Clawing at stone, frantic
it crumbles away to dust
and behind the wall are theater lights
Tearing at the curtain
shackled to an empty stage
the scene falls away and behind it lies a forgotten home
Pounding at the door
begging the ghosts inside to let me in
a key turns, the latch pulls back
and beyond it is a void
Staring into a dark mirror
at a face peering back at me
its mouth split in a wide smile
the glass shatters and within it
is a scream that sounds like mine
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What’s your writing process? What do you do before you even put pen to paper (or hands to keyboard)?
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Image by Anemone123 from Pixabay
The Light is On 
16 responses to “The Way Things Are”
Turning the mirror on ourselves is always a little scary.
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Indeed!
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I like the way you built the anticipation with this piece. Nicely written and narrated. Two movies immediately came to mind. Have a great day my friend. ❤️🤗
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Thank you Joni! Which two movies? Cheers (:
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Oh they are good ones too. They are old movies but scary. I will look up the titles. I think one of them is called “What lies Beneath,” with Harrison Ford. The other movie has Hallie Berry in it and she is a psychologist that has been thrown in the same mental hospital she was working in. Have an amazing day David. ❤️🤗
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Love the intensity in your writing.
The writing process for me is spontaneity. Just wipe the mind free and allow it to breathe word after word. The links appear automatically. 🙂
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Thanks so much! And yes, it’s such a good feeling when the words just seem to flow out by themselves. Cheers (:
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Oh wow, that build up, anxiety, and reveal of the scream… Truly haunting and beautiful. It’s like breaking through an illusion to find the reality you’re in. The mirror is always true, if real. Beautifully written!
My writing process is that I MUST read some work of Plath or Sexton. Gets me inspired, helps me use words as a soundboard. Then I think of how I feel and what feeling correlates to a topic in mind. Sometimes, I also play music before I write for inspiration, like The Smiths or The Offspring.
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Thanks so much for reading and commenting (:
Reading and music–two infinite sources of inspiration for sure. I don’t know much of either Plath or Sexton! What do you recommend?
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I love it..iean ots just thrilling
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Thank you so much (:
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You’re welcome
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Usually, I’ll have considered a subject I have thought about and then just type one draft. If done in time, I’ll tweak it and edit it. If not and the deadline is looming, I’ll write another draft, maybe even a third: know what I want to write about, write it, condense it, what’s the main point I want to get across?
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That’s a good method! It definitely helps to have a goal/meaning/point to work toward, because you can always look to it if somehow along the way you lose your place. Cheers (:
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I have no writing rituals but I do like to make a coffee before I start. I write when I feel inspired and usually during grabbed moments between housework, home educating and other creative projects that I’ve always got on the go. I loved the build up in this piece – brilliantly written.
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Yes, finding those moments to steal and sit down and write can be tough! Sounds very busy (: and thanks you so much! Cheers
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