Monthly Archives: September 2021

Fridays With Dale: Pending Wishes

Title with image of author

Dale Angel

 

Pending Wishes

By Dale Angel

                                                  

    I wish for an Olive tree with lacy blue green leaves that throw filigree shadows so I can walk under it and feel wrapped in a gossamer gown. …I wish for a Pomegranate tree with wild tendencies and the appearances of unrestrained growth on malnourishment the fruit drips in red sweet nectar.

  I wish for a Persimmon tree that decorates the fall colors in splashes of orange as I walk on the fallen leaves that look like a Persian carpet, their fruit at near death collapses on itself, taste like spongy candied syrup on my tongue.

  I wish for that winter bush that covers itself with yellow flowers as soon as the cool winter rains arrive. The small yellow daisies fill my empty sugar bowl with sunshine…all winter. We are not acquainted by name, they may know mine, but I don’t know theirs…. I may know their family.

  May I have an arbor to hold up the honey colored grapes that look like champagne when the sun shines through them, at the  present time they are living in the tops of the wild plum trees. They moved there to get away from the white flies, who visit every summer…… although, uninvited.

  I want to remove this mourning cape, I’m wearing for the plum tree that had to be euthanatized. I haven’t went through a spring without her blossoms yet, it grieves me to think about it, but not so much, I haven’t shamelessly peeked at new plum varieties from the catalog.

     I may as well be frivolously extravagant and wish for a blooming Orange tree that emits showers of  fragrance through the windows to sweetened the  night air, it makes one weak, add blackberry wine… it’s too late to be strong…

  Pending wishes will have to wait in the shadows…. meantime…I’ll romance the Manzanitas. only hours away till they bloom. Their tiny pink flowers are full of sips of honey. Daffodils are waiting their turn to shout, flinging yellow across new green grass as they parade.  There are new surprises half asleep nestled close to the earth watching in expectation for the sun to spotlight their debut, and display their costumes…for you and me!

Dale Angel

 

 

Writers Forum is open to submissions for the blog or the newsletter.

Type of Material and Guidelines for e-newsletter and Website Submission: 1.) Your articles on the art or craft of writing. 2.) Essays on subjects of interest to writers. (200 words can be quoted without permission but with attribution.) 3.) Book or author reviews. 4.) Letters to the Editor or Webmaster. 5.) Information on upcoming events, local or not. 6.) Photos of events. 7.) Advertise your classes or private events. 8.) Short fiction 9.) Poetry

Please submit copy to the editor at writersforumeditor@gmail.com . Electronic submissions only. Microsoft Word format, with the .docx file extension, is preferred but any compatible format is acceptable. The staff reserves the right to perform minor copy editing in the interest of the website’s style and space.

Correction: Riverfront Playhouse Looking for Writers

Correction: the email address at the bottom of yesterday’s post was incorrect. Please use the link in today’s post to send your inquiries and submissions. Thank you.

Riverfront Playhouse is calling for submissions for Playwrights’ Night Out. Deadline 10/15/2021.

Thank you for making the effort to do something that could be exciting and rewarding. Comedy, tragedy, drama, whatever you want. Only six 20 minute shows will be chosen and you will be part of the rehearsal process. There may be more shows if some show take only ten minutes.

Give us what you have.

YOU MAY BE PRODUCED!

Rules for Playwright’s Night Out

1.      No author will direct his or her own play.
2.      All plays are 20 minutes or less.
3.      All plays are for readers’ theater only. Lines should not be memorized to allow for changes in the rehearsal stage of production.
4.      Try to avoid frivolous cussing.
5.      Try to keep your cast less than 20.
6.      Please make at least one edit of your play before submission.
7.      There will be no costuming.
8.      Keep props to a minimum.
9.      This is sort of a table read on stage. Listen for vocal nuance, facial expression, body movement during rehearsals.

Contact Jennifer Levens for more details at  theatermaven2@gmail.com

 

Writers Forum is open to submissions for the blog or the newsletter.

Type of Material and Guidelines for e-newsletter and Website Submission: 1.) Your articles on the art or craft of writing. 2.) Essays on subjects of interest to writers. (200 words can be quoted without permission but with attribution.) 3.) Book or author reviews. 4.) Letters to the Editor or Webmaster. 5.) Information on upcoming events, local or not. 6.) Photos of events. 7.) Advertise your classes or private events. 8.) Short fiction. 9.) Poetry.Please submit copy to the editor at writersforumeditor@gmail.com . Electronic submissions only. Microsoft Word format, with the .docx file extension, is preferred but any compatible format is acceptable. The staff reserves the right to perform minor copy editing in the interest of the website’s style and space.

