LITR 3731: Creative Writing
Student Journal / Portfolio Sample Submission 2005
Tara Orr
Introduction
This class has been a really enjoyable one for me. I must admit that I was a little nervous going into this class. Previously, the only creative writing style classes I’d had were with a different teacher who had a different way of focusing on the work (we had much more) and much less on the book (it was there as more of a resource as we needed it). I had also had only one previous experience with writing drama and that was for a church activity (and no one there will tell you if it stinks). Beyond the nervousness of a new of being taught, I was nervous that I would not be able to hold a candle to me peers. It was a little scary to go in to room with people who you go to class with every semester but never really know and then lay out your personal work (aka your heart on a platter) and not know if you were going to be praised or told to find a new day job. I was really pleased that once I started to open up and give comments, which took a bit, that I listened to. Sometimes I wondered if I said too much but then that is my nature. If you break the dam, the Niagara Falls comes rushing out.
I think that I have grown as writer as a result of this class. I have a small group of people who read the work I produce. One of them is a professor from Alvin Community College, Gilbert Benton, who I really admire and trust in his opinion. He is the person who read my work and told me that I had a little talent and gave me drive to work on it as more than a hobby. The others are friends and writers themselves. It is a great boon to have a group like that to rely on; but I have found that I tend to write in a way that I know appeals to them and stop challenging myself to create in new ways. Since poetry is were I am the strongest in writing, being forced to write fiction and especially drama, a challenge that I usually try to avoid, was a bit refreshing and hard for me. I think the best part of the class for me was the peer interaction. It was nice to get a totally new perspective on work. This was really true of my poem “Between the Woman and the Witch.” The comments I received were really a kind of complete turn around from the information I received from my own little group. It made me see things in a new way that I hadn’t even realized were readable in that poem. I guess it was a little more revealing I had thought it was. I also think that being forced to read the text was something new for me. Not that I didn’t have a respect for the information or use it in a bind, I just never really looked into it depending more on what felt right. The book has helped me refine what does and does not feel right. I also think that being forced to work is a need for me. I don’t write as much as I should and usually only produce periodically if I have no deadline. So it was nice to be forced to work again. I
I think one of the best things about the class was being able to see so many people who have such a depth of skill and being able to get their feedback on my work. After seeing and hearing the work of so many good fiction writers, especially Jennifer’s work, I understand that it takes a lot of skill to make it sound effortless and yet be compelling. I also understand that I really need to stick to poetry.
Draft Exchange Section
My draft exchange was for my fiction piece, “Her Place.” I was able to have a friend of mine, Michelle Whitsitt, and Daniel Davis read and critique my story. Their comments follow:
Daniel’s:
Tara,
Wow, I feel like a nerd after sending you my little story!
That was An awesome short story, I think one of the most impressive
things about it is the way you develop Elese as a character so well in so short
a time. The story flowed well and the end was just intense. I cant think of a
better way to say that. I was a little confused as to whether or not the whole
episode was another dream, or whether it really happened.
But at the same time, if it was much more explicit, then it would lose
some of its power. Regardless of whether or not there are any changes made to
the end, the story does a great job of letting us feel what the characters are
feeling, which is something I want to get better at myself.
Anyway, as far as constructive criticism, I am afraid I am drawing a
blank. It was a great piece and I
appreciate the opportunity to read it.
Michelle’s:
Tara,
I like the idea for your story. There are a few
areas that I thought were a bit vague. There are also a few grammatical errors
that I marked in red. How were Elese and Cali separated? What was the catalyst
for that event? The two women were obviously one before “whatever” happened.
The fact that they are the same person is the major twist in your plot, but you
never explain the reasoning behind what has happened to them. Fantasy stories
need to be vague, but there also needs to be a point at the end where the
vagueness is explained. Like I said, I love the plot and it was well executed,
but I would have liked to see more detail in some places.
Michelle
Whitsitt
ACC Creative Writing classmate
I also did a critique for Daniel’s story, “Colorado Drive.” As a reader, I really enjoyed his story and enjoyed being able to help him, although there was very little to help him with. I also read Karen Daniels story, “The Winner.” Although, sadly, I didn’t get it to her in time to have it in her submission. In both cases, being able to read their stories helped me to kind of look back and realized what I liked about them, and then go back to mine and see if I liked the same kinds of things (the way it flowed, the timing, etcetera).
