The History of Spilled Ink
or
How on Some Nights I Stopped Talking and Wrote Something Down
YEAR 7
WRITERS: BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE!
January 2021
1-8-21
Spilled Ink EAST
17 writers help Spilled Ink celebrate our Six-Year Anniversary!
Beverly Ann Bendekgey had to leave early.
Thomas “Dr. Love” Burson - “First Dandelion Afternoon”
Eloise Wallace – “The Sounds of Those Tapping Little Feet”
Alice Mergler – She read Paulette Gardner’s MLK Day piece, “The Disintegrations of Injustice”
Terry Joseph – “Balalaika” [Think: the CliffsNotes version of Doctor Zhivago]
Lesley Tyson and, her cat, Bogart Devereaux – “Doors & Stars” and “Haunting the Shadows”
Katherine Gotthardt – “Aftermath”
Megan McDonald – “Winter 1996” and “Swing”
Kimberly Ray – “Let Me Bother You” and “It’s All Okay”
Lucy Koons – An essay, “Captain Jack” [Chevy Trailblazer]
Lucy was inspired by Gail William’s memoirs!
Laura Bobrow – Form her book, “A Little Bit of Banter,” she read, “The Unfortunate Beetle” and “Jim”
Andrew Smiley – “Not Even Any Ash” and “Seder Surprise” [Matzah Ball Soup]
Brian Donnell James – “Daddy's Hands” and “The Hispanic Girl (Recuerda)”
Ruth Matthews – “Too Soon Empty” (short story)
John Cowgill Father - “Time for New Year’s Day” and “Baby New Year for New Year’s Day”
Robert Fleming – “Crow Murder Haiku” and “We Zoom Again”
Me – “An Among Us Mystery” (short story)
1-22-21
Spilled Ink
Me – I read Joe DeCesare’s “Memoir Mind Mush”
Alice Mergler - “Thoughts on an Approaching Covid Test”
Dan Leahy – “Sun Streams Through the Coffeeshop Window”
Brian Donnell James – “God’s Poetry” and “A Tillage of Earth”
Lesley Tyson – “Life Interrupts” and “Morning”
Thomas Burson – “Sanguine and Sagacious,” “Sandbox Pirates,” and “Times of Day”
Morgan Hazelwood – Opening to her space fantasy story, “A Dream of Stellar Ships”
Jim Boucher – “Monthly Pageants,” “Sacred Numbers,” and “Jilted”
Kimberly Ray – “Have You Noticed,” “The Looking Glass,” and “Home”
Beverly Ann Bendekgey – “The Haunted Heart”
Gail Williams – “The Christmas Village”
Robert Fleming – “Lament for Jonah” and “Phenomena Alien Lawsuit Demands”
Sandy O’Connor – A children’s story, “Hootie, the Hula Hoop”
Megan McDonald – “Hold My Heart,” “Letting the Cat Out of the Bag,” and “Real Betty”
Susan Bardenhagen [First Zoom] – “Size Matters”
John Cowgill – “The Beauty of the Waterfall,” “She Was Waiting,” and “The Good Spilled Ink Man”
Me- [Three Haiku] – “Netflix Yet Again,” “Does He Love Me?” and “Olive Garden”
I received this text from Joe DeCesare…
Hey John! Whoa! That’s a lot of papers! Nothing really new comes to mind... (I’ve been spending a fair amount of time writing and recording music, I guess.) So, I wrote a little something new, just for you! Hope this helps!
Memoir Mind Mush
(A Memorial)
All the papers I’ve read,
And the things that they’ve said,
Are turning my mind to mush in my head.
I need some new words,
To fill up the space,
The space that I find in the back of my face.
These words must be great,
These words must be cool,
To erase all the words of the kids at my school.
