The Pyrenees---Southern France

The Pyrenees---Southern France

Monday, June 20, 2011

Magpie Tale #70



        Tess Kincaid brings it every week. Every week, another photo, another invitation, another chance to hone our writing craft.

       This is the 70th Magpie Tale, and your mission (if you choose to accept it) is to write a poem or a short vignette, using the photo as inspiration.

        After you write one, link it via Mr. Linky at Magpie Tales and read and comment on the others' tales.

         Following the photo is my Magpie for this week.


         She held the photo in her hand. The number meant nothing to her. Last summer, her great-granddaughter had gone through the dusty, thumbed-edged portraits and together, they numbered them chronologically. She said, "Nana, now we'll have like a timeline of you and what you looked like. Isn't that tight?"

          Tight? What was constricting about it? She let it pass, not understanding, but just nodded a bit.

          Photo # 199 was Margaret at 19, already a mother, but still so beautiful. (Even if she did say so herself!) Her eyes clear, her skin flawless, her face unlined.

           More than six decades had slipped between her fingers since that portrait was taken. Now her eyes were a milky blue. Her skin was as fragile as crepe paper. Her face was cross-hatched with deep crevices.

         Where had the time gone?  And how many other photos were waiting in the wings, still untaken?

(Only after I read Tess Kincaid's Magpie did I examine the photo once again, and felt silly. Of course it is a price, not just a three-digit number!  Since I realized that too late, I went in another direction when I wrote my Magpie Tale.

Which is okay, because as long as we're writing, we're using our writing muse-cles, which means we're working on our craft.)

32 comments:

  1. Such a lovely take on the prompt, photo no. 199, I hope she has many more taken.

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  2. I like the idea of it being a numbering system rather than a price! Love the great-grand-daughter element =-) Thanks for your comment!

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  3. Beautiful, Sioux. You captured the mood of this photo perfectly, a serious but happy young mother.
    I wish I had gone through the old photos with my grandmother. I wish I had known my great-grandmother. So many wishes for so many too-lates.
    — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  4. I like where you went with this,(199) its better not knowing sometimes, I love the idea of the photos waiting in the wings untaken :)

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  5. Love this take, your translation of the number, being a system to cue those who follow. Well penned.

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  6. You make me chuckle ... I never saw the "199" until I read Tess's lovely piece either. However, it wouldn't have mattered for it was the oldness of the photo that inspired me. I like your piece. It reminds me of who I am.

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  7. I love Margaret's story. I like that you 'knew' who she was. Beautifully written.

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  8. It's not a price, but rather, the statement of an extraordinary woman who could only communicate in mathematical terms. Here, she is saying...well, I have no idea what the batty old bird is saying. But still!

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  9. Your take on the number is a fine show of creative license. Don't apologize...you took the normal and twisted it for your story, making it something unique. Kind of like Anne Lamott and Stephen King. Pretty good company to be in, if you ask me. :)

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  10. I love what you did, too. It's your story and it's terrific.

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  11. It's uplifting that your take was a more positive one than this woman being relegated to the second-hand bin! Love the positive take!

    Rick

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  12. nice story esp to end with a question...

    JJRod'z

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  13. It is so nice when you can have a name and date
    on Photographs; my Mother in law is great at that
    my Mother wasn't. Thanks!

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  14. …and i call it “stolen beauty”… gone are those days of pleasure and graces but ‘tis only in time not in one’s heart.. we have nearly same thoughts ‘bout the prompt this week, i should say… though, the one i have was written when i was 15 and now i’m 20… it was actually published on my very first blog now defunct already…. i had a terrible days since the beginning of bad weather last week and i feel like empty for this magpie tale that’s why i decided to rerun this long-buried sonnet… i just made some revisions so as to fit the prompt somehow… thanks for your appreciations.(:

    Brightest blessings.

    ~Kelvin

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  15. You did a fine job of evoking the mood of the photo.

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  16. Love your take..as long as we keep writing..no mistakes..lovely!!

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  17. well done- a slight twist on the number- I like it!

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  18. Liked your Magpie Tale, Sue.
    That is so even if it were to made into a movie it would be a Chick Flick film.
    ..

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  19. No matter the number ... your Magpie is wonderful!

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  20. Old photos bring back so many memories. One of these days I shall have to go through my boxes and sort them out.

    I enjoyed this magpie, it makes me think back.

    And no, it absolutely doesn't matter how we see the prompts, we can all play with them as we like.

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  21. I think it's brilliant you used a number instead of price... and I love this piece. You describe the old lady well.

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  22. Great response to the prompt. Variety with the number brought out a different tale for this Magpie. Loved Nana and her great grand daughter!

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  23. Hey, the prompts are just suggestions, not rules, right? I like where you went with this one. Brought back fond memories of times with my grandmother.

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  24. My initial reaction to the picture was how sad it was that this photograph of someone once so beautiful and surely dearly loved had sold for only $1.99. Your take was richer and sweeter. Love that final sentence.

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  25. I love the idea of her going through her life's photos. Organizing them, sharing the thoughts and memories with her granddaughter. It is strange when I look back 20+ years and I gaze at my face, a younger me and think... am I still her?

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  26. I think the numbering of the photos is an original ideal. Well done. :)

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  27. Good, thoughtful take on the prompt.

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  28. Love your interpretation of the 199. Nice write, Sioux.

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  29. I like the way you used the numbers - they have so much validity in this piece - very, very nice!

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  30. This is really beautiful, I loved your take on the prompt! I loved to this sense of vulnerability as we age.

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  31. I liked your take. It made me re-look the photograph. Creativity is what we make of it...

    a statement

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  32. Wonderful! I've got to remember to participate in this!

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