Letting Go

Back in October of 2007, when Scott and I bought the former Stationery department of Webster's Pharmacy as a stand alone store, we were excited at the prospect of shaping the store to our vision.  We wanted to make a difference in our community and beyond by becoming a true community shop - a place where people know you by name, where you could feel comfortable.  But more than that, we wanted to highlight the diversity and the creativity of the Altadena community.  To do that, we began carrying books written by area authors.  We've now got so many that I've had to cut back on my buying until we find a better way to display them.

Our friends at the Altadena Library on Mariposa St. knows all about local authors, too.  They have some of the best readings by our local writers and one of those readings was yesterday.  Called Poetry & Cookies, the event had a line up of many local poets, each given approximately 2 minutes to recite a poem or part of one.  Our friend Barbara Ackermann brought me the book complied by the Library of the poems by the writers who participated.  She had been there, reciting some of the haiku she's written.  I've been having an online conversation with another author, Dr. Thelma T. Reyna, about the event and my desire to get back into writing poetry.  I've long known that writing can be cathartic, but have been so busy that the urge to write is pretty much fulfilled by this blog and Facebook.  However, with reading the book of complied poetry from the Library event, I was inspired to devote some time to writing.

Know that I'm a seat-of-the-pants writer, as witnessed by this blog.  I have no time to spend in prolonged planning of what to write each week  Somehow, an issue or inspiration usually appears and I use it and knock out my ramblings pretty quickly.  Same with poetry, which I've been writing since...well, forever.  I remember in 5th grade, I wrote a poem for Halloween and was never more chagrined when my teacher, Mrs. Maurer, made me get up in front of the class and read it.  I thought I was going to die then and there, but I survived and so did the poem.  In fact, I used most of it in the store's October 2009 Halloween event invitation, here, but in truth, I haven't written much of anything very creative in a long while. Why?  Because the past three and a half years have not been good to us.  As much as we've wanted to change the store to follow our vision, we've met very strong headwinds, most astonishingly from family members. With so much rage and pain simmering in me, how could I write anything worth merit?  I'll let you decide for yourself.....

                                                         LETTING GO

Hello, old friend, she says,

Addressing pen to paper,

it’s been too long, she thinks,

Trepidatiously touching tip to surface.

Let it go to move forward

they say, without knowledge of

how closely held the hurt,

oblivious of the pain endured.

She’s afraid to proceed

scared to open the dam

of feelings, afraid of the purge

afraid to lose her battle honed armor.

How to let go, she wonders,

to jettison the betrayals

and move past false promises

into the realm of possibility?

Thoughts swirl like ribbons

Around a bowl of water, swirling

down into courage –  the courage she

forgot she had - hello, old friend.

----Lori Webster

Have a great week ahead, my friends!


Lori & Scott