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

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  • prompt 57

    Are you a good judge of character?

    I would rather consider myself an observer than a judge, which sounds stern and draconian. In this regard, I see people’s true colors through their speaking manners and behavior patterns. Also, being bicultural and bilingual means you are endowed with a particular eye for seeing the universal characteristics of humankind that are uniquely diverse yet oddly familiar.

    “You are too sensitive,” people tell me, but I can’t help it because that’s the way I was born with the unique eye that enables me to see people’s characters whether I like them or not. No, not a psychic. Perhaps something of an ancient Sybil, I would instead call, will be more the like. People don’t like this ability because, like an MRI scanning, their inner worlds are revealed. Something should be left buried to protect the good of others and the keepers, I presume. Still, there’s nothing you could do about it when you were born with the eye, be it either curse or gift.

    It reminds me of Midas’s golden hand that turned everything he touched into Gold and Cassandra, whose words people disregard even if she was telling the truth. But then I think my cats are better seers who could see the true characters of people like Odin’s two ravens, Memory and Thought, and Freya’s two cats driving her chariot. ⭐️💫🧚‍♀️

    Digital art by Danielle Zemba from Fine Art of America
    Stephanie’s two cats ⭐️

  • prompt 56

    When are you most happy?

    From L to R: Toro and Camille

    Happiness is made of purrs and meows, kneading and cuddling, kisses and hugs, all packaged in striped and black furs with soft-cushioned paws. The happiest of me is when my cats are next to me at home.

    The happiest moments are in the company of my cats, Toro, the Tabby, and Camile, the Puss in Boots. When I go home after work, Toro and Camille greet me at the front door, rub their little heads against my leg, and say, “Mello, (Hello in their language).” My cats also stay on my bed at night while I am sleeping. I often wake up in the middle of the night and see Toro in my arms and Camille at my feet, which is so comforting and warm. Since they became my family, I have dreamed of nightmares or any supernatural scare springing from my mind. It is said that cats have the extraordinary power to ward off evil spirits, and I believe so. My brother had the same experience in Japan where, before adopting his cat, he used to hear someone walking upstairs. Of course, that ceased after the cat became a family.

    Even though Camille has brought me good luck for my present job, I am happier when Toro is beside me. He is such an affectionate cat that I am so happy that we are a family. The veterinanrians love Toro and Camille because they are so sweet and gentle. Love makes happiness, and my cats are love. Happiness is my cats.

  • Prompt 55

    What was the last thing you did for play or fun?

    Title song: “With or Without You” by U2

    Tailwinds, Blueskies…

    Some do birdwatching, some Trainspotting, but mine is planespotting. I went for it last Saturday, and it was such fun that I recorded the event as a video log to preserve the intoxication of the spirit, watching a magnificent view.

    My brother and I went to a park near LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) to watch planes in close-ups because I am always fascinated with magnificent airplanes – not private jets, such as the Cessna -. There’s something about big airplanes with their majestic appearance, like giant whales in the sea skies. Come to think of it, rather than relating planes to birds because of the wings, associating them with whales (for Bowing 747) or dolphins (for Airbuses) is all the more like it because of their streamlined body shapes. I should have become a flight attendant, which would have been perfect to realize my dream of being in the skies.

    At the magnificent view of the airplanes, my heart was racing along the planes like Icarus, who dashed against his father’s warning not to fly close to the sun. I wanted to fly in the skies and go to places I had never been. I bet my yearning was what Icarus must have felt after escaping imprisonment with his father, Daedalus, in the labyrinth in Crete. Planespotting was exhilarating and fun. 🌟

  • Prompt 54

    List your top 5 grocery store items.

    My cart has bread too! 😆

    My staple grocery store items consist of these:

    1) Fat-free milk 🥛- I love a glass of ice-cold milk at lunch. It gives me a refreshing jolt and smooth relaxation during the day at work.

    2) strawberry 🍓 jam – of all the fruity jams, strawberry jam is my favorite because I like the sweetness that only strawberry can provide with the unique effect of the seeds that come with the flavor.

    3) Milka chocolate 🍫- I know dark chocolate is healthier, but I can’t resist the irresistible charm of the rich texture and smooth taste of milk chocolate. Milka chocolate is my favorite brand.

    4) Zero Coke 🥤- there’s something magical about zero Coke because while it tastes like regular Coke, it has no sugar or that stuffy feeling Diet Coke produces when taken inside. I know that it isn’t as healthy as water, but I don’t drink zero Coke as if it were water. 😅 And I love it.😂

    5) instant noodles or soup 🍲- I don’t cook. Maybe it’s because my mom cooks -still, yes! 😅-, and honestly, I am not a good cook. So, I take advantage of the modern convenience in food. It’s simple and tasty.😚

    In retrospect, I am not a healthy eater in the strictly puritanical sense, but I can’t forego the above items and adopt the Pythagorean healthy diet because then life will be Deb and dreary. 😑

  • Prompt 53

    Describe a man who has positively impacted your life.

    My Dad 🤓

    I hate the book title “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” with forthright prejudice against the rule of “Don’t judge the book by its cover.” There’s no such thing as such classification of Dad, but My Dad, Your Dad, or Our Dads, no matter where you come from. My Dad is not rich, and I am not certainly wealthy, but I have a great inheritance from him.

    The dossier unfolds the following legacies: a wealth of knowledge ranging from philosophy to literature, a love of reading and writing, an affinity for seas and sea voyages, and a milk of human kindness. My dad is the best person to talk about various interests, from Socrates to our favorite classic film, the Bicycle Thief, to Palestrina, to Bach, and the subjects or knowledge many people do not know or are not interested in. I am proud of him for being such an erudite man who wears his knowledge with a heart of gold in an unassuming manner.

    My dad is now 85 years old, and I have reached the point where I should prepare for the day he will depart from this world. Honestly, I am both scared of it and disheartened by the fact of our lives. Sometimes, he tells me he is sorry for not having much money for a better living environment, but I am grateful for his great inheritance, which is rare and priceless. ⭐️💫✨

  • 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!”