02.09.09

Today I woke up at the time when the universe sighs...(2:30 am) and I wrote for a couple of hours.
I had been writing and re-writing a monologue in my head for about a week and the impulse was too great to ignore. All I could do was wake up and write. There was no question, no argument and no resistance. Just the rest of Jamie's monologue.

I went back to bed and tried to read but I was too tired.
I tried to watch tv but I was too tired.
I tried to go back to sleep but I was too tired.

Then it was 8 am and then the day became doing and moving.
It became:
mascara on eyelashes, liquid eyeliner on eyelids,
shower and brush teeth
changing bed clothes for street clothes
socks without holes and sneakers
layers of sweater and coat
snatch up phone from a red side table
lock the top lock
push elevator button
walk through the park on a cold crisp day
take train to school

answer e-mails
create new e-mails
answer questions
answer phones
buy tangerines
drop them off

sit in on a class
watch students
walk to the Grind
buy a Mountain Dew
walk to office
sit and chat
before head to workshop
hand out sheets
pass attendance sheet

time for class
discussion
questions
answers
laughter
he reads
class over

hop on train
home bound


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

02.08.09

I haven't posted anything on this blog for quite some time. The winter has left me hibernating under my duvet. Sometimes I put this pressure to come up with quality writing only to find myself dwindling in my effort to even try. The effort to write feels hard and taxing. A big black chasm of nothingness....where do I start?

This past week has been a particular difficult one for me. I spent more days near tears despairing over how uncertain things are: writing, creative life, home life, family life, relationships, finances, etc, etc, etc. Only to discover there are no guarantees, there is nothing to cling to for reassurances.

Then, I went to see this amazing play last Wednesday, Ruined by Lynn Nottage. It touched me the way nothing else has for a long time. She had some beautiful lines, some heart-wrenching moments and an ending so positive and life -affirming...it gave me hope. It rekindled a light within me. The actors were amazing but the language/the text was there to help them soar.

So I've decided for the next while to write, in this blog, a bit about process, to write about craft, to share images and text that inspire me until I am back in the flow. This blog will be part of my process to keep an active mind/heart on my artmaking. Eventually, I want to see a small part of my writing soar.




All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Embedded

Red sunlight streaks across the morning sky
Wild blood burns love down our veins.

Death dreams
a bare woman faces
as her shadow subsides
where the page drowns in
puddles of black ink.

Fruit blossomed into juicy prickly pears
and flowers bloomed purple-pink feather petals.

We are frayed characters
who shimmer and disappear
in the movement of the day
in the glimpse of a moment.

Quiet moment…
a beat before the words
are written when we are a
mere droplet on a cobweb…
when poets murmur, we
become embedded in the lines.