"No Thank You!"
Prompt number 21 from Writing Down the Bones Deck, by Natalie Goldberg
Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones Deck Prompts - Write "No thank you" and keep going. Every time you are stuck repeat those three words and continue.
No, thank you. I am not interested in you teaching me about my culture, telling me what I think is important from a cultural perspective, or even what you think is important about the culture.
No thank you for thinking you know what is best for me as a woman.
No thank you for thinking I am incontinent because of my age. A couple of friends may have some difficulty with that but it is not everyone.
No thank you for thinking you know more about me than I do because I am a Native American woman and you lived for a while on a reservation or in a village, or you had a girlfriend that was Native.
My most recent no thank yous!
Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones Deck Prompts - "No thank you" can take you all over the place. Into an article you just read, politics, streets, wars, marshmallows.
I'm just giving you a hint:"No thank you" to going out to lunch, Perrier, high heels, push-ups, earrings, all male candidates, high taxes, expensive health insurance, diapers, foot pads, donuts, cement, floors, kidney beans, parallel parking, sweatshirts, miz Pollyanna, Alka-Seltzer.
It doesn't have to make logical sense, just get rolling. And, of course, you can drop into scenes, whole situations.
Get stuck? "No thank you" again. The important thing is to keep the hand moving and find your own voice.
High heels, no thank you.
When retired, the heels flew
to Sally, who could use a few
It's tax time and I say no thank you
and if I pay, so pay the billionaires too
as they don't pay their fair share, who knew
Donuts, or alka-seltzer, no thank you
no sugar for me, and no beef stew
allergies to beef, mint, and coconut boohoo
Politics and war have been a definite "ugh F--k no" thank you
It is a scary time and I may not live to see how we come through.
~~
Authors Note: I know too much about politics and I have never seen anything like this in my 71 years. A scary time, and I hope I'm wrong. We survived once but will we survive this time?
About the Creator
Denise E Lindquist
Retired, working part-time as a Native American culture consultant. I have an MSE, and an ABD. I write on Vocal, and Facebook. Poetry, non-fiction mostly, and working on fiction. Wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.
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