NaPoWriMo 2014 Day 2

The NaPoWriMo promp for day 2 was to write a poem influenced by myth. I created a geeky twist on the challenge:

Stan the Man

Stan the Man knew his fans,

They liked action, heroes, and justice

For all – the American way, with

Captains and mutants,

Men of iron – more tarnished than steel.

He then thought of Gods,

How the myths had them sit

In judgement over man

On a mountain high,

As they lived in luxury.

But how much more intriguing,

To bring those Gods to Earth?

To make them more like humans –

With love, and strife, and wars,

Against enemies and friends alike.

He saw a God of thunder

His weapon a hammer of might,

To call forth the storm, the lightning,

To be a beacon of hope.

A God but also a man.

So Stan the Man,

Who knew his fans,

Brought the gods down here to fight –

To fight for Good, against Evil,

To save the day, and the girl.

And the fans who knew,

Knew the heroes, the gods,

The mutants and angels too,

Were just like them,

And so they bought issue two.

NaPoWriMo 2014

Day 1:

Yes, folks, it's that time of year again! National Poetry Writing Month. And below is my first (hopefully of 30) poems to be written in the NaPoWriMo of April. The prompt for this was to write a poem influenced by a work of art...

Melting Clocks

They sit, baking, in a fantasy desert.

They are bent to the artist’s twisted mind,

As we bend time itself to our twisted needs,

Believing that we are the masters,

When in reality, we are turned inside out

By a need to chase every hour, minute, second,

Bow to the whim of two tiny hands,

Drawing us closer, closer,

Or the flashing of numbers, counting down.

Welcome to 2014!

A quick post to recap on 2013, and announce my writing goals and news for 2014...

2013 was fairly slow on the poetry front. However, I did force myself to submit to more publishing opportunities and competitions, and, amongst the many expected rejections, I did receive one acceptance. One of one poems, 'Prophet' will appear in the Sentinel Literary Quarterly magazine in February 2014.

2013 also saw my work published in 'Message In A Bottle' on-line magazine, issue 19 (although the acceptance came in 2012!). Three poems - 'Flight', 'The End' and 'Time Travel' are showcased. I'm very happy to have found a home for them! You can find them on-line now at http://www.messageinabottlepoetrymagazine.com/issue-19.php

I have also been continuing to work on arts and book reviews, and my, slow-going, novel. We shall see what 2014 will bring on this score, as I have lots of ideas, both for my novel and for a number of short stories.

Most recently, I am working on poetic responses to photographs, and am involved in an up-coming exhibition at the Corn Hall in Diss, Norfolk, opening on 4th February 2014, entitled 'On the Eve of...' It is turning out to be an interesting and enjoyable challenge, and there are some wonderful photos to engage with, looking at how text and images can interact.

If you're in the area, I hope you can take a visit. Entry is free!

Book Launch (Unfortunately not mine!)

In November I had the privilege of attending the book launch of a dear friend, who was launching not one, but two poetry books at once!

Kim Lasky's two titles - 'Eclipse' and 'Petrol, Cyan, Electric' are both long over-due. They also both contain wonderful snapshots of scientific discoveries and exploration. 'Eclipse', published by Templar Books, is a sequence of personal discovery and encounter, of the Moon, of a relationship, of the very process of discovery. It is sweet, lyrical and vivid, full of imagery and imagination.

The companion to 'Eclipse', 'Petrol, Cyan, Electric', published by smith doorstop, is more focused on the history of scientific exploration, narratives of those people, often women, found hidden behind the limelight of great inventions and discoveries. These are the stories that aren't told, the details we can only guess at, woven into being by Kim's vivid details and descriptions.

As well as reading pieces from both volumes, Kim treated us to an audio-visual piece, combining a recorded reading and film, as was well rounded-off by some wonderful music by a local 'electric' blues band, complimenting nicely with the theme of electricity and power.

The mix of material made for an interesting and lively evening, as well as showing how book launches and readings can move away from the traditional reading from the book and use other ways of interacting with the audience to draw attention to the poetry.

