So, we’ve dispelled the saying, “You can’t go home again!”  Our poets offered a wonderful mix of memory and angst about their origins.

Many things and people influence our lives, be they our parents, siblings, mentors, role models… they all have one thing in common: the ability to affect change in others just by their presence and wisdom.

“HOW DO YOU VIEW your life? – POETIC BLOOMINGS MEMOIR PROJECT

Part 4: With a Little Help From My Friends – Again, we are putting restrictions (darn restrictions!) on your muse. Family members, although influential, will play a special role down on the list of prompts. Today, write about someone who is or had been a great influence in your life. How did they affect you, what important lesson did they impart? It could be a neighbor, a teacher, a close friend, a group of them or a total stranger. If there was a lesson to be learned there, they’re fair game.  Thank them for giving you a hand up.

MARIE ELENA’S GODSEND

Might You Be A Poet?

She once was told to write about someone influential in her life –
someone with no family ties.
So she set aside for a moment the fact that they are surely
twin cousins, separated at birth,
growing up in an eerily similar life and time.

She focused instead on the shared yellow brick road
to poetic solidarity.
It took no effort on her part, as her pen gushed
camaraderie
harmony
laughter -

then abruptly stopped.

She coaxed it gently, conceding the feeling
something was missing.
It began again – this time slowly, softly,
in watercolor.
She watched as it whispered

t e a r s

p r a y e r s

g r a t i t u d e.

Ah, yes.

She capped her pen,
and smiled warmly eastward.

© Marie Elena Good – 2012

WALT’S LIFE MASTER:

GO WEST, YOUNG MAN

Cast bread upon the water,
manna for the mind at a time when
his words mattered, but never found their voice.
He had a choice to make -
take his cache of word hash home,
or drop crumbs into the water;
laced with cadence and nuance
which would lead him back to where he belonged,
ripple after ripple, broadcasting in the beauty of words.
Westward he gazed, where her admiration bathed
his tired and tepid soul; a grasp for control
of what lived within him. Encouragement came
in comforting tones, impassioned pleas
to please the one who found purpose in his prose;
piety in his poetry. For no notoriety
would come without words that spoke to hearts,
or thoughts that touched souls,
or one who would allow him into both sanctuaries.
His lessons came in the belief in his convictions,
the gratitude for his gift, and a strong hint of humility;
in his attempt to share his world with all who wanted
to cast their bread upon the water alongside his own.

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2012

I had written an alternate piece for this prompt:

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

Long after the rage and the death of two,
I was given the chance to enhance
an amazing tribute; a salute to four
so “Fab” that it became part of their name.
And I was adorned as the “stiff one”;
dark suit and striped tie, sweating bullets.
Happiness is not a warm gun when nerves
kick in. I begin each “really big shoe”
with my arms folded and mouth turned down -
half frown, half – I’m going to lose my lunch.
A great bunch of entertaining musicians;
they were equipped with replica guitars
acting like the stars they were. Getting by
with a little help from my friends.
Mr. Sullivan, on stage alone
until the words I intone, “Ladies
and Gentlemen, the Beatles!”

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2012

Process notes: I had been asked to do my impersonation of Ed Sullivan to open and introduce a Beatles tribute band on stage. I had NEVER had the grapes to do it in public, let alone spotlighted on stage before a packed house. My shyness and fear of public speaking died that night. Lesson learned the hard way. I am grateful for that opportunity!

“really big shoe!”