Writing Prompts

Last night was my second to last session of writers group for the year. One of the prompts I provided for the writers was to write in the P.O.V. of a place using "I am..." as a nudge into the piece. I gave them about 5 minutes since it was the first piece of the night and a bit of a warm up after the holidays. I wrote along and thought I'd share today. My place was Portland, Maine, a place I have visited ...

******

I am dark water, November rain, statues of poets long-dead and longer forgotten. I am red and white towers, green and black mussels swimming in saffron. I'm Saturday afternoon happy hour lobster, $4 for 6 inches. I'm the slow roll of dockside walkway. I am men that smell of brine and their cracked hands and chapped lips. I'm hand-painted storefront, chipped and peeling each winter, re-coated and blister bright in May. I'm haunted brownstones, brick and board barrooms; glass-front, corner cafes where the squash soup was made this morning and the coffee is fresh because it never stops pouring. I'm fog and spray and lighthouses that keep ghosts and look for survivors. I'm the literature of Longfellow and the cry of a foghorn, long & low. I'm blue-collar, white-washed and live on salt water taffy and the meat of the sea drenched in butter.