Showing posts with label Susan L Lipson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Susan L Lipson. Show all posts

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Special Poem for Holocaust Remembrance Day 2014


A sonnet dedicated to Irving Lipson and his family


Puddles of Wax
By Susan L. Lipson

A candle flickers in my heart for you;
I symbolize it with a wick just lit,
Commemorating millions also due
For honor as we rise from where we sit
To sing of lives snuffed out before their wicks
Had burned for all the years they should have glowed,
Before they were consumed in flames like sticks,
Or piled in pits and ditches by the road—
A road less traveled by the ones who’ve dug,
Unearthing truths embodied by their bones,
The ones who will not sweep under the rug
The evil echoing in ghostly moans.
The candle flames will end in puddles here,
While yours will burn and shine in every tear.


Sunday, November 24, 2013

Useful Noncommittal Words for Harmony in Relationships

Sometimes, in potentially volatile conversations, we must smother verbal sparks with noncommittal words, rather than insist on being "right" and fanning flames that lead to everyone being burned. Here are some handy phrases to cool down the heat, so no one ends up "the sore loser" (see picture below--drawn by my son, Ian).


  1. "I can see why you think that." This phrase lets people know you're listening to them, suggesting that you agree with them, but not actually agreeing with what they say. (My son brought this line to my attention--by using it. He's a skillful diplomat, as the middle child, and only boy, between two strong-minded sisters.)
  2. "Thanks for your input." The word thanks gives value to the other person's words, without necessarily valuing them.
  3. "That's an interesting point." The word interesting offers delectable neutrality in sticky situations, without commitment.
  4. "I'll think about that." This allows you to show open-mindedness, maybe even to consider another viewpoint, without definitely committing to anything in advance.
  5. "You may be right." The overbearing listener will hear the words you and right without realizing that the may has not committed you to agreeing with him/her.
I am a firm advocate of directness in conversations, rather than evasiveness, but we all have those people in our lives with whom a conversation often escalates into a battle of wills. Life's short and high blood pressure only makes it shorter, so reconsider the value of being "right" for the sake of your own health With some people, you can consider noncommittal words a gift to their egos/insecurity/need to dominate. 

Let me know how this works for you! And please subscribe to my blog if you enjoyed this.





Monday, October 28, 2013

My Dream Office



Natural Cubicle
by Susan L. Lipson


To work inside a tree cave, hollowed out by fire,
charred yet enchanting,
marred yet inviting,
scarred yet empowering,
while still green above all,
ever green, above all--
that would be a metaphorically perfect space
for writing strong, magical, moving, timeless words.


My dream office, pictured above, stands proudly at Stanford Sierra camp, where I spent last weekend at the Fallen Leaf Retreat for children's authors and illustrators, hosted by SCBWI Nevada. While listening to the rippling Lake Tahoe sloshing softly to my left, and inhaling the aroma of pine, I stared at this tree cave and imagined myself sitting inside, writing. Typing like a wood pecker on a computer powered by tree energy alone, writing words that will forever ring true. Words that spread out and away from me like the ghostly rings of the missing section of the trunk--enveloping young readers in my memorable words. And I'd have no need for file cabinets, for a trusty squirrel assistant would gather my first draft acorns and bury them for a season, so that I could revisit the seedlings that grow to spring forth as sapling stories. And I would create a forest of words from my tree cave.