To an ancient person, light is a life-sustaining gift from a distant bright god. To a modern person, light is electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the eye’s retina. To an artist, light might be some of both . . . and much more.
When I write, I’m never certain what precise thing light represents. In many stories it seems to symbolize a life-sustaining hope, or a radiation of the spirit detected by the heart. It might signal a burning love, living with eyes wide open, or intangible rays from beyond that define life’s shape. A glimpse of ultimate truth. A bright gift that is magical, momentary, precious.
I don’t know. What is light to you?
Following are seven short works of fiction where light is an integral part of the story:
If you’ve ever had a bad day, and thought it will never stop raining, there’s a new short story you might enjoy reading. It concerns sadness. It contains a tiny bit of wisdom.
I was walking through downtown San Diego this morning, on my way to catch the trolley for work, when I noticed that a store owner had written on their window: A giant sequoia tree is the result of one tiny seed.
As I looked about, the only gigantic things I could find were surrounding buildings.
Then a startling truth occurred to me.
Even the most towering skyscraper is the result of one tiny seed . . . in the human mind.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Extraordinary beauty at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park.
I believe the world is fundamentally beautiful. Beauty permeates everything. From atoms to galaxies–and everything in between.
Beauty awaits open eyes wherever we happen to walk. Perhaps you’ve noticed this is an important theme of Cool San Diego Sights.
Yesterday I finished writing a short story that is very dark. It concerns ugliness that arises from human vanity. So now I find myself in a difficult situation.
I’d rather not have a depressing story welcome readers to my website Short Stories by Richard. I want to outshine the darkness with light.
A bright, magical story is now taking form under my pen. But finding the right words to approximate eternal truths can be a puzzle. I’m stuck for the moment, wrestling.
All living things require watering. I know that with fresh eyes and a little patience the story will grow and mature.
Until these two new short stories appear, you might enjoy reading my published works of fiction here.
Endangered, wind-sculpted Torrey pines at Cabrillo National Monument.Radiant beauty along a Little Italy sidewalk.A beautiful fountain by a sidewalk in Bankers Hill. A sculpted boy with watering can.Painted sunflowers grow upon a transformer box in Coronado.Natural beauty discovered in busy downtown San Diego.More beauty at the Japanese Friendship Garden, a welcoming retreat from life’s often stressful walk. I think I might go there today with my small notebook and pen.Moving forward down life’s path, through wild natural beauty atop Mount Laguna.
Chris Vannoy, US National Beat Poet Laureate 2018-2019, reads live poetry in the Zoro Garden during the Garden Theatre Festival in Balboa Park.
Tomorrow you have a chance to hear US National Beat Poet Laureate 2018-2019, Chris Vannoy, read live poetry in Balboa Park! He’ll be performing with local poetry group The Mightier P.E.N.S. (Poetic Expeditionary Nation of Semanticists) in the Zoro Garden beginning at 2 pm.
Today during my extensive walk through Balboa Park, I happened to stumble upon this summer’s weekend Garden Theatre Festival. As I entered the stony, amphitheater-like Zoro Garden, live poetry readings were underway. Everyone in the audience was invited up to the microphone to read poetry!
And wouldn’t you know it, I was fortunate to enjoy several readings by Chris Vannoy, who will soon be named the United States Beat Poet Laureate by the National Beat Poetry Foundation!
I’d heard Chris perform with The Mightier P. E. N. S. a couple years ago, and blogged about that event here.
His hard-hitting beat poetry is vivid and resonant. His words are like the many butterflies that flit through the garden–bright sparks in the sunlight–burning red hot for just a moment–each a revelation–a brief glimpse of something elemental. Delicate words, transient words, an incantation of power spoken briefly into the wind.
Congratulations to a local poet whose voice is now magnified! And whose smile appears to be indomitable!
The Garden Theatre Festival continues through Sunday August 19, 2018. Live performances are enjoyed free to the public in Balboa Park’s Zoro Garden.Chris Vannoy of the San Diego poetry group The Mightier P.E.N.S. expresses complex thought and emotion with vigorous words as the audience listens and reacts.Two in the audience listen to a poet’s powerfully spoken truth.Someone in the audience signs up to read a poem. Anybody could participate during the event.Chris Vannoy, who will be named US National Beat Poet Laureate in September, finishes his reading and earns enthusiastic applause.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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My short story The Taste of Flies has been bothering me. It hasn’t seemed right.
Even after publishing it on Short Stories by Richard, I’ve rewritten many of the words over and over and over again.
I think–possibly–that I now have the thing right. The unusual tale is about creativity, truth and deception. And impulsion. And indecision. It seems to be about a great many difficult things.
