Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 38 – FAIRY & MAGIC
Today, my husband and I had a grisly conversation about death… not exactly a cheery morning chit chat but I thought if I have to go one day and no doubt I will…. this is how I’d like to imagine it… Not some black, bleak, meaningless end. No, I’d like a supernatural being to visit me. No vampires please unless you are so handsome and your final bite is worth it! Perhaps a magnificent unicorn to carry me far away on some incredible adventure, or a mermaid to take me swimming in some exotic land… Wait a minute…. What about many supernatural beings, (except zombies – they don’t rock my boat!) plus the delicate kindness of the fairies to see me off?…. Now, that sounds perfect!
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Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 37 – SMOKE & VEIL #Tanka #micropoetry
The prompt words this week are smoke and veil. They fit in beautifully with a particular character in my book : Book 1 – The Curse of Time – The Bloodstone which I am currently formatting with a planned release date to be confirmed this August…
The particular character I have in mind looks a bit like the young man in the photo below…. I shall be doing a character interview post soon.
Photo courtesy of my keen photographer daughter Georgina. Thank you to J. English, (media studies, drama student,) for agreeing to be our model!
To enter Colleen’s weekly challenge follow the link:
https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/06/13/colleens-weekly-poetry-challenge-37-smoke-veil/
#Tanka, #micropoetry, #poetry, #5lines,
If you’d like to join my Facebook Club – Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club please get in touch. Administrators: myself, Colleen, and Debby Gies .
Here are my links:
My New Facebook club : Rainbow Support Club/
Twitter: @marjorie_mallon and @curseof_time
Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 36 – HAPPY & SAD
This week’s prompt words are Happy and Sad, very appropriate given the situation in the world at the moment. It seems that humanity is doomed to live in a state of happiness one minute and sadness the next. So, to try to lift our spirits I’d like to share with you some happy photos from Strawberry Fair.
Our friends Richard and Catherine…
and my husband David and I….
There are also some videos on my Instagram:
My husband, and our friends were probably the oldest dudes in the music tent joining in the fun! But, the youngsters didn’t seem to mind, everyone was just having fun, forgetting their troubles.
To join in with Colleen’s poetry challenge follow the link: https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/06/06/colleens-weekly-poetry-challenge-36-happy-sad/
Bye for now, much love…
My social media hang outs:
My New Facebook club : Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club
Twitter: @marjorie_mallon
Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 35 – PAST & FUTURE
I had a disturbed sleep last night waking up at 5am. I managed to get back to sleep and awoke again at 7am. I checked my twitter feed and discovered the horrifying news about the terrorist attack in Manchester. I cried. I couldn’t cope with the sad news about another attack especially one which struck at our young people. This is cruel, beyond comprehension. I contemplated the morning and realised how beautiful a day it was. A single bird remained atop a tree, not moving so I picked up my mobile phone and captured it. Seconds later it flew away. If only those young people could have flown away. If only that man hadn’t done what he did.
How ironic. The sun shone, but how could this be? How are we to continue when such atrocities happen? I suppose the answer is we have no choice; we have to, or the terrorists will win. So, I wiped my tears and tried to do something positive. I went for a walk. I hadn’t planned to take photos, but I did. I’m sharing these at the end of my post, as a way to heal heartache. Life has to go on, but sometimes (being a parent,) you can’t help but feel the pain of such a devastating loss. To lose a child. This shouldn’t happen. Ever.
So today I am dedicating my Tanka to all the youngsters who lost their lives in Manchester, to their families and friends and to those who are still missing. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
This is in response to Colleen’s challenge: https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/05/23/colleens-weekly-poetry-challenge-35-past-future/
Here are my photos of Emmaus, a charity for the homeless near me. It’s a great place to go to for a cup of tea and cake. There is a garden, ample parking places and everything you buy goes towards helping the homeless. I bought several new mugs, and a couple of other things, and snapped photos of their recycled art sculptures, their hens roaming in the garden, bee area, and several quirky bits and pieces. It helped. A little.
Take care, stay safe.
Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 34 – POWER & ALLURE
Colleen’s prompt words this week, power and allure are just up my alley!
So here’s a short extract from my YA fantasy manuscript followed by a haiku.
The Curse of Time: The Bloodstone – excerpt.
