Flame, Glass and Ink are Poems, essays, and reading notes by Stefania Joori Suh

Category: Miscellany

Anything that’s on my mind.

  • prompt 52

    Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?

    While I am debating whether life today is what I pictured a year ago, I like to think that it is better sailing with fewer storms and more blue skies in the uncharted sea of life than last year’s voyage.

    Last year’s voyage was arduous to sail through Ocean of Life because my ship was too frequently hit against rocks, met with the sirens that charmed me with the promise of stable sustenance kept on the mirage of Treasure Island, and stranded alone on the watery main with no sight of the kingdom of the shore. Providence, the faithful call, Fate to those who feel left out of favor of the divine, was the cruelest at the whims and caprice of whoever was toying with my lost star. But then, at the lowest ebb, I saw a tide coming toward my ship, and I took it at the flood.

    So, I am steering the master key with my trusted sailors, the First Seamen Toro and the Second Seaman Camille, on board. We are together for this sailing, and with the more tailwinds and blue skies, I hope I can reach the land on the other end of the rainbows where my lost star is waiting for me, still sparkling excellently bright and gorgeously brilliant.

    My trusty sailors Toro and Camille: “Sail Away, Captain!”

  • Prompt 51

    What skills or lessons have you learned recently?

    You can be firm and still be nice. It is easy to seem, but it requires learning how to do it, especially in a work setting. Working at a big, busy personal injury firm, I have learned how to speak and write effectively in acquiring information and obtaining documents courteously and friendly. 😎

    Dealing with law enforcement for police-related reports and medical providers for confidential medical records has improved my interpersonal communication skills. I used to have butterflies when speaking to people, not to mention the police. Still, since my duties involve direct communication with them daily for our clients, I have chased off those butterflies and gained confidence in speaking in public. Still, one thing is to be overcome, which is to interact with those who are quick-tempered and callous. 🤨

    Shakespeare said life is a play, our world is a stage, and we are the actors and actresses of the play. That said, I should be a good actress in performing my role beautifully with fittingly chosen lines to keep my composure still and demeanor professional.⭐️🌼🧚‍♀️

  • Prompt 50

    What cities do you want to visit?

    Cities are a symbol of civilization and well of culture. It’s cosmopolitan and utilitarian in that all social classes mingle and become a parliament of humanity. I prefer cities to the lesser versions of human dwellings because of these reasons, and there are cities I want to visit on my bucket list.

    Rome – Built by the Rolumus and Lemus, bred by a wolf mother, Rome was an eternal city with boundaries stretching from the east and the west, the North and the south. All roads led to Rome, and I want to walk down the same streets that ancient Romans trod upon with their own stories. So much so that Edgar Allen Poe summarized Rome thus: “The glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome.” People say that today’s Rome is nothing like ancient Rome, but they don’t see that the place memories enveloping the city’s aura are lingering, affecting the minds of the people living or visiting there. Thousand years have passed, but the spirit of the place is immortal.

    Vatican City – My primary purpose will be seeing Michelangelo’s magnum opus on the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel. Reading Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling by Ross King has egged me on to witness the magnum force of art as a manifestation of the ideal appreciated by the faculty of the mind affected by imagination. It would have been much more wonderful to visit Vatican City when Pope John Paul Second was the Bishop of Rome.

    Other cities have histories of millennium years, but Rome and Vatican City still exist with vivacity and alacrity. They may be crowded, expensive, and trivialized, but they were, have been, and will be so in posterity. This also makes me think that our posterity might feel the same way about the places where we live now. Hence are my wishful cities. 🧚‍♀️⭐️🌍

  • Prompt 48

    Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.

    Toro Then 🌸

    I can never forget the first time I adopted my first cat, Toro, from an animal shelter when I moved from New Jersey to California in 2018.

    I still remember the first day I saw Toro, who was nine weeks old, at Ventura Animal Shelter in Camarillo, CA, where I lived for the first time in California. They say it’s not you who chooses your cat; your cat chooses you. It is only true because when my brother and I approached the sheltered cats, Toro came to us with his tiny paw, trying to touch our fingers through the compartment’s opening. He was playful, curious, and affectionate. While waiting for my brother to finish the adoption process inside, I could never forget Toro’s eyes becoming curiouser and curiouser at me from the cardboard carrier, full of wonder about the new world.

    I still treasure the first time I met Toro, now three years old. I feel his little heart when he climbs on my back and shoulder, and I am glad it’s not a dream. 🌻💕💫🧚‍♀️

    Toro Now 🌼

    P.S. Something went wrong with my prompt posted earlier today; it was uploaded but then disappeared 🤨 Hence, this is a repost of today’s daily prompt. Sorry for the readers whose likes went with the post🐱

  • Prompt 47

    Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?

    Although I never performed or gave a speech on stage, in middle school and college, I recited poems – I forgot the titles – as class assignments and received applause from the audiences. I still remember the smiles of my English professor applauding me upon reciting a poem in the classroom, a 400-level seminar class at Rutgers. 🤓

    Being an introvert means keeping things in graceful stealth. 🐱 That said, I prefer writing to express myself, however poor it may be. (BTW, Kurt Vonnegut encouraged us to practice an art, no matter how well or poorly, to make our soul grow. ) I like writing letters to editors of the magazines from which I enjoyed reading particular articles. Several letters have been printed in such magazines, such as BBC History Revealed and BBC Wildlife. I think it’s a great way of communicating your thoughts in writing because, unlike speaking it carries the mind and heart of the writer.

    In retrospect, I do not covet the extroverted and their penchant for being visible in public. Of course, not all extroverted people are pompous wannabe celebrities, but many of them pretend to be what they are not, and I can see it so well from their aura that it becomes vexing ad nauseam. Anyway, these are my private performances that became public. 🌼

  • Prompt 46

    What are your favorite physical activities or exercises?

    On the top of the world

    My favorite physical exercise is hiking on the top of the hill, and I love looking at the world down under and the skies high above, to which I feel closer with a touch of my hand.

    The pleasure is watching the wind from faraway seas herd a flock of clouds like a celestial shepherd. And an eagle breasting the never-ending abundance of air follows a trail of the Sun Chariot to return to the castle east of the sun, west of the moon.

    The delight is listening to the sussurs of the trees. It’s the wind speaking through the leaves, carrying the messages from my guardian angel I long to hear.

    Hiking is not only a physical exercise but also a mental refreshment that nourishes your holistic wellness free of charge in the luxuriant Nature’s Spa. ❤️🌸✨🧚‍♀️