L.A. poet Wendy Rainey (pictured at right) is working on a novel entitled Nancyland. An excerpt is featured in this week’s Cultural Weekly here. The subject matter shows that inspiration comes when and where we least expect it. Here’s the excerpt’s opening paragraph:
It all seems like a dream since I made my way out of Nancyland. The world is a different place to me now, bigger and bolder. Sometimes I feel as if I have to grab hold of life right here and now while I still can before my flesh and bone become part of the great compost heap we all must return to when our bodies can no longer endure prison or war or even freedom. Sometimes I still have nightmares about Nancy but I don’t give them much credence anymore. It’s the hum-drum day to day details that trip me up. The slapping of thongs, the smell of strawberry preserves, any Beatles song, even the bastardized elevator version can trigger disturbed and restless musings that are a part of a landscape that I myself have created. At one time, the idea of having God’s love and protection was meaningless to me. But now, when I see someone lying in the fetal position on the steps of the library, or dazed and speaking in tongues at the bus stop I think, “there but for the grace of God go I.” It is odd the way certain events can happen in one’s life that change a person forever. Through the Pasadena smog I saw the beast and was confronted with my own animal nature. It was then that I finally cast off the burden of youth and made my way out of Nancyland.”
Photo: Cultural Weekly
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