Happiness 2-19
lovely ankles and feet; setting out on a long sea voyage; knowing you’re there.
Year: 2010
Happiness 2-18
swimming at dawn; a shared laughing glance; Ode to a Grecian Urn.
Happiness 2-17
lantana twined along the fence; passion; the dome of the rock.
WriteSpa #23 – Love Letters
WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers
Many great writers were inspired by a real-life muse (like Dante’s Beatrice – who didn’t have a clue) or even a fantasy (Keats was crazy about a prostitute, who also didn’t have a clue). But the fact that they hardly knew each other did not make their love any less poignant, rich, and inspiring.
Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning – famously the most romantic couple ever to fall madly in love before they met – used poetry and letters to get to know each other. One wonders what their emotions were like when they first set eyes on each other after having written letters and poems like the ones they did! Was there worry? Curiosity? Disappointment? Or was there really just sheer bliss and joy and an immediate determination to run away together?
I Love You
Fun Writing Practice: We’re taught in basic marketing and promotion courses that ‘you’ is the most important word. You simply can’t use it often enough. This is because the most important person in your life is you.
Happiness 2-16
cresting the hill on a bicycle; the smell of freshly baked bread; knowing you’ll always be friends.
Happiness 2-15
the cool and quiet of a museum; great expectations; a herd of zebras thundering across the plain.
Happiness 2-14
meeting at dawn; flamingos by the lake; the biggest, happiest surprise of all.
In the Heart of an Igloo
I have fallen in love again
the winter brought me here
on a boat of snow and slopes:
I can write again.
and the snow flakes
have become fat and wet
and press against my body
like the tongue of a lover
I went deep into the heart of the igloo
and there you were:
My pen. My paper. Heart into words.
I have fallen in love again.
Let me be the paper; and you the pen
Take me – I lie passive as the storm rages outside
Write me – I lay myself naked before you
You are the One
I am your Queen
and your Slave.
Valentine’s Day Decision
Two things touched me yesterday in my reading travels: the story in the New York Times of John Bowe’s (hopeless?) search for true romantic love and Norah Pollard’s poem St. Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day breaks my heart every year. There’s something about the high expectations lovers put on each other, the materialism, the yearning for Read more about Valentine’s Day Decision[…]
Happiness 2-14
building a sandcastle; firm tenderness; the city of York.
Happiness 2-12
visiting the island of Iona for the first time; the glow of a dandelion; your feet planted firmly on the ground.
Happiness 2-11
diving for pearls; confiding in a friend; an invitation to dine with the king.
Happiness 2-10
The Aran islands; new soles on old boots; solving a mystery.
Happiness 2-9
the hush before the storm; laughing babies; going back and forth on the Staten Island ferry, talking till dawn.
Happiness 2-8
the wind in your sails; the moment just before the first kiss; a fine silversmith.
Happiness 2-7
a mountain goat scaling the heights; reaching out; opulent theater costumes.
Happiness 2-6
polishing the silver; imagining when we finally meet; the white cliffs of Dover.
Happiness 2-5
oak barrels in a wine cellar; the sound of the ocean in a seashell; falling in love.
Happiness 2-4
an icon in a small Greek church; an early morning business meeting; laughing so hard it hurts.
Happiness 2-3
kissing under a large, colorful umbrella; diamonds from conflict-free sources; sailing to Tenerife.
Happiness 2-2
a wolf on the moonlit ridge; lunch with a sister; a gondola.