#TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE ‘Cute Dandelions’

This Tanka is for Colleen Chesebro’s challenge. This week’s challenge is to include #Synonymsonly of Sing and Celebrate. I’ve used ‘humming’ and ‘saluting’

Dandelions

Cute dandelions,

The loveliest wild flowers,

Humming in the breeze,

Swaying with daisies and blades

Of grass, saluting the sun.

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These photos were taken this morning while I went out for a walk with my grandson.

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Would you like to take part? The rules are simple.

Use synonyms of Colleen’s two-word prompt, this week, joy and fury, write blog post using one of the following poetic forms: haiku, tanka, Haibun, cinquaine or senryu. 

Add a picture if you like. Pingback to Colleen’s blog post.

 

 

#WordlessWednesday ‘The Perfect Rose’ #poetry #Haiku

Searching for the perfect flower…

I think I found it! 

What a beauty!

The perfect flower

Is longing to be rescued

By your tender smile

 

Carrot Ranch #FlashFiction ‘Passing on the Spear’ #99Words

This post was written in response to Charli Mills at Carrot Ranch’s weekly #99 word Flash Fiction Challenge. This week’s prompt is to include a fishing tale in the story. Check out other entries or take part yourself!

Passing on the Spear

After Ernest Hemingway’s novella ‘The Old Man and the Sea’

Manolin pounded his fists on the weathered door. “Santiago, I’ve brought you coffee!”

The old man had spent the last weeks chasing a giant marlin and fighting off sharks with a simple knife on his way back home. The boy admired him as the best fisherman.

“Get dressed, Santiago! We need to go out to sea again. There are plenty more marlins to catch!”

Santiago looked up, his eyes shining and beads of sweat dripping down his brow. “You go. Here, I give you my spear.”

“But you must teach me!”

“Not anymore. Now I must join the lions.”

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This flash is a reinterpretation of the final scene of The Old Man and the Sea, where the Old man (Santiago) hands his spear over to his apprentice, the boy (Manolin) and closes his eyes dreaming of the lions he saw in his youth.

Santiago, believes his life has come to an end, after his final, exhausting and futile battle against the marlin and the sharks. He managed to return home, but the sharks ate his trophy, the marlin, which was strapped to the side of his ship, so he only had its carcass to show, and considers himself defeated.

The old man accepts his fate and the natural order of the cycle of life, according to which all creatures are both predator and prey. He has reached the end of his cycle and can no longer help his apprentice, Manolin. The old man gives the boy his spear, symbolically passing on his skill and encourages him to continue his own journey as fisherman. Meanwhile Santiago, dreams of the lions he saw in Africa when he was a young man.

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This weekend I was lucky enough to have my grandchildren again. They asked me what my friend wanted me to write a story about and I said a fish. They both decided to draw a mermaid!

#SundayWalks ‘A Rose at the Zoo’ #haiku ‘Not a Rose’ #Poems #Poetrymonth

A rose at the zoo

Watches elephant cry, while

Poet writes haiku

Not a Rose

The rose is a rose,

Loveliness extreme.

The elephant is not a rose,

And it is not lovely.

An elephant at the zoo is

loneliness extreme.

The poet is a woman,

Who writes about beauty and despair,

While she thinks of lonely elephants,

Watching lovely roses, wondering

Why an elephant is not a rose.

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I went to the zoo this morning with my children and grandchildren, and two things struck me; the beautiful roses and the downcast elephant. Well here they are, joined by my pen to be shared to the world.

My daughter and granddaughter

Hope you were able to take an inspiring walk this Sunday❤

#AtoZChallenge ‘Y is for Yellowing’ #NaPoWriMo #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge

Yellowing Mist

Leafless trees witness

Silhouettes on wet pavement

Grandfather and child

Drift along telling stories

Charmed by the yellowing mist

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I took this picture of my husband and our grandson on a rainy evening a few months ago, as the sun was waning. I was amazed at the yellow light from the sun, shining through the trees and reflected on the pavement, which gave the scene a surreal, misty aura. The yellow wall to the right, on the corner also adds to the yellow tinge.

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This Tanka is part of Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Poetry Challenge. This week we were asked to write a Tanka with synonyms of ‘enchant’ and ‘shape’. I chose ‘silhouette’ and ‘figure’.

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This year is my fourth AtoZ Challenge. My theme this year is poetry once again. I’ll be writing a tanks today, instead of a haiku. I’m also adding a new hobby to the posts, photography. I will post one of my photos, or a donated photo, every day to accompany my haiku.

This April, I’ll also be sharing my poems and joining another group of poets at National Poetry Writing Month, organised since 2003 by Maureen Thorson. Write 30 poems in 30 days. I’m in! What about you?

