I Can’t Breathe When You Are Away
If I don’t miss a part of you you are not apart from me. Continue reading I Can’t Breathe When You Are Away
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.
In One Sentence
The thought occurred to me a few minutes ago that I wouldn’t know how to respond if I were asked to describe myself in one sentence. Oprah: “Welcome Will, and congratulations on the publication of your Great American Novel, A Wished-For Love, debuting at number one on the NYT, LAT, ChiTrib, WSJ, Sing Sing, and Tampa Bay Voc. Tech High School Best Sellers Lists! What an … Continue reading In One Sentence
Two Blogs to Visit
Two blogs that bring me great joy for their beautiful poetry and prose are Green Ink and A Short Conversation. Check them out when you need a break from writing and want to clear your head. I know you’ll find they go well with your morning coffee 🙂 Continue reading Two Blogs to Visit
Re-Blog: Elegy for a Drowned Girl
Exquisitely painful and beautiful. For a moment, echoes over the ocean sound your obituary — these jagged cliffs are your gravestones, and perhaps the algae the rolling waves offer to the shoreline is the water’s apology. For sending your casket deep into the corals. For seasoning the ocean salty with your panic. For surging your lifeless limbs away from […] via Elegy for a Drowned Girl … Continue reading Re-Blog: Elegy for a Drowned Girl
Happy Anniversary!
Six years ago today, I registered on WordPress. How has my writing progressed? Well, let’s see. I joined my first writing group, Writers World on Facebook, in May 2014. I submitted a 500-word extract of my draft novel, Honey ko, for critique that same day. I sat back, confident that my writing would be nominated for acclaim and recognition. Hoo boy. Was I wrong. Although … Continue reading Happy Anniversary!
Sharing! Because I didn’t always share with my sisters…. ;-)
I just want to take this time to thank everyone who reads, subscribers and shares my site. I appreciate all the support and encouragement.I would love to read everyone’s blog, but I don’t always get a chance to read and follow everyone’s blog. So today I want to offer a networking opportunity and a chance […] via Networking + Share Your Blog — Jay Colby Continue reading Sharing! Because I didn’t always share with my sisters…. 😉
Susanna VIII
Why do you torture me, Susanna? It is not I, William. It must be. I feel you watching me. I feel you watching me. No, William, I’m not here. I’m dead. You know that. Yes. I killed you. I left you in the cold and the rain. No, my love. I died of pneumonia in the hospital after the car accident. I couldn’t find my way … Continue reading Susanna VIII
Heartbrache
Funny that, how the heart bursts the same way in grief and love. Continue reading Heartbrache
Character Vs. Role, & How to Apply One to the Other
Originally posted on A Wordie Discovery:
There are two elements that make up every character ever – character and role. Character refers to personality and nature, whereas role refers to the function and purpose that characters have in the grand scheme of things. The two are of equal importance when crafting a literary character, and can be used to compliment or deflect each other in… Continue reading Character Vs. Role, & How to Apply One to the Other
Writing, and Phantom Stories
Nearly a year ago, I began submitting my novel, Honey Ko, to agents. In all, I queried about 65 agents, 24 of whom were kind enough to respond with a gentle “decline.” One agent’s response was so kind I imagined her typing my rejection while crying and feeling dreadful, just dreadful that she couldn’t represent me. I nearly responded with a “There, there. It’s okay. It’s … Continue reading Writing, and Phantom Stories
The Satisfied Life
When I was in the Navy, I was stationed, among many other places, in Brunswick, Maine, and Barbers Point, Hawaii. At both duty stations, there were places overlooking the sea that I frequently visited to relax, take photos, and swim or scramble around the cliff faces. In Maine, that place was on Bailey Island at a place along the cliffs called The Giant’s Stairs. There … Continue reading The Satisfied Life
Each A Vignette Of Life
In the forest, I walked with my head down, It was easier so, ‘neath my burden; My boots were muddied and scuffed; An eyelet rode free on frayed lace. The winding path was hard-packed From years of heavy, burdened travel; Pebbles and stones ground-in and smoothed By soles, and the wind and the rain. The soil varied in color, Brown, black, and gray, and tan; Grass … Continue reading Each A Vignette Of Life
