Writers.com Community | Writing Showcase | Activity

Jerry Chasen posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Apology to Rumi (aka Rumi-nating)Rumi wrote “what you seek […]

Sat, 23 May 2026 14:40:32 -0400

Apology to Rumi (aka Rumi-nating)

Rumi wrote “what you seek is seeking you.”

Let’s suppose for a moment this is true.

I’m curious how it begins—just who

starts the seeking? Supposing I do:

the clearer it is that I consciously seek

the more prepared I am to guide and shape

what’s in my world. But maybe I can’t tweak

the seek…

Kathryn Veenhuizen posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: I have been working in my yard, in Oklahoma, trying […]

Wed, 20 May 2026 21:08:39 -0400

I have been working in my yard, in Oklahoma, trying to create a beautiful landscape. It has been a work in progress for nearly four years.

Our property is on a large corner lot with an expansive lawn and spacious flowerbeds on all four sides of the house. Everything was neglected for several years and needed a lot of attention—the trees and…

Ani posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Let’s write a tiny story. They sold the baby’s nursery […]

Mon, 18 May 2026 22:03:44 -0400

Let’s write a tiny story.

They sold the baby’s nursery things before the birth.

Ani_Alanakian

Jamie Floersch posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: I imagine many of us have the experience of hearing in […]

Mon, 18 May 2026 20:31:44 -0400

I imagine many of us have the experience of hearing in a language beyond or below words. A long “poem” (I know nothing about poetry structure) inspired by my work and my lived experience.

Electrical Currents

What we find

When we lay back and unwind

is that Bodies and minds

Communicate

On a wavelength that runs under words

Like musical notes

A plucked…

Elle | Community Manager posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Write passionately about something small and […]

Mon, 18 May 2026 10:52:14 -0400

Write passionately about something small and seemingly unimportant: your favorite kind of sandwich bread, airport carpets, expensive pens, the smell of sunscreen, hotel breakfast buffets, gas station coffee, reality TV reunions, etc. Don’t filter yourself; don’t worry about who might disagree with your opinion; just open the floodgates of…

Elle | Community Manager posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: This week, instead of writing what you know, I challenge […]

Mon, 11 May 2026 15:51:01 -0400

This week, instead of writing what you know, I challenge you to write about what you don’t know. Here are three options to try:

Open your piece with the phrase, “I don’t know…” Use it once as an opening, or allow it to repeat throughout the piece as a refrain.
Write about what you don’t know, but wish you did.
Write about something you’ve…

Jerry Chasen posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: On Monday's "Write into the Week" Elle proposed using […]

Thu, 07 May 2026 21:16:08 -0400

On Monday’s “Write into the Week” Elle proposed using a cliche as a prompt. I’ve been playing with the following since.

A Sonnet to Aging

There’s a popular buzz that age is just

a number. When I was younger, it rang

true. But now, as the parts begin to rust–

pain’s my companion and folds overhang

my once firm flesh–that saw’s just…

Elle | Community Manager posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Write a piece in which a person is feeling two […]

Mon, 04 May 2026 09:55:34 -0400

Write a piece in which a person is feeling two conflicting emotions at the same time.

Start with a moment that seems clear on the surface. It could be a goodbye, celebration, reunion, or a quiet morning—but allow another feeling to exist just beneath the surface. Let both emotions remain present throughout the piece.

Avoid choosing one over the…

Karen (Fitz) posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Frederick led a wonderful discussion about language […]

Sun, 03 May 2026 11:51:49 -0400

Frederick led a wonderful discussion about language in literature that is didactic. I promised to post an essay here that I believe contains such language and I invite you, dear readers, to tell me whether you can spot it. This is the first piece written in a series of five pieces over the last two years, each to a call from a literary…

Jennie posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Since Karen shared her 6-sentence story about a bad day […]

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 23:48:52 -0400

Since Karen shared her 6-sentence story about a bad day that gets worse, then better in an unexpected way in tonight’s workshop, I thought I’d share mine too! Mine was also rejected. I get the feeling they must have had thousands of entries….

Already Over

It was over, he planned to say. Invitations already sent. Late – but not too late, better…

Elle | Community Manager posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Write a piece in which something ordinary transforms […]

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:06:21 -0400

Write a piece in which something ordinary transforms into something unexpected.

It could be literal. Consider things like a houseplant that begins speaking a family’s secrets, a snowstorm that alters someone’s memory, or a room that remembers every argument it’s witnessed. Or it could be more emotional. Consider something like grief that…

Alison posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Pieces The eggshell was cracked. On the ground, […]

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:05:02 -0400

Pieces

The eggshell was cracked.

