IWSG and A Poem a Day 6: Words in the Air

Today's prompt by Robert Brewer for Day 6 of the Poem a Day Challenge is to take the phrase "a (blank) in the (blank)," replace the blanks with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: "Poem in the Pocket," or "Skin in the Game," or whatever phrase you find appealing.

Words in the Air

If ever a writer wrote
a story, a poem, a book, then
faced down the challenge of reading those words
into a microphone or in front of an audience,
those words that floated once in imagination,
that took shape on paper, on a computer screen,
slowly emerged from dreams into scenes,
somehow now hover in the air
to beguile, to transform into something,
something entirely new.
Was that the goal? To bring to life
that first gasp of an almost word,

a heart's cry shaped to air,
ever after irrevocably here?

Those words take on their own direction,

their own meaning as others

repeat them: What brings change

as we listen? How are we changed?

Which words, which lines resonate for us,

forever fixed in our own imagination?

Zelensky's pleas yet echo.

As Robert Frost wrote, 

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

and sorry I could not travel both . . . ."

Sometimes we hear and do not listen.

We do not change.

We do not act.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Today also marks the first Wednesday of the month, another writing challenge, the  Insecure Writer's Support Group. Nearly 140 writers, including me, post our thoughts on our blogs to celebrate writing in some way -- maybe sharing doubts or concerns, maybe celebrating our writing achievements, or offering encouragement to each other.

If you'd like to participate, why not sign up, post your own thoughts on your blog, check out the guidelines on the IWSG LINK, and visit about 12 other writers! 

Stop by our co-hosts for this month and say thank you to: Joylene Nowell Butler, Jemima Pett, Patricia Josephine, Louise - Fundy Blue, and Kim Lajevardi.

This month's IWSG optional question is: Have any of your books been made into audio books? If so, what is the main challenge in producing an audiobook? (And now you know where today's poem began . . . )

Yes, two of my books have been made into audiobooks. Most challenging was finding a reader for the process is time-consuming and expensive. You can pay upfront (typically hundreds of dollars per hour) or create a royalty share. Either way, the recompense to author or voice actor is small and slow. Some people suggest that listeners would like to hear the author voice her own story. That requires special equipment and possibly renting a studio (or creating one in a closet with blankets).

The process itself is no less daunting, for after the voice actor completes his or her work, the author must review every sound bite, send corrections, and review those corrections. Both times, this part of the process took months. I hope to hear more positive experiences from other IWSG writers.

And an update on my writing: Covid still affects us all in unexpected ways. My beta reader happily is recovering, but I'm still holding my breath a bit as I wait for her comments on the final, hopefully final draft of Scattered Stones, my next historical novel set in Scotland in the 1840s, set to launch at the end of April. 

I'm still looking for a few more readers who are willing to read and review in exchange for a free advance copy of Scattered Stones. Please do e-mail me if you are interested!