Concrete: An Abstraction on the Cup

by Amber on September 10, 2012

in on writing

I don’t know how to explain my own writing voice. It’s not a thing I can measure. I don’t know how to say, “here it is right here; I found it!” I really only know when I deviate from it or start to not recognize myself. Voice is like a shift of air, how ghosts feel, or the sound of overtones over a choir, the note that is there that no one is singing.  Voice is how the verbs express nonverbals, move us from room to room, from past into future. Movement in words acknowledges the couch and the space in between there and the coffee pot, by where the cup sits.

There’s a woman standing on her morning-tender feet on the hardwood floor, and in both hands she holds the cup, jolt hot, and she drinks it burning fast awake slow-poking her to the living room. A day ago she stood on a beach and even there she missed the creak in the floor and the low air conditioner hush of morning before the boys wake up. This is holy time, the gray of morning before the chaos of cereal bowls.

Now is just this cup and “where do these desires come from? Am I hearing from God?” Turn it upside down, rushing cold cup the dregs, “Am I poured out in my writing, this vessel metaphor?” Before she sits down even, she needs to refill, needs to hear it in her bones, “WRITE,” and she walks heavy-footed straight to the pot, pours that cup full up to the brim.

ON MONDAYS I’M GOING TO WRITE ON WRITING, WHICH MEANS THAT MOSTLY I’LL WRITE OUT SPIRIT BY PRACTICING A LITTLE WITH THE CONCRETE THINGS IN MY LIFE AND MAYBE IN A FICTIONAL LIFE. WE’LL SEE. IF YOU WANT TO MESS AROUND WITH THESE LITTLE PROMPTS, I’M ALWAYS HAPPY FOR YOU TO PUT YOUR LINK IN MY COMMENTS. WRITE ON WRITING; PRACTICE WRITING; SHARE IT WITH US. LAST WEEK WE WROTE ABOUT THE BED. NEXT WEEK IS ON THE NECKLACE. THANK YOU ALWAYS FOR SPENDING TIME WITH ME.

Also, I’m not so hot on putting a Bible verse on my stuff, but I do love my coffee mugs from DaySpring. I use them on the daily.

 

{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

Melissa September 10, 2012 at 9:13 am

Fun prompt…I followed along…rapidly…one foot out the door on the way to work… http://melissafeddersen.com/2012/09/10/prompt-the-cup/
Melissa recently posted..Prompt…’The Cup’

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Kelly Sauer September 10, 2012 at 12:49 pm

Ooooh. Next week. I have a necklace to write…

Amber, I love your words. I love these prompts – they are so… tangible. Thank you for sharing them with us, friend!
Kelly Sauer recently posted..Lee Ann | Out of the Chrysalis

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clbeyer September 10, 2012 at 3:02 pm

Your words always make me feel alive, Amber.

It was a happy accident to discover I had already published a post today on writing, involving some imagery of the cup! Here it is:

http://clbeyer.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/pursuing-water/
clbeyer recently posted..Pursuing Water

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Amanda September 10, 2012 at 7:49 pm

Ooo, I want to join in. Not tonight. Tonight I am tired. But maybe next week or the next. I just like being here, is all. I like the ghost that is your voice.
Amanda recently posted..Letters to Pearl {a collective tale of hope} link-up

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Steph September 11, 2012 at 6:27 am

ooooh. i. like.
maybe i’ll join in next week. not enough coffee to inspire this insomniac this morning.
love to you and yours :-)
steph
Steph recently posted..letters from God–C is for courageous

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Caroline Starr Rose September 11, 2012 at 7:19 am

I’d love to know what you’re working on. You spent some time in a poetry MFA program, yes?I’m a verse novelist. Maybe I write poetry, maybe I write prose broken into funny little lines. Honestly, I don’t care how it’s defined anymore!

Looking forward to reading more…
Caroline Starr Rose recently posted..Online, Offline, and Something in Between

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Shelly Miller September 11, 2012 at 7:31 am

Love this, you make me think. I enjoyed some of the posts I read last week on the bed prompt. Maybe I will join in next week.
Shelly Miller recently posted..When Your Soul Sighs

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dearabbyleigh September 11, 2012 at 8:28 am

i haven’t MADE myself write on something in a while, and it was hard. but i did it. cheers.

http://dearabbyleigh.com/a-marked-cup/
dearabbyleigh recently posted..a marked cup

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Barbara Isaac September 11, 2012 at 10:21 am

I fill it and empty it just the same. I let someone fill it and empty it just the same. It quenches me, or fills me with doubt, or joy, or purpose. It is good and it is bad. It is lovely and it is evil. One thing is for sure–it always bears some kind of fruit, my cup full of words.

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Annie September 11, 2012 at 8:57 pm

Amber, I’m loving your word weaving here. Reading this, alongside the posts others have written in response to the prompt, gives me hope – the way each voice stands so unique. I don’t think I understand the first thing about voice – I’ve just kind of let the words pour out when I can’t work things out in conversation or painting. But I sometimes wonder if my voice is just echoing back the beautiful voices I’m reading, and how to write in community while growing into my own words. I appreciate the space your cultivating here to think and grow.

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Brandee Shafer September 12, 2012 at 10:25 pm

Joining you. http://brandeeshafer.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-cup.html
Brandee Shafer recently posted..The Cup

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John Ray September 14, 2012 at 7:51 am

Funny to think about cups. One of the little rituals I have as I travel is to find a mug among the various cast offs that end up in guest housing cabinets. I will choose and use the the same one each morning, even though the cabinet offers a wide variety from which to sip.

I didn’t even know I did this until I read your post.

I wonder if my dog realizes she circles three times before she settles into a curl on the carpet?

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