Welp, I know I said I would have a book discussion next, but I thought this might be more fun…
I sometimes write small vignettes as a way to get the words flowing when I’m having a particularly hard time writing, or just to wake my brain up in the morning. I generally take inspiration for these snippets from pictures I’ve taken, or something nearby when I sit down to write. It’s a fun exercise, and I thought I’d share some of my favorites here! The following two vignettes I did share on Instagram a while back, accompanying some photos I took while I was assisting with ecological field work in the Texas coastal prairie. I took many photos that summer, but some of them stood out to me and demanded words to accompany them.
Sunflower
She is like a sunflower; a little prickly if handled indelicately, Her stem tall and strong. Deeply rooted in the earth, She grows and thrives when all around Her things wilt and shrivel in the heat and drought. She follows the sun, Her guiding star. Seeing its face, She turns toward it, its brightness mirrored in the brightness of Her smile. Even when clouds and rain obscure Her sun, She is not discouraged. Her tough stem sways in the wind and bends under the pounding rain, and when Her sun returns, She shines up at it more brightly than before.
A.P. Hawkins
Skin of the Earth
I once was a creek, my bed soft and silty and brown and smelling of organic things. Roots and worms burrowed through the cool, sticky soil under my shallow waters. The sun beat down on me, unrelenting, for days, weeks, months, without a single drop of rain to grant reprieve. Now my waters are gone and my once soft, silty, cool bed lies exposed and cracked and solid. The parched skin of the earth, hardened around roots and worms alike and thirsting for the tiniest breath of rain.
A.P. Hawkins
I hope you enjoyed these short pieces and their accompanying photos. Be on the lookout for more vignettes as I continue my quest to post here more often. And I haven’t forgotten my promise of a book discussion; one of those will be coming very soon.
Stay well.
<3 A.P. Hawkins