On a technological side, I really enjoyed the ability to be able do the responses over the Internet. I really understand why you have the class do it outside of class time. I also like the fact that you can take your time to really go over the story and find what you like and don’t like. Overall, the draft exchange was really neat experience.
When it comes to my interaction with the online student, there wasn’t any. I wasn’t assigned to talk to her and I never took it upon myself to do it. Looking back, I wish I had contacted her so that I could get a different opinion from someone who wasn’t in class but who had the same goals.
Review of previous journals
I looked over Laurie Eckhart’s and Brandie Minchew’s portfolios.
I really enjoyed reading them more than I thought I would.
On some level, it is nice to know that other writers, who you feel are
better than you, have the same doubts and insecurities.
For me, their journals offered a basic outline for me to follow in
creating mine. It also gave me a
sense of how differently each person takes things in.
I think the most impressive thing about them both, especially Laurie’s,
is the number of references and quotes to others authors that they had included.
It is nice to be able to see the influences these others have had on the
students. It is insane to think or
say that a writer has had no influence on what they produce.
Yet, at the same time, it kind of makes me feel a tad unrefined in my
journal efforts. I’m not sure I
can meet their standards.
While I am sticking with my original poetry submission, I have had time
to look at it some more and think about what it means to me.
As I said earlier, the class had some really good input for me and I was
able to cut away some of the fat from the poem.
When I took it in to class, I never really thought that it would change
so much. I know that the changes
themselves are not exactly overwhelmingly different but to me they were a lot.
One of the things that was said to me in class when I presented it was
that the person, I can’t remember who it was, said that they could see how the
speaker was the witch. I never
really saw it that way before. I
always saw it as the woman, alas myself, was coming to terms with how friends
can be caught between the images of loving, nurturing hearth mother and
screeching, cursed banshee. That
comment made me really look at what I had written about myself and acknowledge
that, at times, I was completely the witch I had always thought my friend was.
Up to that point, I had always been the victim not the perpetrator.
The other really important view I got from the class was the words were
written in such a way that they were like two different strains of a song.
One was short, staccato and almost like a burst of energy.
While the other was longer, more liquid in it’s movement and, to me,
were the sadness of the lost friendship lay.
I have always liked the poem but now I like the more refined and more
honest version better. I think that
I could still tighten it up some, but for now, I’m going to let sit for a
while and see what happens. I am
trying to submit the piece to a few places though and hope to receive a good
response for it. I think it is one
of my strongest pieces.
Once again, I’m staying with my original fiction submission.
I think that this is one of my weakest stories but it is my favorite.
I like the twisting of dark and light to create something more than what
there was before. The fact that we
get this story from one girl’s point of view, specifically the girl who wanted
to get away, colors the perception of the story at the end.
Is it a horrific story because a separate entity is sucked up into
another? If it had been told from the other girl’s point of view would it have
been a heartwarming story of reconciliation and self-identity?
I like the fact that there is that level of ambiguity.
I like to write things that make you kind of sit back and question the
story or question my mental health. I
guess the desire to see what dark and light can mean has always been intriguing
to me and to be able to break one part of yourself off and see what it is
capable of is an idea that holds so many possibilities.
I would really like to work on this story more and refine it to the point
that I could submit somewhere, but I wonder if the theme is too overdone.
Either way, I got a lot of good advice on the story and intend to keep
working on it.
This drama piece started out as something totally different.
My original piece was supposed to be set in a police academy classroom
and have a totally different outcome. However,
my springboard for ideas, my husband, thought the idea was too hard to make work
and had too much black humor. So, I
went back to an idea that I had originally used in a drama piece for a church
dinner activity. The piece was
modified greatly to fit into the classroom setting (it had originally been in a
1940’s radio studio). I also
changed the characters, and made them much more stereotypical, and then altered
them to fit the opposites of people in class I wanted to use.
Like Daniel Davis, I wanted to give Dr. white a completely different
character type to play along with tweaking the other characters.
The thought of Dr. White being so vile and having Alissa Tupa, getting
ready for the biggest role in her life – Mother, being the psycho murderer was
fun for me. I ended up really just
taking the idea of a horrible director and his death at the hands of one of his
fed up lackeys and rewriting it completely.
The drama scene had originally scared me since I really don’t write
fiction well and the thought of all that dialogue made me feel ill.
