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Kathleen March

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jan, 2020

Stories (414)

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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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7. The Gift With no End

1.Rosalía received a package she had not expected. It had been carefully wrapped in heavy brown paper and tied tightly with twine only the sharpest knife could break. Was it delivered to her by mistake? She rarely received packages, especially of that size, yet this one was definitely addressed to her, every part spelled properly. There were several stamps that indicated this one had been mailed from somewhere very far away. She didn’t know how much postage had been required because it wasn’t the same monetary system she used, but that reall...

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6. Never Assume Anything (2/2)

Rosalía’s Journal I’m not sorry for writing to those women now. That’s because every writer I’ve sent a letter to has responded. Maybe being bold has its advantages. I never expected that would happen, though. Not in a million years. To tell the truth, I didn’t expect any answers at all. After all, an unknown ‘daughter of a single mother’ - not my concern, but the Church seems to care - would have to be mad to send such letters to well-known women in another country. Who cares about inquiries from a complete unknown? What could possibly just...

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5. Sorry is a State of Mind

Dear … I am truly sorry for imposing on your ladyship’s time, which must contain ever so many obligations…Dear … Please forgive me for daring to importune you with the enclosed request…My Dear(est) Madam … By no means do I wish to impose upon your good will by…Dearest …Most Admired Lady …The list had a few other salutations, but the woman bent over the simple wooden writing desk had scratched them out. She wrote first in Galician, then in Spanish, knowing neither was likely to be accessible to the recipient or recipients, who were more ...

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4. Shiver (1/2)

It was later afternoon and Rosalía was sitting at her desk in the small apartment where she lived in Santiago de Compostela. She was content to have a room of her own long before a well-known British writer would make it a household phrase, so to speak. Writing required thinking, and being with family members more often required actions or at least speaking. On this occasion the dialogue between woman and page was obviously silent. La soledad sonora, as years later a lesser-known member of the Spanish Generation of 1927 would call it. Thunde...

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