#FridayReads ‘Wildfell’ by London Clarke #authorInterview @londonclarke2 Happy Publication Day!

Today is publication day for London Clarke’s debut, Gothic suspense novel, Wildfell.

 

Wildfell by [Clarke, London]

 

Running away isn’t always an escape…

Anne Fleming is running away…

An ill-fated relationship with her grad school professor drives Anne to check out of life. After disposing of all her possessions, Anne assumes a new identity and boards a plane. But a chance meeting on a London-bound flight leads her to Wildfell, a gothic mansion with a cast of strange characters and a long history of disappearances and deaths.

While living at Wildfell, Anne is plagued by voices, ghostly mists, and a mute girl with a sketchbook full of murders. She only remains because of her violent attraction to fellow inhabitant—gorgeous actor Bain Tierney. But when Wildfell tenants begin disappearing one by one, Anne must decide if she trusts Bain. Is anyone in the house who they claim to be? Or are there are other forces at work inside Wildfell? And will they ever let her leave?

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Wildfell is on my kindle and I’ll be reviewing soon, but first a short interview with London.

What attracted you to the Gothic genre?

I was attracted to the gothic genre from a young age. When I think back to the first gothic novel I read, it was probably one by Victoria Holt given to me by my grandmother. My grandmother was a voracious reader, and I have to attribute my own love of reading and writing to her. I loved the creepy house set in some rainy, windswept setting. There was always a brooding, mysterious, yet breathtakingly handsome man with a dark past. He either turned out to be a good guy in disguise or a killer who deceives the heroine. The unpredictability of the stories riveted me. I still love the eerie settings, the potential for the supernatural, and the isolation of the settings.

I remember reading Victoria Holt as a teenager, too. In fact I still have ‘On the Night of the Seventh Moon’, first published in 1972! I also love novels with creepy houses!

How important are the supernatural elements in your novel? 

Although I may write some novels in the future that only suggest the supernatural, right now I’m exploring the darker side of supernatural elements and how they can wreak havoc on a house and its inhabitants. I’ve always been interested in houses that experience hauntings and what that actually means for the people within. So, in short, the supernatural elements are pretty important in my novels.

I’m sure plenty of readers love ancient, haunted houses. I do! 

Tell us something about your main character/s.

Anne, my main character, has lived a nontraditional life. She has no idea who her father is, and she’s grown up with a mother who hates men and has done her best to poison Anne against them. But instead of buying into her mother’s philosophies, Anne rebels and romanticizes men. Her impetus to run at the beginning of the novel is because her hopes of proving her mother wrong are crushed when she is betrayed by her graduate school professor—a man she thought she was in love with. By the time she arrives at Wildfell, she’s in crisis mode–confused, ashamed, and searching for a foothold as she emotionally freefalls. When she meets Bain, she’s immediately attracted to him, but he also furthers that confusion. She feels a little intimidated by him, can’t make him out, and doesn’t know if he’s friend or foe.

A mysterious love interest who could be on your side or against you, leads to intense suspense and romance…

What kind of reader would enjoy Wildfell? 

A reader who enjoys a gothic setting with a creepy house (obviously), scary novels, and twisty mysteries. There is a strong thread of mystery to the story. Readers of Wendy Webb, Darcy Coates, or Laura Benedict will, I think, enjoy Wildfell for its elements of the supernatural. But there is probably more of a romantic angle than most horror fiction, so I’d like to think it will appeal to readers of romance and paranormal romance as well.

Sounds intriguing, paranormal, romance, suspense… I am so looking forward to reading!

What are you working on now?

I am working on a second gothic suspense novel with a vampire angle. This one will be the first book of a series set in Asheville, North Carolina. The working title is The Burning Thirst, but it will probably change. Currently, it’s scheduled to be released late this year.

I’m not too keen on vampires, but I could be persuaded if the plot is thick and the characters engaging!

What would you like readers to know about you?

Hmmm… Well, beyond the creepy stuff I’m truly a romantic at heart. I love to cry in a book or a movie, and I’m a huge fan of Jane Austen. I’m also an animal fanatic. I have two greyhounds that I love to distraction and I would have more, but my husband says two are enough (and it’s his house too). I’m also a bit of a wine connoisseur. At least, I like to think so.

I certainly hope you’re having a glass of vintage wine or champagne to celebrate your publication day! 

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Obsessed with vampires and haunted houses from a young, London grew up reading gothic tales featuring romantic and tragic heroes like Wuthering Heights and Dracula. She considers herself a recovering runaway and confesses that she once moved to England in search of a man who was the perfect amalgamation of Dracula, Hamlet, Heathcliff, and Mr. Rochester. London graduated from George Mason University with a B.A. in Music and M.F.A in Creative Writing and has had an eclectic array of jobs including receptionist, legal secretary, literary assistant, high school English teacher, and freelance editor.