It took me a lot of time to recreate the idea and then I was constantly
reading and rereading the play to my husband or anyone else who would listen in
that last week. Once I got the play
down and really looked at it and started to tweak and come up with who I wanted
to play who, I really enjoyed myself. Talk
about being shocked. It was fun.
I don’t know if it was enough fun for me to do much more than correct
this scene, but it was fun while it lasted.
Here
is the corrected script with the ever important theme sentence:
***************************
Poetic
License
Characters:
Bonnie – reads
the role of the narrator in play
Jamie – the star
of the play and very vain
Daniel – the
slightly drunken frat boy and co-star of the play
Mary Kay – the
overworked make up and costume designer behind the play
Alissa – the
production assistant and suck-up to the drama teacher
Tara – the
student playwright of “Death in Varying Degrees”
Dr. White – the
egotistical and sarcastic drama teacher who takes advantage of everyone and
everything
Sherry – a UHCL
security guard; jaded especially when it comes to the students
Karen – a UHCL
security guard; new to the job and a current psychology student
Concept
sentence: Students in a drama
class who are practicing a new play find out that there are more important
things to deal with than the badly written script.
Scene:
A late evening at the school during an impromptu play practice.
There are a small group of students going over their roles in the newest
school play “Death in Varying Degrees.”
Bonnie, Alissa, Jaime and Mary Kay are sitting around having refreshments
and waiting for their teacher.
Jamie:
What idiot decided we should have a late practice read through on a
Friday night? Not everyone in this
class is lame. I had Plans.
Alissa:
You didn’t have to come. No
one would miss your performance or lack thereof.
Mary Kay:
Oh, please. No one wants to
be here right now, especially in this rain.
Besides, everyone knows who you’d be with anyway.
(With a smile on her face) Talent isn’t the only thing that got you
here.
Jamie: Shut up.
At least I have the kind of face people want to see on stage.
Bonnie: You
had a date? Is there a new play coming to town you wanted a role in?
Jamie:
(Slamming her copy of the play down) What’s that supposed to mean?
Mary Kay:
I know you’re not that stupid. Think
about it.
Alissa:
You should be ashamed! Dr.
White is better than that. He’d
never sully his art with wannabe’s and flashy peacocks.
Jamie: Well, lately
he hasn’t wanted to “sully” himself.
(Under her breath) At least
not with me.
Bonnie:
(Trying to keep from laughing) Everyone just give it a rest.
I think I hear someone coming.
Daniel,
dripping wet from the storm outside, walks to the doorway, leans against it
casually, and blinks his eyes a few times before shaking his head.
Daniel: Wow! It only took three tries to find the right
classroom. (As he slowly staggers
towards Jamie’s chair) Better than last week.
(He leans towards Jaime’s face as if to kiss her.)
Jamie: (Quickly
shoving Daniel away) You can try that on stage but anywhere else and you’ll
end up a dead man.
Daniel: you
didn’t complain last week.
Bonnie: Geez,
Daniel. You smell like you slept in
your liquor instead of drinking it.
Daniel:
I’m offended by that remark. I
did not sleep in my liquor; I’ll have you know.
That would be waste.
Mary Kay:
Keep up that drinking and I’ll have to put you in a girdle on opening
night to hide that beer belly.
Daniel:
At least I won’t be the only star wearing one that night.
Jamie:
Very funny.
Daniel:
Although Jamie’s underwear is much prettier than mine could ever be.
(He blows Jamie a kiss.)
Alissa:
Why don’t you try to sober up some before Dr. White shows up; you know
how he is when things aren’t exactly how he likes them.
He deserves to have things his way.
He’s a creative spirit after all.
(Pointing to the table). There’s
some coffee and sweets on the table over there.
Daniel:
(As he heads towards the refreshment table) Sweet.
Free grub.
Amidst
the bickering Dr. White and Tara walk in to the classroom shaking off their
umbrellas. Everyone quiets down.
Dr. White:
Well, it looks like all of you showed up.
Impressive. I figured most
of you wouldn’t make it. (He
walks to the Alissa handing her the coffee mug he walked in with and then grabs
some cookies from the table.) Alissa,
this time get me some good coffee. The
last cup you got me tasted like crap. You’d
think you could do that right after all this time with me.
Alissa: Of
course, Dr. White. (She takes his
cup to the table and fills it up then walks it over to him, smiling.
Then sits down.)
