Liddy's Quilt

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Fate sold Liddy a bolt of trouble cloth --

A rude and simple brown calico of

Coffee, chocolate, butterscotch --

To piece together the quilt of her life

While other girls had velvets and rich brocades

And countless bolts to choose from.

When Love finally found Liddy's house

He donated a bolt of plain brown cloth.

Grateful for contrast, Liddy cut each piece

Carefully, frugally making the most of her cloth,

Using her mother's ancient templates

Passed down for countless generations.

Like the women before her,

Liddy stacked her perfect squares –

Alternating calico then plain

Just like mother taught her,

Protecting the work she'd done by

Pulling through a thread to hold it all together.

Liddy pieced and sewed her quilt,

Mindful of seams that had to withstand

Harsh launderin', long rough winterin',

Painful birthin', joyful lovin', and sorrowful dyin'.

She sewed her seams strong, straight and true

Each corner a perfect checkerboard of light and dark

The quilting was all there was left

For Liddy to finish the medley of her life.

Granny said the quilt won't last

If the quiltin' ain't done right.

Liddy made sure each tiny stitch was straight,

The thread not twisted – the knots tight.

She made each careful pass with her needle

Deliberately, like a surgeon piecing an artery.

Her quilt's life depended on what she did now.

Liddy wanted it passed along for years to come

Intact -- not in shreds and tatters.

Like her, it wasn't fancy but it was solidly made.

~~Ginger Hamilton

[Tomorrow:  Denouement]

Writer in Training

Occasionally, a friend will ask me why I bother taking more writing classes when I seem to have a pretty good handle on my craft. I appreciate these votes of confidence more than you can know! 

I continually hone my skills, try to cull unnecessary habits while bulking up juicy tidbits, so my readers will receive the best I have to offer. It's along the veins of a boxer perpetually in training.

You never know when the Universe and the Muse will join forces and deposit the Story of a Lifetime in my lap. I want to be ready when it happens. ~~GH

"Unless a writer works constantly to improve and refine the tools of his trade, they will be useless instruments if and when the moment of inspiration, of revelation, does come. This is the moment when a writer is spoken through, the moment that a writer must accept with gratitude and humility, and then attempt, as best he can, to communicate to others."
                ~~Madeleine L'Engle

The Writing Process

Thought I'd share some thoughts I had about my writing process. The following are excerpts from a conversation with a dear friend of mine who is an accomplished writer and editor, and a wonderful spirit. To preserve her privacy, I am only including my comments.

I'm working on a dark story about, what else, man's inhumanity to man. It is coming along well but I had to step away from it for a bit. Although I don't delude myself (too often), it's still disturbing at times to realize that aspect is part of who we are, as well. I am doing my best to incorporate and accept it as part of the whole without value judgments.

It's like holding up a mirror to my naked self and graphically sketching the ugliest aspects. I know every other human being has those same features; I keep reminding myself of that truth. It is an exercise in courage to purposefully reveal them so openly despite knowing, again, that everyone else shares them too.

Writing is actually a physical, visceral process. The more I write, the more disturbing it gets. There are dark corners in this brain of mine. Is a real leap of faith to part the curtain and let readers peer into it. I console myself -- weakly sometimes at best -- that every one of us possess the same darknesses. I know many choose to turn their backs on those aspects and pretend they don't exist.

For me, it's like knowing a cancer grows. I'd rather face it, sit with it, listen to it howl, hold its hand, learn what it has to teach me. It is, after all, part of me that I brought along for the journey. We may as well get to know one another. ~~GH