Two Blogs to Visit
I’ve recently found two blogs I love. Carly Hood and Freed Thoughts write such wonderful prose and poetry that I look forward to waking up each day just to see if they’ve posted again. Please join me in visiting their sites and starting the day off with a smile and a sigh. Continue reading Two Blogs to Visit
Good Morning :-)
Ummmmmmm that’s good coffee Continue reading Good Morning 🙂
Heavenly
Your head rests upon my shoulder. The sun dips beneath the sea. Emotion rises from a rich, deep well, A soulful sob that catches in my throat; My heart bursts with love that swells my chest; Tears fill my eyes and a rapturous heat warms my face. Ono, my angel, I want to tell you how I love you But Heaven binds my tongue. Continue reading Heavenly
Home. All of Them
The house I wrote of yesterday stayed with me all day; I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I had intended a completely different point, about how we tear people down much easier than we build them up – people we disagree with, for example. We’ll stand in line to pick people apart for their flaws and shortcomings, their tastes, their politics, their looks. … Continue reading Home. All of Them
Home. With me.
The old, old house stands brooding, silent, empty, shuttered. Peeling paint, peeling memories, peeling years, decaying. Squeaking gate unhinged, cracked stone steps, black holes gape between them, Give way to wild rose and dandelions, crabgrass, spurge and apples. Skinned shins on broken porch boards; cobwebs make me shrink. Ancient knocker of green-tinged brass, dolphins dancing on their tails. Quiet the knocker, there’s no one home, … Continue reading Home. With me.
I Loved You, Before I knew You
Take my hand. Walk with me. Lust, fleeting. The cocoon nurtures the butterfly before its wings may spread. Continue reading I Loved You, Before I knew You
Chilly Willy
Winter appears to have returned with a vengeance over the weekend. The high in Southern Maryland yesterday was forty-three degrees, and may reach thirty-four today. I’m not one to complain about the cold (except for a cold seat-of-ease; don’t they make heated ones?), and believe temperatures this cold should be accompanied by snow. My northern friends may cast eye darts at me, but I don’t … Continue reading Chilly Willy
Thursday Nights with Dad
Dad and I used to go the movies together when I was a kid and we were stationed in Soesterberg, Netherlands. Thursday night at the Camp New Amsterdam Air Force Base theater was westerns and war movies. All my buddies and their dads went. Mom would make grilled cheese sandwiches for dad and me at home, then we’d have popcorn and soda – and candy … Continue reading Thursday Nights with Dad
Crumpled Paper
I need to take up pen again, Let words flow From fingers Like blood flows From wounds. I need to let pen’s nib Bleed ink onto blank white sheet. Time Forms thought Forms words Forms phrases Informs life. Patience Crumpled paper litters my desk. The keyboard is that friend Who lives at work all day Watching feet rush back and forth. Continue reading Crumpled Paper
William Goodfellow
William Goodfellow was a man, not an animal. William dashed the hoe from his hands and stared at the earth packed beneath his torn fingernails. “This is madness. I am a man, not an animal,” he cried, and fled his field of corn and the blazing sun that burned his head. William’s farm animals howled and barked, and mooed and clucked in amazement, stamped their paws … Continue reading William Goodfellow
Sea Duty, Cont’d
It thrilled me to learn I was going to deploy overseas with my squadron, Patrol Squadron Eight, the “Fighting Tigers”. My first military deployment! The P-3 Orion is an anti-submarine warfare aircraft; Soviet submarines were their primary targets. Although I was a groundpounder – a mechanic, not aircrew – everyone shared in the glory when our squadron aircrews found and tracked a Soviet boomer, sometimes … Continue reading Sea Duty, Cont’d
Soul Time
I’m making a joyful noise! Well, I don’t know if I would call it a joyful noise, but I’m teaching myself to play the recorder. I haven’t played an instrument since the cornet in Junior High School, so it feels nice to take up music again. I’ve longed for many years to play the piano, guitar, and cello, and the recorder is a great way … Continue reading Soul Time
Sea Duty
The Navy was not all fun and games. Official orders to report for Sea Duty carried the note that the duty was considered arduous, meaning the Sailor could expect to be deployed away from home base for any length of time, and as often as deemed necessary by the Navy. This was no surprise to the Sailor, especially one coming off of a cushy shore … Continue reading Sea Duty