Tara:
(She walks to the group pf students and takes a seat next to Alissa.)
Hi guys.
I’m glad I could join you tonight.
I wasn’t sure if I would make with the bad weather.
Everyone nods or mumbles an acknowledgment towards
Tara except for Alissa.
Mary Kay:
What do you mean “all of you?” Less
than one third of the cast is here for this read through.
That’s kind of a waste, don’t you think?
Dr. White:
Luckily, I didn’t ask you to think.
I just asked you to show up. I
have a few words to share with you. (He
drinks and he looks at all the students sitting there) Actually, I have a few
words to share with all of you. (He
walks over and puts his hand on Tara’s shoulder.) Since this is Tara’s baby,
I decided that I should take her opinion in more consideration with the major
choices in the play. That would
include actors, the technical aspects and the way the production is being done.
There
is a slight murmur through the group but it dissipates quickly leaving a sense
of unease in the students.
Daniel:
What are you saying?
Bonnie:
Are you saying you’re going to make changes to the play with less than
two weeks till performance?
Dr. White:
What I’m saying is that there are only two people in this room who are
still involved with the play; and I’m one of them.
(He starts to laugh) Tara is the other.
Sorry for the inconvenience. (He
loosens his collar and wipes his forehead.)
Man, it’s hot in here.
Daniel:
It’s probably all that hot air coming out of your mouth.
After
a moment of stunned silence, the students erupt in anger.
Jamie:
Are you saying I’m NOT going to be the starring actress in the play?
I was the only thing worth seeing in the whole train wreck of a play!
(She stands and throws her copy on the floor.
Lowering her voice a bit and almost hissing) I earned my role.
How dare you?
Mary Kay:
I just finished all the costumes. I’ve
been working for weeks! You’ll
never be able to redo all that work in time.
Alissa:
(almost in tears, softly) But why?
Dr. White:
Why? You losers want to know
why I’m getting rid of you? (He
takes a bite of cookie and disdainfully stares at the fuming students for a
moment.) Where to begin?
Tara is the first truly talented student I’ve seen in years. The muse has opened my eyes.
Then there’s the rest of you. Bonnie,
Bonnie, Bonnie. Your narration
lacks a certain something; like an iota of life.
Listening to you narrate a drama is like watching a bad infomercial with
the sound off. Mary Kay, I have
seen better costuming on a no name Barbie doll in the dollar store.
I mean, did you even open your eyes to work?
(He is becoming louder and more animated as he turns and faces Jamie and
Daniel.) Daniel, if you spent half
as much time with the script as you do puking after one of your frat parties,
you might actually have the potential to be a bad actor.
As for you Jamie, my little ingénue, your performance is…rather
lacking. (He starts to move
towards Alissa as he speaks.) Finally,
we come to the end… (He stops moving and starts to grab at his chest, gasping,
unsuccessfully, for air.)
Tara:
Dr. White? What’s wrong?
Dr. White falls to the floor.
Alissa:
NO!
Tara: (Screams)
Someone help us!
Jamie: I guess I was
too much for him after all.
Daniel:
(Daniel goes back to the table for another cookie.) Dude, that sucks. (Takes a
bite of cookie.)
Two UHCL security guards come rushing into the
classroom.
Sherry: What is going on here?
We heard you all the way downstairs in the office.
Mary
Kay: Our sham of a teacher
just keeled over. Don’t you
people screen who you are going hire at this place?
Bonnie: (leaning over Dr.
White’s body) I think he’s dead. (Then
moving towards the food table) At
least I know his sense of taste was dead. I
mean he chose this piece of crap over some of the classics.
Tara: Hey.
I worked hard on that. Don’t
take your anger out on me. I
can’t help it if he liked my style.
Mary
Kay: You know he liked
Jaime’s performance and you still think he had style?
Jamie: Shut up!
No one asked you to be on stage.
Karen: Now, now guys.
Everyone just needs to take a little break.
I know that you’re all in shock over this painful loss but we have to
be kind to each other. While anger
at a sudden death is understandable, it’s not really healthy.
Sherry: Thanks for the therapy
session Karen, but how about you do the job you get paid for and help me out?
(She walks to Dr. White’s body and rolls him over.)
Daniel: You’re sure not joking
about anger being unhealthy. Dr.
White had been raising hell when he keeled over.
His face was so red I thought he was going to burst.
Tara: Maybe he just had a heart
attack? He wasn’t exactly a young
buck.
