Creative Writing Workshops

Do you want to write? In 2010 I'll be running Artist's Way inspired creative writing workshops. These 2 - 5 day intensives are designed to both enhance your writing experience as well as explore your inner self. Please email kelly@kellysurtees.com with 'writing' in the subject line to be placed on the mailing list to be kept informed about details for these and other creative workshops. In the meantime, get a head start with The Artist's Way book itself, written by the eloquent Julia Cameron.

Words are my favourite form of expression; especially poetry full of rhythm and heart. Below are samples of my creative writing. If you would like to use the content in anyway, please contact me. (All content is covered by Copyright 2006 - 2009.)

"Cold barren bare
My heart
Unwilling to share
Her depths
Waiting hoping still
Frozen until
The new dawning spring
It helps bring
New life, new love"
Scorpio, 07

"Blue sky,
Dry eyes.
Bubbling mind
Unhinged in time."

For Tobias -
"Little boy laughter
Papa's beaming pride
Mama's looking after
This little guy"

"Standing in the rain" one of my writing exercises from the excellent Writers Studio "Unlocking Creativty" Course

I feel my body moisten. I'm wet all over, yet so calm. It's cathartic, metaphorically, being washed clean. I feel all my cares wash away and I want to laugh at the stupidity of it all. Eyes closed, face offered to the heavens, I can smell the freshness, the newness that will follow this downpour. My clothes are wet, glued to my skin. In hindsight, dressing for a cool summer night party was not ideal as my extra layers are getting soaked. I take them off and let the rain hit my bare shoulders. My feet, now free of their shoes, squelch in the soft ground. I am pleased I chose to come home through the park. The trees glisten in their new raincoats and even though it's dark, there's a fresh, new quality to the park. My jacket, shoes and t-shirt are piled on a park bench. In my singlet and skirt I stand, harbour in front, park behind and soak it all in. I realise it's not really about what I want or get obsessed with; life, like the weather, will have its way with me. I'm changed standing out in the rain. I breathe out, let go and allow myself to just be. A deep sense of ok-ness falls over me. I join my soaked clothes on the park bench and laugh. Crazy lady, laughing, standing in the rain, others might think. (If anyone else was mad enough to be out in this weather!). On the inside I let go and laugh it all out. No one else sees as I have my own mini epiphany. Wiping the rain from my face, but leaving the laughter tears, I pick up my clothes. Barefoot, dripping and still giggling to myself I slowly continue home.

~~~~~~~

like a coven of witches

who know the same spells

the all of us together

know secrets others don't

we've been inside ourselves

and shown what we're truly made of

the dreams of our souls

within reach for a time

we walk close to the veil

at times even slip behind

knowing full well

we can move between worlds
C 2007 Kelly Surtees

~~~~~~~~~~~

Life changes in an instant

less than one second
here now gone now

and all those we’ve loved before
are no longer any more.

Kelly Surtees Sept 2006

~~~~~~

Dance with me again

Hold me close

Let my body met yours
in this place of no words
And may our hands speaks for us
Beyond the world of words

Dance with me again

Hold me close
Let me feel our hearts beating
that old familiar feeling

And let my body met yours
In that place of no words
You know -the space we go

When it's just us two

And may our hands
speak for us
Beyond this world of words
Where hearts can talk
and all we need do

is listen

~~~~~~~~

The sounds of a dream I’ll never live

I can still hear you.

The whisper of a life lost,

an inkling persisting, of dreams now forsaken.

Warmth of a heart I can no longer touch,

torn - though I struggled

from my grasp. Instantly.

And I cling ever tightly-

unable to comprehend.

Final remnants, of memories now fading

and a voice growing ever-distant daily.

Becoming faint, like a candle flickering,

now gone.

A darkness permeating my soul

a pain, which grows,

I can’t escape it, though I try,

words, capturing my pain

inescapable inside my head.

As days go by, you are disappearing, sliding away

I can’t stop the fall,

and now, without you I am fallen.

Smiles you created for me

slowly disappear, magic you envisioned-

vanishes.

My mind foggy, details blurring,

your face, left only as I can imagine it.

I struggle, and your memory,

I long for it to stay with me,

slowly fades.

The ache in my heart consuming me

overwhelmed, I struggle.

Constantly and always now

without you.

~ ~ ~

And the past it beckons

The sound of a song that was ours

The scent of a perfume you wore

It threatens my every day

And the pain that it brings

Heart wrenching

And I can barely stop to breathe

Unbidden

On the street

At work

The reminders of our life together rise up

And its all I can do to move forward

Auto pilot is my saviour

Going through the motions

And I wonder when will it ever end

When will the sun start to shine again

When will the stars start to twinkle for me

And will true love ever cross my path

If you were my only chance

You know I gave it all I had

How is it that it wasn’t enough?

