Undulation, Old Stoves, Lipstick and the New Moon

January 10, 2018 by Pelican1 3 Comments

One of my favorite writers is Natalie Goldberg, and right now I am reading her memoir, Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America. Just this morning I read and highlighted this line about her writing process:

“…If I had a topic to begin with, it was easier to get started. Almost any topic was okay, because once you began, you entered your own mind and your mind had its own paths to travel. You just needed to step out of the way, but a topic was a first footstep or twist of a doorknob into the entry of yourself.”

She goes on to state that the writer should start keeping a list of topics to draw upon as needed to jump start the writing process. So I did just that. The first topics on my list are my 1940’s era stove, the make-up I wear, and the tiny crescent moon sliding into its newness that I saw on this morning’s walk.

What does any of this have to do with this morning’s Daily Post prompt, undulate? Nothing directly. The word “undulate” made me think of water, which made me think of moonlight, which reminded me of the almost-new moon I saw this morning, which made me ponder why so much is made out of the beauty and magic of a full moon when this little sliver of light is just has sparkling and magnificent. I think I could create a haibun* from this.

See how this all works?

You take that first step and see where the journey takes you.

*Haibun is a Japanese poetic form which starts with a narrative paragraph about a personal experience and ends with a traditional haiku verse.