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Kathleen March

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2020

Stories (388)

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388 Stories

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Oh, the Word of It

'Words, words, words. ' This was Hamlet's reply to Polonius' question, 'What do you read, my lord?' (Shakespeare, 1603). By repeating the word three times, Hamlet suggests that what he is reading is meaningless, just words. Literary criticism has - ironically - devoted many words to deciphering the triple use of “word.” Among the interpretations we find: Disdain for superficiality: Hamlet thinks Polonius's curiosity is trivial. He is likely being sarcastic. Emphasis on meaninglessness: By repeating "words," Hamlet suggests that the text he i...

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20. The Choice

Nasín cando as prantas nasen,no mes das froles nasín,nunha alborada mainiña,nunha alborada de abril.Por eso me chaman Rosa,mais a do triste sorrir,con espiñas para todos,sin ningunha para ti.Desque te quixen, ingrato,todo acabóu para min,que eras ti para min todo,miña groria e meu vivir.¿De qué, pois, te queixas, Mauro?¿De qué, pois, te queixas, di,cando sabes que morrerapor te contemplar felís?Duro cravo me encravachescon ese teu maldesir,con ese teu pedir toloque non sei qué quer de min,pois dinche canto dar pudenavariciosa de ti.O meu cor...

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19. She who translates is not lost

[From the translator’s journal]I love this poem. Everyone loves this poem. It’s a bit of a mystery, because it seems so sad, dark, troubling, mournful. What is it about people? Why do we all seek sadness at the same time as we’re looking for love, hope, a glint of joy? Why can’t we just follow a path that makes life worth living? I ask, because I’m one of the worst. So I work with this poem, trying to mould it to fit English, insisting it’s a simple task and failing at every step. It never fits, and I never stop trying, but if I give up, wha...

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18. Right vs. Wrong

Some readers may recall the poem, “Justice by my own hand,” written by Rosalía de Castro, the one that tells the story of a wretchedly poor woman who wreaks her own vengeance on the authorities after losing her children to starvation. She slashes them to pieces. Well, actually, the woman tells her own story. Many readers either skip over it, pretend she never wrote it, insist it’s not to be taken seriously, since it’s just a poem.Rosalía, who is the author and knows what her intentions were, writes about her misgivings in her journal: Will p...

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17. Dicen que no hablan

Lavinia Rivers was thinking about Dicen que no hablan las plantas, ni las fuentes, ni los pájaros by Rosalía de Castro. She knew something about the poem that the author could not: years later it would be one of her best known, even though it was published in Spanish, in En las orillas del Sar. That was in 1884, but there were some who said the book contained poetry from different times. After two immensely popular books in Galician, this last of all her works was in Spanish. Lavinia was making an effort not to judge this decision, and thoug...

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Mochi

It was horrible. My dog had been ill for awhile. Very ill. Getting skinnier and skinnier. Not eating, then wolfing down food, then nothing. For months. Fear for him and rushing him to the vet every few weeks.  My dog wasn’t just skinny, she was almost emaciated, like people get in some countries for lack of food. My dog ate, but her body wouldn’t acknowledge the things she put into it. She had been taking medication for thyroid and another for some reason I’ve forgotten. I never missed her doses, because she was my best friend. I wanted...

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16. Oh no

Rosalía was in Brión, where some of her family lived. She was there to spend a few days with her relatives, but also to carry out some other plans. Brión was not that far from Santiago and the area was the birthplace of many of the writer’s relatives. Luis Tobío had brought the body of a martyr from Cádiz in 1848 and the cult had quickly taken root in Galicia. Santa Minia was Roman and had lost her life when she was fifteen. That had been in 362 under the emperor Julian, or so some sources say.. Tobío had transported the body to his village ...

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15. Fate, thy name is…

Let me not think on’t–Frailty, thy name is woman! ~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet’s first soliloquy  Rosalía was looking over her poem, the one that starts with “Galicia non debes chamarte nunca española.” She couldn’t know what the fate of that piece would be after it was published in 1863. She couldn’t know the importance of the collection of verses, Cantares Gallegos, would be. If only there were clues as to how she felt as she was writing the book that would be published when she was 26. She knew there had been no book in Galic...

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14. The Cat that Could

Rosalía had entered the small vestibule in the back of the café. She had entered in her usual modest attire of dark cotton skirt with non-aggressive petticoats, a tightly-drawn upper garment, wide sleeves, and an ample cape. The color of all these items was nondescript, and even her bonnet was an everyday adornment, strong enough to block most of the rain and typical of what most women wore. She had scurried along rainy Santiago streets, errands driving them to face the harsh elements. It was early February, time for downpours and chills, dr...

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13. Clothes Make the Man

Rosalía de Castro was looking over her writing, thinking which pieces she might send to the States. As she did this, an immense feeling of uncertainly took hold of her again. It shouldn’t have, and she was well aware of this, but she always felt she was likely to not be understood at all, or would be profoundly misunderstood.[Editor’s Note: Rosalía was correct in sensing she would be misunderstood, because both during her lifetime and for decades, even a century afterward, she would be seen as a ‘poetess’ who ‘felt the peasants’ pain’. ...

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12. Rain, rain, come again

EDITOR: The clear weather continued. Rosalía arrived home, put away the food purchased in the praza, and kept thinking about the gathering she hoped to organize with friends so they could discuss the organization of a literary/cultural group. (She hadn’t formed a clear idea in her head yet as to what topics they would discuss). She would write to her American contacts immediately, in the hope of learning how they met and what had gone well. There was a good reason for asking about this. The sunlight seemed to urge the ideas into forms t...

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11. Café Alameda

  It was absolutely pouring out. The torrential rain wasn't expected, but even those with an ounce of prevention were finding the means they had for fending off the sheeting, pelting drops were useless. The upturned market baskets that protected heads were leaking, the capes and other garments wrapped around shoulders were soaked and only made it easier for the dampness to penetrate to the skin. Still, this was Galicia and it was Santiago, the city where some people, in an acccusatorial tone, said it always rained the hardest. The ...

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10. When I Am Gone

Que se lembren de min cando eu falte. [Remember me when I am gone.] Rosalía had just written this in her journal and immediately I thought of the same sentiment, a line from a well-known poem: "Remember" by Christina Rossetti, believed to have been written in the mid-1800s, in 1849, according to many. It was published in collection Goblin Market and Other Poems in 1862. This means the writers were contemporaries. I suspect Rosalía knew of Rossetti. Goblin Market was a very popular book. And the first line of the poem in English is so similar...

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9. What’s in a Poem?

Rosalía was writing in her journal about the previous April afternoon. She was unable to get what had happened out of her mind, and yet she had only gone out as she often did, on an errand, as well as to walk and think. They say she was mourning the loss of her mother, yes, but that doesn’t seem to be why she had gone out. She also couldn’t explain why she had taken that route through the old city, nor why she felt afraid, even now. Rosalía’s journal: It was like the entire city was watching me. I felt as if I were being followed, but for so...

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8. I Should’ve Known

Lavinia’s story I should have known better, muttered Lavinia. I should have known that Rosalía would be able to comply with the American writers’ request for her to find companions in her quest to achieve a career in literature. I’m not unaware of the types of communication used by women in distant times. The types and places, I should add, because gatherings at church events, quilting bees, things of that nature, provided opportunities for discussion without censorship. That’s Feminist Historiography 101. After all, these English speakers ...

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