1-29-21
Spilled Ink Jr. hosts THE BENTON MS STORY SLAM
Spilled Ink, Jr. Story Slam | Title of Memoir |
Barb Babauta, LA7 Teacher | Miss America |
Nate Desmond | Busted Chin |
Xavier Staats | A Tale of Two Quarters |
Matt Frost | Conquering the Coasters |
Charlie Lasher | My Trip to the Eastern Shore |
Claire Denny | Custody |
Ava Schrecentgost | The Broken Bed Frame |
Caleb May | The Breaking of Scabs in September |
Maddy Dumais | Turtle Time |
Daniella Guarino | The Big Break |
Robin Hilliard, LA7 Teacher |
The Incident |
Nikki Alemzadeh | Summer Waves |
Raiqa Kamal | The Sink |
Grace Quinn | Why You should Listen to your Parents |
Jasmin Hernandez Villalta | If Only I Would Have Listened |
Elizabeth York | Never Do a Challenge You Find on the Internet |
Ethan Kwon | Toughest Times in Elementary" School |
Emery Sheren | Nothing |
Savannah Svrilinga | 5th Grade Breakthrough |
Benny Argueta | How I Got Saved |
Sean Fippinger | Stitches |
Naomi Hill | Thought I had a Friend |
Emma Jordan | Environmental Reality |
Hannah Lozon | Cutting My Ear with Glass |
Isabel Sepulveda | When My Organ Almost Exploded |
Evan Sprung | A Trip to Grandma's House |
Loren Vandivere, LA7 Teacher |
Professional Phone Voice |
Bree Porter | Oregon Trail, Porter Edition |
Joey Fortunato | First Flying Trip |
Rihanna Lindquist | My Last Assembly |
Helena Spivak | Best Friends |
John Dutton, LA7 Teacher |
Four Words That Changed My Life |
Nate Antoine | The Funeral |
Jasmine McKinnon | Elvis |
February 2021
2-12-21
Spilled Ink EAST
Alice Mergler suggested a theme of “Love Poems on Any Topic” for tonight to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It was wonderful!
“Poems are medicinal.” ~Kim B. Miller.
Me – I read Brittany Sabatino’s “A Lover for All Days” [SEE BELOW]
Alice Mergler – She read poems from Kim B. Miller’s book, “My Poetry is the Beauty You Overlook” and one of her own, “The Red, White, and Blue of our National Anthem”
Thomas Burson – “Backwards is Easy with So Much to Unlearn,” “First Lesson,” and “My Teacher”
Me – [Cinquain] – “Lover”
Brian Donnell James – “Shy One,” “In the Loving,” and “Creole Girl”
Susan Bardenhagen – [Two Haikus] “Love Music” and “Princess Sugar Thumbs”
Kelly Haneklau [First Timer] – “Art, Thou Art My Love”
Willeena “Leena” Booker [First Timer] – “David’s Love Story”
Lesley Tyson – “Life Interrupted,” “Vertical Position, Horizontal Desire,” and “Already Elsewhere”
Kim B. Miller [First Zoom] – [Poem] “Love,” [Haikus] “Loyalty,” “Companionship,” “Counseling,” “Battles,” “Goodbyes,” “Puddles,” “Love or Lust,” “She Don’t Want Him,” and “Lock and Key”
Paulette Gardner – “Spreading Memories of Love”
Sandy O’Connor – “Amy Anne”
Jim Boucher – “Always in My Sometimes,” “Thanks for Thoughtful,” and “Find the Moment”
Lucy Koons – “Black Forest Clock”
Tony Atkinson [First Timer] – “Roses are Red”
Cathy Hailey – “A Son’s Love for Taxis”
John Cowgill – “To a Woman Who is Gorgeous” and “Woman”
Megan McDonald – From the Arakesh Scrolls: “Hades,” “Beyond Lazarus,” “Jewel box,” and “Winter Songs”
Katherine Gotthardt – “Kitchen Clear”
Nick Hale – A dream, “Our First Victory of the Football Season”
Hey John,
I can’t attend tonight but I did write a poem for Alice’s poetry challenge if you could read it tonight for me.
Thank you,
Brittany
A lover for all days
You put a smile on my face,
That cold, gray mornings can’t displace.
As a love, you can’t be replaced.
Whether cold or hot,
Frequently in my thoughts.
You really hit the spot.
Morning or afternoon delight,
Sometimes dark or sometimes light,
Depending on my International Delight.
A witch’s brew,
The seduction of you,
Turns one cup into two.
Rebuffing addiction,
Claiming power of eviction
If I have the conviction,
But we both know this is fiction.
-Coffee. My liquid lover
