Writer Ellen Morris Prewitt Blog

My New Righting Group Book

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 30, 2019. Posted in General, HOMELESSNESS, Writing. No Comments on My New Righting Group Book

Y’all, I’ve been so busy getting my new book into the hands of folks who can use it, I haven’t stopped long enough to tell you about it. Most of y’all know for 8 years I was part of a weekly writing group of Memphians who had personally experienced homelessness. We wrote; we held public readings; we hosted full-day...

Love in the Lowe’s

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 24, 2024. Posted in General, LOVE. 4 Comments on Love in the Lowe’s

I was sitting on the floor of the Lowe’s today waiting on the key cutter to cut new keys. A man was talking to the key cutter while he worked. I don’t know what they were talking about because they were talking in Spanish. The man, it turns out was the dad of a family who came walking down the aisle to join him. Walking, except for a...

Harris for President

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 24, 2024. Posted in General. 4 Comments on Harris for President

I was at a festival last week where a prominent Black female author talking about Biden possibly bowing out of the race, said, “America today won’t elect a Black woman president.” Over the next several days as talk of change in the ticket intensified, whenever my husband raised the possibility of Harris replacing him, I quoted...

You are Wonderful

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 6, 2024. Posted in General, LOVE. 14 Comments on You are Wonderful

I like mayo on my hotdog. I have one nearsighted eye and one farsighted eye. I can swim the length of a 25 yard pool in one breath. I am afraid of ocean liners and the car running out of gas. Snakes don’t scare me. I love my family. I hate single-use contact lens. I was blond as a child then strawberry blond then a boy...

Today

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 23, 2024. Posted in General, Writing. 8 Comments on Today

Today, I met with the two folks I’m co-collaborating with on our Wild Goose Contemplative Writing experience. We talked about contemplative writing, what it was, how on earth we create a meaningful experience in 50 minutes. We laughed. Fully understanding we were in this together, we brainstormed. Our resulting plan is awesome. Perhaps because...

Wild Poems

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 22, 2024. Posted in GOD, LOVE, Writing. 3 Comments on Wild Poems

My emotions rocklike wavesa victim of forces uncontrolled. My heart singsLord, it’s beautiful.How does that calm survive the chaos? Purple Martins fly,Ripe plums bend branches.Beautiful brick marcheswhere grass grows green.We will all be okay. A jigsaw of cloudsWhat looks forebodingcreates contrast, warning us,“We are alive.” We...

Re-Potted

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 20, 2024. Posted in General, GOD. 2 Comments on Re-Potted

I netted the fig tree. I planted five yellow flowering plants and four purple flowering plants. I tore up a decomposing tomato barrel, threw away the pieces, and dispersed the dirt. I did the same for two other rotten containers. I took four tropicals that didn’t come in hanging baskets and re-potted them into hanging baskets. I planted four...

A Full Night’s Sleep

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 15, 2024. Posted in General. 4 Comments on A Full Night’s Sleep

I went to sleep last night and didn’t wake up. No, not that (or logically, I wouldn’t be typing this, right?) I mean, I went to bed and got a full night’s sleep until morning light. If you take my life and cut it into the size of a ruler, this statement has been true for 11 3/4 inches. One of my few talents has always been...

Watermelon

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 5, 2024. Posted in General, GRIEF. 8 Comments on Watermelon

I cut into the watermelon, and I want to go back so bad. Back to the days when summer was hot but not brutal, when happiness drove me. When I swagged into the kitchen at my grandmother’s house, thumped a watermelon onto the Formica counter, and cracked a sharp knife through the rind. It was the summer after my second year of law school,...

I’m Back!!!

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 31, 2024. Posted in Writing. 16 Comments on I’m Back!!!

My goodness, y’all. We talked every day during Lent then…..silence. My contemplative writing, the subject of those 40 posts, has fallen off the same way. Sometimes a marathon depletes you. Then you regain your strength, and I’m back! Here’s some news: The Big Moose Prize hosted by Black Lawrence Press named When We Were...

New Orleans Magic

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 28, 2024. Posted in General. 2 Comments on New Orleans Magic

Today, Sunday of the first weekend in Jazz Fest when New Orleans magic pulses through the air like a fine purple spray, I saw an eighty-year-old man with hair the same color as his mauve shoes join a band playing in the Bywater in a furniture shop (a handcrafting furniture type of shop, not a gallery floor) to sing his one hit from 1958 and there...