London lives in a Washington, DC suburb with her husband and two greyhounds. She’s happiest when she’s writing novels, reading books, or re-watching her favorite programs like The Vampire Diaries or Being Human.

Follow London Clarke on Twitter

Visit London Clarke’s Facebook Page

Visit London’s Webpage

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#AtoZChallenge ‘X is for Cross’ #Haiku #NaPoWriMo #PoetryMonth

 

May Cross

Unexpected gift

Multicoloured life fills street

Magnificent Earth 

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Carnival of spring

Honouring blossoms of May

Feast on the flowers

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I saw these beautiful May crosses on my way to work this morning and they reminded me how lucky I am to be alive.

This weekend there will be eating, drinking, dancing and singing around the beautiful crosses made of flowers and placed in squares, often by churches, on the first weekend of May in Cordoba. A feast for our eyes!

I plan to visit and take lots of photos this weekend!

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This year is my fourth AtoZ Challenge. My theme this year is poetry once again. I’ll be writing a haiku a day, but I’m also adding a new hobby to the posts, photography. I will post one of my photos, or a donated photo, every day to accompany my haiku.

This April, I’ll also be sharing my poems and joining another group of poets at National Poetry Writing Month, organised since 2003 by Maureen Thorson. Write 30 poems in 30 days. I’m in! What about you?

#AtoZChallenge ‘W is for Waterfall’ #Haiku #NaPoWriMo #PoetryMonth

Waterfall

Every single drop

Rushing down furious torrent

Causes waterfall.

Feel the water’s spray,

Dashing down steep cascade.

Inhale, energize.

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Today I’d like to thank another of my best friends, Elena, for these two beautiful photos which she recently took while she was in Argentina, visiting the Iguazu Falls. 

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This year is my fourth AtoZ Challenge. My theme this year is poetry once again. I’ll be writing a haiku a day, but I’m also adding a new hobby to the posts, photography. I will post one of my photos, or a donated photo, every day to accompany my haiku.

This April, I’ll also be sharing my poems and joining another group of poets at National Poetry Writing Month, organised since 2003 by Maureen Thorson. Write 30 poems in 30 days. I’m in! What about you?

#AtoZChallenge ‘V is for Vault’ #Tanka #NaPoWriMo #PoetryMonth

Gothic Vaults
Double arches hold
Gothic vaults pointing to sky.
Carved stone capitals
On proud marble columns guard
Centuries of synergy.

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The Mosque-Cathedral in Cordoba, was originally a Visigothic Catholic Church, shared with Muslim invaders for religious rites until 784, when it was solely used as a Muslim place of worship, until 1236, when it was again used as a Catholic church.

In 1523, Emperor Charles I, approved a project to refurbish the now fragile Mosque-Church and integrate a Christian Cathedral within its walls.

The architect, Hernán Ruiz (believed to have been born in Cordoba in 1514), integrated existing elements of the original Mosque with late Gothic architecture.

The Cathedral was inserted with great architectural precision and artistry. Both Muslim and Christian spaces merge beautifully in two seemingly opposing places.

In the first picture you can see the lateral nave. New Gothic vaults are supported by double arches, and below marble columns, many of which are of Roman origin.

A magnificent building which houses the synergy of well over a thousand years of history, art, culture and religions.

If any of you ever visit Cordoba, let me know. I’d love to show you around the Old Town!

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This year is my fourth AtoZ Challenge. My theme this year is poetry once again. I’ll be writing a haiku a day, but I’m also adding a new hobby to the posts, photography. I will post one of my photos, or a donated photo, every day to accompany my haiku (today I’ve posted a Tanka instead of a Haiku).

This April, I’ll also be sharing my poems and joining another group of poets at National Poetry Writing Month, organised since 2003 by Maureen Thorson. Write 30 poems in 30 days. I’m in! What about you?

#AtoZChallenge ‘U is for Umbrella’ #Haiku #NaPoWriMo #PoetryMonth

This photo was lent by my friend and colleague Mari Carmen Rios. 
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Umbrella

Cracked wall, weathered door

Multicoloured umbrella

Both sides of our coins

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This year is my fourth AtoZ Challenge. My theme this year is poetry once again. I’ll be writing a haiku a day, but I’m also adding a new hobby to the posts, photography. I will post one of my photos, or a donated photo, every day to accompany my haiku.

 

This April, I’ll also be sharing my poems and joining another group of poets at National Poetry Writing Month, organised since 2003 by Maureen Thorson. Write 30 poems in 30 days. I’m in! What about you?