Hi, all. This is your host Farzana, welcoming you to November’s Thursday Connectors! This month, my page shares pieces showing how our mood and emotions impact our fictional writing. My mood most definitely shows up in my own writing. When I’m feeling down, my writing reflects this, and vice versa.

I’ve picked the pieces below because the sentiments of the writers shine through. In the light of the urgent and desperate times we are witnessing around the world, this feels particularly powerful. What I am sharing here comes from the heart and shows how important it is to use both hopes and feelings to communicate what matters to us: world peace and an end to conflict and sorrow.

Writing our emotions means writing with freedom and courage. This makes all the difference to our own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. As has been done on this page, I’d like to encourage us all to use our voices authentically and write with purpose. It matters!

The following pieces reflect the power of our words and our realities.

First up is Latha Rajasekar with two poems about War and Peace. Secondly, Julie Dexter connects with her poem. Next, Danny Fenn, writes about tears and hopes. Eithne Cullen also shares a poem. Our final contributions, from Sanreet and Jeff Tullin, delve deeper into our realities with their thought-provoking pieces.

Hi, Latha. Let’s Connect:

War

A sibling rivalry A relative’s feud
A neighbour’s quarrel
A community’s squabble A country’s war
Begins from intolerance. Let’s learn to Tolerate Tolerate all intolerance. Let’s ease our resilience. Let the inner love flow. Love thyself,
Love others like thyself. Wars might end,
So might feud.

© Latha Rajasekar, 2023

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Detach And Cope

Losing an infant
A curse when young Crawling back to sanity
A colossal task in itself Caution not to crowd The other living child. With too much water Dies a healthy plant.
With too much love Dies a lovely pact. Let her live her life. Twice as happily
Borrowing her sister’s age.
A sister whom she loved
A sister who is no more

Let her fly, for the sky is high.
Let her accomplish without a sigh. Detach all attachments
Detach and cope.

© Latha Rajasekar, 2023

Connect with Latha on Facebook: facebook.com/latha.rajasekar.7/ 

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Hi, Julie. Let’s connect:

Not So Early

It is already light.
Out in the garden, coffee in the pot
all are calm, and thoughts are too.

In this stillness,
my prayers for peace
everywhere.

The sky, criss-crossed with white
the sun peeps through just one cloud
Californian poppies ablaze.

Last night’s dream is fading,
In this stillness,
my prayers for peace
everywhere.

© Julie Dexter, 2023

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Hi, Danny. Let’s connect:

Teardrops 

I wish I’d collected the teardrops
That ever leaked and fell
And tipped them in a fountain
And created a wishing well

Cos for every tear that falls
An emotion is breaking free
And as we wipe them away
It makes it easier to see

We cry tears of sadness
But also tears of joy
As we celebrate new life
Of a baby girl or boy

We shed tears to say goodbye
But these tears they help us heal
It shows that we are human
It shows exactly how we feel

So when tears begin to form
Wear your tears with pride
Don’t fight to hold them back
Nor hold them deep inside

If I’d collected all the teardrops
I could fill an ocean deep and blue
We cry for loss and love
Cos it’s what we humans do

© Danny Fenn (the boleyn poet), 2023

Conect with Danny on Facebook: danny.fenn.10

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Hi, Eithne. Let’s connect:

Steer Past The Gloom

Emojis are wonderful
for texts and messaging
you can add a hint of a tear,
a blush, a grin, a wink,
a little throbbing heart of pink,
when you want to share the love.

But that blank paper when you write
is sitting, challenging –
spread your sadness, share your fear.
It’s down to nouns and adjectives,
and similes to tell
your reader what you feel

it’s difficult, I’ve noticed,
when things aren’t going well
to tell a funny story or to
bring a smile to your reader’s face;
but when life is good, it’s easy
to let joy in to fill the space.

I wonder how they manage,
those writers I admire,
to avoid the gloom,
steer past the gloom,
or paint a rainbow ‘cross the sky,
when deep down, they might want to cry.

© Eithne Cullen, 2023

Connect: X @eithne_cullen

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Hi, Sanreet. Let’s connect:

Am I Who I Am Or Who I Should Be?

A long-standing question that many seem to ask, yet do not have the courage to find answers for. It is but a world of expectations and in business terms managing expectations is not one that comes naturally to many.

So, we ask ourselves time and again: am I who I am, or who I should be?

Who is anyone to judge anyone? Why does it matter so much what anyone thinks? Isn’t an opinion an opinion? Why do we accept as a given when someone says, “This is wrong. This is the right way of living life?” Is right and wrong a universal concept, one that is the same everywhere?

I once asked my daughter whether, if one person killed another person, should that person be punished and jailed? With no hesitation and limited questioning, she answered in  he affirmative. I then asked another question. What if the person only killed this person because the other person had done them a great injustice, maybe even killing someone they loved? Should that person still be punished? Realisation dawned on her beautiful  face. She stammered and fell silent. “What is right for one person might be wrong for another,” I told her.

