*
smoky kisses linger
in a fool’s wild heart
prisoner of the dark angel’s velvet smile
devoured by haunted lips
her dance of desire
*
This poem was written in response to Colleen’s Double Ennead Challenge No. 7 at Carrot Ranch. We were instructed to use the Magnetic Poetry Oracle and write one stanza with syllables 6/5/11/6/5.
I’ve been on hiatus for a few days with a sore back and, upon returning to the blogosphere, was delighted to see the release of Sarah’s latest anthology. I’m honored to have my work included with that of her other talented contributors. Many thanks, Sarah! I’m closing comments here as I’m heading out for some treatment (and pampering). Hugs!
It’s here! 🥂🖤 🎉
The Shadows We Breathe is now available in eBook and paperback!
I am so grateful to have worked with seven talented, amazing authors to create this gorgeous anthology of short fiction.
Thank you to all the authors who contributed. And to Loni Townsend and Allie Potts for their help and patience in explaining techy stuff I don’t understand. 😜💕
Blurb
WE ARE ALL PART SHADOW
Life promises joy and sorrow. Alongside the light, there will always be traces of darkness. It is the nature of being human.
In this anthology, we explore relationships—how they sculpt us, hurt us, help us, and reveal our deepest desires.
Eight artists, whose words paint worlds, bring you stories of heartache, loss, hope, and forgiveness. They unveil the intimacy and complexity of relationships.
Whether family, friend, or lover, connections to others can hold us up or break us…
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This poem is my attempt at a crapsey cinquain for Colleen’s #TankaTuesday. It’s inspired by Kerfe’s visual art above.
~
starlight
stitched in patterns
weaves a vast universe
deciphering the mystical
with faith
~
I’m on the road, hiking around here:
So, I may be a bit delayed with comments and visits. But I’ll catch up. Thanks for stopping by!
❤
My blogger friend Brad over at Writing to Freedom is having a birthday today. If you haven’t visited Brad’s blog, you’re in for a treat. He takes beautiful photos and writes poetry (often haiku) to complement them.
He invited his followers and their muses to stop by. My usual muses are negotiating with a necromancer and outsmarting reapers, so I contacted a muse escort service and this is who they sent:
I didn’t know there were haiku muses, but apparently, they’re everywhere. Just check your backyard or local park. My diminutive muse flitted around the garden while I packed a picnic. She wanted to show me a place called Silver Falls.
Happy Birthday, Brad. My little muse and I wrote these for you!
hidden glades of light
sift through mottled canopies
a glimpse of magic
***
fiddleheads unfurl
green curlicues and whimsy
crowning last year’s fronds
***
boughs of emerald lace
spring’s parasols catch the light
fragrant in the sun
***
old stumps die and thrive
nurse a woodland’s nascent growth
life cycles entwined
***
silver waterfalls
glittering with frothy light
rainbow in the mist
***
Happy Birthday to Brad from the land of big trees!
Something short today! Yay!
This poem is in response to Colleen Chesebro’s #Tanka Tuesday challenge. It needed to include synonyms for Eager & Hope provided by Sally Cronin. It’s a syllabic poem called a Double Ennead consisting of 3 stanzas with syllables 6/5/11/6/5.
My goal was to capture the theme of my current WIP: The Ferryman and the Sea Witch.
Beware a dark bargain
A craft of desire
Conspired with the merrow’s silver-tailed witch
Her golden-tongued harpoon
Bristles with veiled barbs
She feasts on treasure-dreams
Conjured from sea beds
Her oaths, leviathans steeped in deception
Plunged in mountainous waves
She drowns the reckless
Or forsake her plunder
Mortal in the brine
A quiet heart surrenders to airlessness
Clasping pearls of courage
Deep in love redeemed
As we celebrate our dear story-teller, poet, blogger, and wise-woman Sue Vincent, I’d thought I would share my favorite book of her poetry.
Below is a sublimely beautiful poem from its pages, and my review. If you enjoy it, consider picking up a copy for own heart’s enjoyment. ❤
Flowers
by Sue Vincent
There were always flowers.