I Am Here
Leaving the anger-filled pages of Facebook and Twitter and coming to my WordPress blog, is like finding a sun-dappled forest glade, and lying with my back against an oak tree, chewing on a blade of grass, and listening to the leaves rustling in the breeze. WordPress Reader is my sun-dappled forest glade, and your posts are the leaves. Your emotions, expressed in prose and poem, … Continue reading I Am Here
Mr. Sensitive
Poor Yoshi. Our 99 pound Great Dane/Labrador Retriever has always been sensitive. It’s become worse since we rescued a little (comparatively; she’s 35 pounds) mixed-breed female in November of 2016. Yoshi is ten while the rescue, Sachiko, is not yet two. Yoshi’s always been light on his paws – twinkle-toes – but is slowing down; Sachiko is all sugar: pure sweetness and high energy. I … Continue reading Mr. Sensitive
PIE-holes
I have a difficult time accepting the pseudo-intellectual elite’s (let us call them PIEs) rants against the President. They, as all American citizens, have the right to speak out in protest against his policies. They are as affected by decisions made in Washington, DC as the ninety-nine percent of Americans not making millions of dollars every year to act, sing and dance, track your online movements, … Continue reading PIE-holes
Proofread, Proofread, Poofread
Proofreading your work is the most important action you can perform before pressing the publish button. An error-free post sends an unconscious signal to the reader that you care about your writing. I can’t count the times I have found a beautiful post, especially a poem, ruined over a misspelled word, an incomplete phrase, or another grammatical error. The flow is brought up short and … Continue reading Proofread, Proofread, Poofread
Writiquette
Nope, nope, and nope: not a fan of vulgarity in blog post titles. Keep the title clean no matter how vulgar your writing. At least people will open your essay to read it before discovering you don’t have the vocabulary to choose inoffensive words. There is such a thing as a Thesaurus. Continue reading Writiquette
I Believe
“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” G.K. Chesterton I’ve defeated my own dragons. More than that though, I believe in fairy tales. Let’s just say that I can’t walk by a mushroom, or a field of moss, or through a green forest and not keep an eye … Continue reading I Believe
The Love of Sam and Susanna
“This is an essay Sam wrote after Susanna died. I asked him if I could keep it as a reminder of the two of them. He asked me not to share it, but he would have wanted you to read it. This is how they were, the way they acted with each other. Sam didn’t glamorize their relationship; he described it perfectly. I’ll read it … Continue reading The Love of Sam and Susanna
Breaking Up
When two hearts break, it’s a compound fracture with all the ugliness of a leg bone sticking out awkwardly from torn, bloodied flesh, a crippling injury that takes a lifetime to heal, if it ever really heals without leaving memory of an exquisitely harsh pain, a bruise of purple and black on the soul, and a reflex action against falling in love again. Continue reading Breaking Up
Sam and Susanna & Tom and Aida
Like two red eyes, the imperfections in the ruby blinked in the sunlight. He pressed the jeweled medallion to his chest to keep it from swinging on the necklace. The sun burned his back as he walked along the rock-strewn beach hunched over looking for seashells. The best ones he placed in a red, plastic cup that smelled of San Miguel. “Look, Aida.” he called. … Continue reading Sam and Susanna & Tom and Aida
Software Updates for the Soul
I am constantly amazed by the success of self-help books. I often wonder what makes people like you and me so needy of advice from others when we hold the answers ourselves. My immense lack of training makes everything below this paragraph opinion. It is true, however, that I took my own advice many years ago and changed the way I perceived myself. It has … Continue reading Software Updates for the Soul
Silence is Golden
I once read a book that opened with the main character, a twentieth century man, finding himself thrust into ninth century Europe. Once he regained his orientation and realized there was no place to go for a stiff drink, he took stock of his surroundings. One of the first peculiarities he noticed was the absence of noise. Not the absence of birds chirping, crickets buzzing, … Continue reading Silence is Golden
Love is….
