In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “On the Way.”
With the spring, adventure begins .. this year I’m going to take part in several Medieval reenactments … the first was at San Giorgio in Piano in the province of Bologna …
For The Weekly Photo Challenge:
water world
Water World – Shadorma
water world
reflection of life
the city
mistaken
illusionary ghost town
inside a sun dream
The Weekly Photo Challenge has us reflecting on reflections…
Trees in Lagoon
shimmering world
a forest under water
trees reflected above
The Albums (Haibun)
Jason looked at the baby pictures in the album his mother’d left him. There he was…a toddler, surrounded by toys. Later on, laying in the grass, the old family cat asleep with him. He’d loved that cat…Misca was its name. Each photo a return to some far off age, memories. His first day at school, his first camping experience with the scouts, and there was the Christmas of ’60 when he got his first “typewriter”, a funny bit of flimsy metal with a dial to pick out the letters.
Years passed each special moment immortalized in a photo. Each photo placed lovingly in a book for him by his mother, now gone, yet, looking at the albums she seemed so near.
At seventy he realized that many of the people and scenes in the photos were gone forever. Misca didn’t survive his childhood, his best friend in the third grade had died in Vietnam. There, a photo of Emily, his first love, his first wife…the love story had died and they divorced way back in the 80s, she too was gone now. His three daughters, now mothers and indeed, his eldest a new grandmother!
Clothes had changed, the city had changed and of course he had changed too. He could barely believe that the time had slipped by so quickly, yet, as he looked at his wrinkled hand, there was no denying it.
What does getting old mean? What does life mean? He pondered as he looked through other albums, put together in different periods of his life. How young he’d been, how immortal he’d felt. He smiled, a little melancholy, but thankful that his mom had thought to create these little books of memories.
Funny, he really didn’t feel any different than when he was, say, fifteen. He just had more memories…well, maybe he had a less problems then back then. He certainly wasn’t worried about what people thought about him. That had been a big problem for him back then, long overcome. However, the voice in his mind was the same, then as now.
He put the old albums back in their boxes and went to his desk. The bottom right hand drawer was full of photos. Michelle’s first bath, Jane playing with a rag doll and Cher’s snowman. He began to divide the photographs into piles and then he pulled out the virgin albums that had been sitting in the closet for years. He began to document the history of his daughter’s lives, something they could look through in a distant future, something to remember that would give them joy. In the meantime, he went through his own past, remembering…his little girls.
Here, my girls he thought, your inheritance.
age upon age
life buds then blooms
until the harvest
@)—>—>—
For our Weekly Writing Challlenge – fiction writers, cultivate a character. Through your imagination, pinpoint a common theme in his or her life, and show us how your character’s perspective changes as he or she grows older.
For the truly adventurous, we challenge you to try hitting two challenges with one stone, er, post. Combine this week’s photo challenge.
Hello World!
The winter solstice has happened…whether you put it at the 21st or the 22nd it has come about. The Longest Night of the Year has just passed us by and the new cycle has begun! Of course, we still have to get through three months of cold, ice, fog and all that jazz, unless, like Leanne Cole or Summerstommy some of you live in the land down under! So, for me it’s kind of like New Year’s Day and so I’m going to try to thank at least some of you for a wonder year!
Most will be reading this in my tomorrow, some will perhaps read it in my yesterday, like Eric Alagan or Canadian Travelbugs (which reminds me I have a photo prompt to do!) in China! Some will be reading from England like Barb Taub, who was one of my first readers actually and the lady that introduced me to AWARDS…but I still love her. Some may pop in from Florida, like dear Cranky, another of my first readers and award givers. These two ladies have been ever so busy lately…publishing and an added feature for Cranky studying, as she’s gone back to college! One of the great bloggers I met in this period was OM for whom I wrote a haiku, I think it was, and learnt how to ping by accident 😉 and Christian Mihai. Two of WordPress comets who’ve since flown high in the sky of blogosphere!
I got “into” poetry around the middle of March. Thanks to Sahm King from whom I learnt about Papizilla (then with We Drink Because We’re Poets), Charles from Windemere fame, King Midget, Lilith Colbert, MT Blu and many, many others who came later, who soared in my life and mind, sometimes briefly sometimes intensely, always leaving something of their passing.