On the ground, one half

crushed from footfalls,

the other caught

against the leaf

of Virginia creeper.

My daughter wanted

to take it home,

so I bent low,

trembling with care.

It was not enough.

The scooped-out bowl

shuddered at my touch,

falling to pieces, leaving

bright flecks on…

laur posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: and, here is my response to Frederick’s “being held” […]

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:16:14 -0400

and, here is my response to Frederick’s “being held” prompt (since Karen wanted it posted… 😁)

rabbit chooses snare

i like to be held so i almost hold

my breath, air that breathes a little

faster; and to be held sunk in wet

sand, swayed waves lick, slurp sound

and swoosh; i like to be held in a bumpling

cart on a coaster, what’s next not wanting…

Karen (Fitz) posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Hi friends -- this was penned before tonight's […]

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:51:40 -0400

Hi friends — this was penned before tonight’s Craft discussion. I used last week’s discussion as a situation in which to do a “flash” piece for a workshop on “shorts” I attended a few days ago. It’s a first draft but no changes are calling to me just yet. Feel free to suggest anything.

Elle | Community Manager posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Option 1: Write about all that you are […]

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 09:06:22 -0400

Option 1: Write about all that you are currently seeking.

Option 2: Write a piece in which the narrator is searching for something, but they aren’t entirely sure what it is. Follow the movement of the search. Where does it lead? What questions arise along the way? What does the narrator notice that they might have otherwise missed?

Elle | Community Manager posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: To me, April carries a particular kind of energy—not quite […]

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 21:05:10 -0400

To me, April carries a particular kind of energy—not quite a fresh start, not quite a continuation, but something in between. A special kind of liminal space that hints at the early stages of change, possibly the moment just before something fully arrives.

This week, I invite you to write a piece that captures a beginning in progress.

It could be…

Jennie posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Think of a time when something unexpected happened in […]

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 01:51:29 -0400

Think of a time when something unexpected happened in your life or the life of a character—a moment that didn’t go according to plan, but ended up leading to somewhere meaningful or surprising. Write about this specific moment, but let your imagination run wild with it. Blur the lines of nonfiction and fiction. What if that moment had been a… Read more

laur posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Here is the contrapuntal I wrote after our reading of […]

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 23:21:08 -0400

Here is the contrapuntal I wrote after our reading of Keats last week. If you are unfamiliar with the contrapuntal (they are fun and challenging to write!), you can read it 3 ways- column a, column b and also straight across.

Frederick Meyer posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Thank you for our Write-In tonight. Here is a draft of […]

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 02:07:07 -0500

Thank you for our Write-In tonight. Here is a draft of a poem from me (no title yet). Would love to hear any and all impressions or feedback.

At Zulu, on the curb, a dropped iPhone.
In the altered space, I thought it was a throw.
I picked it up: a Doberman, screen locked.
I put it in my pocket.

Young woman came to find it.
I gave it to her. She gave…

ckslack posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: prose poem collection dropped today—Thank you to my mentor […]

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 23:23:32 -0500

prose poem collection dropped today—

Thank you to my mentor Anna Scotti and my writing colleagues💞…

http://www.themackinaw.net/

laur posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Hi everyone! I am taking a course right now on lines […]

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 01:05:54 -0500

Hi everyone! I am taking a course right now on lines and stanzas and we had a short line lesson that I wrote to and thought I’d share in-case anyone was feeling like they needed some change from the wintery weather ❄

facing the window

antlers fuzz

bucking into that

cut blue sky;

dusk colors drape,

each evening its own

fragile bird-egg hue;

grasses wag…

Katie posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: This is my first time sharing my writing with anyone […]

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 15:29:36 -0500

This is my first time sharing my writing with anyone other than my husband. It feels very vulnerable, but I’m here to grow! I don’t have any formal training, so I often feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, or if I’m doing it right. So I am open to any feedback/wisdom/praise to help me improve. Thank you!

Paul Harrison posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Just curious. I just joined this today. Is anyone writing fiction?

