University of Southern Maine USM Digital Commons All Theses & Dissertations Student Scholarship 2016 When Lonesome Rains Come Close Inside Mary Katherine Spain MFA University of Southern Maine Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/etd Recommended Citation Spain, Mary Katherine MFA, "When Lonesome Rains Come Close Inside" (2016). All Theses & Dissertations. 291. https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/etd/291 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at USM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of USM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WHEN LONESOME RAINS COME CLOSE INSIDE _____________ A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE STONECOAST MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING BY MARY KATHERINE SPAIN ____________ 2016 ABSTRACT In “Out Shelby,” we witness the corrosive effects of familial co-dependency and manipulation in rural Kentucky and the struggles of its ten-year old female narrator, Laura Neil, as she tries to protect the one thing she can relate to: the family hound dog; “Take My Hand” is an urban caper that explores the dependency of strangers in the struggle for self-preservation and the comic relief such shenanigans can often yield; “Look for the Octopus” follows a loosely-tethered elementary school teacher named Penelope Richards as she attempts to protect her opus, a school musical she has written and produced; “A Fortune” examines the malady of malaise brought on by too much affluence as we witness the emotional blunting its worried-well main character, Gillian, is forced to subsist on. The collection closes with an excerpt from a novel-in-progress entitled, Fiddler’s Reach. A story whose chapters are told through three alternating narrators, Fiddler’s Reach explores forbidden love and its impact on the lives of the characters Junebug, Michael, and Nora. The excerpt includes the first three chapters of the novel. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the following people: Jennifer Dupree, for your encouragement and inspiration for the writing life Michael Levine and Isabella Levine, for your endless support and unwavering love Dolen Perkins-Valdez, for your truth serum that set me straight Aaron Hamburger, for your mastery in the instruction of writing Jaed Coffin, for never relying on “knowns” Elizabeth Searle, for your excitement and originality Suzanne Strempek Shea, for your angelic kindness and belief in me early on Debra Marquart, for your willingness to let me shatter myself on the page Ted and Annie Deppe, for your passionate commitment to all things Irish David Anthony Durham, for your keen and other-worldly understanding of what words can do Stonecoast Class of Summer 2016, for being brave, hilarious, and hungry for more Andrea Adams, for being the crown jewel on the train to Howth The former giants of writing instruction: (of Colorado State University) Leslee Becker, Kevin Foskin, Paul Trembath, Linda Ben-Zvi, Richard Henze; (of East Carolina University) Luke Whisnant and Paul Knoke; and (of Central High School) Rebecca Fadely. Every one of you pushed me to experiment with writing’s alchemy The Telling Room, for reminding me what I love most when I needed it the most My raconteur ancestors, who will continue to inspire tall-tales and uprisings of the soul Sean Thomas O’Reilly, for paying his debt already Mom and Sis, for being the roots and the branches Karen Lamb, for allowing so much and smiling still And my father, Dick Spain, for never, ever forgetting the importance of a deal iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE………………………………………………… 1 OUT SHELBY……………………………………………. 13 TAKE MY HAND………………………………………... 31 LOOK FOR THE OCTOPUS…………………………….. 51 A FORTUNE……………………………………………… 68 CHAPTER ONE-JUNEBUG……………………………... 85 CHAPTER TWO-NORA…………………………………. 105 CHAPTER THREE-MICHAEL………………………….. 121 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………… 134 v PREFACE Words, Sentences, Paragraphs I am a writer. The adage, “A writer writes,” is true enough and yet terminally insufficient for what a writer actually does, what a writer must engage with in order to create. If stringing coherent words together on the page and making them pleasant or informative were enough, then lots of people would “be” writers. Additionally, if adhering to the mechanics of grammar and mastering the elements of style were all it took to “be” a writer, then would-be writers would claim the status decisively, arriving in creative writing programs in droves, happy to contend with the minutia of word choice, sentence structure and tone, among other craft particulars. But these qualifying factors do not a writer make, although they do provide the necessary starter-kit. Being a writer means having the aptitude to operate on two different planes of reality simultaneously and with vigor, meanwhile managing the lost art of alchemy in a way that is effortless and enjoyable. The first plane of reality consists of the surface level of experience and requires a writer to have a keen observation of the world and its inhabitants. This generalization can be broken down into having a good memory, challenging the conventional wisdom, appreciating a wide array of peoples with different backgrounds and belief systems. It also means knowing the difference between judgement and simply being able to form an opinion after paring down a thing to its essence. The second plane of reality in which a writer must consistently be participating is not as easily described because it is nebulous 1 and requires a writer to pierce the surface of the material plane. To borrow a term whose origin can be traced to the wisdom teachings of Carlos Castaneda’s fabled teacher, Don Juan, and recast in the writings of Michael Harner, in his seminal book, The Way of the Shaman, this ability to sense what is happening beyond the alpha state of experience can be defined as the “second attention.” Second attention is the ability to intuit subtle changes in behavior and assess how those changes may affect a circumstance or outcome. This acumen of second attention challenges the very assumptions of reality itself and therefore the structure of the Life-Narrative that says, “This happened, then this other thing happened.” Since the dawn of civilization, humans have been able to survive through the act of telling stories in this linear fashion. Stories also root human beings to a place, a tribe, or a land in order to build a sense of belonging. “Narrative is the fundamental mode of human knowledge,” so wrote Brian Richardson in Narrative Dynamics. Human knowledge is the purvey of the story-teller and while the surface level of keen observation is a requirement of the writer, second attention requires that the writer not only sense what is happening below the surface but to extrapolate the significance of that undefined energy and re-route it to the page. By doing so, an unknowable mystique flavors the words, sentences, and paragraphs in a way that is experienced on a deeper level of engagement for the alpha-state reader. How many times has someone read a passage in a book and reported it as being haunting, provocative, or beautiful but could not explain why or how? A case of words failing to define an emotional response? No. It is unwaveringly the success of a writer’s second attention. If story was born out of the necessity to share knowledge—whether to report danger or connect to the tribe—its additional evolution has worked to evoke 2 contemplation as well as provide entertainment. Story has always been a way of taking its listener out of their present reality. In many ways, the community shaman also had to take himself out of his present reality in order to bring back needed information. A shaman is a walker between the worlds, and therefore the second attention asks the writer to become a shaman by willingly traversing into the dark interior of the creative force. As the ancient practitioners brought back reassurance, healing and even prophecy from their psychic journeys, the writer-shaman also returns from an internal journey in alchemy, transforming all they have seen and sensed into gold, employing words for that representation. The writer may also accept the responsibility of exposing injustices, prejudices, and other types of injurious indoctrinations of a society through the vehicle of story. In this way, the second attention of the writer falls to checking her own biases, compelling her to ruminate and reflect upon how the imprints of parents and society have colored her renderings. This endeavor is not something any creative writing program can teach a student of writing for it is a life-long undertaking. There are some, however, whose programs provide an exceptional and rigorous model on which to commence such a journey. I am proud and grateful to say that the Stonecoast MFA Program in Creative Writing is one such program. It has not only deepened my understanding of the craft of writing but also tuned my second attention to a precision I never could have dreamed of before. I have been invited to check my “blind spots” and investigate any incongruences in my beliefs but also to stand up for what I know is my truth. My confidence has been re-shaped through the commendable and inspiring faculty, ever-persistent in pushing their mentees to the next level of development. Before being accepted into the program, 3 I’d spent thirteen long years at a medical practice explaining to patients how to get adequately cleaned out for a colonoscopy, among other riveting conversations. Like many artists, I did not believe that making art would yield enough success, either financially or culturally.