Stealing a glance at Ryder I drew in a sharp breath. I had been so absorbed in the drama back at the river that I hadn’t noticed the subtleties flickering like wraiths across his face. I took the time now to note that he had blue-black hair that gleamed in the gloominess of the day. As the rain began to fall, I found myself drawn to his unusual eyes. His inky black eye contrasted with his green eye and had to be his most stunning, and unique, feature. He had long lashes now slicked with raindrops that gleamed in the failing light. Unable to look away, I stared into those captivating eyes as if they were two dark, mysterious pools pulling me into their depths. I imagined myself sinking into oblivion. I felt light-headed as if I’d lost my grip at the top of a high cliff, free-falling, tumbling over and over again, but instead of fighting against this frightening sensation I welcomed it.
© Marjorie Mallon 2017 – aka, Kyrosmagica. All Rights Reserved.
My good friend Colleen Chesebro has taken me under her fairy wings and is working through my manuscript at this very moment…. I can’t thank her enough for all her kindness. She has been such an incredible help….
Just recently, I started a club on Facebook for authors, bloggers and book bloggers – Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club.
Colleen Chesebro, Debby Gies (D.G. Kaye Writer) and I run the club together, we are quite some team. The three of us had such fun recently working on a new header for the club (which you can see at the very bottom of this post.) Guess what? We’ve been looking at rainbows!
During my search I discovered a lovely rainbow fairy, so this one’s for Colleen for all her hard work and help with my manuscript. xxx
To join in with Colleen’s weekly poetry challenge follow the link: Colleen Chesebro’s Poetry Challenge
Bye for now,
My social media hang outs:
Twitter: @marjorie_mallon
My New Facebook club : Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club
Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 33 – CLEAN & SHARP
For this week’s poetry challenge Colleen has given us a tricky prompt – clean and sharp. Clean isn’t exactly my favourite word and neither is sharp! I suppose both of them coupled together conjure up moments in our household where my hubby gets a bit cross with me for spending so much time blogging and writing and so little time cleaning the house! Lol… I’ve never been terribly domesticated… Well, he knew that before he married me so surely he can’t complain…
So perhaps a little humour is the way to go…
Ha ha! Better hide this blog post from my poor hubby… or I’ll be in trouble…
To join in with Colleen’s poetry challenge follow the link:
https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/05/09/colleens-weekly-poetry-challenge-33-clean-sharp/
Bye for now,
My social media hang outs:
Twitter: @marjorie_mallon
My New Author Support Club: Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club
Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 32 – LEAD & SAVE
The prompt words from Colleen this week are lead and save which are appropriate for two reasons. First, I lost some of my manuscript! Somehow bl**** word, yes I am swearing profusely, lost three of my chapters which had me in a right old state… I knew something was going on when my word count dropped dramatically. Luckily, I’d backed up a recent copy so it could have been worse. Much worse. Secondly, the prompt words lead and save fit in very nicely with my sharing part of my YA manuscript The Curse of Time – Book 1 – The Bloodstone with you lovely peeps.
I decided to write a prose envelope which is appropriate as the story begins with an invitation.
Though, there is no invitation mentioned in this short excerpt from Chapter 2:
At that moment I heard a rustling in the nearby grass. Mitch let go of me startled by the noise. I turned, still clutching the camera to my side as I observed a young man who appeared out of the shadows near the edge of the path. His appearance caught my attention because he wore black jeans and a faded black tee-shirt washed so often that its original colour had all but vanished. His strange eyes sought me out. I stood gazing into two of the strangest eyes I had ever seen. One shone black as the richest smeared ink while the other glowed green and reminded me of the lushness of a meadow.
I continued to stare and noticed a dark shadow cloud Ryder’s face. I acknowledged this subtle yet powerful moment. When his eyes darkened, I swear they flashed thunderous daggers at the lads. Ryder’s face locked into a fixed expression as if he prepared to battle. His body became rigid, and his muscles tensed. I stepped back as I observed the hard ground beneath his feet crack, extending in a black shadow as he moved towards the boys. My hand went to my mouth, and I screamed.
To join in Colleen’s challenge: https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/05/02/colleens-weekly-poetry-challenge-32-lead-save/
Hope you like the short excerpt, and the haibun too. Please leave comments to tell me what you think.