“Because they understand that love is the gift of giving one’s self unreservedly to another; that the giving of love is also the receiving of love, and that the spiritual renewal from the physical act is possible only after the giving up of self to one another.” “I love you, William.” “I love you, Susanna.” Continue reading Love is….
All That Glitters
I found the rainbow while you searched for the gold. Continue reading All That Glitters
Looney Tuned
I am surrounded by nincowpoops, maroons, and gullibulls. Of course, I realize the guy sitting next to me is saying the same thing. Continue reading Looney Tuned
Invocation
Sam and Susanna Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam They say you don’t hear the bullet that kills you. How could anyone know that? Because, they also say, bullets move faster than the speed of sound. By the time you hear the sound of the bullet in your back, you’re dead. What if you’re only wounded; you’d hear that bullet, wouldn’t you? Well, you’re not dead, are … Continue reading Invocation
Superman
I’m not too keen on today’s technology. I love having the library at my fingertips, the history of Rock and Roll on my iPod, and The Great Masters’ masterpieces as my background. Sometimes, though, I feel technology advances too fast, too fast for people to keep up. Technology has made us run when we should walk, look down when we should look up, ignore others … Continue reading Superman
Duck
Many summers ago, I went to a church picnic at Rowlette Park in Tampa. I was about thirteen or so. We played softball while the burgers and dogs were cooking. I was a pretty good baseball player and played little league throughout my youth. I wasn’t a pitcher, but a first baseman and centerfielder. I played catcher once when Robbie Ochs was sick, but didn’t … Continue reading Duck
Susanna Avila
“I think I fell in love with you this morning, dear lady.” “You think you did? You are not sure? Perhaps we should try again. Shall we meet for an apple in the morning?” “I had already planned to meet you for an apple tomorrow. And the next day, and the next, and the next, and every day until….” “Every day until what?” “Every day … Continue reading Susanna Avila
Leave The Pack
We have been encouraged from our youth to lead from the front, or, in Navy terms, to “take charge and carry out the plan of the day.” It is also phrased “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” I agree, for the most part. The best reason to lead from the front is to achieve a goal, whether a personal goal, a corporate goal, … Continue reading Leave The Pack
Self
“To thine own self be true.” William Shakespeare. If you are not true to yourself, you cannot be true to others. You are only serving them. Do not let others be your master. Continue reading Self
The Key to Love
The key to love is undivided attention. That’s all she needs. Is that asking too much? Continue reading The Key to Love
Dream, Love.
“We had each other, yes, but even that doesn’t describe what we had. We didn’t choose each other, Frank. We found each other. It’s hard to explain.” Sam leaned forward in his seat. He stared at the floor. His hands were clasped, and he trembled. “There could only be one Susanna, Frank. My life began when I met her.” He fell silent as he collected … Continue reading Dream, Love.
Heartbreak
I Love you, you love me not. Continue reading Heartbreak
I wine This (heart) hic…. ‘scuse me
I highly recommend Mollydooker wines. https://www.mollydookerwines.com. I hope I’m allowed to say that. Am I allowed to post links? Continue reading I wine This (heart) hic…. ‘scuse me
I’ve Had It With Facebook
I’ve had it with Facebook. It’s become a forum for posting garbage that nobody gives a damn about. For every decent post and photo my friends post, I have to sift through dozens of other posts that carry the message “I hate you and what you stand for.” I’m tired of photos of women wearing body parts costumes; I’m tired of posts that reinforce the hypocrisy … Continue reading I’ve Had It With Facebook
