, I'll start a book.
ID #771837 entered on January 18, 2013 at 12:09am

#647. One a day? maybe
ID #771779 entered on January 15, 2013 at 11:14pm

#646. Monday rumblings
ID #771624 entered on January 14, 2013 at 10:13pm

#645. Both feet into 2013
ID #771051 entered on January 9, 2013 at 3:59pm

#644. last week's entry
ID #770812 entered on January 7, 2013 at 8:32pm

#643. Beginning of Advent
ID #767560 entered on December 4, 2012 at 12:00am

#642. Awkward Pauses
ID #767290 entered on November 30, 2012 at 1:55am

#641. submittable
ID #765780 entered on November 13, 2012 at 12:17am

#640. memories of Friday night's lost entry
ID #765596 entered on November 11, 2012 at 7:44pm

#639. lost another one
ID #765531 entered on November 11, 2012 at 1:06am

#638. creative friday
ID #765426 entered on November 9, 2012 at 10:04pm

#637. here's the first half...
ID #765347 entered on November 9, 2012 at 1:15am

#636. other lost entry
ID #764659 entered on November 1, 2012 at 8:57pm

#635. wonder where this went?
ID #764451 entered on October 30, 2012 at 11:30pm

#634. Sunday noon
ID #764272 entered on October 28, 2012 at 7:20pm

#633. maybe it was the audience's fault...hmmm
ID #763020 entered on October 16, 2012 at 12:45am

#632. ...drift by the window...part two
ID #762750 entered on October 13, 2012 at 1:50am

#631. ...the falling leaves...drift by the window...the autumn
ID #762474 entered on October 9, 2012 at 7:36pm

#630. WInding down, or is it up?
ID #760426 entered on September 10, 2012 at 11:32pm

#629. Olympic withdrawals
ID #758578 entered on August 14, 2012 at 12:56am

#628. I bean gardenin', that's what I bean doin'.
ID #756783 entered on July 17, 2012 at 12:40am

#627. Garden me this, garden me that
ID #756376 entered on July 9, 2012 at 11:19pm

#626. whiney day
ID #755959 entered on July 2, 2012 at 2:38pm

#625. extended membership
ID #755885 entered on June 30, 2012 at 2:29pm

#624. Expanded Quartet
ID #755592 entered on June 25, 2012 at 11:31pm

#623. power of words poem
ID #755431 entered on June 22, 2012 at 2:15pm

#622. controversial poetry in progress
ID #755321 entered on June 22, 2012 at 2:09pm

#621. Up for another poem?
ID #754872 entered on June 14, 2012 at 12:54pm

#620. that's two days of sun!
ID #754695 entered on June 11, 2012 at 11:13pm

#619. finally, sunshine!
ID #754596 entered on June 10, 2012 at 11:32pm

#618. another cold and rainy day
ID #754443 entered on June 10, 2012 at 1:43am

#617. morning verse or worse
ID #754373 entered on June 8, 2012 at 12:14am

#616. easing out
ID #754277 entered on June 6, 2012 at 5:15pm

#615. it's half past april!
ID #722282 entered on April 14, 2011 at 10:14pm

#614. if it doesn't get better...
ID #714743 entered on January 5, 2011 at 1:05am

#613. Back to work Monday
ID #714664 entered on January 3, 2011 at 11:59pm

#612. restful lazy new year's day
ID #714524 entered on January 2, 2011 at 1:52am

#611. Better Late than Never?
ID #714435 entered on December 31, 2010 at 9:51pm

#610. cyber-sitting
ID #712662 entered on November 29, 2010 at 10:57pm

#609. Procrastinating on a snowy evening.
ID #712070 entered on November 22, 2010 at 11:53pm

#608. A better day
ID #711490 entered on November 16, 2010 at 12:51am

#607. A Look Around
ID #711321 entered on November 14, 2010 at 12:57am

#606. following up on Alfred's comment
ID #700633 entered on July 1, 2010 at 10:44pm

#605. retirement
ID #700414 entered on June 29, 2010 at 8:07pm

#604. Logging in
ID #699978 entered on June 24, 2010 at 1:42am

#603. Blind faith and Nature
ID #699606 entered on June 18, 2010 at 10:50pm

#602. Nothing to Bark About
ID #699509 entered on June 17, 2010 at 7:16pm

#601. What things would you lie about?
ID #665328 entered on August 26, 2009 at 10:19pm

#600. swatting flies
ID #662383 entered on August 5, 2009 at 11:40pm

#599. everything reminds me
ID #662187 entered on August 4, 2009 at 2:44pm

#598. funeral plans
ID #662132 entered on August 4, 2009 at 2:37am

#597. Suicide hurts everybody.
ID #661983 entered on August 2, 2009 at 10:52pm

#596. our animal friends
ID #653420 entered on June 6, 2009 at 2:05pm

#595. special people
ID #653169 entered on June 4, 2009 at 11:17am

#594. it's about time
ID #652685 entered on June 1, 2009 at 10:50pm

#593. quick version of today
ID #642234 entered on March 25, 2009 at 9:07pm

#592. indignant
ID #642051 entered on March 24, 2009 at 3:46pm

#591. time wasters and new resolve
ID #641562 entered on March 21, 2009 at 7:34pm

#590. hey, I can make it for the first of March!
ID #638369 entered on March 1, 2009 at 11:59pm

#589. so many little things
ID #636257 entered on February 17, 2009 at 1:27am

#588. up a lazy river
ID #634990 entered on February 9, 2009 at 10:58pm

#587. articulated faith
ID #633599 entered on February 3, 2009 at 12:19am

#586. a special for moms
ID #633325 entered on February 1, 2009 at 8:20pm

#585. 25 Random Things About Me
ID #632496 entered on January 28, 2009 at 8:45pm

#584. noise and tears
ID #630703 entered on January 28, 2009 at 8:50pm

#583. busy day
ID #629929 entered on January 16, 2009 at 12:02am

#582. facebook
ID #628663 entered on January 9, 2009 at 6:42pm

#581. one month later...
ID #627884 entered on January 4, 2009 at 11:00pm

#580. 39 years ago
ID #622320 entered on December 5, 2008 at 4:28pm

#579. coming in first
ID #621669 entered on December 1, 2008 at 11:42pm

#578. relaxing weekend
ID #618945 entered on November 17, 2008 at 1:59am

#577. remembering Seamus
ID #617957 entered on November 11, 2008 at 1:18am

#576. letting go
ID #617354 entered on November 7, 2008 at 9:05pm

#575. apple pie and I
ID #616496 entered on November 3, 2008 at 11:28pm

#574. a nice day
ID #615917 entered on October 31, 2008 at 11:23pm

#573. a brief excuse
ID #615218 entered on October 28, 2008 at 12:56pm

#572. a few minutes to myself
ID #615155 entered on October 27, 2008 at 11:53pm

#571. learning the next steps
ID #612062 entered on October 9, 2008 at 8:55pm

#570. today we know...but what?
ID #609523 entered on September 27, 2008 at 12:17am

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