This workshop was conducted by Frances Lefkowitz. She is the author of several books, and has many awards under her belt. She was fantastic. I absolutely loved being in that workshop. Beautiful person, and full of knowledge which she graciously share with us. Her way of teaching was very simple and to the point. Very creative with her words and very supportive of our work.
She gave these prompts for us to write a micro memoir in fifteen minutes.
Blue, Mangle, Perfume, Altitude, Badger, Scarf and Wish.
Here’s what I wrote.
{The call came around 4:30 in the morning. “Dr. Ali, there is a homicide, and we need you for the autopsy in the morning.” It was my birthday, and my first thought was ‘oh I wish I didn’t have to do this autopsy!’
I drove up to St. Mary’s Hospital, which was on a hill top with an altitude of about 3000 feet. Not a long distance, but it irked me nevertheless. that I had to do this on a Sunday- and, on my birthday.
What I saw, I cannot forget to this day. A little boy with blue eyes, bordered with blood, his little body badgered and bruised, arms mangled, and his eyes staring out, as if wishing for deliverance from parents that abused him
There was a scarf on a chair in the morgue, with some blood splattered on it. I was not sure where the paramedics had found it, but we did take pictures of it . And as I started the autopsy, I realized that for the first time in recent memory, I had left the house without wearing any perfume.}
Ta daah!
I was so thrilled, because every one clapped and really liked my writing. And Frances critiqued my memoir by praising it, sentence by sentence. By the way this was not a fiction. This really happened in 1980.
Nicely written — interesting that your entry and exit were both sentences about yourself, encasing the story with a reminder that it was a memory of your own!
The word Blue clinched the essay for me. That little boy had the bluest eyes. I don’t know if the intensity of the blue was real or it was augmented by the blood surrounding the cornea that brought the color out more vividly. Every time I see blue eyes, I am always taken aback and remember that day.
Oh – that is beautifully written. The second sentence in the third paragraph is interesting – so many “b”s. It would probably take me a couple of hours to write something interesting.
Yeah, she remarked about the alliteration in that paragraph. Thank you Matt.
Alliteration – that’s the word I was looking for!
ha ha ha you are so funny! But, I go through those periods of amnesia too. ❤ 🙂
Enjoy your workshop
I did.
Oh! I’m so glad you shared some of your writing from your amazing writer’s weekend! Excellent write from the prompts, SweetZ.! (interesting prompts!) And that this story is from your memory, part of your journey, makes it even more heartfelt.
That poor little boy! 😦 Breaks my heart! 😦 Thank you for being able to do the job for him with dignity, love and gentle hands!
I put myself through college working at an Emergency Sheltered Care Home for abused, abandoned, and neglected children ages birth to 18. We provided a safe, happy, healthy place for them to live for days or weeks or months, until they could be cared for by a safe relative or a foster family. Some of the children’s horror stories haunt me to this day. 😦 I think of them and wonder how they are doing. I blogged on all of this a long time ago on Xanga.
(((HUGS)))
You are such an amazing lady Carolyn! How diligent you were (are) in your youth. I cannot see little children in poverty or needing help. And this little boy, five years old, didn’t have a chance. I had to go to Chicago Cook County court house and I had to be the expert witness for the prosecution. The mother and her live in boyfriend were sent to prison. It was not easy for me and for my little children. It has been thirty six years, and I still feel as if it was yesterday.
Aw, thank you! I loved that job!
Yes. I understand the feeling of “as if it were yesterday.”
I am glad you are enjoying your workshop! Nicely Done. What a heartbreaking moment, though.
Leah, when this lady started giving us the prompts, she said that she had a friend who played the prompt game with her on the social media, and would give hard and funny prompts. I thought of you, and wondered if you were that friend.
I hope I attend one of your workshops someday in the near future.
The life you’ve lead, Z! Such a sad story, but well done indeed.
Thank you so much Lyne. The mind (my mind) is like the proverbial Pandora’s box. you never know what you will discover there~~~for that matter, I don’t know what I would find in it either! 😉
HA! I relate in BIG ways.
As always, beautifully written. I loved it..even more so when I read it was true. You have lived an amazing adventure. 😉 love and hugs.
Hope you are feeling good Elizabeth, and the family is all on the road to good health. Thank you for your sweet comment.
Wirth some words you wrote a story which we would believe it is true .
You always will amaze me, Zakiah
Love ❤
Michel
awesome prompt poem. and that really happened to you? i can’t imagine what else you may have experienced that could be as gory.