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 05:25:52 -0500

Just curious. I just joined this today. Is anyone writing fiction?

ckslack posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: rough draft Fragile Momentsbeauty, the quiet pulse […]

Sun, 28 Dec 2025 01:45:12 -0500

rough draft Fragile Moments

beauty, the quiet pulse beneath our ribs,

the tremor we feel before we name it.

it enters like water through a cracked vessel,

filling the empty spaces, we forgot existed

we merge with it not as witness,

but as clay kneaded by some unseen hand,

our edges softening, our tongue tasting light,

our hearts opening in…

Frederick Meyer posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Thank you so much for the feedback a few weeks ago on […]

Sat, 27 Dec 2025 21:55:41 -0500

Thank you so much for the feedback a few weeks ago on the poem below! I’ve changed it slightly, would love to hear any thoughts on revised version below, and any thoughts on how to go about titling it?

—

In through the windows further up the hall,
I felt the sunwarm day
infuse my small
and private rooms, closed to the winnowing
of light;
and in…

laur posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Hi everyone! I have been playing lately and pairing […]

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 16:51:20 -0500

Hi everyone! I have been playing lately and pairing haiku with pictures and graphics to make little visual poem things, so thought I’d share some (hopefully they open…)

Karen (Fitz) posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: OK. Here's that Pantoum I mentioned at tonight's […]

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 02:10:18 -0500

OK. Here’s that Pantoum I mentioned at tonight’s sensational Craft Session w/ Frederick. I’ve only ever written two Pantoums. This was the second one.

Frederick Meyer posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Hi all :) I've been working on this for the past […]

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 01:52:06 -0500

Hi all 🙂 I’ve been working on this for the past two writing sessions, happy to hear feedback of all kinds—am giving a few differently lineated versions (image plays with indents, can’t post with them directly):

—

In through the windows further up the hall,
I felt the sunwarm day infuse my small
and private rooms, closed to the winnowing

Karen (Fitz) posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Hi friends. Read Sean Glatch's essay on writing Flash & […]

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 13:33:32 -0500

Hi friends. Read Sean Glatch’s essay on writing Flash & was able to exercise his suggestions during a Guy Bierdeman workshop. Here’s a 250 words, non-fiction/memoir?

Karen (Joan) posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Hi group, thanks for your comments on this 'Edges--Plane […]

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 20:47:10 -0400

Hi group, thanks for your comments on this ‘Edges–Plane to Outside, Cuba to Home’ poem at our Aug. 24 Sunday session. I had a couple of readers suggest formatting further, playing with it, and whether to link the edges to the being immersed. Please take a look and comment. Here is a new version.

Karen (Fitz) posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Yesterday's craft session was about playing with space […]

Sun, 05 Oct 2025 16:02:56 -0400

Yesterday’s craft session was about playing with space in our poetry. (And thanks, Lauryl, for bringing it up; thanks Frederick for facilitating a great discussion.) OK–so, following the discussion we were invited to spend some time working with space. What I did was take my most recent poem which was configured in 7 lines, left justified…

laur posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Hi All! I’m always happy when it is the weekend and I can […]

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 14:48:52 -0400

Hi All! I’m always happy when it is the weekend and I can settle in slowly with a cup of coffee, chirping birds and spend some quality time with writing. I started this piece awhile ago during one of our sessions and have gotten feedback that it is confusing (could be the “or”s or maybe the images…) so wanted to see what you all thought.…

Ndali Nwokoye posted an update in the group Writing Showcase:

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 21:11:38 -0400

Ndali Nwokoye posted an update in the group Writing Showcase:

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 21:08:27 -0400

Ndali Nwokoye posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Here’s the a link to my writer profile to read my latest […]

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 21:02:26 -0400

Here’s the a link to my writer profile to read my latest short story:

https://penpee.com/members/ndalinwokoye/

Thanks for your kindness, my fellow writers. I make a living as a writer too!

Anusha Anusha posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Smeared kohl in my eyes,Look away, they might […]

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 20:27:32 -0400

Smeared kohl in my eyes,

Look away, they might disguise.

I wear dark, bold lips.

And they do not shut up,

About the secrets I keep.

Don’t delude by my deep neckline,

As I like to dress up fine.

You may be eluded by how I look.

My scorched soul is what you may overlook.

I might be aging like a wine,

But only to lose my childlike desires.

I may never wear…

Mary Cothren posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: @royce.holladay @laur Good morning, Royce and Lauryl! […]

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:45:15 -0400

@royce.holladay @laur

Good morning, Royce and Lauryl!