I also became interested in Haiku (this was my first haiku) and followed Betty Generic’s year-long effort to write a Haiku a Day looking out her bedroom window! Haiga thanks first of all to Sahm and then Rick Daddrio and Wabi Sabi and Haibun through the Ligo Haibun Challenge and Ese’s Voice. I wrote power shorts, short fiction, and 100 words a week for the Friday Fictioneers…The Trifecta (which I seem to have missed last week…hmmm) and The Speakeasy people, and – and – and….I could go on and on. So many to thank so many who stimulated me. I can’t even begin to thank some of you for whom I’ve written over the Poem a Day Month back in October and other random blogs I chanced upon and for whom I felt inspired to write. Go through the blog by category or date if you like. I always mention who inspired me…except once…that Bltz Poem still haunts me!
Thanks to the Daily Post: Weekly Photo Challenge (the star up at the top of the blog is for you), I came across such lovely blogs and blogger’s like: What’s in a Picture, Chronicles of a Public Transit User, Patchwork Ponderings , Frizztext and so many more I really can’t link you all…
I’ve written posts for We Drink Because We’re Poets, Poet’s Corner, 13th Floor Pardigm, We Poets Show It and a Paperbook Collective (and maybe for something or someone else that I’ve forgotten). Wow…I’ve been a busy beaver folks! Many of you have followed through poetry many other’s photography…and some of you liked my stories. You’ve all been very supportive in one way or another and it’s been a pleasure to have met you, blogged with you, chatted with you (a special thanks to The Dragon Don for a great talk about computers by the way…still fighting with Ubuntu, but may try Mint in the not too distant future!)
So in the end…this is a lot of ramble… I haven’t mentioned even a fourth of the people who have had an influence on my life, like T.J.Therien (who often inspired me to try different poetry form, like the Ghazal, Sonnet, Kyreille Sonnet etc), Running Son, Belinda, Traces of Soul, My dearest Cubby of Reowr, Oloriel, Ye Olde Foole, Idiot Writing, Rarasaur, HA who is now Anmol, Sun, Al, Nerd on a Bridge, Lexborgia, Words of Birds and heaven forgive me and you if I haven’t written your name! I now follow 476 blogs (whom I sometimes have to refollow because they disappear) and am followed by a little over 900 people thanks to my two blogs and my Facebook link to the blog (don’t know about Goggle + etc.) no big time blogger but I feel that’s a pretty respectable following after nearly a year of blogging.
But here I really have to mention a blog which very few of you have ever heard of. It’s administered by a formidable Italian lady of a very fine intellectual cut, her name is Elena…and she blogs at Elena e Orlando if it hadn’t been for this dear friend, I wouldn’t be blogging at all. It was upon her instigation that I created Bastet and Sekhmet last January. If you like the blog thank her…if you don’t blame me.
I better go and write something interesting!
You all have a wonderful holiday: serene, peaceful and safe…A hug to you all.
and when all is said and done
whether I’ve mentioned you
or what you’ve done
the memories of a year together
writing and reading
laughing and crying
may all just be an ephimeral moment
of cyberspace and loneliness
I’ve loved some of you to heartbreak
and other’s have been my muse
the point of all this is just to say
that I’m happy I’ve met you
and look throughout the day
to find you and read what you’ve got to say.
Oh well…you know what I mean 😉
Ciao!
Using words only, take a snapshot of the experience. We’re looking forward to reading your imaginative scenes, sans photographs!
——————————————————————————-
Sketch
Spring Morning
First rays of sun, the sky, pink and light blue against the green and brown of the mountain.
In the distance, the lake sparkles with a golden light. The world seems to me, a fairly land of light and sound.
There! The birds have begun to sing their goodmorning songs. They chatter as they fly to and fro in their early morning games. On the antenna, the sparrows have roosted. They look like a bunch of gossips exchanging the tales of their night adventures. I wonder, do sparrows dream?
In the distance the factory, that never closes, hums. A car passes and then a motorcycle close behind it. Where can they be going at dawn.
I wonder, who else is up at this hour, besides me of course.
The coffee pot bubbles and splutters. The smell of coffee fills the room, it calls me. The air, yes, the air on my terrace is crisp and cold. The wind is still though. Shivering, I close the terrace door and go to drink my coffee.
Using words only, take a snapshot of the experience. We’re looking forward to reading your imaginative scenes, sans photographs!
——————————————————————————-
Haibun
Walk into Town
The night before he’d said: “Tomorrow a walk?”
“Yes, why not, but early ok?” she replied.
It’s interesting how relative time is. For one person early is 6:00, for another it’s 9:00. They finally had their coats on and were out the door at 9:30.
The air was crisp, the sun not having tipped the mountain yet, gave its shaded light to the small village, but none of its warmth.
