how do you bury god?

Sister-poet-friend Wanda Olugbala’s magnificent tribute to Toni Morrison and the profound effect Ms. Morrison had on her life.

fearfree living

I don’t know
how old I was when
Toni Morrison found me. I know
only that she found
me thirsty for me between
the pages of each book
I devoured.

I was starving for
stories that described this
brown skin and these
big ol’ eyes. I wanted to
hear my laughter
rise up from pages and
relive the loud chaotic joyful
life in my sorrow.

She gave that to me.

I did not know Pecola
but Pecola knew me. She knew
me as surely as Nel knew Sula.
She wrote me. She wrote
my life. The whole
world saw me then.

In my black
girl living. It saw me and I
saw me laughing
and dancing and lying
and crying and being a whole
black girl me.

Toni Morrison,
she wrote my life. She
put words to my poverty
and my triumph. She showed
me that my love is…

View original post 47 more words

Ready, set, go!

The Writers of Kern Dan McGuire Blog Challenge begins today! Twenty-six posts over the next 13 weeks. It’s a challenge, alright. But it’s so satisfying to complete it. I’ve done it two different years.

The first year, my theme was “A-Z meaningful places,” and I wrote about those places and how they fit into my life. Some were destinations to which I’d traveled. Others were areas where I had spent a slice of my life. It was a great trip down “Memory Lane.”

For my second blog challenge, I wrote A-Z motorcycling stories. These were tales of trips, scenery, and adventures, and I also gave information about various aspects of motorcycling (i.e. safety gear).

That was the year I was planning to sell my beloved bike, Big Red. Writing the posts helped me through the process and wrap my head around the fact that I would no longer be an active rider. So by the time my friend Carla bought Big Red and came to pick her up, I had already dealt with the “loss” of that part of my identity.

So, the Blog Challenge serves multiple purposes–for the good of both writers and readers.

As the Writers of Kern motto states, “Just Write.”

 

We’ve all gotta learn

No experience with WordPress even though I’ve had this page for several years. So I’m working at learning how to use it so I can help others in my writing club, Writers of Kern.

It’s time for our annual blog challenge. And some of our new bloggers need help getting set up. I’m a teacher and a student, so learning is fun for me. This is my attempt to learn enough about WordPress to be helpful to others.

We’ve all gotta learn. And someone has to teach. Both are my calling.

xoA