The Write Stuff
Granddaughter writes her name
on library craft box of crayons.
It leads to memory-drawn convo
between her mother and I,
sharing how our journeys began.
Mine that of plastic pen, metal nib,
and well of ink, scratches between
lines of news-stock, bland paper.
She, with ball-point on smooth
white, had trouble with cursive
capitals “G” and “F.”
Letters became words; sentences.
Where before, in unarticulated
experience, our strings beaded
into committed ideas, into
jewelry boxes of stories.
She travels on crafts; with notebook
and stylus to who knows where.
Björn is today’s host for dVerse’ Poetics Tuesday. Björn says:
So think of a travel you have made, think of why you made it and maybe how it may have changed you as well.
This is such a clever take on the prompt, Lisa
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Smitha, thank you <3
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The image of the granddaughter with a crayon opening into three journeys of writing—plastic pen and metal nib on newsprint, ballpoint struggling with cursive capitals, and now stylus and notebook traveling toward who-knows-where. But what stays is that line: “our strings beaded into committed ideas, into jewelry boxes of stories.” Writing as transformation, unarticulated experience becoming something you can hold. Each generation writes the same becoming, just with different instruments.
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Thank you so much for your insightful feedback <3
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YOWZA nail that prompt, L!
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Ron, thank you!
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Lovely take Lisa ❤️
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Thanks, Maggie <3
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A lovely take on the prompt, Lisa. I remember this journey very well. My teacher had to make dotted lines of giant numbers on the chalkboard for me to trace over! I also remember the inkwells and the split point pen. We learned cursive writing and did a lot of continuous ovals to learn coordination. Fun memories.
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Dwight, I’m glad you can relate. I hadn’t thought about that for a very long time until yesterday.
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Those metal-tipped pens almost demanded true cursive penmanship to avoid a messy script. Mine was pretty decent, but I think the shift to ballpoint ruined it for me. Being able to lift the pen at any time meant my writing didn’t flow as well, so that my style is now only about 60% cursive.
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Ken, good observation on the process. I remember trying to go over a letter too many times and the page ripped. Never thought about how metal-tip vs. ballpoint affected flow of words. I use gel pen now and love it. So much better than the predecessors.
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The journey of education. Well done!
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Thanks, Stew. I can’t wait until she puts it all together.
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My students hate me for forcing them to write by hand so much but I did give a lesson on why physical writing is better than typing for brain development. But like you say as the end of your poem – who knows where things are going. Maybe we just need to think the words to communicate in the future…Lovely poem Lisa 👏
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Shaun, I cannot imagine how challenging it is to do what you do. Back in the day keyboards were used by a select segment of the population (writers, etc.) but now they are literally at all of our fingertips. Convincing the students to sustain old school practices must be tough. Glad you liked the poem :)
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sorry I called you Stew. I should have waited until morning to read poems.
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That line about unarticulated experiences stringing together ‘into jewelry boxes of stories’ is so breathtakingly poetic! Ken Gierke’s observation about how shifting from metal nibs to ballpoints changed writing flow added such a great perspective to your generational comparison. Beautiful piece, Lisa!
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OM, thank you for another wonderful comment <3
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You’re welcome Lisa 😀
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You are welcome :)
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May your granddaughter’s journey lead her to the magic of creativity with words. I was the last student in the class to get a pen license; my writing was so messy lol. Yet my teacher was the one who instilled in me the love of creative writing. Wonderful to hear about your writing journey.
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Di, your well-wishing for my granddaughter is much appreciated <3 "getting a pen license" is a great term, is that what they call it there or your poeticizing it? Just curious. You were blessed to have a supportive teacher. Thanks so much for your wonderful comment.
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Magical Lisa – that spark connecting your granddaughter’s crayon scribble to a nostalgic, memory drawn conversation between you and your daughter sets the poem in warmth and shared lineage ❤️
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Awwwww Ange <3 It was a nice moment between us. She is my daughter in-law and it is always good to have moments like that between us.
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great
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I love how you have personalised this pilgrimage/journey – full of love and possibility – Jae
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Jae, thanks!
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Ah Lisa….I love the way you’ve worked with this prompt. The granddaughter’s craftbox leading to memories…that journey of time through generations. Beautifully writ!
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Lillian, thank you very much. It was a precious moment for us all. Another part I didn’t mention is that they had several local artist’s works on the walls and a way to vote for your favorite and asked for the reason why you chose it. My son helped her write her reason on the vote slip, letter by letter. Her reason for liking her choice: the sunlight in it.
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I remember those papers with the lines. There are many cursive letters I could never write.
How wonderful that your granddaughter fostered such a wonderful connection of memories. (K)
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<3
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I do remember that journey myself, but these days very much replaced by a keyboard.
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I have increasingly started out with gel pen on paper on the couch where I can look out of the slider and the window with Mlady next to me; then move to the keyboard to polish it.
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The journey of becoming a writer…love this, Lisa, especially “into jewelry boxes of stories”!
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