Bye for now,
If you’d like to join Team Awesome, a club for bloggers, bookish souls, and authors do get in touch we hang out on Facebook here:
Member Page: Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club
and we have a general information page here too:
Join The Book Love Team at Bloggers/Authors Rainbow Support Club
Don’t be shy, join this supportive, friendly club. x
Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 31 – PEACE & TEAR
My entry to Colleen’s weekly poetry challenge this week is inspired by a piece I am editing for Dan Alatorre’s Word Weaving Competition.
It is taken from a part completed memoir I’ve written of my dad’s early childhood before the Second World War, including his travelling adventures to the Far East, Middle East, Pacific region, Caribbean and Africa. This is a short nostalgic paragraph about him lamenting the loss of the forests that he used to play in plus a poem about the same subject using the words peace and tear.
Before the Second World war children used to play in extensive woodland. This treasured land is now an estate of houses, which encroach upon the sloping fields leading further and further into the now diminishing wood. Yes, land is at a premium, and builders build property upon every spare inch of space – forget about the Thousand Acre Wood, it’s more like postage stamp wood.
I think Eeyore would have this to say: ‘Here today and gone tomorrow.’
The once wooded area has now become a permanent car park for the nearby primary school, built well after the war.
Today, there is just one sorry playground, a tiny place for local children to play in among the houses. It sits like a sad apology to the past.
In my childhood, I remember a veritable playground of fields, marshy land, and hedgerows, where children dawdled for hours playing cowboys and Indians and Doctors and Nurses. One of my favourite childhood pastimes was to construct a pretend shelter with my pals. A local woman would inspect the shelter and play along with our game with a serious air.
Nowadays, children play with manufactured games, watch TV, engage in computer activities, and twiddle with their mobile phones, oh how the world has changed!
This freedom meant that during the war years we would play in strange places, some of which weren’t at all safe. The concept of health and safety didn’t exist! Nowadays children can’t even get a work experience placement without going through a minefield of paperwork, which is a sorry state of affairs if you ask me.
Children enjoyed the simple pleasures of life, such as collecting cigarette and royal navy cards. Though, some weren’t so innocent, one lad with the same name as me took great pleasure in bullying his parents and the poor unfortunate cat. He would set the cat’s tail alight. His parents appeared terrified of him. He behaved like a vandal before vandalism become popular. This bully never bothered me, on the contrary, he encouraged me to stay around. I concluded that he enjoyed an audience for his daily wickedness! I would play with many boys, but none so infamous as Gavin Vernon who stole the stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey on Christmas day 1950!
© Marjorie Mallon 2017 – aka, Kyrosmagica. All Rights Reserved.
If you’d like to join in the challenge:
https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/04/25/colleens-weekly-poetry-challenge-31-peace-tear/
Bye for now,
RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #145 Beautiful&Curse
The prompt words really attracted me to Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge this week…. (It’s a long time since I’ve joined in as I have been so busy!) as they relate beautifully to my manuscript – The Curse of Time, which I am close to finishing! I’m doing what I hope are the final edits – you never know if it is truly completed until you send it to your betas/editors!
I’ve written two haiku and used Canva to make them visually pleasing. The second one is using my own photograph of a nasty looking shadow!
To join in with Ronovan’s Prompt – I think the deadline is today, hope I haven’t left it too late: https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2017/04/17/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-145-beautifulcurse/
Bye for now,
Have a lovely Sunday.
Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 30 – Wish & Magic
Colleen Chesebro’s Poetry Challenge
Colleen Chesebro and I share quite a few interests in common, as a matter of fact we do find that when we do those quizzes on Facebook we sometimes get the same results! This morning we both ended up being like the moon… with a dark and a light side!
It’s my good friend Colleen’s birthday today so what better way to celebrate than to write her a Happy Birthday Tanka.
There will be no moons, dark, or light aspects to the birthday wishes as Colleen’s prompt words: wish and magic are much more suitable for a birthday poem. Colleen is a big fan of fairies, and I’m sure she’s partial to cake, and no doubt appreciates the wonder of rainbows so I thought this might be just right.
A very happy birthday to Colleen, and all the best for a fairy special day!
I wish I could spend your special day with you and your winged fairy guests. Enjoy!
