If Only...

With the recent autumn equinox, I'm feeling the season's changes -- the smell of garden tomatoes roasting in the oven in rosemary, thyme and garlic-infused olive oil fills my kitchen this morning. What else is stewing?

Last week I finally pulled my favorite essay from my thesis collection to revise and polish for publication. What a relief it was to break through the wall of writer's block I've had! What challenging, mind-boggling joy it is to cut and paste sentences and sections as I restructure the puzzle pieces and rediscover ways to move the story forward... and I'm still in the thick of it.

While I'm aiming high with this submission (I've got ZYZZYVA or even The Sun Magazine in mind), publishing one's writing can take many forms. Sometimes, just to get your words out there, it's great to post on a blog or other public forum.

Marlene Cullen -- founder and host of the Writers Forum -- offers a monthly prompt for writers to post on her website The Write Spot. When I saw September's writing prompt "If only..." I immediately pulled from my file cabinet a binder of poems written in my youth and opened to a page titled the same. This poem of longing begins:

If Only...
I lived in a Mission flat,
I could hear laughter 
of children who speak two
languages.. 

Read on... including others' submissions on the same page.