The Assemblage Newsletter #74
Welcome to this week’s newsletter from Assemblage. These newsletters usually 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 writing, reading, or thinking, in peace.
“Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.” — Graham Greene
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 Bradley J Nordell. Bradley is a quantum physicist, science writer, explorer of the mind and philosophy, fiction writer, poetry, and creator of worlds.
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 Women features 11 different works from 11 powerful and dynamic women in our collective, written about womanhood. 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 Women features one work each from Florence Wanjiku, Simran Kankas, Lisa Alletson, Jessica Lee McMillan, Cara Harbstreet (She/Her), Kara B. Imle, Bonnie Barton, Em Unravelling, Michelle Elizabeth, Sana Rose, and Arlene Ambrose.
Essays and Poems From Last Week
Lessons From a Half-Century by Jonathan Greene
“A half-century of life has allowed me to be able to just sit in a field and do absolutely nothing except watch the grass grow and feel the wind blow. It’s the most freedom I’ve ever felt. It’s the most calm I’ve ever felt. And no, my mind is not empty. It churns. But the wind blows through my hair and the sun beats on my face and the only sound is nature. And I am ok.”
How to Write About the Heart by Kara B. Imle
“My heart is rain-soaked
sorrow-filled
sodden to overflowing.
It fills me to bursting and leaks
from every pore
until I could water the world with it.”
“There is a version of me still
huddled beneath down-sheltered dreams
Safe in body, but wrought of mind”
Your Life Didn’t Change, You Did by Arlene Ambrose
“You’ve suffered enough and decided it’s not serving you anymore. You’ve experienced joy, a taste of something more, so you commit to choosing better.”
Agnostic Shadows by Connie Song
“It was the day I lost everything,
love slipped through my fingers,
stoic faith mangled by agnostic shadows
leaving an enduring blemish on a varnished soul.”
Passion Is Perennial and I’m Not Sure What I Think About That by Em Unravelling
“It offends me on a deep level, the knowledge that one’s own intellectual wiring can be short-circuited even in middle- or old age by the electrifying jolt of an illicit connection with another human, a connection that begins to feel strong enough to power all sorts of poor decisions and life changes and even betrayals.”
Lone Stars by Jessica Lee McMillan
“Before this wireless cartography,
she dialed the planetarium line
for reports on the night sky
to find other lone stars.”
For The Strong Ones by Megan Minutillo
“Let yourself feel whatever it is that you’re going through — for your strength does not diminish the fact that you are still a deeply feeling human.”
Weekly Note
“There are 30,000 days in your life. When I was 24, I realized I’m almost 9,000 days down. There are no warm-ups, no practice rounds, no reset buttons. Your biggest risk isn’t failing, it’s getting too comfortable. Every day, we’re writing a few more words of a story. I wanted my story to be an adventure and that’s made all the difference.” — Drew Houston
Are you too comfortable? Maybe we all need to write a few more of our story.
