Prompt - Prism Light, White Hot (three minutes): Write a stream of consciousness without stopping, for three minutes, using the quote below as an initial spark of inspiration. “Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white hot, on paper.” – Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing (1990). Allow your thoughts to flow with complete freedom. Don’t be concerned with spelling or grammar (that can be taken care of later). Often the first line is the hardest to write, before flow fully kicks in. Don’t be afraid to just start writing - you can always erase the first line anyway.
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“Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white hot, on paper.” – Ray Bradbury
I sit at the kitchen table, listening to my daughter mutter and tap at her computer. The chair is beneath me, but I’m sitting up straight.
Coronavirus keeps us penned in like animals in our homes, though we seem to have a little more freedom than they do because we can still get outside if we want to or to the store, even if we have to endure glares from people who think we should be home.
I want to help so much, so I’m going to sew and clean my sewing room to find elastic for masks for doctors, masks, and nursing homes.
The kids are taking it harder, I think, because this is supposed to be spring break, a time of freedom and fun, while the older people are a little more content to just stay in. The college kids are especially bad, converging on beaches with no thought to who they might spread the virus to, should they catch it.
Grow up, little men and women, and have a care for your mothers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, grandpas, and the workers who keep you comfortable.
I may be older and more content to stay inside, but even I’m getting stir-crazy.
--March 29, 2020
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Notes:
- I wrote this one in early 2020 - my daughter was finishing her senior year in high school and we were sitting at the kitchen table together when I wrote this.
- I never quite know what to do with these. Is it a poem? Is it a paragraph? Vignette? Do I edit it into something more?