A wonderful evening, and well-recommended books!

NaPoWriMo Day 10

And we're into double figures! Admittedly, I'm a little behind on finishing and posting responses to some previous days prompts - day 8, 9 and 3 to follow - but here we are. For today's prompt, a poem on the theme of 'unlove'. Not hate, but a dislike, or, for me, an ending of love. Here's my poem:

Unlove

A disappearance,

A lessening,

Slowly, gradually,

Distance growing.

Pauses in conversation

That used to last all night.

A lack of thought,

That used to be every waking moment.

Excuses found to spend time apart.

Hugs and kisses, no longer

The first thing in the morning,

Or the last at night.

They call it an unlove,

A separation of two

Former halves,

Back to their original, individual, selves.

NaPoWriMo Day 6

The prompt for day 6 is to write a cinquain, a poetic form where the number of stresses per line is 1-2-3-4-1, and the number of syllables is 2-4-6-8-2. Here is my attempt!

The ISS

At night

Like a beacon

It appears overhead

Tiny capsule traveling fast

To glory.

NaPoWriMo Day 7

The prompt on day 7 is to write a poem in which each line except the last takes the form of a single, declarative sentence. Then, the final line should take the form of a question. Here is my small attempt:

Brighton

Melting-pot city by the sea,

A favourite place of royalty past.

Artists and students share dreams here,

While tourists flock to see the sights.

At night the city glows,

Lights from the pier are seen for miles.

The Royal Pavilion is very grand,

And the Grand Hotel is very fine.

A pebbled beach surrounds the shining sea,

There’s fish and chips for all,

Ice-cream on the sea-front,

So who wants a jolly day out?

NaPoWriMo Day 6

Hi all, and welcome to day 6 of NaPoWriMo 2013. Today's prompt - a poem of farewell. This is a tribute to a wonderful cat named Oscar:

Farewell

A sad goodbye

To a furry friend.

For twenty-two years,

You shared our lives.

A stripy predator,

And a purring lap-cat.

From the day you arrived –

Tiny ball of fur,

So scared you hid,

Beneath the kitchen cupboard.

Until the day you died –

A little old man

Covered in fur,

Resting by the fire.

A rub of your head,

A scratch of an ear,

And you were happy,

An easy life you led,

Ruling with one tabby paw

And a soft meow.

NaPoWriMo Day 3, Er, 4

Unfortunately I've had to skip day 3 of NaPoWriMo, at least temporarily.I do plan  to go back to it, but day 4 is here now for your attention!

The prompt for day 4 is to use a name of a fiction spaceship created by author Iain M Banks as a title. The title I chose was 'Lightly Seared On The Reality Grill'.

Lightly Seared on the Reality Grill

When reality twists, and turns,

Inside out, upside down.

You wake up and think,

You’re in the middle of a dream.

When the mirror cracks,

And you see yourself

As if a stranger,

Wondering at every little thing you do.

Time stops, you hang, frozen,

In a random moment,

Asking what is real,

Living on automatic pilot.

Until…

A sharp shock brings you back,

A faint smell of burning flesh

As you’re toasted lightly,

Seared upon the reality grill.

A tiny scar the only souvenir,

Of a never-forgotten experience.

NaPoWriMo Day 2

The prompt for today is a poem that lies, or is about a lie. You can decide for yourself if this is completely true, or not!

My height, when asked,

Is five foot exactly,

A small, white lie

Rounding up the figures,

Nice and simple.

Who needs to know?

Heels add the extra,

So it’s sort of true,

I tell myself.

But truth be told,

It’s not the same.

Not five foot tall –

Just four foot ten.

NaPoWriMo 2013

It's back! National Poetry Writing Month is here, with the challenge to write a poem a day (or at the very least, 30 poems in 30 days) during the month of April. Using the prompt provided by www.napowrimo.net, of beginning with the first line of an existing poem, and using a line given by my loving husband, I offer below my contribution to NaPoWriMo Day 1:

I Wandered

‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’,

So the poet says.

