Author: Charlotte Hamrick

Charlotte Hamrick’s creative writing and photographs have been published in a number of literary journals and anthologies. Her debut prose chapbook, Offset Melodies, is included in Grieving Hope (ELJ Editions), a collection of five microchaps. She is Managing Editor for Reckon Review.
Books, Found Poetry, My Poetry, NaPoWriMo 2016, Photography, Poetry3 Comments

They Were All There, Gleaming

Charlotte Hamrick

Without him, a faint image became clearer. The curtain hanging before my eyes, flat and cold, removed. Over me, the jeweled colors appear brighter than they were. ***** So, I worked my own prompt today, my version of an erasure poem. Erasure poems, to me, are too messy – you know, all that black marker. So I just take a block of text and search for words and phrases  and either underline or write them down as I go. This poem was derived from the following paragraph in The Girl With the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (Penguin Books, 1999) … Continue reading They Were All There, Gleaming

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Of Little Hands and Feet

Charlotte Hamrick

What wasn’t: Deliverance Baptismal Secular Miracle A Happy Childhood A Drowning Scene What was: A Burning Resuscitation Conversion A Sanctuary The Other Side of Drowning ***** Prompt courtesy of Greg Santos on Found Poetry Review. Greg suggested several prompts and I settled on a Table of Contents poem which ended up a list poem. My source: The Chronology of Water, Yuknavich, Lidia, Hawthorne Books, 2011. Btw, this is an astounding book. I wrote about it here Continue reading Of Little Hands and Feet

My Poetry, NaPoWriMo 2016, Poetry, Poets, Pop Culture2 Comments

Thank You for a Funky Time

Charlotte Hamrick

Pick a day when the sunlight dances on little red Corvettes and snow in April, when elevators reach a higher floor and you can always see the sun. Choose a day that incites a parade so purple the cells in your body tingle like pop rocks and guitars exploding, feeling proud in the light of this power. Give the world all your extra time and kiss this parade we call life where he taught us to love and laugh and celebrate in purple rain and stars that fall from the sky. *****   Prompt courtesy of Found Poetry Review: Take an erasure … Continue reading Thank You for a Funky Time

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For Joy

Charlotte Hamrick

I never expected to make the journey that pulls you toward helplessness and illness and demands you step up. The journey that structures your life around spoon feedings during Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune and whatever else crawls across the tv while you’re coaxing your loved one to eat. It was a journey of patience and perseverance, of constant advocacy for excellence of care, of schedules and massages, hair brushing and body-turning. It was a journey of acceptance for the inevitable but without a thought of giving up. It was a journey I was honored to travel, one in which I … Continue reading For Joy

NaPoWriMo 2016, Poetry2 Comments

Forgotten Woman

Charlotte Hamrick

If I died alone in a nursing home would anyone notice or would I be just another old lady leaving a bed for another old lady, just another pair of hands to fold over a sunken chest, the heart beneath long ago stilled by loneliness. If I died alone in a nursing home would my spirit have been strengthened by endurance and faith or would sweet relief from long days of bed sores and liquid feedings, from hurried and impatient caregivers be welcomed. If I died alone in a nursing home would anything that went before even matter. ***** Writing … Continue reading Forgotten Woman

My Poetry, NaPoWriMo 2016, Photography, Poetry4 Comments

The Poet is Highjacked from National Poetry Month

Charlotte Hamrick

  It’s your fault, New York. You grabbed me by the heart and shook out all the doubts, all the fears, all the hurts and disappointments. You ran your fingers around my brain, pulled out all the murky stuff and replaced it with the brightness of yellow taxis streaking down the avenues, the open-faced grins of locals walking dogs, the clinking glasses and laughter of after-work drinks, children running through spring kissed grass in Central Park. You, New York, you are the reason I forgot about National Poetry Month and didn’t write a single poem for nine days because you … Continue reading The Poet is Highjacked from National Poetry Month

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Inspiration Monday: New York, New York!

Charlotte Hamrick

 I just spent a week in NYC and now I completely understand why people love it. I’m still on a post vacay high from my trip and already planning my second one. I fell in love. I could totally live there (if I could afford it!). First, it’s a beautiful and clean city, incredibly clean. Second, the people are friendly and don’t seem to mind tourists (refreshing), we never felt like anyone was annoyed by us including the tour guides who were all cheerful and chatty. Shout out to the aspiring actor working The Top of the Rock who kept us … Continue reading Inspiration Monday: New York, New York!

My Poetry, NaPoWriMo 2016, New Orleans, Pets, Photography, Poetry1 Comment

In the Garden

Charlotte Hamrick

  Morning sunshine backlights the ferns giving them a glowing radiance. Mockingbirds swoop and hop over the garden from wire to tree in a spring mating dance, oblivious to the full feeder where other birds feast. A slight breeze rustles the bamboo like slippered feet crossing the floor and the wind-chime offers a solitary ding from time to time. I knew this morning was perfect when the dogs awoke me with kisses and eagerly bound  down the stairs, tails waving like flags. **** NaPoMo prompt courtesy of This is not a Literary Journal:  “Go outside, sit and observe. Make a … Continue reading In the Garden