I’ve shared some of my stories about the beginnings of my writing journey in life. How, at first, my writing was a way to impress “the ladies.” And then I looked for any and every opportunity to drive around the countryside in Kansas and Texas…to find subjects to write about.
My “write about” is sort of like Crocodile Dundee’s walkabout.
It’s therapeutic. Good for my mental health. Necessary, you might say. At least it’s necessary for a brain overflowing with ideas about words and where to put them.
So, as I go through my daily life, regardless of what’s going on, some part of my brain is sorting out words. I can’t shut it off. Not that I want to. And sometimes it feels like I’m a spectator to the process. Watching myself on write about, working it out.
But other times life tosses an idea at me. And I have to stop and write it down. Or, thanks to modern technology, and the convenience of having a high resolution camera on me at all times, I snap a photo for future reference.
That happened one day back in 2013. When I rounded a curve in the road near my home in the Denver, Colorado area. It was right at dusk. And the sun had set over the Rockies. But the orange glow was still shooting up from behind the mountains. And the glow illuminated some wispy clouds that had formed into what I saw as a lady in a turn-of-the-century hat.
So, naturally, I snapped a photo. And I finished my write-about and went home and wrote…
The Lady in the Hat
The lady in the hat, today,
Was happy where she sat, today,
While doing this and that, today,
And then she had to scat away.
The hat she wore was bright, today,
A pink and cool blue sight, today.
It shone against twilight, today,
And then she lit off right away.
I saw her just by chance, today.
I took a second glance, today,
A happy happenstance, today,
And then she had to dance away.
I caught the lady’s look, today.
Her photograph I took, today.
My errand I forsook, today”
Perhaps there’ll be a book someday.
© 2013 Tony Funderburk
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