Cindy Brookshire Writes of Our Origins

Write by the Rails

Okra’s is a corner hub of yellow brick

and wrought iron café tables

with paper napkins wrapped in mardi gras beads

one block from the train depot.

I walk into the sanctuary of a side room

To meet with other placemakers

Fillers of landscapes

Breathers of life

Writers.

We put on name tags

gulp down Purple Haze and Cajun Burgers

Exchange genres and rejections

Threaten editor effigies with voodoo pins

Pluck words as from a cornucopia

Laughing until we snort

A camera phone

Marks the moment for a Facebook page

As if a year from now

We might look back

And grasp the significance

Of this restaurant

These writers

This launching point.

If you believe that all places

have a guardian spirit that engenders life

Then Okra’s just gave birth tonight

To us

Placemakers

Fillers of landscapes

Breathers of life

Writers.

Cindy Brookshire

August 2011

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Write by the Rails was born August 8, 2011 when a group of writers, organized by community advocate, Prince William Arts Council member and writer Cindy Brookshire, met to brainstorm ways to get Prince William County/Manassas/Manassas Park writers more exposure.  The first official networking meeting was held later in August at Okra's.  

For more than 30 years, Cindy has been telling the story of  the people and life of Manassas, Virginia.  Her feature articles have appeared in the Prince William Journal newspaper, and Community Connections, Prince William Living and Prince William Business magazines.  She produced the City’s Utility Connection, Public Works and Town Hall newsletters, and currently writes a neighborhood blog for Manassas.Patch.com.  Cindy is a Charter Founding Member of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce, a 2010 graduate of Leadership Prince William, and a member of the Board of Directors for Manassas Midwifery and Women’s Health Center.  As a volunteer, Cindy directs Unity in the Community’s Prince William Study Circles — a project that brings together diverse people to get to know each other, talk about common issues and increase their engagement in the community. She is a remarried widow, the mother of two adult children and a parishioner at Trinity Episcopal Church, Manassas.

At the 2012 Arts Alive! arts festival, Cindy was presented with the  Kathleen K. Seefeldt Pioneer Award for launching Write by the Rails. The Pioneer award is given only when a new, innovative artistic group or project comes to life.