Photographs of people basking in the sun in front of the New York Public Library--it was a great day...

Saturday, in El Paso, Texas, I attended the Tumblewords Writing Series at the Armijo Center in South El Paso. Nancy Green was the featured writer--there were about 10 participants in the workshop. Nancy played a series of woodwind instruments, as she read her poetry. As she played her instruments, she encouraged us to write spontaneously, giving us about five minutes to write. Afterwards, we went around the room and shared what we wrote with each other.

This is the first poem I wrote:


What used to be open
Wide open spaces
The sky with no end

What used to be endless
Time with friends
The flow of conversation

What used to be expansive
Our minds wrapped around ideas
We were going to change the world

What used to be timeless
Readings transcending the bull
Everyone was there

Now we are all scattered
Spaces measured, bounded
We are here, there and inbetween



Nancy then played a short video on Mercedes Sosa, an Argentinian singer. Sosa spoke about people's needs to be true artists and to be free to create art and music that no one else but you can create. Afterwards we wrote some more, this is what I wrote:


You don't own anyone explanations
but to your work
You don't have to please anyone
but yourself
You decide when and how to create
on your own timeline
You have the right to rewrite, rethink, reword
as many times as you like
Your thoughts, your ideas
your dreams, your desires
Put down on paper, on canvas
on a computer screen, on napkins
Your words and your images are all yours
no one else's
Your voice, your vision
your irreverance, your passion
Your secrets, your lusts
you must write what no one dares to speak
Your being, your existance
you, here, your bravery


Everyone read their work quickly. Nancy encouraged us to write one more poem as she played her flute...


Driving by Reid Park
the golf concourse
mounds reminded me
of an indigenous playground
that, or a teletubbies set
golf balls looked
like sugar sprinkles on a sensuous landscape
the widdening bossom of mother nature
green, seductive, luring
but we were driving by
no sooner was it there, exposed
like a smile on a stranger's lips
no sooner was it gone
a memory, a whisper


After the Tumblewords Workshop, we met at Cafe Lumiere in Downtown El Paso for coffee. Outside the Cafe, I ran into Diane W. from EP Times and Kent P. from Albuquerque and we talked about Tucson...