He’d pulled his hood up to protect his ears as they walked towards the fields, a short-cut from their village to the larger town lower in the Sarca Valley.
The icy gravel crunched under their feet. The fields were white with the early morning frost, with just a hint of the green that still resisted the first cold snap of the year. The grape vines looked like so many sacrificed skeletons tied to their poles through the fencing along the path between fields.
Most of the fruit trees no longer had any fruit or leaves they looked barren and sad, all that is except for the persimmon trees. The last of their broad leaves had fallen, but the yellow-orange fruit kept clinging to the branches. Something between modern art and a Japanese haiga. The fruit reminded them of bright-colored Christmas tree ornaments.
Frosted fields, a bit of green grass, orange persimmons and finally the golden sun that finally tipped the mountain. Ah what a perfect snapshot!
frosted morning walk
contemplating persimmons
sun tips mountain top
In the words of Ray Bradbury, “Just write every day of your life…”. Your mission is to write five haikus — one for each of the five days leading up to this Friday when we will choose some entries and feature them on Freshly Pressed.
Of course, you can modify this challenge to suit your needs — you can write two haikus one day and three the next, or five all in one day, or one haiku every day from today through Friday — the choice is entirely up to you. If haikus don’t inspire you, you’re welcome to write a paragraph of prose instead. As always, the challenges are meant to be malleable so that they suit your needs.
@)—->—->—-
Five Haiku
autumn games await
hidden behind a mouse click
a challenge to write
children’s laughing play
bright bubbles fly the currents
olives in a fountain
mountains at night
sleep eludes tonight
dream’s paths are thus untrodden
I write a poem
death of a season
orange autumn leaves frozen
winter’s queen is born
sitting on the pier
sheets chiming in the wind
the gull dives for fish
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow full of love and peace…Ciao, Bastet!
(I’d like to say a special thanks to Sahm King for bringing this challenge to my attention. have a great holiday Sahm and Blu!)
@)—>—>—
Daily Prompt: Write about evil: how you understand it (or don’t), what you think it means, or a way it’s manifested, either in the world at large or in your life. Continue reading
When nothing is certain anything is possible
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Noreen Crone-Findlay talks about the crafts she loves with her friend, Tottie Tomato. They'll be sharing tutorials, how to's and step by steps for spool knitting, crochet, doll making, small loom weaving, wood working, paper crafts and all manner of other fun crafts. This is a family friendly blog.
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Poetry ~ Waka
Carpe Diem's Tanka Splendor is part of the Carpe Diem Haiku Family. It's a weekly tanka-meme in which you can write and share tanka inspired on a given prompt every Saturday (mostlty, sometimes it will be on another day).
Haiku inspired (mostly) by my walks in and around Eastbourne
Often rough and filled with switchbacks, the road this child of God is traveling Home.
poetry... mostly...
About fantastical places and other stuff
MALTAWAY TRAVEL per Viaggi, Corsi Inglese e Incentive - maltawaytravel.wordpress.com
a happenstance journal
Who, What, When, Where, How & Why
brenda warren
When nothing is certain anything is possible
life happens . . .
Noreen Crone-Findlay talks about the crafts she loves with her friend, Tottie Tomato. They'll be sharing tutorials, how to's and step by steps for spool knitting, crochet, doll making, small loom weaving, wood working, paper crafts and all manner of other fun crafts. This is a family friendly blog.
Random musings, observations and thoughts from inside a VW camper van.
Poetry. Art. Book Reviews.
a forum for the study of the materialism and ontology of finance
Written Thoughts are unlocked Treasures of the mind...
Welcome to the Feline World of Nera, Tabby and Fluffy
Observations and views from a different set of eyes
Advice on Writing, Publishing, and Book Promotion
An Artist's Eyes Never Rest
Poems
A Blog of Books and Literature
Misk Cooks
wāhine on the go
Poetry ~ Waka
Carpe Diem's Tanka Splendor is part of the Carpe Diem Haiku Family. It's a weekly tanka-meme in which you can write and share tanka inspired on a given prompt every Saturday (mostlty, sometimes it will be on another day).
Haiku inspired (mostly) by my walks in and around Eastbourne
Often rough and filled with switchbacks, the road this child of God is traveling Home.
poetry... mostly...
About fantastical places and other stuff
MALTAWAY TRAVEL per Viaggi, Corsi Inglese e Incentive - maltawaytravel.wordpress.com
a happenstance journal
Who, What, When, Where, How & Why
brenda warren
Bastet and Sekhmet's Library 