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Flock


Flock
Diana Zimmerman
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After the Mennonite/s Writing Conference



I graduated from Lancaster Mennonite High School many moons ago, so I must have passed my Mennonite History class. Did they not explain the difference between “ethnic” Mennonites (think Canada and the western portion of the USA) and “religious” Mennonites (of the pious Pennsylvania variety)? Or did I not get the memo? Most likely, even the teacher didn’t get it. I get it now.

I thought I had no flock, but I do have a flock. Imagine my surprise. And I am not even the strangest bird in it.

The best part of all, was seeing a pictureof myself reflected back by those around me, that looks like my own image of me. The other 361 days of the year, I am a WIC certifier with a weird pastime: scribbling in notebooks. But this last weekend, for 4 consecutivedays, I got to be a writer with a day-job. This, of course, is what I’ve secretly believed all along. I just didn’t know anyone else was convinced.

It’s almost enough to make a girl start humming 606.



This reflection first appeared on Diana's Blog, Hablando Solo/ Talking to Myself.



About the Author

Diana Zimmerman

Diana Zimmerman was born in the traditional Mennonite community of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and now resides in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Diana received a B.A. in Theatre from Goshen College, Goshen, IN, in 1993. Her poetry collection, Run Blue River, was published by Goshen College’s Pinchpenny Press. Several of her one-act plays, including “Circulos” and “Betsy,” were performed in Goshen College’s Umble Center. Diana’s poetry has been published by Tamarindo, Costa Rica’s The Howler magazine, and in bi-annual editions of Rust+Moth and When Women Waken. In 2012, she self-published a Spanish/English bilingual collection poetry called Tell me About the Telaraña. Diana’s first work of prose, an early-childhood memoir called When the Roll Is Called A Pyonder: Tales from a Mennonite Childhood, was released in 2014 by Electio Publishing.