Vicki Pinkerton offered a session on May 18.
Stone soup takes a stone, adds bits and pieces of things we all share and gives us something to nourish. Lets write together, steep our stories and become closer. Vicki has been writing in groups for 25 years. Her AWA and coach training have helped her understand the importance of story in our lives. Memoir, fiction, poetry, just laying down words, help us understand ourselves and each other. What a gift.
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Dreaming
by Lis Simpson
Dreaming, drifting, off into the stars
Swirling, swinging on the magic carpet
Of lustrous, lavender stardust
Beyond, beyond this constrained cage of mortality.
Dreaming, drifting
All is potential, all is portential
Vast Being — No Doing
Floating in Starshine and Effervescent Energy
Beyond, beyond Be Yonder!
Parable of the Sewer
by Nancy Day
Pandemic life means I spend a few afternoons a week in front of a Zoom screen, with the quilting women. We stitch and chat and prop each other up. It’s been a tough year.
“I just finished this” Gladys pipes up, holding her quilt up to where she thinks her computer camera is. Her latest work moves around on the screen for us to witness, her usual tidy precise sewing, well matched seams, colours coordinating nicely.
“Wait … hold it up again … I just need to pin you … a bit to the left”, the women shout at her, followed by long drawn out, “ohs” and “ahs” when she finally holds it still.
I don’t get much of that when I share my quilt. Clicking on Share Screen, I give them a good clear view of my latest; zig-zagged rows of trapezoid shapes, one of the fabrics featuring blue cowboys on horses, another oversized fuscia fish.
More chatting starts up. I learn Gladys’s sister in Alberta tested positive for Covid-19 last week, fortunately a mild case so far. A newer member, Ayesha, looking down at her sewing project, complains about the condominium elevator where she lives. “Some people don’t wear masks” she reveals.
We gasp and sympathize. Another woman who lives alone, tells us about her son’s struggle with the lock down in Toronto.
Out of the blue, Gladys says, “Nancy, I actually have some of the same crazy cowboy fabric, and I’ve always wondered why I bought it. Maybe I’ll get motivated now to use it”.
I see her winking at me through the Zoom screen, and I laugh and say “ya, you should! I can’t wait to see it”. I love her for saying this, though I’m sure she’ll never really do it.
Thank you for joining us to Write Around the World!
For the rest of the summer, watch our blog! We are sharing writing from AWA’s yearly marathon fundraiser, which happened this year all-online throughout the month of May.
We offer this series in appreciation for the incredible community of writers and workshop leaders that sustain us. If you’re inspired and would like to be part of the fundraiser, please donate!