I REALLY hope this posts. I tried replying below in my original post, but maybe it’s too long. Either way, here we go. My long-awaited reply! I swear I wasn’t trying to blow you off 🙂

I am so, so sorry for taking so long to respond to your feedback! I have been on some heavy…

Jonathon posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: TW: Grief and the deep, dark questions that can consume […]

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 22:14:11 -0400

TW: Grief and the deep, dark questions that can consume your mind after the loss of a loved one:

This is a free-verse poem that I’ve made back in 2022 when I was experiencing the loss of my grandmother. I was exposed to death fairly young but none of those losses have impacted me as hard as this one did. While processing various emotions of…

Caroline Sojtori posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: I shared this during the Craft Exploration with […]

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 14:28:20 -0400

I shared this during the Craft Exploration with Frederick, and I will share it here. I tweaked just a little bit. Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

The prompt was to write about being lost. So here goes:

The Most Lost I Have Ever Felt

I was six years old when my mom left. No goodbye, just gone. We were alone most of the time. One day…

Royce Holladay posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: This is a 100-word memoir I whittled out of a […]

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 14:14:28 -0400

This is a 100-word memoir I whittled out of a 700-word story. I would most like to hear what you feel as you read it. What, if any, images can you conjure? Can you connect/identify with my 10-year-olds self?

Queen of the Wind

The storm builds, rocking my swing. Fluffy clouds, scattered like forgotten toys, stack in the west, building…

laur posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Hello everyone, hope you are well.I did a little tweaking […]

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 23:37:24 -0400

Hello everyone, hope you are well.

I did a little tweaking to the poem I shared in last week’s workshop and am posting that and the other version here. If anyone feels inclined for feedback or letting me know if the new one works, works as well, or isn’t as strong – feedback welcome! I will be out of town this weekend and see you all Tuesday. 🙂…

Mary Cothren posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: I can't tell if my post stuck to the feed board. It […]

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 19:55:27 -0400

I can’t tell if my post stuck to the feed board. It looks like my PDF uploaded to the documents tab just fine.

My attempted post (and maybe it does actually exist and for some reason I can’t see it), is the poem I mentioned in my “Beginning” introduction. My real/original post was way more thoughtful than this one- for the record. But at the end…

Mary Cothren posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Okay...so here it goes...my first submission for […]

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 19:42:23 -0400

Okay…so here it goes…my first submission for feedback. I’m nervous, but excited. I have shared this with only a few people, who I knew would give me only positive feedback and encouragement. In the past my poetry was always more of a free-write and I have never had any training in structure nor am I familiar with any of the technical terms…

laur posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: hi all- i tried to post this in roundtable but it didn’t […]

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 20:19:14 -0400

hi all- i tried to post this in roundtable but it didn’t seem to stick (or it did? and i am missing it? and just reposting over and over, stuck in a loop?) so, my writing from our wonderful tuesday group:

i taught about ancient egypt today and the mummies how they scooped the brains out with a hook a hook imagined like a crochet hook and i tried…

Frederick Meyer posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Here’s something I just wrote getting ready for […]

Sat, 09 Aug 2025 23:00:26 -0400

Here’s something I just wrote getting ready for tonight’s Zoom call—happy to hear your feedback of any kind:

—

Last night, I met a girl of eight named Lilikoi. She, Lilikoi—and lilikoi, and what it means in English, passionfruit; or French, fruit de passion; and passion; and the fruit of passionfruit like wishfulfillingdragon eggs—belong to…

Karen (Fitz) posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Punctuation? What's that? OK, here's my offering on […]

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 11:32:44 -0400

Punctuation? What’s that? OK, here’s my offering on our recent discussion of Merwin’s work.

To W.S. Merwin on his wings of daylight

When poet Merwin writes of daylight he glosses brightness showing everything

it does of course thus bringing forth the shadow side of everything the words

do sing and Merwin brings me into the place of everything…

Elle | Community Manager posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: Test Post

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 19:04:03 -0400

Test Post

laur posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: here is my unpunctuated piece from last night’s group:when […]

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 15:38:08 -0400

here is my unpunctuated piece from last night’s group:

when the words all come spilling out like that

time you dropped the wine and after the splinter

of glass the gush of liquid red as blood and when the words

tumble over each other pebbles swept up

rumble rolling in the kicking floodwaters

there is a chaos and those projectile words are sharp…

babynenuphar posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: When you tended to me you tended too tightly and I grew […]

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 12:55:41 -0400

When you tended to me you tended too tightly

and I grew into a stiff stalk unbending when his pitchfork slams into cold earth and when the wheelbarrow tips over and when the little ripples unfurl from a pebbles’ landing place in the water I find it to be the same as when the earth rumbles tossing me from my bed at 3am I could rate every event…

babynenuphar posted an update in the group Writing Showcase: When you tended to me you tended too tightly and I grew […]

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 02:54:30 -0400

When you tended to me you tended too tightly