LETTER NO #2

On Saturday , I received my second letter . It turned out to be the actual second letter … LOL ! For those of you who are in the dark , my first pen-pal, Damyanti, has already posted four letters. I have since received letter number 4 (which came first) , and now letter number 2 , in its correct position . That's very encouraging . So it means the other two are on the way … somewhere … hopefully … 🙂

Writing Challenges

The letter didn't contain any creative writing challenges . What it did contain , was a letter that the workshop leader gave to all the participants during one of the sessions . Read more about the workshop and the role that letter-writing has played in helping with the following : opening up new themes in written work ; giving focus to your writing ; the development of a free and natural writing voice . The link is : http://amloki.blogspot.com/2011/06/wednesday-writing-write-to-me.html/ The letter is a "dream letter" in that it is so lyrical , thought-out and deliberate . It is dense and layered , full of beautiful imagery … and yet it flows …

Response

In the absence of a writing challenge , I've decided to share a snippet of this letter .

"Dear Dave : Rain five days and I love it . A relief from sandy arroyos , buzzards and buttes , and a growing season consisting strictly of June . Here , the grass explodes and trees rage black green deep as the distance they rage in …

 … They all remind me of Kenny , a boy I fished with from the pier at Seola . When we got older I saw he was subnormal and I saw the space grow between us , and finally we saw each other in passing in White Centre and didn't speak . We don't take others by the hand and say : we are called people . The power to make us better is limited even in the democratic sea . Discovery of cancer , a broken back , our inability to pass our final exam – I guess the rain is finally getting me down . What matter ? I plan to spend my life dependent on moon and tide and the tide is coming , creeping over the rocks , washing the remains of crippled fish back deep to the source , renewing the driftwood supply and the promise of all night fires on the beach , stars and dreams of girls , and that's as rich as I'll ever get . We are called human . Ciao . Dick ."

The above extract is taken from 31 Letters and 13 Dreams .

Yesterday , I decided to try and get my hands on a copy of the book which formed an integral part of the hand-written letter writing workshop . The book is titled The Art Of The Personal Letter by Margaret Shepherd . So I phoned my local bookstore and the lady said that they'd place an order from overseas . It will take about 3-6 weeks for the book to arrive .

So I'm off now , to prepare some writing challenges for my pen-pals … and to check the postbox for mail … 🙂