Words ...

Words can hurt, words can heal,
they dictate the way we feel.
Pick us up, spin us around,
make us soar, or crash to the ground.

Take a heart, shred it in two
break a spirit, cleave it through.
Build you up, then knock you down,
turn your smile the wrong way round.

Words of love, or words of hate,
qualify our emotional state.
If you can't say nice things at all,
'tis best to let the silence fall.

And ... He's Off!

That's it ... it's done!

The MS for The Abernathy Cat came back from the editor with just a few minor corrections required. Those bloomin' plural possessive apostrpohes get me every time!

One step closer ... finally!

Well, I was finally in a position to send off the manuscript to the lovely Maureen Vincent-Northam last night. It's only taken about 2-3 years to do so!

With Maureen's editing skills and illustrations from the talented Marie Fullerton, there's a good chance that this project will see the light of day before Lara's too old to enjoy it.

Samhain Blessings

To celebrate Samhain, here is a wee offering, written a few years ago.


All Hallow's Morn

They gather round the cemetry,
that Gothic bone reposit'ry,
where moon's soft cast and silver'd hue
doth fade 'neath monolithic Yew.

She Shows No Remorse - Personification in ABC form.

 

Dementia creeps slowly ... at first, so it seems.
Eroding the memories, like they've never been.
Faculties flounder; communication is flawed
Generations of family, are often ignored.
Insidious in onset, She shows no remorse.

Dementia creeps slowly ... She shows no remorse
Evading detection, She gives no recourse
For the frightened and lonely, forgetful, forlorn,
Grasping and searching, an older 'new born',
Desperately clinging, to their perception of 'Norm'.

Behind those eyes...

What complex thoughts
such tender orbs
express,

with innocence of age,
a child so blessed.

Fragility of frame,
adorned in God's
caress,

yet...

holds the worries of the world

suppressed.

≈

 

 

Drawing Down the Moon

I am

drawing down

the Moon

from her

star embellished

cloak

A bit of fun with personification... of an emotion.

The Legacy of Lindsay Lust

When Lindsay Lust first set her sights

on Henry, for some sport.

I wonder if she realised

the changes she would wrought.

For Henry's brain had journeyed south,

the Lady Anne, his goal.

Her flirty little glances had

set fire to his soul.

Two Tiny Markers - An ABC poem

Just thought I'd bring the 'Something for the weekend' theme to a close with a short form that can be fun to try.

Two tiny markers, the sign of the cross

Unexpected result

Verified by doctor

Wonderful news...

Bank balance buckles, again!

An ABC poem is another short form that is normally demonstrates a feeling. The rules of form are quite simple, which makes a nice change.  It contains five lines, the first of which may begin with any letter of the alphabet. The next three lines must follow in sequence. The final line may begin with any letter of the alphabet.

e.g: T,U,V,W,B

A flirty free verse

In keeping with the 'Something for the weekend' theme, I thought I'd share a brief flirtation with a free verse.

A Visual Dance

One passing

glance,

mere moments

held;

a visual embrace.

Heart flutters

in tympanic

dance,

rose tinted flush

adorns

as nervous smile,

and lowered lash

invite

Temptation's

sword.

Free Verse is an irregular form of poetry that does not necessarily follow the traditional rules of meter (rhythm), rhyme, form or punctuation etc.

Yet despite its freedom, free verse often maintains some elements of form. Most free verse does observe a convention of lines and structure. One of the main considerations when writing free verse is where to insert line breaks; often achieved by breaking the line where there is a natural pause or a point of suspense.

 

Working to the rules... a poetic nightmare?

I'm not a big lover of working to rules where poetry is concerned.To be honest, the rules on many of the various poetic forms give me the heebie-jeebies, (too much like hard work!) but every now and then, I will bite the bullet and give it a go.

A' Tyburn' is a six-line poem that follows some pretty stringent rules and proved to be quite a challenge.

Something for the weekend, sir?

"Something for the weekend, sir?"

 

A euphemism often associated with barbershops of the mid to late 20th century, although its actual origins are unknown. It is believed that barbers used it to offer condoms to customers following their appointment.  Ironic that those same customers, having just paid for the privilege of a close shave, were then offered the means to avoid another one!

Poetic Snapshots

Good afternoon folks. It has been a while since my last confession (oops! wrong audience.) It has been a while since my last poetic post, so here are just a few 'snapshots' to get the wheels rolling again. Hope you enjoy.

Book Review - Yours to Command - by Cameron Lawton (Kindle Edition)

'Yours to Command' is an office romance with a difference. It has all the usual ingredients necessary for a great romance; The Boss, the P.A, guilt and jealousy. There are of course,  a multitude of reasons why their relationship shouldn't develop further, and one all-consuming reason why it should.

Book Review - Blackbrooke II, The Guardian by Emma Silver - Kindle Edition

I read the first of the trilogy 'Blackbrooke' and really enjoyed it, and like any good book; it left me eagerly anticipating the release of the second book in the series.

I haven't been disappointed, a little shocked may be, but definitely NOT disappointed.  It picks up nicely where the previous book left us, with our heroine being taken into the 'Institute' after handing over her remaining best friend to the 'Crits'.

From the mouths of babes...

 
I've always maintained that my daughter had 'been here before' and, I think, I now have the proof. Whilst laying the table for Sunday lunch, I explained that...

 "Daddy sits there because he has longer legs." 

Taking a moment to think about it, Lara then proceeded to give me a lesson in re-incarnation.

Book Review - Peggy Larkin's War - by Trevor Forest (paperback)

This is one of several books that I have bought by Trevor Forest. Although my daughter was a baby at the time, I thought they would be great for her to read, when she was old enough.

As the book is aimed at 8-12 year old children, I was surprised when my daughter, not yet 4, brought me this book to read at bedtime. Despite having no pictures, she still wanted me to read it to her. We read a chapter a night and she really looked forward to going to bed to find out what Peggy was going to get up to next.

Book Review - Black Dog's Treasure - by Maureen Vincent-Northam

I bought this so that I could have something suitable to read to my daughter (who is 3 going on 5!) stored on my Kindle, whilst we are away over the Easter weekend. And what gem of an adventure story it turned out to be.

Book Review - Immortal Desires (Well of Souls) series - by Laura Eno

I have to be honest here. For some reason, when I bought this yesterday, I was expecting to read about more Vampire/Werewolf romance etc. How wrong could I be?

The story that unfolded was so much more than the usual 'Human/Immortal’ romance. Combining aspects of time travel, magic, folk lore, history and the supernatural, Laura Eno takes the reader on a journey from the present back to circa 1500's and the Scottish Highlands.

There is a certain depth and charm to the characters, and an intriguing plot, that compelled me to read from the beginning to the end in one sitting; I haven't done that in quite a while.

Give-a-way a great success! Thank you!

I've just checked my report stats for the period that Encounters was free to download and I'm chuffed to bits with the result.

Amazon.com (including India)  = 268
Amazon.co.uk                                = 228
Amazon.fr                                        = 001
Amazon.ca                                       = 001


That's a grand total of  498 downloads! By my reckoning, that's about 490 people I don't know, that now have an e-copy of my book... I think that's amazing.

Thank you everyone.