Orchids pinned upon a mother’s breast,
All lace and diamonds.
Long black gloves
And painted lips,
As she left, laughing.
A child who watched
As the door closed.
*
There were flowers…
Yellow tulips,
Cellophane and ribbon
A girl who blushed
As the curtain fell
Upon the stage;
She cradled them,
A first bouquet.
*
There were flowers,
Roses and lilies
White, in hands and hair,
Their fragrance mingled
With frankincense,
A ghost of awe and wonder
Finding a home
In memory.
*
There were flowers…
Rainbow hued,
Everywhere.
Greeting a life newborn,
With love and welcome,
Lighting stark severity
As a babe cried.
*
There were flowers…
Daisy chains
Around his brow,
Crowning him with sunlight,
In laughter,
In simplicity,
In love.
*
There were flowers,
Three roses,
Red as life,
Placed in a cold hand,
One for each heart
Saying farewell.
Too long,
Too soon.
*
There are flowers,
Heather and bluebells
Painting horizons
Still unexplored.
Pathways of petals
Laugh at our feet,
Inviting.
*
In joy or sorrow,
When the tears fall,
There are always flowers.
*
My Review
This collection of 52 poems by Sue Vincent is a gem. I’d give this book 6 stars if I could. It’s hard to put into words how moving I found Vincent’s poetry. The poems are free form reflections on the profound moments of life, the deep emotional wells of love, loss, and memories, the rhythms of nature reflected in our journeys, and the poignant journeys themselves.
It was almost impossible to pick out a few favorites, but I’m giving it a try: “I See You” is an exquisite poem about aging and the lasting echoes of youth that we carry inside our memories. “Flowers” (which makes me weepy just thinking about it) chronicles a woman’s life-stages in flowers from birth through death. Two touching poems are told from the point of view of someone watching a loved one sleep. They’re both gentle and heartachingly beautiful. “Just for a Moment” is a rare syllabic poem in the collection about the peace of love, and “Memory” about love lost.
Though the poems can be read in an hour or so, I would suggest savoring them. Highly recommended.
*
You can connect with Sue here:
Blog: Daily Echo – Echoes of Life
Check out today’s beautiful post from Sue: Impression of Contentment
Happy Valentine’s Day. Hugs.
This is my last post for a few weeks as I sign off for the holidays. I wish you all a happy holiday season filled with peace, love, and good health. May we have a new year full of kindness and hope. ❤
This poem is in response to the image Colleen Chesebro provided for her #Tanka Tuesday Challenge. The poem is a garland cinquain.
Bow down
to winter’s wheel
when sacred smoke ascends
blends in the hushed whiteness of breath
spirit
sleepless
gather our dreams
life’s unspoken secrets
tales of longing words of solace
unseen
our eyes
cannot behold
the warp and weft of love
nor peace and bliss, a swallow’s song
a chant
our hands
cannot unwrap
whispers of forgiveness
a prayer in a child’s heart
a hope
in grace
we surrender
to winter’s darkest night
the gifts of the invisible
renewed
bow down
gather our dreams
the weft and weave of love
a prayer in a child’s heart
renewed.
I had the great honor of choosing the image for Colleen’s syllabic poetry challenge this week. So, of course, I had to play.
This is a crown cinquain. Each of the five stanzas has five lines of 2/4/6/8/2 syllables.
Winter
frees her fair hair
hushed in her reflection
by the sparrow’s river she kneels
entranced
…
she wills
doves to gather
on the night’s bare branches
as autumn yields its golden crown
to cold
…
she weaves
her white tresses
into lace coverlets
unfurls across the towhee’s nest
her gift
…
magic
silvers the boughs
stirred by the horned owl’s wing
in flight between the evergreen
she waits
…
snow child
whispers a hymn
rapt by her own beauty
tranquil in the holy dawn of
winter
Colleen’s #Tanka Tuesday challenge this week was to write a syllabic poem based on a #PhotoPrompt provided by Trent McDonald, or a #SynonymsOnly prompt provided by David Ellis, using synonyms of the words “make” and “move.”
