Tuesday, December 2, 2008

WordSpinning by Kathleen

bluh-og, blog. What is it? Why is it?


I've determined finally that blogging is what I've always done since I was about ten with my palm-sized diary which had its own little key so no one else in the universe could ever unlock my secrets except that with blogging the key is left in the keyhole. I've spent a lifetime of being very cautious about this, but I've taken the first step. Now it's your turn. Take a peek first, and decide if you want to open the door for a visit. http://www.wordforwordforword.com

12 comments:

Picket said...

Oh my word!!!! I can't believe it! Look at you here in blogland! lol I found you first try....http://wordspinningbykathleen.blogspot.com It took me over a day just to get mine started! lol Oh how emotional is this...my very own Aunt here in blogland. I am so happy you found my blog...like you, I feel like I was blogging since I was a little girl..I have always wrote down things and it has been hard for me to open things up to the public but I found out there are some amazing & precious souls here in this blogland. This is a great day Kat...let me know if I can help you with anything (help would be a farrrrr stretch in computer terms!lol) but I would do my best! Love ya Kat!

Edie Hemingway said...

"Wordspinning by Kathleen" What a lovely thought! I envision a spinning wheel with a trail of golden words threading out of it and then being woven into poems and stories. Good luck with this venture. Blogging can be time consuming, so don't try to post every day. I'll keep in touch...

marjon said...

Hi Kat...
When you're word spinning just remember..."what goes around
comes around!".

And as for the "genre Slut"..now that you've admitted to it I will nolonger be able to defend you against all those slanderous slurs as I have for lo these many years!
John "(marjon)" lol!

Kathleen Thompson said...

Words. Gratitude.

Dorothy, my precious niece. Named for a sister just older than me who died too soon with epilepsy for me to get to know her. Picket—Dorothy is my altar ego and what better way to symbolize her family/service/love/home and hearth theme than a picket fence—which she has!

Edie, my fellow wordsmith. How nicely you’ve interpreted my blog title. I’m going to try to keep the golden thread going with the help of my readers.

Marjon (aka Jawjajohn—the perfect epithet for a talker named John who lives in Georgia) is a clever depiction of the oneness of two persons, a couple who’ve been married so long they have a singular personality.

So what other words are there for me to think about today? Joy.

Having someone recognize your words, read your words, publish your words, discuss your words. Yesterday it was officially announced that I had won the poetry chapbook competition. When I submitted the chapbook, I located a chunk of time in 2000 when I had pretty faithfully recorded both my dreams and a journal. I concocted dream poems from the dreams and edited snippets of the journal entries to be included.

I believe I’ve created a new genre in THE NIGHTS, THE DAYS. Or perhaps it could be called by a stretch a lyric essay, which in itself is a fairly new genre. The lyric essay by definition has all the lyricism of the poem but all the facts/information of an essay. Except that’s not it exactly. For example:

Brownville and baptism
Mama and I were entertaining
Martin Luther King and others
we had a large picture of the façade
of his birth building covered in ivy
and an insert of MLK Mama licked
her thumb to grab hold of an edge
stuck between the glass
and the wooden top of our desk
one word an article ripped off
Mother I wailed mortified
Mother was not a name I called
Mama King pointed to one of two
figures in the background his wife
I wanted to ask if he’d seen the civil
rights monument in Montgomery,
but he was in a large pool of water
with people immersing themselves
January 18, 2000 Tuesday 7:04 a.m. Yesterday was MLK Day and I watched a movie last night with a hard-butt principal, Morgan Freeman, who turns a school around which is full of thugs and drugs. S & R came back to look at our backyard and do some measuring. They want to add on to their house but don’t have the space. I hope this process is simplified by their wanting our house.
~~~
The chapbook has a minimalist punctuation style in the manner of Merwin and is patterned after Richard Hugo’s dream poems. So what is this thing I’ve created? Here’s what Sue Walker said in the press release issued yesterday:

Negative Capability Press is pleased to announce that the winner of their 2008 Poet Laureate Chapbook Competition is Kathleen Thompson of Birmingham, Alabama, Alabama for “The Nights, The Days.” The book delves into the mystery of dreams and intertwines the activities of sleep and waking. The intrigue of journals provides the impetus for poems that encompass the wonderful particularities of life: butter nut squash and Christmas cheese cake, intersections of race and class and baptism, politics and people, and even notes on reading such authors as John Irving. Thompson says that “it is only the edge of dreams that I remember,” but she masterfully interrogates the dream and follows in the footsteps of Richard Hugo and W.S. Merwin. This ambitious and unified project on incorporating poetry and journal writing is masterful in its reach and scope, and Negative Capability Press is honored to launch a series of chapbooks with this book.

The Nights, The Days may be purchased for $12.00 plus $2.00 shipping and handling from Negative Capability Press / 62 Ridgelawn Drive East / Mobile, Alabama, 36608.
~~~
Joy.

Kathleen Thompson said...

Dorothy, I need help. My friend says I'm not supposed to post my comments here! Where, then?? (I knew this was not going to be easy!)

Picket said...

Hey Kat...this is your blog..you can post them anywhere...What you have is fine! lol Congrats on the award!!! I am so proud for you! Hope all is well on your side of the mountain...it has been busy down here...course Dec is always a busy month in this family with 8 Birthdays & Christmas...I still gotta make cakes and dressing...we are having Christmas at Jen's this year (my first attempt at passing the torch!) lol Take care Kat! ♥

Picket said...

Oh good grief...I am such a loo!!!! lol Ok Your friend was talking about YOUR comments...I'm not really a blonde..just pay good money for the highlights! lol What your friend means is that you are suppose to click on the people's name that left you a comment and go to their blog and post your comment back to them...it's called proper manners and visiting in blogland Kat! lol lol Sorry! lol lol

Mary in Louisville said...

Hi Kathleen,
We are two peas....green and sweet! I set up a blog for myself but never know how others will read it. Do we send out an email notice?

WordSpinning is a lovely name for you, seems a delicate, thoughtful way to create a thing of beauty and truly fits your style of poetry and prose. I'm so happy and proud for you!

Mary in Louisville said...

Kathleen, you have inspired me to add something else to my blog. We will persevere and prove that blogging is not just for the young.
My blog is Louisville-lit

Kathleen Thompson said...

Dorothy, you're amazing! I could spend days at your blog, but when would I wash dishes and cook?? I think I must be missing a vital part in my brain on blogging. I can't figure out how to post at your blog, nor at Mary's. I think I've subscribed to follow Mary's blog, although, truth to tell, what will happen next? I feel really silly, but mostly hungry after seeing all your food prep. Yum, yum.

New Year's here had the traditional black eyed peas for good luck cooked with a ham bone. Ann brought turnip greens and collard greens. I was a little tired of Christmas desserts and decided to make a banana pudding. I tripled Paula's recipe (love those red pots, girl!!) and had about ten pounds of pudding. If I could figure out how, I'd import the photo.

Dorothy, Mary, and Kathleen: three foodies. Go figure!

~~Deby said...

first time here and must admit this can become addicting..you start feeling like you REALLY know everyone..but the fellowship is sweet.

Welcome
Deby
WA. State

Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...

What a great way to put...leaving the key in the keyhole! :-) I know, a little scary, isn't it? Kathleen, I've only been blogging for 5 months now and so far, it's been a lot of fun. I've met a lot of wonderful people out there in Blogland. You are going to love it! Welcome! Susan

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