Why Write? The Word. by Betsy Woods

Writers Ellie Bryant and Betsy Woods at a Writer's Conference in New Orleans

#1. I write because of the word.

#2. I write because the word is the beginning of story.

#3. I write because story tells the tale of being.

#4. I write because I breathe.

#5. I write because I am learning my own tale of being.

#6. I write because it feels fully authentic in me.

#7. I write because I believe that the Creative expresses through metaphor.

#8. Wisteria Drive is where I first learned why I write. My childhood home was on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. There was space to daydream story, buoyed by waves, applauded by cattails. I was one of seven children and always shared a room. But, at the end of the hallway there was a coat closet. I wrote inside with the help of a flashlight.

#9. Here in this remembering I found a poem: it was waiting for me to share.



#10. Water Bodies

Time floats; lilybuds lick the sway and bloom, are crucified: Humming, I
didn’t know then
the lake
that laps the shore
that nourishes
Soil; was a Breast : who whispered: you, me and You, the suckling
that lifted my home
was a book
I was invited to read.
And web: in linen, scorched my light: word.
That is all I have to say.
. . . body – that water body spoke.
said, waves roll, bring growth: you are my bride.
I said yes. And scribbled story.