I decided to do both in a double nonet. My synonyms are “mirrors” and “turned.”
a beholder’s eye mirrors the mind
blind to the bafflement of lies
where seeing’s not believing
a world turned upside down
in clever madness
leading white swans
to slaughter
plucked of
heart
yet
wisdom
shall surface
for truth is love
unfurled on bright wings
beyond proud illusions
swans glide on tranquil waters
holding unguarded the others’
beloved reflections face to face
I’m delighted to welcome talented poetess Balroop Singh to the Mirror today to share her latest book. I just finished it and included my review!
I wait for whispers; they regale my muse. Whispers that can be heard by our heart, whispers that ride on the breeze to dispel darkness and ignite hope. I’m sure you would hear them through these poems if you read slowly.
‘Magical Whispers’ would transport you to an island of serenity; beseech you to tread so,ftly on the velvety carpet of nature to feel the ethereal beauty around you. The jigsaw of life would melt and merge as you dive into the warmth of words.
In this book, my poems focus on whispers of Mother Nature, whispers that are subtle but speak louder than words and breathe a quiet message.
Each day reminds us
It’s the symphony of surroundings
That whisper life into us.
Title: Magical Whispers
Author: Balroop Singh
Genre: Poetry
Available at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KJQ6K5D
US UK DE FR ES IT NL JP BR CA MX AU IN
A Concert
Misty mountains beckon
Slippery stones scare
Where clouds adorn the valley
Illusionary world comes alive here
Rivulets dance with abandon
Sunbeams play a dazzling game
Songs of nature mystify you
Tricky pathways meander
Dew never dries here
Fragrance floats forever
Positive vibes permeate around
Seeping within your soul
Where we could touch the mist,
Inhale tranquility of waning light
Be one with the dreamy duo –
Earth and sky
Heaven below our feet, grandeur above
Purging all our doubts
Silence speaks in thousand dialects
Concert only senses could hear!
© Balroop Singh
I’ve read a few of Singh’s poetry collections, and this one is my favorite. Each poem is a gem, and though this isn’t a long book, it’s worth taking a few leisurely days or weeks to savor.
The 73 poems are divided into two sections: Magical Whispers and Whispers of Life. The poems in Magical Whispers have a strong focus on Nature—the mysteries, solace, and magical connections the author has to Mother Earth. A few of my favorite poems are Dawn Whispers, Magic of Senses, and A Moon Fairy.
Whispers of Life is broader in scope, touching on love, growth, longing, memories, and other facets of human life. Though personal to the author, the poems are relatable and insightful. My favorites in this section are My Words, Only Memories are Mine, and Muted by Time. Highly recommended.
Balroop Singh, a former teacher and an educator always had a passion for writing. She is a poet, a creative non-fiction writer, a relaxed blogger and a doting grandma. She writes about people, emotions and relationships. Her poetry highlights the fact that happiness is not a destination but a chasm to bury agony, anguish, grief, distress and move on! No sea of solitude is so deep that it can drown us. Sometimes aspirations are trampled upon, the boulders of exploitation and discrimination may block your path but those who tread on undeterred are always successful.
When turbulences hit, when shadows of life darken, when they come like unseen robbers, with muffled exterior, when they threaten to shatter your dreams, it is better to break free rather than get sucked by the vortex of emotions.
A self-published author, she is the poet of Sublime Shadows of Life and Emerging From Shadows, both widely acclaimed poetry books. She has also written When Success Eludes, Emotional Truths Of Relationships Read FREE with Kindle Unlimited and Allow Yourself to be a Better Person.
Balroop Singh has always lived through her heart. She is a great nature lover; she loves to watch birds flying home. The sunsets allure her with their varied hues that they lend to the sky. She can spend endless hours listening to the rustling leaves and the sound of waterfalls. The moonlight streaming through her garden, the flowers, the meadows, the butterflies cast a spell on her. She lives in San Ramon, California.
You can visit her blog Emotional Shadows
Connecting links:
