Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

five minute friday: up in smoke

January 3, 2014 By Sandra Heska King

Eliot

Some days it’s a fight

to find a pen with ink

that flows words fluid

in just five minutes.

I prefer the gel — black,

though back in the day

it was a fountain pen

with cartridge — blue,

that scratched battles

across three-holed,

loose leafs lined and

ringed right tight in

burgundy leather — fake,

some sheaves of which

when later found

fought flames in a

wide rusted cylinder.

Just so much hot air

going up in smoke.

Eliot2

 

Stilled by new starts,

Sandy

What are you saying goodbye to in order to say hello?

With LisaJo and Community on the word prompt fight.

Five Minute Friday

 

One more thing…

Have you heard the news?

Tweetspeak Poetry double-dog dared me.

How could I refuse?

My Dare Support Packet includes this book by Tania Runyan,

some French cheese,

some peaches,

apparently a few mice,

a cat or two,

and this guy.

Stay tuned.

T.S. Eliot

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: Blog, poetry, stories and reflections

Comments

  1. Jody Lee Collins says

    January 3, 2014 at 12:04 pm

    Sandy, you are well on your way to continuing your beautiful writing work via poetry. This ‘start’ was lovely! I can’t wait to read about the Dare journey.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 4:04 pm

      It’ll be quite a journey, I’m sure, Jody. And thanks. 🙂

  2. L.L. Barkat says

    January 3, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    I am laughing so hard! This is the Sandy I can’t wait to see more of.

    And that Eliot quote: wow.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 4:04 pm

      😀

  3. L.L. Barkat says

    January 3, 2014 at 1:05 pm

    Oh, and I forgot to say I loved the genius of using the pen colors at the end of those two lines, to suggest the bruises we can sometimes feel when writing. Subtle. And so much better than saying “writing bruises me.”

    I prefer the gel — black,
    though back in the day
    it was a fountain pen
    with cartridge — blue,

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 2:54 pm

      So I want to say how great it is that you recognized my genius. But truth is… I didn’t realize I’d done that. I’ve re-read the poem (if that’s what it is) several times since and thought, “Whoa! I did that. *I* did that!” And when that happens, I think it’s just an accident.

      On the other hand, maybe when we nourish our creativity and take our artist dates and give free rein to our unconscious, “stuff” falls out. Maybe that’s the beauty of these exercises–just to stop, drop, and write and see what happens–because aren’t we made by a Creator to create? Maybe it’s just knowing how to prime the pump or tap the vein or whatever?

  4. Maureen says

    January 3, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    So much fun!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 3:37 pm

      😀 😀

  5. SimplyDarlene says

    January 3, 2014 at 1:15 pm

    me? i’m
    trying to say “good-
    bye” to fear
    and helloooo
    to “who gives
    a toot!
    hoot!
    ‘n holler!”

    * I’m a little slow on the uptake, miss Sandy. Is this a personal dare? What is the dare? Oh, is that what we shall stay tuned to discover, uncover, understand?

    Blessings.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 3:40 pm

      I’ll echo that song, Darlene!

      Well, I guess this could be called a poetical personal dare… but I can’t keep it all to myself. 🙂

  6. Rachael @ Mommy, LCSW says

    January 3, 2014 at 1:16 pm

    One of the things I love best about FMF is the chance to read things I never would have stumbled upon before! What a very creative take on the prompt! And thanks for the visit at my site earlier!

    Happy New Year!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 4:03 pm

      Welcome, Rachael. So glad to see you here. Thanks for coming by!

  7. Heather W says

    January 3, 2014 at 3:25 pm

    Just loved this. 🙂

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 4:01 pm

      Thanks, Heather. 🙂

  8. Jennifer Peterson says

    January 3, 2014 at 5:47 pm

    So very true sometimes the words won’t flow… great post!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 3:45 pm

      Especially if we try too hard, I think… maybe…

  9. Lorretta says

    January 3, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    Your dare is…inspiring
    A blitz of
    Poetry bliss
    Not a word amiss
    on the line
    or in between
    shadowed or shaded
    color me elated -my
    past years’ hue faded
    from overuse
    this muse slap
    wore out the blues
    the Son at my back
    joy is the new black

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 3:44 pm

      Oh, I’m smiling so big. I love this, Lorretta. It’s a rap song!

