—Khalil Gibran
There are infinities;
Gaps
In our togetherness,
Starry spaces
And desert skies—
And then
A great chasm
Greater than
The Boötes void,
With so few stars
To break the darkness…
And that’s where
I reside.
Spaces
—Khalil Gibran
There are infinities;
When I read yor poems and I sense that some only indirectly refer to what it is all about, it makes me feel good when I know I have understood those images not painted, just lightly touched by a few lines and shadows. I just hope I am not filling them in with my own half-seen images.
PS:
Her Thirties - I've finished reading at 193...but it is not the end of the story. Have you posted it somewhere else or is the story meant to end this way - as a suggestion that it is meant to loop again?
I'll answer the last part first - The novel doesn't end abruptly - it seems the posting of all the chapters got interrupted for some reason - I did a quick fix on my website so you can finish the novel and I will put them into better sequence over the next few days - there are 112 chapters - only posted 103 for some reason but now they're all there in rough form. Sorry...I have no idea what distracted me from completing the final chapter posting at the time. Mea culpa.
Re the poetry - you're referring to the power of allusion and suggestion. Yes, that's deliberate on my part - it's part of the aesthetic of ambiguity = the verisimilitude, that is, the 'realness' of what is deeply felt that lies beyond the power of words to capture or fully explain. When something is deeply felt, paradoxically, there are no words that suffice. You don't get beautifully embroidered lines and intricate rhymes when you're falling apart emotionally. Minimalism is best - leave space for the reader to make the experience his own - to personalize it. I want you to fill them in with your own half-seen images. I write one half of the poem and you write the other. You do the same when you read Her Thirties - you direct your own movie inside your head - you cast your own characters in the various roles and choose the scenery from your own experience. I wouldn't have it any other way :)
Thanks...going there now :)
Okay, I have finished the story.
When Amber pulled him to safety but left Marilyn where she was, exposed to danger, I did wonder. Knowing the history made sense of it.
Rather than make comments about the story (after all, I read it all and you know I found it well written), I thought it is time I do something else.
John, thank you very much for sharing your stories for free (being a pensioner, I would not have been able to read them otherwise). I will continue to read from steemit and at your site and probably also continue to make some nice or interesting comments, plus a few that sound like I am trying to be a smartass (I usually think of them that way later on, when I am writing them I am being earnest).
I think of your writing as being you opening doors into your private world where I slowly come to get a feel for you as a person. I find from my own writing that I cannot avoid showing myself to those who are open enough and want to know, so I give the same meaning to your writing.
You are very much appreciated.
I'm glad I was able to get those last chapters up so you could finish the novel- so annoying when things like this happen - like getting to the end of a book and finding blank pages! It happens :)
I appreciate your feedback very much, Arthur. Yes, I post material for free because I care more about connecting with real human beings like you than making a few bucks. That's why I posted on this site to begin although that community aspect seems to have died on steemit with the exception of you - you are a delightful breath of fresh air.
As we get older we get honester - that's what Yevtushenko says in his poetry and I agree. I can be much more vulnerable on the page than in person. Recently, I had breakfast with some . staff members - old colleagues and friends I hadn't seen in some time - perhaps 6 or 7 yrs. I couldn't sleep that night - I was worried they might think I changed - got stupider or out of touch, or God-knows-what...I was wrong. The first thing they said was, you're still the same. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, but was still so shy.
But now I'm glad I went and risked being vulnerable - your reading Her Thirties prompted me to reread it again - yes, we revisit our work as readers too - it's one of the perks of writing. I'm reliving that same dream again and feeling nostalgic but happy. Thank you for that.
I'm toying with the idea of posting A Familiar Rain, my published novel, on steemit. Currently, it's being revised by me and I was considering publishing it on Amazon - I don't know. I really enjoyed serializing Her Thirties on the steemit site but that was when we could count on feedback and a reasonable reward for original work. I just couldn't bear to post a chapter for the sake of one or two comments and fifty cents. The book is available on line still but for over $100. - that's ridiculous, but so too is the opposite, lol.
If you are not in a hurry, perhaps we could cooperate on creating a new site for literature, under various categories?
I am trying (with my brother) to put a deal together and if it happens I will have enough to create a web site where people can download books, stories and so on for free or for pay. I was hoping I could have prices between $2 and $5 - I think the Amazon gimmick of putting all books at 99c as being a killer for fine lit.
Short stories and poems could either be anthologised so as to be for pay, or allow visitors to download them for free - somewhat similar to : https://www.baen.com/allbooks/category/index/id/2012
.
Talking about steemit earnings, I had a nice surprise today. A poster put up an article about empathy and I made a comment. The next day she responded, asking for my book...to stop her from trying to read it, I posted a rather lengthy comment, explaining my beliefs and why I wrote the book and why it makes me happy when I see people stop reading.
Another person upvoted my comment - and it was a larger payout than I get for an entire posting. If I've understood how the money side works here, it looks like I am to receive about 2 STEEM.
It is not the amount that makes me happy, it was the pleasant surprise, as it showed he had understood my somewhat contrived way of thinking :))