You truly rocked my world

The pain from knowing that I was just another love to you

Is all encompassing

And I wonder if ever I will recover from it

And I wonder when will it ever end

When will the sun start to shine again

When will the stars start to twinkle for me

And will true love ever cross my path

If you were my only chance

And the memories of our time together

Photos, weekends away

Mementoes of a time long ago

I wake at night

And wonder why you’re not there

then I pray that it will one day ever end

To say you weren’t good enough

Does little to ease the pain

You were the one

For me

And my heart will break forever knowing that

I wasn’t for you

~ ~ ~

The turbulence within is reflected without,

it seems we are all twisting and surging -

the wind ripping through our hearts, our lives,

leaving nothing as it was before

destruction and devastation all consuming

left now in its wake,

powerful wind, pelting rain

penetrating even the most well hidden souls,

a calm still lulls us to feel safe, to feel comfortable,

but for how long?

never really knowing when

we will be twisted away

torn apart sent afar

a long way from the stillness of today

some of us seek this disturbance,

thinking as though to be more powerful

if we search for this change

upturning all that we know

what gives us protection

as often as we can

trying to outrun

something we have forgotten we know we can’t control.

some of us give up

allowing the winds of change of life to thrash us, to burn us

offering no resistance, passively here

and there are those of us who enjoy the quiet moments for what they are

and see this tornado of change as an opportunity

some of us strong enough to know

within ourselves, who we are

regardless of the turbulence without

having moments of doubt

but clarity and trust that we

are all driven to be where it is

we are supposed to exist

to influence in ways we are here to share

to learn from those who are meant to teach us

knowing that difficulty and pain this can cause

for like the wind

we are here today

and gone as quickly

never knowing when it will strike up again

* * *

Like brush strokes on a canvas

The words escape my mind

and flow downwards

to the page

ideas taking shape

unrelenting

a constant stream

exiting my thoughts

as if you could

get inside

and read my mind

and the finger strokes

marching to a different beat

words of heart

of love

of hurt or pain

of excitement of hope

all taking their space in

the world out there

like an open channel

sentences from the inside form

then rush out

seemingly as if

I have no control

at all

whose words then

are they?

~~~~~~~~~~~

You think this has come from nowhere.

Surprised - you think I’m leaving today.

What you’re missing -

a relationship long only in your head.

For I’ve been gone a while now

for reasons which must be said;

you’re never around,

you don’t understand,

not from the inside, where I really am,

you don’t listen.

Familiar hurts, and

a long worn pattern I can now see.

Your hurt I can feel

yet don’t be blaming me.

I’ve been gone a long time now

driven away

I can no longer pretend.

How about me? For so long now

suppressed by your control

restricted by your fears.

Trust was something you never gave me, and now

I am leaving.

Disrespect has over grown where I once wanted love to fill.

If you‘d been here more

you’d know, I’ve been leaving for a while now,

and from today

you can’t stay blind no more.

Look at me

like you never would before.

Look at me now

as I walk out that door.

If you’d only looked before

if you’d given me your time

seen straight through to my heart

then maybe, baby I wouldn’t be walking out this door.

Rug out from under your feet only

because you’ve been so blind.

I can’t make you see

can’t keep trying and hoping any longer.

So come on now look straight at me

like you never did before

and watch

as I‘m walking out that door.

Those times when you would see me and

hold me, too long ago now, yet

they’ve kept me here

where my heart has long been gone

you need me, but not from your heart

so I’m leaving now

walking out this door

look at me now, see me

cause I won’t be around no more.

~ ~ ~

The mystery of you makes you so appealing and addictive-

it is like death to let you go, the possibilities in my mind are endless

Like a slow rolling mist you appear tantalising as ever,

it seems you could go on like this forever

always you would find me

It is only for me to hope

Anticipating

A caress of your hands on my skin

And the feeling of you moving inside of me

Yet have I to find one who can match you

Stolen moments in time

you move between the strands of reality

all just a dream

But the scent of our lovemaking lingers

And as I awake the next day the tenderness inside of me

A lingering remnant of your visit

Impossible to grasp

you are my mystery

Enigmatic and illusive

You slip through my fingers as the evening sun fades to nothing

And I know not when you will warm my skin again

Is there any love between us? Who is to know

Depth of feeling but how easy it is to mistake this desire for something more

To easy

A trap you have laid for me?

with each encounter you weave yourself deeper into me

And so I lie ensnared

by the image of you I have

A small scratch of what there is to you

But it is all you have thrown to me

And so I cling to it, much as I try to erase you from my memory

Intrigued by your absence

Perhaps this is all we are destined to be

A drop in the ocean of our lives

Ripples like shock waves ever present

As you permeate the corners of my world

* * *

first thing in the morning you’d be there

last thing at night I’d be on your mind

you’re gone in the blink of an eye

as a lighting bolt across the sky

just as fast you disappear.

but how my heart you brightened

I reach for what I glimpsed,

for promises you left

words once so tender, full of such promise

and the way things were

when you looked into my eyes

oh baby the way things were

something deep inside of me

and something buried inside of you

a princess always

how you swore I’d feel

to leave me cheated

was your truth

illusion was your game

and the way things were

oh baby the way things were

I was playing and you were staying

did I break your rules?

did I seize control

were you falling

and unsure?

cause the way things were

we should still be at it

there were times when I coulda sworn we had it

with the way things were

baby the way things were