Holidays and Holy Days

a writing prompt from Maya Stein for you

Welcome to Writing in Company. This is a community for you, whatever your experience with writing. It’s an invitation to write about what matters—grief, gratitude, grace, and more. Each week I share some words and a writing prompt, meant to be jumping-off points. Use the prompts however you like—to journal, to draft thoughts for your own writing project, as meditation or prayer ideas, or for another creative endeavor. You can always look back through the archive for more ideas. Grab your pen and paper, and let your words loose on the page.

I bought more than I wanted to over the Black Friday to Cyber Monday holiday frenzy this year. I told myself it’s because we are in a new-to-us house that begs to feel like home—at least as much as a parsonage can.

• The kids are coming home, so there’s a new giant guest bed to put together in one room.

• Also a new TV for the common space downstairs because they stay up laaaate, and the other TV is too close to our bedroom for that nonsense.

• The dog ate Dan’s new hardback Bible and a photography book, so we she had to replace those.

• We went downtown to a small business Saturday event and I bought a couple Christmas gifts there, supporting local Western North Carolina artists and businesses.

• I did avoid ordering the pricey lined drapes for the living room, and ordered from Ikea instead.

• And the boots I need want need are somehow still on sale today, so maybe someone else can order those for me….

I’d rather not start off the Advent season with this kind of browsing and shopping and spending, but I’ve given myself a break for multiple reasons. We also put up a tree the earliest we’ve ever done it. We need the light, yes? The push-pull of desire vs. simplicity, and consumerism vs. spirit is too complicated this year. I don’t even want to examine it enough to write about it. I’m under a blanket on the couch with the tree lights on and I might stay here awhile.

With all that in mind, this week’s poem from Maya Stein resonated. The “ninja poet” has written a weekly 10-line poem for almost 20 years. Here’s what her website says:

Since June 2005, I have kept a short-form writing practice I call “10-line Tuesday.” I compose and send out via email an original (10-line) poem each week. To date, I have written more than 950 of these poems. Each week, more than 2,000 subscribers receive my work in their inboxes. To sign up to receive a poem in your inbox every Tuesday, go here. For an archive of poems, go here.

You can also subscribe to her Substack newsletter, 10 Lines, for “musings about a life centered on creative work…and creative work centered on life.”

I’ve corresponded with Maya and have her permission to share her poems with you. Here’s this week’s.

holy days

What would Jesus buy is a question I’ve never asked myself
when considering the small business boom of a Black Friday deal.
But the refrigerators lining the center aisle at Macleod’s emit
an altar vibe. Holy sheen of stainless steel. Ice dispensers like tithing bowls.
I walk past each set of closed doors, faithfully read the literature
at the handles. A shepherd by the name of Jason leads us
through the maze of ranges next, and when the word “induction”
enters our exchange, I see the rising steam from a future stew,
like incense from a thurible, and we as acolytes trailing behind it.
Soon, I know, the swoon will break, interrupted by the pads of fingers
on a calculator keypad. For now, I lose myself to the haloed, hapless belief
my existence depends on a wifi-enabled Frigidaire and a stovetop that can
miraculously boil water in 30 seconds. And look, a button I can press
to turn it all off.

© Maya Stein

a writing prompt

Take a line, an image, or an idea from the poem, and use it to start your writing. Keep your pen moving, and see what your words have to tell you. Try a ten-line poem if you like. It doesn’t have to rhyme, and as always here—grammar and spelling don’t count. This writing is for you.

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Photo by Odiseo Castrejon on Unsplash