Sherry: No, I don’t think
that’s it. Look at his lips.
Jamie: (Under her breath) Never
again.
Karen: Don’t worry Jaime.
You may not see him in this world but he’ll always be in your memory.
Bonnie: Man, I hope not.
Sherry: They’re blue.
(She leans closer to his face.) There’s
also a faint smell of …almonds? I
think he was poisoned.
Everyone puts down the food they’ve been eating.
Tara: Who brought the food?
That should solve the problem. Who
ever brought the food would have to be the one who did it?
Mary
Kay: I brought it but I
didn’t poison him. He told me to
bring the food as a surprise. Why
would I do it if I knew I’d be caught? And although I don’t really like the
majority of you I wouldn’t risk someone else’s death.
Sherry: It seems like it has to
be you. Who else could have done
it? Although it seems more plausible that a massive dose was ingested quickly,
like in a drink, since food takes longer to get through the system.
Daniel: Hey wait a minute Dr. White already had a cup of coffee when he walked
in the room, and he was with Tara.
Tara: I didn’t do it he is the only one who liked my play. I didn’t do
it.
Jamie: I don’t care who did it. Who ever did it thank you.
Alissa: (Crying.) Stop it, stop
it all of you! Don’t disrespect Dr White. Even dead, he’s still an artistic
genius. (Everyone looks at her.)
Besides, I killed him.
Karen: Now calm down.
Don’t let this loss make you crazy.
Tara: Why?
He liked you?
Alissa: No. He just liked for me to do everything for him.
Get me the paper. Get me
the cast listing. Get my lunch. Get me my coffee. I
heard the way he talked about you, Tara. You
were taking my place and I couldn’t have that, now could I?
(Tara slumps into her chair.) Oh,
I got his coffee for him, alright. I
got him one hell of a cup tonight.
Bonnie: You’re more of a freak
than I pegged you for. I don’t
know if I should praise you or hit you.
Sherry: Well, no one’s going to
get that chance to slap her until she gets to the station.
(She handcuffs Alissa and leads her past the body.)
Although, it might make me feel better since you interrupted my dinner.
Karen: Now Sherry, do you think
that will really help you? I think
you’re just transferring emotions onto someone else to make you feel better.
Sherry: Shut up.
Let’s go. (Sherry, Karen
and Alissa walk out.)
Alissa: (Trying to kick Dr. white as she’s escorted by.) You ruined
everything. I was supposed to be
your muse not that hack writer. Stupid
man. I was your inspiration!
You just didn’t realize it yet! (Now
yelling.) I was your Muse!
The students slowly start to walk to the door,
finally quiet.
Karen: (voice is heard from the
in the hall.) I think we can work
through this anger if you just try.
Theme
Sentence: You should be nice to everyone because you never know who will be on
your side.
*********************
When it came down to it, the feedback I got from the class was wonderful.
They helped me find the weak spots and pretty much everything they said
was what I had wanted help on. Unfortunately,
I don’t have a copy of an earlier draft.
I write on the computer and change what I need as I go along.
Sometimes it’s nice to not be reminded of the “art” you have
written before and other times it’s a loss.
Jamie’s character, sorry I misspelled the name in the first draft, was
the only character that I feel I didn’t get across as well as I had liked.
I had meant for her to smart but to also be conniving enough to use
whatever it took to get what she wants. She
came across as being more of a bimbo and since it worked well with the story, I
allowed her to be that way taking out the more literary words from her dialogue.
I also amped up the sexual innuendo between Daniel and Jamie and tried to
show more hostility from Alissa to Jamie (I feel bad for Jamie in my play).
The one thing I had trouble with and would like to strengthen is in the
way I clue into Dr. White’s death. Since
I use poison, it’s kind of hard to give a lot of clues and still keep the
murder a surprise until towards the end. I
also wanted to keep the movement brisk and stay within the confines of ten
pages. As a side note, the
character that Karen plays, which Mary Kay thought was a realistic portrait of a
psychology student, is actually based on a psychology professor here at UHCL.
I respect and like the professor but was constantly intrigued by the way
they used their words and came off being so parental and nonjudgmental.
I really liked the other plays in the class and hope that mine was well
received with a grain of salt.
Summary
I think that I have gained a lot from this course.
I do consider myself a creative writer but I’m not as rounded as
others, or as I should be. I guess
I see myself as mainly a poet. I
really feel that this is my strongest genre.
