“Ahh!”
“Waah! Waah!”
(police sirens in distance)
“The ghetto is not somewhere, where I should be… I don’t feel safe…”
“Don’t worry, this is my 'hood. I know the ins and outs.
See that hooker on the corner of Davis and Briggs?
Her name is Patrice,
she comes into my mom’s Laundromat all the time and always offers to buy my mom lunch when the ‘mat is super packed.
And, see that tag on the back of ‘ol Mr. Johnson’s garage?
My boy Juan – you know Juan, don’t look at me like I’m making him up, I went to grade school with him – well, my boy Juan tagged it last week as he joined the East Side Boys…
Oh! See that house over there…
no,
not the brick one,
the white one,
yeah that one!
Well, three people got murdered in there last year, there’s always drug deals going on in there...”
“Yeah! exactly my point
this is no place for me.
I have no ties,
I owe this area nothing.
I see that hooker as a hooker. I stand at the ‘edge’
[The Writing Life] of your neighborhood and look into it just to see the plain facts out in the open, where you see what I’m missing,
you see why things happen here.
I see through all of the s t r u g g l e s and s t o r i e s embedded into the pavement here as though they are...
‘the transparent means to an end’[The Writing Life]…
(sigh)
‘I don’t understand, how I should be here when I don’t understand why the people here do as they do’ [The Writing Life].”
“I thought you came here ‘to learn things’ [The Writing Life]…
to learn about where I come from,
to learn about my whole life?
'Every experience I have ever acquired, is apart of me and who I am as a person. it shapes everything that I do' [Writing From The Center]. ”
“I did, I just…
(sigh)
‘I just pictured it differently. I guess I was wrong in thinking I could bring this idea I’ve had in my head of your life outside of me to life.’ [The Writing Life] ”
4 comments:
This is a really interesting approach, Sarah. Can you tell us a little more and give us some context for understanding it?
Hmmm... I chose a conversation, well because I was having trouble discerning my thoughts about the two writings... going based off my own opinions, I felt like I was in a tug-a-war... which is kinda like what I was trying to show through my conversation-- one character would pull one way, and then the other would pull back (Writing from the Center would make me want a very strong background but then The Writing Life would make strong arguments, that if you are imagining the setting exactly how it should be, it is not even close to how it is, and you lose sight of the point of the writing-- I feel like a very descriptive setting, adds to the story's overall impact on a reader, it makes the story come more alive and you have a better picture in your head, but a vague setting gives you some room to let your imagination run wild and make the story more tailored to your own life...
umm... does this help?
Yes! This absolutely helps. I especially like that you gave voice to both aspects of your own thoughts. You embraced the complexity of the issue rather than suppressing it.
Thanks! I'm glad I could clarify what I was feeling, even if it isn't clear how I feel. :)
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