Deanna Repose Oaks

Poetically Captured Moments From the Heart

Prompt Responses

Prompt 3

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I hung “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe above my chamber door, forevermore in 2007. It is my favorite piece of art, even though it isn’t a painting. I love how the words echo through the stanzas, the meter is haunting, and the subject matter is dark.

Ravens were the most interesting part of the Tower of London when I toured Great Britain in 2009. The birds fascinated me not only because they reminded me of the poem, but because of the lore that preceded the poem. Charles II of England believed that if less than 6 Ravens lived at Tower, the monarchy would fall. He made it law that 6 were to remain in captivity, even though during his time, when the Tower was a torture chamber of sorts, ravens hung around of their own accord due to the abundance of food. Learning about this lore in London, which predates Mr. Poe’s poem by over 200 years, gave the poem such deeper meaning.

My most favorite part is that on the opposite side of that same wall is Corinthians 1:13. As I walk into the room, I am reminded of the love within it; when I walk out of the room, I am reminded of what life can be like without it.

Prompt 2

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Well, I can’t answer the first question, which negates me answering the second and third questions, so this prompt post will be a big, fat, nothingness. And 170 words short.

Prompt 1

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I decided that the best way to spend a lazy day is making up stories. The time just flies when I am thinking other people’s thoughts or trying to move characters from one scene to the next without fighting against their natures, situations, or emotions. While I am lost in their situations, I am not within my own.

When I can’t get lost like that, the next best way to spend a lazy day is to fall into a story someone else has dropped in my lap, either through a written book, a filmed movie, or a spoken track. Trying to find the connections between theme, story, and my life fills my mind with ways I can better the days I live, the people around me, or my situation.

I am starting to fight this story about laziness because it reads like a job description for a writer. A description about a job does not seem like it would lead to a “lazy” day, but for me it is how I unwind. I sort out all my stress and the daily wear on my soul. Maybe I am a more of a writer that I am prepared to admit?

Maybe I am going to talk myself into it before too long…