Riverfront Playhouse Looking for Writers

Riverfront Playhouse is calling for submissions for Playwrights’ Night Out. Deadline 10/15/2021.

Thank you for making the effort to do something that could be exciting and rewarding. Comedy, tragedy, drama, whatever you want. Only six 20 minute shows will be chosen and you will be part of the rehearsal process. There may be more shows if some show take only ten minutes.

Give us what you have.

YOU MAY BE PRODUCED!

Rules for Playwright’s Night Out

1.      No author will direct his or her own play.
2.      All plays are 20 minutes or less.
3.      All plays are for readers’ theater only. Lines should not be memorized to allow for changes in the rehearsal stage of production.
4.      Try to avoid frivolous cussing.
5.      Try to keep your cast less than 20.
6.      Please make at least one edit of your play before submission.
7.      There will be no costuming.
8.      Keep props to a minimum.
9.      This is sort of a table read on stage. Listen for vocal nuance, facial expression, body movement during rehearsals.

Contact Jennifer Levens for more details at  theatermavin2@gmail.com

 

Writers Forum is open to submissions for the blog or the newsletter.

Type of Material and Guidelines for e-newsletter and Website Submission: 1.) Your articles on the art or craft of writing. 2.) Essays on subjects of interest to writers. (200 words can be quoted without permission but with attribution.) 3.) Book or author reviews. 4.) Letters to the Editor or Webmaster. 5.) Information on upcoming events, local or not. 6.) Photos of events. 7.) Advertise your classes or private events. 8.) Short fiction. 9.) Poetry.Please submit copy to the editor at writersforumeditor@gmail.com . Electronic submissions only. Microsoft Word format, with the .docx file extension, is preferred but any compatible format is acceptable. The staff reserves the right to perform minor copy editing in the interest of the website’s style and space.

Fridays With Dale: The Ride

Title with image of author

Dale Angel

 

The Ride

By Dale Angel

                                                  

Swirling through foggy filtered sunshine moving across the timelessness of a day or a lifetime over oceans and mountains dressed in snow guide the way through, Sun rises and Sunsets, summer and winter, passing stars and silver moons, we are in a set pattern as colors share their glory alongside of the family of man dying from hunger on an earth that holds enough for all.

 Spring is powerful with life surging to put forth new life as the earth covers herself with a green canopy of every good food among the deliberate destruction as our family fall with vacant pleading eyes along empty deserts weeping as we march toward more inhumanity. Harmony where are you? Wrap us in your arms.

Summer brings anticipation as the nights and days are bathed in warmth, the grain is standing with promise but someone poisoned the land and it is sick.  Fire rains from the heavens as one brother desires another’s bread and is bent to take another’s resources. This magnificent jewel that hangs upon nothing is our home it has kept a dependable schedule bringing our winters and summers on time as we travel in a universe designed for our pleasure.            

The momentum never tires this motion of movement turns days to nights and another rotation is accomplished the colors change defining seasons.  Music plays to how one is affected. Weeping and joy meet and mingle according to where you are and who you are, yet…all are the children of the same family. The whole earth is trembling spilling innocent blood, man is at war with himself.

Our earth is contaminated with contempt. The seasons are so affected great storms of unrestrained violence are beating themselves against an unrepentant world. The rage of a cultivated appetite for inhumanity is felt in common everyday activity.

 Who is safe? History is our bridge.

We walk on the same collapsible weak structure.

My breath is getting shallow my fingers reach for the filmy evening sun rays as I soar on the possibilities, whirling on a merry go round through a few hours of life.    

Outside my window fog falls over the mountains bringing cooling air after the relentless sun the changing scenes are vivid as a rainbow of silky clouds holds me. I bow my head for my wounded family who suffers at the hands of his brothers. We silently swing on our way to another season, the sun becomes obscure. How long can we ride?

 

Dale Angel

 

 

Writers Forum is open to submissions for the blog or the newsletter.

Type of Material and Guidelines for e-newsletter and Website Submission: 1.) Your articles on the art or craft of writing. 2.) Essays on subjects of interest to writers. (200 words can be quoted without permission but with attribution.) 3.) Book or author reviews. 4.) Letters to the Editor or Webmaster. 5.) Information on upcoming events, local or not. 6.) Photos of events. 7.) Advertise your classes or private events. 8.) Short fiction 9.) Poetry

Please submit copy to the editor at writersforumeditor@gmail.com . Electronic submissions only. Microsoft Word format, with the .docx file extension, is preferred but any compatible format is acceptable. The staff reserves the right to perform minor copy editing in the interest of the website’s style and space.