  10. elizabeth marshall says

    January 3, 2014 at 6:31 pm

    Step away from the burn barrel 😉 where have you been hiding this poetry! Fab.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 3:42 pm

      Ha! You, of course, know that burn barrels and I have a history. 😀

  11. Sheila Seiler Lagrand says

    January 4, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    I’m confused and delighted! Love you!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      January 4, 2014 at 2:44 pm

      Confused? Just wait until I dig into this dare. 😉

  12. Megan Willome says

    January 14, 2014 at 9:01 pm

    Squee!!!

Trackbacks

  1. Featured #TellHisStory Writer: Sandra Heska King | Jennifer Dukes Lee says:
    January 14, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    […] in other sites like The High Calling, BibleDude, and Tweetspeak Poetry where she just accepted a dare that involves T.S. Eliot. She contributed to The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter: 365 […]

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

For most of us, knowledge of our world comes large For most of us, knowledge of our world comes largely through sight, yet we look about with such unseeing eyes that we are partially blind. One way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?" ~ Rachel Carson in The Sense of Wonder
#prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michigan #prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michiganstateuniversity
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faith Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. ~ Psalm 136:1
A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana in the background until I downloaded the photos. That, I believe, is the one that got caught in one of the openings in the neighbor's chain link fence. We tried in several (safe) ways to dislodge it without luck and could think of no other option but to leave it. Somehow it apparently dislodged itself. We also believe this is the pair that was getting into another neighbor's garden. We haven't seen either one since the last cold snap, so we are wondering if they survived. 
🌱
Thinking some may have tumbled from their perches last night. Pretty sure it will be raining iguanas tonight since we are under a frost advisory. It's cold. And windy.
Just sing... sing a song... Singing our way into Just sing... sing a song... 

Singing our way into the weekend.
"We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramse "We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramsey in Rembrandt is in the Wind
Now you see me... now you don't. Now you see me... now you don't.
"I started looking and listening. I realized that "I started looking and listening. I realized that work, like life, is shot through with poetry. It was everywhere. I was so taken with what I discovered that I wrote a book about it." @gyoung9751 
🌱
Whether you work in an office, a retail store, a restaurant, or at home... Whether you work on roads or on power lines, or on high buildings...Whether you collect trash or preach sermons, or care for your kiddos. Whether you do art, or weave words, or take photos of a common gallinule AKA moorhen AKA swamp chicken--it's all shot through with poetry.
🌱
So pay attention. Find a poem.
🌱
Read more at https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2023/01/10/its-poetry-at-work-day-2023/
Rising… Rising…
Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe a beauty routine. And breakfast. Especially breakfast. I wonder if it consists of a few fire ants. I hope so. (Well, not mine. I'm having oatmeal with chia seeds. What are you having this morning?)
🌱
P.S. Happy Friday!
"Though your destination is not yet clear You can "Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life's desire." ~John O'Donohue 
🌿
A blessing for a new beginning in a new year. I'm sure he wrote it especially for me. At least I'm claiming it. Maybe it will speak to you, too.
🌿
Also, I'd really like this skirt --> 
🌿
Read the whole poem--> -->
🌿
Well, bummer... The whole page didn't print. Read it in the comments below.
"What precocity, a bird half the size Of an Anjou "What precocity, a bird half the size
Of an Anjou pear." ~ Stephen Kuusisto in "The Mockingbird on Central" (Find it in The Poets Guide to the Birds edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser)
🌱
"The morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery." ~ Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. 
🌱
I've been in a long creative drought, so I started morning pages--again. This time I've got a bit of an accountability group through @refineretreat's Refinery--which I finally also joined this year. I'll turn 74 this month. I'm not ready to grow old while I age--though everything does seem to take longer while time goes by faster.
🌱
#aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still kinda amazed that out of all the places we could have ended up after moving from a place I said I’d never move from), here we are—planted right next to the northern Everglades. Six-plus years, and I still shake my head in wonder.
"So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This "So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This World." #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsa Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Gazing into 2023 like… Let’s take it step by Gazing into 2023 like… 
Let’s take it step by step with hope and courage. Also I hope to be posting again more often.
🎉
Happy New Year!
The morning before the last morning of 2022. 🌴 The morning before the last morning of 2022. 
🌴
71 degrees. Heading to 83. I can live with that.
From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point in Georgia at 4784 feet.
Winding roads… Winding roads…
Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay. Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in