I stand and watch

Those fluffy wheels

Travel across the morning sky.

A pale light guides them,

And I do not see

Loneliness,

But travelling companions,

A flock of ariel sheep,

Grazing upon light blue grass.

I smile at their journey,

Content to be on the side-lines,

Not needing to search for golden treasure

Or fields of daffodils.

Tune in tomorrow for Day 2's challenge!

Seaside, summer solstice, and stort stories

On 21st June 2011, I was privileged to have a short story of mine performed at local live literature evening. The event, entitled 'Are You Sitting Comfortably', is a regular night run by a theatre group called White Rabbit, who invite stories on different themes for each event. This month the theme was the seaside, especially apt for both Brighton and a summer solstice evening, as the evening was warm, and the town busy with tourists visiting the seafront.

As you might expect from a theatre group, where stories are performed rather than just read, this was no ordinary live literature event. It took place in 'The Basement' in Brighton's North Laines, a venue you entered by descending into a literal basement - a room full of small tables and a stage area complete with comfy armchair - just waiting for someone to take a seat and tell you a story. The Basement was all exposed brick walls, low lighting and tea-lights on tables. It was busy, with people sitting on a raised step against the back wall, and all the tables full, creating a really lively atmosphere.

Also on the tables, which were all covered with check table-cloths, were plates of fairy cakes, sweets, blowing bubbles, playing cards and china teacups with tags stating 'Drink Me' - a nod to the White Rabbit concept of our hosts. The seaside theme continued with one of the three readers being dressed as a mermaid, and there was ice-cream during the interval.

With nine stories in total the evening was quite a long one, with six guest stories and three from the readers themselves. During the intervals, as well as ice-cream there was more grown-up refreshment such as wine and even cocktails served in teapots! The whole atmosphere was one of creativity and fun. To keep the fun going there was also a pass-the-parcel after the stories, with literary questions each time the music stopped!

It was a great experience to hear my story read aloud. It's a step away from the writing, and even the editing, and, for me at least, very different to having to read your work yourself, as you can concentrate on the words and story rather than what and how you are reading. I found all the other stories chosen to be clever and fun. The audience seemed to enjoy them all, and a really fun night was had by us all. For a final touch, as it was the summer solstice, we were invited after the event to light sparklers out in the street. Overall, it was a very enjoyable way to spend a Tuesday evening, and I was delighted to have been chosen as a guest writer.

Carol Ann Duffy

On Wednesday 18th June 2011, I had the privilege of being able to see and hear Carol Ann Duffy read her poetry at the Brighton Corn Exchange, as part of the Brighton Festival. I've long been a fan of her work, but this was the first time I'd had the opportunity to see her live. And she was brilliant, grabbing the audience's attention right from the start, coming across as approachable, down-to-Earth and an extremely talented poet. Being the current British Poet Laureate, I had to wonder how much of Carol Ann's new poetry, and the poetry she would choose to share, would be linked to subjects affecting the country. To my surprise, she hardly mentioned her position as Laureate and instead introduced a range of poems, some old and some new, that appeared purely her own.

She began with a selection from her 1999 collection 'The World's Wife', which I personally adore. It's a response to the men of history and myth, such as Midus, Faust and Charles Darwin, but looking at them through the eyes of their wives. These were fun, moving and clever.

Carol Ann then shared some poems from 'Rapture', her 2005-published series of poems exploring the journey of a relationship. These were also moving, both sad and happy. By now she had the audience fully with her, providing brief introductions to most poems but letting a couple speak for themselves.

Next, it was onto some new work. Here we did find some reference to her work as Poet Laureate, but it was refreshing to find that they were still very much in her own voice, and weren't necessarily in support of the current government and its decisions. She read one poem on the fact that one of her poems had been removed from the GCSE examination board, and another on the Royal Mail's plans to remove the use of UK counties on letters. She also shared some poems about her mother and her daughter.

