A writing exercise for word-weavers and spin writing enthusiasts

Today I was re-reading The Lady of Shalot - a poem I have always loved. I swear Tennyson is writing about a river that runs through
Lemuria - or maybe it is Coleridge's Kubla Khan which I have in mind. Anyway! There is this section from The Lady of Shalot

There she weaves by night and day
A magic web of colours gay
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down on Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she
The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot:
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village- curls,
And the red cloaks of the market-girls,
Pass onward from Shalott.

Sit before a mirror and weave a magic web of words for us. Tell us what you see moving through the mirror clear, what local worldly
shadows appear in your mirror. But no curses please! No looking down upon Camelot.

Every profession has its pitfalls. Doctors, for example, are always being asked for free medical advice, lawyers are asked for legal information, morticians are told how interesting a profession that must be and then people change the subject fast. And writers are asked where we get our ideas from. Neil Gaiman, whose new look site has to be one of the best I have seen, provides some insight into where he gets his ideas from.