Immediately after Laurie posted this prompt, I sent for the book What a Wonderful Word, knowing it would be a wonderful resource for me and my creative writers. I look forward to designing ways for them to use these words.
Today I had the writing bug, so decided it was time to get serious about this prompt. I looked back through the book and settled on two possibilities. Then I noticed they were both Japanese, and decided to attend to both of them through short pieces.
The first word is Kawaakari -- the gleam of last light on a river's surface at dusk. I decided on the 100 word format, this time as a memoir, in honor of Natalie's students getting published.
The second is Nakama -- friends who are like family. Ever since all our family members have left the area, I sometimes feel very vulnerable and afraid. Then I remember my Trail Brazens and for the moment, I feel better. I did a poem in our time-honored acrostic form for this word.
KAWAAKARI
The last gleam of light on the New River. The loons calling
into the October night, a sorrow-filled goodbye tone.
In my mind I’m sitting with Uncle Dick. We both had deep
appreciation for the 400-year-old elm tree within reach from this porch, and
the trio of silver birch trees, flashing gem-like in the mountain breeze. We
believed God was in nature, and trees communicated with us. Many decades older
than I, we were kindred spirits.
Two years gone.
Today I’m
alone, thinking of how much he’d love this Kawaakari,
the light breathing its last breath. Something we all do…eventually.
NAKAMA
Natalie, Laurie and
Annmarie, their consistent
Kindness and inclusion,
Always going beyond simple friendship
Meals shared and our writing, of course
A place for me in this lonely world.
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