The Assemblage Newsletter #67
Welcome to this week’s newsletter from Assemblage. These newsletters go out every Friday to highlight some of the top works from the past week. We hope these links (all friend links, so anyone can view them) find you hibernating until the time is right to wake up.
“Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.” — Ralph Ellison
Take this time to plan more overt action. Hold yourself accountable, but also give yourself a break. Take this time to rest.
Featured Writer
Each week we feature one of our writers and up to six of their essays or poems on the homepage underneath the Featured Essays and Featured Poems sections. This week our Featured Writer is Melissa Kerman. Melissa is into poetry, prose, and coffee. Full stop.
Collection
Collections are groupings of essays or poems with an overall theme. You can find Collections on the home page underneath the Featured Stories, Featured Poetry, and Featured Writer sections.
On Life features 11 different works from 11 different writers all with a nod to this thing we call life. This section is a great way to get acquainted with multiple works around one theme, as well as to find writers you haven’t read before or ones you shouldn’t miss. Take a look at our Collection this week and see what you may have missed.
On Life features one work each from Simran Kankas, Michelle Elizabeth, A Singular Story, George J. Ziogas, Jonathan Greene, Thomas Plummer, Niki Marinis, Gillian Sisley, Chloe Cuthbert, Pandora Domeyko, and Ellen Nguyen.
Essays and Poems From Last Week
Anonymous by Connie Song — her debut in Assemblage
“I stand beside my messy words,
one foot on the ground,
the other skateboarding on a star,
spilling ink and crushing parchment
into fine crystals of anger and velvet,
wherever my words would take me,
hoping they would somehow save me
from becoming forever anonymous,
sitting in the cool comfort of the afternoon shade.”
She Could Have Been My Friend by Em Unravelling
“We would have had so much to talk about if I had only got over my childish belief that she was stealing my beloved dad from me, and my groundless sense that she disapproved of or disliked me. For her part, she had been wary of me because she believed I was more protective of my mother than I ever actually was.”
My Sin Is Lost Time, Just Like Yours by Bradley J Nordell
“for in the end,
my sin is lost time,
just like yours
and when we pay our dues,
to the reaper,
I wonder,
what will be our final words?”
When Pandemic Fatigue Hits Hard, Hold Onto These Things by Megan Minutillo
“Take comfort in the slowness and stillness, even though it might be maddening, and frustrating, and against your typical way of being. Slowness teaches us patience. Stillness teaches us perseverance. They each teach us how to look inward for what we need, want, and feel — rather than looking to find those answers outward and elsewhere.”
The Anatomy of a Funeral by Jessica Lee McMillan
“Courteous platitudes,
and no reminders
of an untimely end,
in lieu of dead flowers
paths trawled clean
to keep appearances neat.”
How I’m Managing My Relationship Pet Peeves by Melissa Kerman
“So, perhaps in the sociological respect, my pet peeves winnow my dating pool for the better. But that’s probably the extent. I’ve declined second dates because the dude chewed too loud on the first. Or had some stupid catchphrase like “yeah buddy.” Or winked. God, winking is cringe.”
Cookie Monster by Greg Frankson
“and I don’t fiddle unless I got the proper instrument
you bring the ingredients and I’ll buy all the implements
playing with your flour helps me grow into significance
bowl and wooden spoon got two willing participants”
“You weren’t forced to whittle
Away at fictional glory
Or knots of hyperbole
To excavate the truth.”
Weekly Note
“That is the real spiritual awakening, when something emerges from within you that is deeper than who you thought you were. So, the person is still there, but one could almost say that something more powerful shines through the person.” — Eckhart Tolle
How are you going to emerge from this time? From this winter? Are you going to emerge refreshed and awake? How will you shine?
