National Poetry Month, April 14
Back from awesome convention. Watching GOT and then bed and hopefully early wake-up. Bare minimum poem and picture…
This pic is also from Scotland.
Super rough drafts. Please don’t copy. <3
National Poetry Month, April 13
Still hanging out with the New England Speculative Writers at to the NESW Conference , but here’s an Ekphrastic pairing for you anyway! Photo was taken at the Glasgow Necropolis; I rather liked the view of the sun over this particular monument. The poem definitely needs work, but I am rather fond of the title “Necropolis Sunshine.”
Enjoy!
Both are rough and raw; I’ll edit and fix them up later. My April challenge is about the creation, not the finessing. Please do not copy or share the photos or poems I’m posting. I am not finished, and sharing them can hurt my future plans for these pieces. Thank you!
National Poetry Month, April 12
I’m currently at the hotel after a great dinner with some of the folks from the New England Speculative Writers this evening. I’m looking forward to the NESW Conference tomorrow and also being a semi-responsible adult, along with my friend Scott Goudsward, and doing work before hitting the hotel bar with the other writers.
Today’s poem and picture are based on my own wildcraft and witchiness. The photo is herbs I’ve grown in my gardens, gathered and bound, and placed on my hearth, where I do most of my spellcraft. So, of course, I made this poem a bit of a spell! Both are tentative titles just based on description: “Herbs on the Hearth” for the photo and “Witch’s Hearth Herbs” for the poem.
Enjoy!
Both are rough and raw; I’ll edit and fix them up later. My April challenge is about the creation, not the finessing. Please do not copy or share the photos or poems I’m posting. I am not finished, and sharing them can hurt my future plans for these pieces. Thank you!
National Poetry Month, April 11
Sooo… super late and I’ve got a conference to drive to tomorrow. Raw picture to go with the raw poem. I know I’m going to crop the picture and see if I can sharpen it a little… not sure what else. Both currently titled “One Crow for Sorrow.” Picture was taken in Rockport, ME on a surprise vacation from a friend some years ago. 🙂
Enjoy!
Please do not copy or share the photos or poems I’m posting. I am not finished, and sharing them can hurt my future plans for these pieces. Thank you!
National Poetry Month, April 10
Ever have one of those moments of beauty during mundane life that takes your breath away?
I don’t head to the Natick Mall often, and it usually exhausts me to do so, but I was coming back to the car during this sunset and I stopped to stare… and barely remembered to snap a picture. I took two. The other is clearer, but I prefer the colors on this one… and the effect of the blur fits into the poem.
Better titles may be forthcoming, but right now they are “Neon Sunset at the Natick Mall” for the photo and “Brilliance” for the poem. Enjoy!
The poem, like all of what I’m posting, is in its rough draft form, too. My aim for the month is composition; I’ll edit later. Please do not copy or share the photos or poems I’m posting. I am not finished, and sharing them can hurt my future plans for these pieces. Thank you!
National Poetry Month, April 9
I managed another short poem! (Seriously, this is an achievement for me!)
This pairing references the beautiful and heartbreaking story of Hachikō, which if you don’t know, is worth looking up. But have plenty of tissues handy.
Scott, Husband-of-Awesome, actually took the photo. I honestly don’t know if it’s from Taiwan or Osaka, Japan… so I hope the pairing isn’t problematic with the Japanese story, though the story has been retold several times in several cultures—one of the most recent and memorable (at least to geeks like me) being the Futurama episode, “Jurassic Bark.”
The poem, like all of what I’m posting, is in its rough draft form, too. My aim for the month is composition; I’ll edit later. Please do not copy or share the photos or poems I’m posting. I am not finished, and sharing them can hurt my future plans for these pieces. Thank you!
National Poetry Month, April 8
It’s only a little past midnight!
And it’s a short poem! (Because deadlines…getting worked on…and piling hard!)
This photo is of the lighthouse (well, wee automated lighthouse) at the end of one of the original breakers of Cape Cod Canal, which is accessible via Scusset Beach. A good friend of mine has a house on the private part that she allows me to rent with a group of writers and artists, and I have so many pictures of the area. I love it very much!
What caught my eye with this particular picture (and there are a lot of this breaker and lighthouse because it is so striking) is the poem. Another one that’s been banging in my head for a while that I’ve finally written down.
The poem, like all of what I’m posting, is in its rough draft form, too. My aim for the month is composition; I’ll edit later. Please do not copy or share the photos or poems I’m posting. I am not finished, and sharing them can hurt my future plans for these pieces. Thank you!
National Poetry Month, April 7
Today’s pairing ended up the last thing I needed to cobble together before bed after a busy day, but here it is!
Quick description: These are the “Moss Stairs” sculpture / art installation at Tower Hill Botanical Garden. They have a description that includes not walking on them because it will disturb the fragile moss ecosystem that has grown on them, which I included in the poem.
Again, this poem, like all of what I’m posting, is in super rough draft form, too. Please do not share the photos or poems I’m posting; I am not finished, and sharing them can hurt my future plans for these pieces. Thank you!
National Poetry Month, April 6
Running out the door to a movie with the Husband of Awesome, so real quick…
Picture is another from Scotland, an old gravestone at an old abbey in Coldingham. There’s more to the story… but perhaps later.
The set is tentatively titled “Momento Mori.”
Remember, the poem is super rough draft, and also please do not share the photos or poems I’m posting; I am not finished, and sharing them can hurt my future plans for these pieces. Thank you!
National Poetry Month, April 5
Not that I figured I’d get far in any poetry journey without a faery poem, but in going through the pictures I’ve taken and am using for inspiration, there’s no less than three that are titled “Faery ________.” If you’ve known me or been following me for some time, I’m sure you’re shocked. Completely and utterly shocked. <insert sarcasm>
This particular photo is “Faery Bed,” and I’ve named the poem to match. I took this picture in Scotland while I was doing research for my MacArthur series of books. It was at this wonderful and magical place, Traquair House, which is the oldest inhabited home. It has a hedge maze; secret passage ways; Victorian furniture (including a writing desk in the room and a canopy bed!); delicious food (with option for a romantic dinner with fancy crystal-ware!); all sorts of trails through the woodlands, wetlands, and gardens; free range farm animals and peafowl; and nesting grey herons that sound like dinosaurs. Really, what else could anyone ask for?
I found this copse of azaleas that looked like a canopy bed and had recently discovered our camera did this “punch” thing with colors that makes them more vivid. (This was 2012, well before cell phone camera and Instagram filters.) Even without the color “punch,” I was intrigued by what looked like a faery bed of purple flower petals beneath a branching canopy of twisted limbs and green leaves. This was the best of several pictures I took, and I knew I’d write something to match it eventually.
The poem, like all of what I’m posting, is in its rough draft form, too. My aim is to compose the poems this month, and then go back and edit later.
Please do not share the photos or poems I’m posting; I am not finished, and sharing them can hurt my future plans for these pieces. Thank you!