She then told me about an incident at school. A few days back, she’d come home looking very sad. She told me her friend was mad at her and didn’t want to talk to her. She felt dejected. Her natural instinct was to be on good terms with her bestie, so she’d tried to apologise, not fully understanding why her friend was upset with her. She’d begged her friend to speak to her.

I felt upset on hearing this and the ‘mama bear’ in me came out. I asked her if she’d done anything wrong and why she felt the need to beg her friend to speak to her. Still upset from the incident, she insisted she hadn’t done anything wrong and didn’t know why her friend was so upset. I told her: “The next time your friend is mad at you for no reason, tell her you’re sorry she’s upset and that you’ll wait for her to speak to you when she’s ready.” Having said this, I felt I’d done my duty as a mother. However, I didn’t have the full picture.

I found out the next day, it had been about a birthday party. My daughter hadn’t invited her friend, because she didn’t  have her phone number. I immediately said she could have invited her in another way. She said: “Mom, that’s true. But though that might have been right for me, it was wrong for her. My friend wanted to come to my birthday party, I upset her by saying that I cannot invite her. That is what she heard.”

That day, I learned a lesson from my daughter. I felt proud, happy and small all at the same time. At barely six, this young lady was more empathetic than I could have imagined. She understood that, at the heart of things, her friend felt she wasn’t wanted.  Being empathetic and allowing others to feel part of our world is so important. We should never make anyone feel excluded; something we need to remember, no matter what our age. Let’s create a world where we are who we are, and not who we think we should be!

© Sanreet, 2023

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Hi, Jeff. Let’s connect:

Think Of A Number

When I was very young, I used to play in the streets.
I know, right?
Nobody raised an eyebrow. Safe as houses, as they used to say.
Grass and trees and muck and tumbles.
I used to work in a factory, making photocopiers.
It was hard work, but it paid alright, and the guys on the line were a laugh.
I used to like to shop. Wander about a bit. Coffee and a bit of cake.
Try on some clothes, smell some aftershaves, why not?
Nights on the town.
Before the arthritis set in, I used to jog, or walk the dog.
And every couple of years I might fly to places like Ibiza or Malaga for a week or two’s holiday.
That was before they closed all the airports, mind you.

It’s so much easier now.
Yellowstone Park, USA? 3V-278, and I’m there in an instant.
See those trees – incredibly tall.
Mind the bears… you can hear them snuffle. Smell that musk.

How about the Arctic? (3V-764) Feels much cooler on your skin, doesn’t it?
I come out in literal goosebumps. Amazing. See your breath frost in the air.
And now the Great Barrier Reef. No need for SCUBA gear. I just have to think myself down there.
Top of Everest? No problem. The view can be a bit hit and miss unless you choose your dates just right, though.
Surface of Mars? 3V-2093..
Hawaii – no – how about a surprise? Just think of a number.

Damn. Adverts. Wait a minute…
(They’re getting cleverer.
This one’s for beer. You can smell it, you can taste it, but not quite enough to quench a thirst.
And yes, I am thirsty now. Maybe I’ll order some. Hang on.
Shop mode. Add to cart. Authorise. Done)

My favourite 3V?
As if you had to ask!
Custom program 3V-Tawny920.
There she is – she’s always at that end of the bar, around 9.
(Bars! God. Remember them?)
This one was in New York. Just after prohibition, I’d guess.
She looks over – doe eyed, dark haired, and wearing that red dress.
No, actually. Green tonight, I think. For a change.
Look at that kilowatt smile.
‘Hi sweetie!’
(She’s so pleased to see me.)
I catch the eye of the bartender and order something fancy. She’s impressed.
But she always is.
Over in the corner of the room, a pianist in a white tuxedo runs through his repertoire, a cigarette casually secured in the corner of his mouth. It never goes out.
Now and then he’s joined by Ella Fitzgerald and together they set the world to rights.
We raise our drinks to him.
Later, my lady and I take a stroll back to the usual hotel.
Again.
One of these days, if I can get the credit together, I’ll buy the add-on pack for the full experience.
I’m told it’s fantastic.
Until then, I suppose my time is up for today.
I try to deactivate the neural couplings but as usual there are a few more adverts I have to endure before it will power down.
The visions fade slowly, revealing the shapes of my bare room with its single bed, pizza boxes and empty cans.

‘Watch something else (Y/N)?’
And I think of a number.

© Jeff Tullin, 2023

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Thank you to all the wonderful Connectors. I’m sure you agree, emotional writing from the heart can touch and inspire readers towards love and peace.

See you again next month for some more fantastic Connectors.

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Issue 18 of Write On! is out now and you can read it online here. Find it in libraries and other outlets. You can find previous editions of our magazines here.

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