Apples
Apples appear every year
nothing to fear
the universe on time
round and good
the apple is the universe
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
WORD WEAVING
WORD WEAVING
By David Lewis
I have an opportunity to
observe a group of people, about a dozen,
joined together in a relationship I can only describe as tribal. Though
not related by blood in any way, they are related by intellectual bonds and avidly
share a creative interest. They relate
to one another almost as though
conversing with their own consciousness.
During the Tribe’s regular
meetings the members tell stories while they weave at a virtual loom. The warp for the loom is composed of
parallel threads like the lines on a writing tablet. On the loom is a “series
tapestry” that is never finished but is added-to at each meeting. Each
story-teller adds weft to the tapestry as they relate their story,
while the listeners cry, laugh, or ponder as each story is spoken. When a story
is completed, the listening members might ask questions or request a reprise -
or they might quietly regain their composure from an unusually sad story so
they might be able to weave their own story with a steady voice.
As with any group of
artists, the techniques, the compositions and the final appearance have a
distinct personal signature that reflects the
personality, training, scope of knowledge, sensitivity and imagination
of each weaver.
One poet’s work is so
polished, precise and succinct that the threads left in his weft are taut,
totally lacking in lint and multicolored and iridescent to such an extreme they
seem to glow. Never considered finished, any addition to his tapestry is
subject to further polish and revision
Several story teller’s
weavings indicate that they are writing chapters of a much larger work. Their
successive panels of weft all have distinctive sections that identify their
continuity.
Sad stories betray their
presence by the bleak colors included in the weave. A surprise ending is
indicated by very bright colors of red to green at the ends; red indicating an
unpleasant surprise.
The weave of a teller of
supernatural tales is completely transparent until the ending reveals the
story’s conclusion. The color it assumes
at the finish is appropriate to the story’s outcome. The surface of the
tapestry has a three- dimensional
character.
One reader, trained in the
newspaper trade, condenses any poem or prose piece into a single thread of
weft. This is an indication of those days when newspapers were the only
purveyors of news and every line of print was distilled.
When a family story is
woven, the realism and sincerity infect the listeners with the feeling that the
family is also theirs and its history is preserved in the tapestry.
The weave of a fine
orator has a graduated texture that is
as revealing of the story’s beat and cadence as a score of music. With familiarity it is possible to recognize
the individual speakers from their weave.
To the very practiced eye it is possible to distinguish fiction from
reality.
As one of the newest acolytes, my own weaving is
characterized as being knotty (with a K) and loopy.
The Tribe is publicly known
as the Friday Writer’s Group (of Sonoma, California.)
Dave Lewis December 21, 2012 TOPIC: WRITER’S CHOICE WORDS:
540
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)