Original Poetry and Stories

I began writing in the third grade. In fact, Mrs. Gladder gave me an A that year on a short story writing assignment. It came out like this: A parrot can squawk, even talk and easily fly away. But when a cat comes along and acts very strong it doesn't know what to say. A retired foreign service officer, I have been writing evaluations, reports and position papers for about 25 years. When my USG-speak started to read like some respectable creative writing class submissions, I began to treasure time I had - dancing with my grandfather's Underwood. "Playing with words" became just that. About 10 years ago I began to use, bend and break all the rules outlined by Strunk and White in their "Elements of Style". To my surprise, I started to achieve "The Zone" once in awhile. Soon after I was cited as having submitted one of the most novel, to the point, fun-to-read award nominations for a staff member, I looked to try to enter it "The Zone" whenever I could. Also, I learned to get lost in time while writing. "The Zone" became my court, my shangri-la. I felt an adrenalin push when I tried to capture thoughts, images and feelings on paper. It was not easy - and it still is not. When my peers and family began asking for more I smiled inside and said to myself: why not share some of this crap with others? So -- good luck. =air