Author: Will Pennington

My life bleeds from the pen in blood-red ink staining paper with great swathes of sorrow and towering pillars of joy. I live passionate in this life, laughing and crying, not knowing what lies ahead, remembering what lies past. I capture emotions with the lens of my mind and send them pounding through my veins to plant themselves in my heart where they fill me and inform me and identify me. When I take up pen and write, I liberate my emotions to take me…and shake me and drain me ‘til all that’s left is a sentimental memory of a time, a place, a love; a loss, a tear, a smile. Joy is half of me, sorrow is half of me, continually emptied, continually refilled from a ream of life lived well, from an inkwell of life lived full. My pen writes of you when I write of me. Our stories are the same, our words the same, our ink the same. When you read my words, you read my life. Cry with me, laugh with me, as I do when I write of me, as I do when I write of you. When you read my words, you read your life. I am half of you, you are half of me, we flow from the same inkwell. Cry with me, laugh with me.
Personal Essays

Frames – Trespasser (Sample Fragment 1)

Originally posted on Ana Linden:
“Help yourself. You still smoke?” Pointless question, stating the obvious, so it would fill the air between them… He tilted his head apologetically and smiled back, that embarrassed half a smile of his, when she’d catch him doing something she didn’t approve of and she’d point it out. He lit up and inhaled deeply, turning to ashes a good portion… Continue reading Frames – Trespasser (Sample Fragment 1)

Will Pennington3 Comments
Personal Essays

Self-Marketing a Self-Published Novel

Writing a novel is easy. Marketing a novel is hard, especially when you’re not fond of selling yourself or trying to get a stranger to buy a product. It’s a special type of person who not only enjoys enticing people to buy their products, but who can also smile in the face of rejection. I disliked going door-to-door as a young boy and selling things. … Continue reading Self-Marketing a Self-Published Novel

Will Pennington15 Comments
Poems

The Frog and the Granite Shore, Part V

Walked I now upon concrete path in town, Crisscrossed here and there with poles of brown, Wires black, and stacks that belched like clowns; Buildings dark and squat gave good Earth an ugly frown; People passed, eyes avert, unsmiling, looking down; I felt no joy on the concrete path in town. Upon hard bench I sat, no music thrilled the air, No child’s laugh or … Continue reading The Frog and the Granite Shore, Part V

Will Pennington8 Comments
Personal Essays

On Love and Self

There are stages of love as well as grief. I suspect more people know the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Few people understand that love has stages as well: infatuation, passion, routine (or restless), partnership, companionship. If grief comes about through loss of loved one, where does love come in? Love comes with loss of self, meaning love causes self to become … Continue reading On Love and Self

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Susanna Avila

A Sailor’s Favorite Bar

The Sailor has a favorite bar, in every port of call, A favorite girl too, slender, stout, or tall; I’m no exception to the rule, immemorial in its time, Not so very particular, though her beauty be sublime; My favorite port of call, my favorite among the dozens, Rota Spain and sweet Susanna, and all her pretty cousins; Black hair my green-eyed beauty, and tiny … Continue reading A Sailor’s Favorite Bar

Will Pennington17 Comments
Poems

Thank The Living Souls

And lost souls, too We mustn’t forget them Sun marches across the sky Leaves behind another day Poppies waving gently In red dotted field Poppy red, dead red Black soil, sweet soil The wagon rolls on Boots reversed in stirrups Taps and gun salute Widow hugs the flag Somewhere, sometime, Someone remembers them The silver drop cleanses Refreshes them to mind Memory returns an image … Continue reading Thank The Living Souls

Will Pennington12 Comments
Poems

Where Does the Eagle Stand?

Bit by bit Clipped, ripped, lopped One limb, Then another And another And another. Ten branches To prune is to shape New growth Twenty-seven leaves X marks the spot Old Scratch Insinuating Subverting Bending willows Against the wind Opposites repel Hammer forms Sickle cuts Devil’s tongue Slick salesman Sells lemons Buys souls Slick illusion Grand delusion Where does the Eagle stand? Continue reading Where Does the Eagle Stand?

Will Pennington10 Comments