Finding Wonder as a Writer

What I love most about writing is uncovering the extraordinary in what most people consider ordinary. The curl on my daughter's hair. The dirt of a caliche road. A skirt that is so full you can lift it over your head while one part stays on the ground.

When I read a book I love incredible imagery some writers use. I love Sandra Cisneros, how she captures so much emotion in a twist of words. Poet Naomi Shihab-Nye is another. Her poem, San Antonio, is one of my favorites, as is this old poem, Free, by Eugene O'Neill.

Weary am I of the tumult, sick of the staring crowd,

Pining for wild sea places where the soul may think aloud.

Fled is the glamour of cities, dead as the ghost of a dream,

While I pine anew for the tint of blue on the breast of the old Gulf Stream.

I have had my dance with Folly, nor do I shirk the blame;

I have sipped the so-called Wine of Life and paid the price of shame;

But I know that I shall find surcease, the rest my spirit craves,

Where the rainbows play in the flying spray,

'Mid the keen salt kiss of the waves.

Then it's ho! for the plunging deck of a bark, the hoarse song of the crew,

With never a thought of those we left or what we are going to do;

Nor heed the old ship's burning, but break the shackles of care

And at last be free, on the open sea, with the trade wind in our hair.

Read more at http://www.poetry-archive.com/o/free.html#TCWwdoPs0AoDp53x.99

Writers, when we are at our best, uncover wonder so everyone can see it, experience it, and remember what it is to notice and be present in the world.

It's why I write, and what I strive to write.