Twenty Years of 9/11

Writers Forum President Laura Hernandez submitted a Letter from the President that we decided would work better on the blog instead of a newsletter. Laura shares her reflections on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Please feel free to comment with your own reflections on this unforgettable day.

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Laura Hernandez

I’ve never written about 9/11 before and I may never again, but on the 20th anniversary, I had to.

One of my favorite websites opened their space to let people share their remembrances of that day, hoping it would help to cope. I dunno what will ever help.

What our intelligence from that time to now shows us is that they came to kill us because they were jealous, angry and wanted to bring us down, financed by a rich brat of 13 who couldn’t get the attention of his father. The take-over pilots and the muscle guys were mostly Saudis whose citizens all get a check just for living in Saudi Arabia. What were they so pissed about?

That Day, 20 years ago, I was driving from my home in Dixon, to an appointment in Sacramento in my job as an investigator for a national law firm. There was a personal injury I had to take pictures and statements for.

As I left the house, I saw the first plane hit the first tower and thought, “How could that pilot not see that tower?”

By the time the second plane hit the second tower a few minutes later, I and everyone else knew this wasn’t an accident but a planned, coordinated attack on the literal pillars of America.

My boss told me over the phone to go back home because the state capitol of the most populous state might also be a target. The skies became quiet and everyone’s day halted in front of their home televisions, with hands to mouths and hot tears on faces.

We found out who they were and we went to Afghanistan to hunt down the planners, the leaders, the supporters of the men who came to our land to kill us. We also thought that if we help their country out of poverty, they would be our partners and wouldn’t have any need to be jealous or angry or murderous.

That’s what the generals and the department heads said. Our intelligence helped us find who we needed to find and our Afghan partners on the ground said they would help us take them out. Letting them have a stake in the “getting” would give them the pride and accomplishment they would need to re-take their country. But they didn’t. They let him get away. We told them to vote for their president to unify their tribes. They asked, “What’s a president?”

Our troops on the ground rotated in and out each serving something like a year. They did the same things day after day, taking and re-taking land, dirt, hills, mountains, people. They talked to the smiling people. Soldiers never took their sunglasses off, and talked to women directly. Any cultural anthropologist would have told the soldiers to take off their sunglasses and not direct conversation to Afghan women’s faces. Our intelligence wasn’t all that intelligent. We did it wrong.

Our intelligence said he was hiding in a cave scared and unconnected. He was really living in the next country, in a multi-storied, walled compound in a resort city, down the street from Pakistan’s West Point; with video games, wives and children, receiving and sending messages through a Courier. The audio-taping of the prisoners’ telling each other not to talk about The Courier during interrogations told us that. We followed the Courier. And we got that part right after arguments and a 50-50 bet. We got him and buried him at sea with no pictures.

And yet we stayed to re-build. Until we left.

Now there are memorials in D.C., N.Y. and in Pennsylvania where locals are tired of tourists and journalists who just take not give and the town just wants to keep its shrinking schools open and its economy gasping. Can’t even see the site from the road.

We all see angry people on planes not behaving, arguing with flight personnel who vowed to not let anyone take over their plane. Not again. Never again. It’s a mask, a drink, duct tape, a box cutter. I think of the days no planes flew 20 years ago. The War on Terror is a War on Ourselves. Can’t we get some Intelligence on this?

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Writers Forum is open to submissions for the blog or the newsletter.

Type of Material and Guidelines for e-newsletter and Website Submission: 1.) Your articles on the art or craft of writing. 2.) Essays on subjects of interest to writers. (200 words can be quoted without permission but with attribution.) 3.) Book or author reviews. 4.) Letters to the Editor or Webmaster. 5.) Information on upcoming events, local or not. 6.) Photos of events. 7.) Advertise your classes or private events. 8.) Short fiction. 9.) Poetry.

Please submit copy to the editor at writersforumeditor@gmail.com . Electronic submissions only. Microsoft Word format, with the .docx file extension, is preferred but any compatible format is acceptable. The staff reserves the right to perform minor copy editing in the interest of the website’s style and space.

George T. Parker

Webmaster/Newsletter Editor