A Thought’s Reliquary
Friday Flash 19 July, 2013
I.
He opened the notebook, the creak of cracking cardboard a writer’s melody.
“I see you have yourself a reliquary,” said Grandfather.
“Amen.”
II.
Proofs of holy writ, held within the ink of the pen, waited for the opening incantation. He paused and found no words. Was he a heretic?
III.
The first words were important and they rushed from the pen; not so much writing as scribbling random thoughts in search of a repository.
IV.
Shuffled sheets in a lectionary of unrequited (or unsent) love letters, parables of adolescent anxiety and beatitudes of pop song lyricists,
V.
Scratched sonnets and ambling discourses with a hip-hop feel competed for space between the lines. An epistolary apocryphal gospel at best.
VI.
He rested the pen between the pages in the crook of the hymnal’s spine, a genuflection, as the last sentence dried in the valley’s shadows.
VII.
As the cover of the notebook closed it murmured, sighed through paper exhalations, as one who held their breath waiting for the benediction.
A Fullness in Brevity - Adam Byatt 
loved beatitude pop lyrics and the last section. Enjoyed this very much
Brilliant Adam, simply brilliant! Gorgeous language and I especially like VI.
Very tight and nice, Adam. Love how the entries pop and disappear.
Discrete thoughts, bound together. My notebooks are much the same.
What a perfect description of the artist’s notbook: sacred yet scattered.
I had the same thought as Tony. My notebooks have snippets, scenes, blog posts, sometimes flashes, in no particular order.
This was good – love especially the last section.
Very nice, Adam. While I love the words, it is the patterns, the arrangement and the delivery of this that impressed me the most.
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I agree, beautiful language and imagery. Very nice!
Lovely piece. I like the format, the way the words appear.
I loved the imagery here, and the idea of the mixed-up notebook — it seems like every notebook I’ve every set aside for a particular topic has wound up with non-topic content in it.
How poetic. Lovely work.
Wonderful word-smithing here Adam; a work out for the tongue maybe, but a very welcome one indeed.