VII. No, leave that one on the ground. Don’t be fooled by the ruddy lustre captivating your tongue’s imagination. It looks like a crisp bite, a mouthful of firm flesh and sweet juice. Turn it over. See where the taut skin thinned, failed open to marauders. Leave it. Let it nourish next year’s fruit. K. … Continue reading Next Year’s Fruit
Category: Writing
A Children’s Story (Excerpt)
I'm currently writing a children's story. It's a great deal of fun, primarily because I'm writing with my children in mind, thinking about what will interest and entertain them. They really are the perfect audience: endlessly forgiving and easily amused. In this story, I'm just getting to know a particular character. I know she walks every morning and … Continue reading A Children’s Story (Excerpt)
In the Quiet
IV. LORD, one of these days I’ll stop singing other people’s songs. Their words will die on my lips when a simple melody creeps out of my fearful heart and makes a dash for freedom, growing stronger in the light like all things good. K. Ashby
Short Stories
I have written two short stories solely for the purpose of exploring individual characters from a longer work. There were two benefits to this exercise. First, I got a firmer grasp on each character's motivations. Second, I was able to procrastinate on the longer work and still claim to be writing. The following excerpt is the … Continue reading Short Stories
Some Thoughts
VI. Some thoughts I think so quietly I don't realize that they're there, lightly passing. My mind might grasp one and take it out for air, but some-- some are stuffed out of sight-- locked tight away where two small windows let in the light of day. K. Ashby
In the Company of Trees
Six years ago, when my family moved from a suburban lot in Texas to the feet of Great Smoky Mountain National Park, I felt we had entered Eden. Rivers brimmed with water, the landscape curved voluptuous, and trees covered hills and mountains in the rich, warm shades of autumn. Soon after our arrival, I wrote the following. I … Continue reading In the Company of Trees
In the Quiet 