The Assemblage Newsletter #59
Welcome to this week’s newsletter from Assemblage. These newsletters go out every Friday to highlight some of the top works from the past week. We hope these links (all friend links, so anyone can view them) find you in a state of contentedness. You can also view all of our previous letters via the Letters tab on our homepage.
“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” — E. L. Doctorow
Sometimes you have to wipe the fog away from your eyes to see what’s right in front of you. And it’s always right there for you. The page. The screen. A book. Allow yourself to drift into a creative state.
Featured Writer
Each week we feature one of our fantastic writers and up to six of their essays or poems on the homepage underneath the Featured Essays and Featured Poems section. This week we posted our 28th Featured Writer: Adeline Dimond. Adeline is a federal attorney who is likely on her way to cuddle your dog. Adeline has published 12 works in Assemblage in 2020.
Collection
Collections are groupings of stories or poems with an overall theme. You can find Collections on the home page underneath the Featured Stories, Featured Poetry, and Featured Writer sections. We have released On Writing, On Love, On Poems, On Self, On Equality, Unsung, 100 Fans, On Grief, How To Do Sh*t, 70 Fans, Forgotten, Fresh, On Mental Health, On Life, On Psychology, On Introverts, On Friendship, On Social Media, 90%, On Nature, Life Lessons, On Future, Lost, On Numbers, On Family, On Society, On Food, Poetic Interlude, 2020, 1,000 Fans, 50 Posts, and this week we released This Happened To Me.
This Happened To Me features 6 works from 6 different writers, all talking about personal experiences. This section is a great way to get acquainted with multiple works around one theme, as well as to find writers you haven’t read before or ones you shouldn’t miss. Take a look at our Collection this week and see what you’ve missed because you may just be the only one.
This Happened To Me features one work each from Michelle Elizabeth, Jonathan Greene, Tania Caan, Juliette Roanoke, Cara Harbstreet (She/Her), and Bonnie Barton.
Essays and Poems From the Past Week
We’re All Going To Die One Day, And That’s Okay by George J. Ziogas
“You may triumph for now, you may triumph again, but in the end, death will be triumphant. It’s a fact we have to accept at some point. The sooner you accept it, the better, because the sooner you accept that death is inevitable, the freer you’ll live.”
“a broken child in so many parts
weeping at the bed of my dead parents
wondering why the world is so obtuse
and so hellbent on categorizing me
as one thing or this thing or that thing”
I Know That You Don’t Know This by Greg Frankson
“The act of asking is a confessional. You are, in essence, saying “I don’t know the answer to this, but maybe you do” to the other person. That’s why I think so many of us have trouble doing it.”
Why It’s Best to Not Plan for the Future by taylor franklin
“Most likely, your passions have changed from five years ago. Or ten years ago.
Our inner beings are ever-changing. Our minds grow as we grow, which is the beauty of life. Don’t become fixated on one thing, when there are hundreds or even thousands of other opportunities for you out there.”
“Your silence speaks volumes
Who knew there could be so much noise
without a single word being spoken”
I Know How I React When I’m at Gunpoint Now by Em Unravelling
“And then I got home and tried to tell the story to everyone around the dinner table in an archly amused tone but suddenly I couldn’t stop crying for about five minutes. I didn’t feel sad or frightened; the tears were like a thunderstorm, a panicked reaction to the adrenaline I hadn’t realized I’d accrued, presumably in the face of that surreally dramatic-looking rifle.”
Taking Shape by Jessica Lee McMillan
“the long, transforming road
where I sat on brine-bleached wall
to feel the noise of greater shapes
next to the stones angled just so
where I knew to find crow magic.”
What If You Weren’t Afraid? by Megan Minutillo
“Maybe you’d learn more.
Maybe you’d live more, too.
Maybe love would be the ‘thing’ that guided you.”
Weekly Note
“So that’s the dissenter’s hope: that they are writing not for today but for tomorrow.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
When you write for tomorrow, you don’t have expectations for today. You don’t wonder how many people will react now because it’s not for now. It’s for later. When people are ready.
