That Girl (Not the Other One)

L.L. here with Random Acts of poetry. Getting specific. Because the best writing always gives juicy details. We know he is talking about this girl. Not that one. That girl, not the other. I like what Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life has to say about attention to detail. She notes, “Although we seldom view it this way, specificity is freedom. In the act of naming things precisely as they appear to us, we free our work from misunderstandings, from ambiguity... At its base, writing is an act of love, and when we perform it consciously, concretely, and lovingly, grace enters the equation. We—and the reader—have an experience of something larger communicating through the vessel of our work. That larger something—whose eye is on the sparrow—knows a great deal about the value of specificity.” Why is writing with specificity an act of love and grace? Mostly I think it’s because everyone can tell we actually paid attention. That is enough to warm just about any heart. If you doubt it, consider the way you’d feel if someone wrote a nice specific poem about you, like this one from Fred . That Girl She is linen a fragile dress a silk kite breath blown away from me She is clay coffee and ale substantial she beckons reckon with her and feel the weight of human She refuses to be read in any context because she is not a book like me, rather a mist airy like a mountain with a mine of kindness She is a general She is a nun Next poetry prompt: Let’s get specific about our closets. I found a red dress in mine. What’s in yours? What is not? Post your offering by Thursday, August 20, and drop your link in my comment box. Please remember that we only link to current posts (not something, say, you published a month ago). Thanks! All RAP Participants Jim’s Concrete Patches Kelly’s Grandpa’s Deck Fred’s That Girl Cindy’s Living Beyond My Wasteland and Wishes on Fire Monica’s Homesick Claire’s Really? A Simple Country Girl’s Some Porches Connect Lorrie’s Sword Mom2Six’s Swing Claire’s I Am a Rag Doll Liz’s Rooms Outdoors LL’s When Morning Comes, Today, Out, and Girl (scroll down to comment 33 or so) Linda’s Porch Lance’s Porch Weather Marcus’s musings Think Like a Poet and a Scientist Glynn’s Found by the Pool Jane’s Conversion Yvette's Dancer Through the Rocks photo by Claire Burge. Used with permission. Post written by L.L. Barkat.