They laugh and shake their heads, my old acquaintances,
call this one too far a stretch of the imagination,
a coffee klatch of longtime listeners,
weighing in on my current story idea.
They are well-aware how I love to make things up,
my constant fiction bent, all the time
thinking about fabrications, piecing together
then undoing, then re-piecing details.
They are always watching my brain at work attempting
to write a kind of certificate of authenticity
in words I weave together, forge in ways where
I hope to make everything seem true.
They are my go-to test audience, forever willing
to put up with my current what-if and suppose-this,
even though some ideas, like today’s, apparently stretch
the boundaries of credibility almost to breaking.
They end up shaking their heads “no” this time,
tell me this one will not work, and I wonder
if I can trust them, sit here imagining their motives,
ask why I keep talking to them as if they were here.
* * * * *
Today’s word is
audience
Use it in a piece of writing, or to spark a piece of writing, and then post that piece as a comment below. I would love to read it : )
Lanning Lee 