It was a varied mixture of poetry, in style and topic, but all appeared very much Carol Ann, and all were enjoyed by the fully-packed, sold-out audience in Brighton's Corn Exchange. For me, it was great to hear her new work, be reminded of older work that I already enjoyed, and brought home how she has become a strong role-model for poetry in general and for creative women specifically, as the first female British Poet Laureate. She informed us that she would have a new collection published in September 2011 and I, for one, can't wait to read it.

NaPoWriMo 2011 - Day 5

Today's prompt - write either a serious poem or a goofy poem. Rather a vague prompt, this one! Here's my attempt at a serious poem, anyway:

Small Sparks

There are small sparks
Between you and I.
Electrically charged,
Energy burning bright.
We're drawn together like magnets,
Opposing forces
Becoming fused as one.
But we are two sides
Of the same coin -
Finishing each other's sentences,
Reading each other's minds.
Soul-mates, written in the stars?
Or is it just co-incidence,
That we have found each other,
And small sparks fly.

NaPoWriMo Day 4

Day 4
Prompt: Write a poem about a group of people. I took astronauts.

Returning

After seeing the Earth
From the depths of space,
What else is there?
Returning to firm land
A hero, what's next for you?
One of a select few
To witness this amazing view -
Our blue, green world.
Seen from this distance
It's hard to see the boundaries.
Other people's wars become senseless,
You are a citizen of Earth,
All nations watching as you leap
Into the star-filled unknown.

NaPoWriMo 2011 - Day 3

Day 3 - prompt: Write a poem about a world without you.

Without Me

In a world without me,
My sister would be an only child,
My parents spoiling her rotten.
She would have no one to play with,
No summers spent together,
No sharing, learning, growing
Of two sisters closer and closer.

In a world without me,
My husband might be single,
Finding his way alone,
No-one to lead him to this city on the coast.
No lazy mornings, warm smiles and kisses,
No building of a life together,
Of two halves making a whole.

In a world without me,
The Earth keeps turning,
People living their lives
Without me knowing,
Unable to participate
In the ups and down
Of the human race.

A world without me,
Is not this one.

NaPoWriMo 2011 - Day 2

Today's prompt - Write a postcard poem. Here's mine:

Postcard

I don't wish you were here.
If you were, this would be
Another time, another place,
Tinted in rose and summer sunshine.
School's finished and weeks stretch ahead,
Two young girls run through sand dunes,
Invent games and vie for attention,
High on summer and foreign lands.

NaPoWriMo once again!

It's April! And on this blog that means only one thing - it's National Poetry Writing Month, with the monthly poem a day challenge.

Day 1's prompt is to write a 'what got you here' poem. Here's my attempt:

Getting Here

We got here individually,
And yet also together.
Two sides of the same coin,
Two minds in one,
Travelling from two points,
To be here, now, together.

Four years by the sea,
Six months as man and wife,
We walk a single path
Widened to fit us both.
Our future stretches ahead -
We face it hand in hand.

River of Stones continued (and a book!)

Although January is now well behind us, and I wasn't able to post each day's small stone on this blog, I bring you a few of the remaining small stones from this project:

Day 15:
Her name blinks in yellow lights,
As we stare, grinning,
And a cold wind whips around us.


Day 17:
Leaving work while it's still just light,
A sign of coming spring,
A pale orange glow to the evening air.


Day 23:
Day by day they grow taller,
Blue, red and yellow crocuses
Providing some colour amongst winter grey.


Day 28:
Drinks with an old friend,
Relaxing after a long week,
Songs and silliness, fun and laughter.


Fiona and Kaspa, creators of the river of stones project, have now published a book of small stones written by various people throughout January. And, they chose one of my stones to include! The book is available from Lulu.com, in hardback, paperback or download, and is a unique and interesting collection - http://www.lulu.com/product/hardcover/pay-attention-a-river-of-stones/15101108

River of Stones - 13th Jan 2011

Here's day 13:

Driving into the night,
Talking about everything and nothing,
Cars whizzing past as we pace our way,
Me sleeping, you driving.