Part of that feeling is that I really love to write poetry and then to go
and fine tune it until it really means something.
I know it sounds totally corny, but I like to hear the words almost sing
to me. In a poem, you can tell
almost instantly whether or not it flows and moves right.
Each word is this little nugget, this gem that you polish and polish
until it reflects you, the poet and reader, in it.
I know how to condense and cut away at a poem.
When it comes to short stories it seems to be the exact opposite.
I’m constantly second guessing myself and I have a hard time stretching
the words out to make a longer story. I
know that the way you use the words should be the same; they should have a
specific place and purpose and shouldn’t be just filler.
Yet, I cannot seem to master the story.
I struggle, and in all honesty, tend to put up what I write in
frustration. I hit a wall and
instead dealing with it I write as poem. Writing
is, after all, therapeutic.
I think that I responded to drama the most in this class. I definitely
learned the most about it in the class. I
think that what I learned was more from the class than the book.
It’s one thing to read it and assimilate but another to watch being
acted out and then taking the voices, sounds, and visuals and making them your
own. I think that the class seemed
to respond to each the most in this section, too.
It made class a wonderful place to be.
There seemed to be much more interaction and laughter here.
Karen was right; it was a good class.
I would like to teach creative writing at the junior college level and
have learned a lot from watching the interaction between the class and their
peers and the class and the teacher. Of
course being a published writer wouldn’t hurt either.
I know we can’t all be Stephen Kings but it would sure mean a lot to me
to see a book on the shelf at Barnes and Noble and know I wrote that and
others will read it.
Appendix
I have included a few more things for your perusal.
I hope you like them and would like any feedback you can give me.
Poetry
Visions
Cycles
exist in everything.
I
know that surely as I study the image
of
the stranger in the glass, reflecting,
questioning
my eyes.
We
are two images
closely
graven on one stone.
The
outlines, double stamped,
so
imperceptibly blurred,
you
can’t choose one over the other.
Which
notch of the wheel am I in?
Which
season moves me?
I
see her trying to pry,
scrying
me
to
know my soul
to
know what makes me
love,
hate, forget.
If
she could only see,
her
edges are as hard as her eyes
her
softness used up, lingering
on
her curves, her lips.
No
longer the child,
I
have given up the robes of maiden
and
walk into woman.
I
still feel summer
warming
my skin and life in my womb.
She
is crone but won’t let me go
Dragging
me into autumn’s chill.
Who
am I?
I
am the one who watches
as
others cycle in
and
out
of
my world.
I
am the one who sees
friends,
family growing, changing
moving
away
from
my stretching fingertips.
I
am the one who waits
as
my hands do all they should
to
make my world spin
as
it should
without
tasting the days.
I
am the one who sits
in
the feigned silence
of
uncertainty as I lose touch
with
the beauty, the savage,
the
transcendence that is life
I
am the one,
the
only one,
who
is looking back at me
through
silver-backed glass
and
relentless need.
The
need to be recognized
understood
wanted
known
remembered
for who I was
and
who I am.
I
know I can’t erase past transgressions
and
can’t throw out my arms
to
stop the world where it is.
I
can only feel my heart
split
lying
in two worlds.
I
wait for winter.
****************
Appetites
Consume everything.
They float around us,
a fog,
sumptuous and undulating
clouding vision
allowing illusion
to glimmer and blur
reality’s ragged edges.
They drift between us,
condensation
of wants
needs
pushing against us.
Waves enveloping all
hiding sins
written on skin,
yours and mine,
unknown and unforgotten.
They’re given substance
dense and heavy
with tension
that can be caressed.
They heighten sweetness
and dull the bitter
never showing truth
but giving us flashes
of ecstasy
from behind
a thick white veil.
***************
Fetters
Words made into phrases
are what drive us
past points of exhaustion
exhilaration
desire
Each syllable spun out
of lubricity and love
They chase us in dreams
haunt our minds
until we purge them
with love
and blood
We blend memory
with music
arias and dirges alike
until they resonate
within
shaking loose tears
and forgotten walls
We pull bits of flesh
and lovers
pleasures
and hate
and offer them up
tiny sacrifices
compacted into jewels
Diamonds
from the dirt
of our secrets
Confessions
from sins of our core
We are caught in webs
of our own design
We are bound
in chains
of paper and ink