First Day of MFA Residency

It's the first day of my virtual residency, and so far it's going well. My first seminar just ended and we completed a few writing prompts. I thought I would share one of them here.

I didn't write down the whole prompt, but the main point was to discuss two images that keep coming back to you. We could discuss them in any format: prose, poem, etc. Since the professor teaching the seminar specializes in poetry and the book we were discussing was a book of poems, I chose to write a poem. This is what I originally wrote, so it's very rough without any editing to make it pretty, but I wanted to share.

Crimson against pure white
Come to visit again?
What truths hide in those black eyes
Beak pecking at frozen ground
What lies beneath cannot be brought back
Spring is far away, and sustenance is scarce
No southern flight to happier climates?
A bright, welcoming, warm light awaits
Yet here it stays, bright red against the cold snow

My two images were a cardinal in snow and a longely graveyard at dusk (with all the lovely haunting shadows). I would say these images have been on my mind a lot because my WIP deals heavily with the aftermath of the death of the main character's mother and the legend of cardinals. For those unfamiliar, the belief is that when one sees a cardinal, they are being visited by a lost loved one.

In my book, my main character receives visits from a cardinal right before major events in the story, and she starts to suspect the cardinal is trying to tell her something. It's a contemporary romance, although much heavier than the first romance I wrote. I think that's one reason I've struggled with coming up with pitches, like for #CarinaPitch last week, because some of my pitches for my first romance are much more light-hearted. 

I have my first tutorial session with my instructor this afternoon to go over one of my chapters. This program has really helped me improve my writing and has provided excellent feedback, so I'm really looking forward to what I learn today!