Inner storms. Cinquain and Haibun

Image credit; Johannes Plenio @ Unsplash

Calm seas
ńeath brewing storms
where morals turn agile
and perspicacious drifters long
for Self

Pity
enshrouds the spy
the unwitty witness
Innocence pays the maiden price
World’s Way

Of hope
on same wavelengths
fickle, is life’s grapevine
upon the volatile current
Of truth

Our fear
Precient ally
reveals and then withholds
bitter endings, brave beginnings
The Call

The You
you always tame
dewy-eyed explorer
wandering through life’s hypnosis
The spark

Tall Tales Corner

Le Jardin de l’artiste à Giverny by Claude Monet

It is said that ‘art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.’
Or so their picture-perfect family hoped, as they mounted a piece of spring in their livingroom. It was odd that on sunny days, those trees seemed to bleed and a face lurked in the background windows.
The patch of sunlight surrounded by shades induced a claustrophobic feeling, like conflict was closing in.

New petals may sing
to mask whispers of winter
lavender secrets

The teenage daughter, in the first trimester of a problem-pregnancy, saw a little girl waving from those distant windows, longing to play, to climb trees and eat the juicy-red fruit. To her, the painting held hope.
The mother, a neighbourhood leader, dreaded what people would say about her daughter, and worse, about her. But the painting made her think of swings in the backyard, and lullabies long abandoned, of a baby’s gay laughter and the way she’d say to people, ‘this is my grandchild.’ She too, smiled at the painting.

big trees, wider shades
when night and day seem furthest
their likeness deepens

The father, a model gentleman, was a chin-high kind of man. Indeed, he knew himself to be without flaw. And that’s why he’d fought so hard for that painting at auction. The art plunged chaos into order. It was wild, free, and yet the flowers remained flowers, and the trees were still trees.
Now that his pride-and-joy son had discarded their christian beliefs for the rainbow movement, and his sweetheart daughter was pregnant in High school, maybe he could find the beauty in his own chaos. His eyes were always drawn to that patch of sunlight. Perhaps it was the light eating away at the shadows.

face in the window
judging from winter’s recluse
I know you are me

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Hey Everyone, hope you are well.
I really enjoyed writing this.
The first is a crown cinquain for Reena’s xploration challenge and Sadje’s whatdoyousee.
The Tall Tales Corner is a haibun for Colleen’s tankatuesday.
Looking forward to your thoughts,

Shalom
Namaste
Namarie.

Sighs of solitude #Tankaprose

sighs of solitude
listen to conflict’s whispers
reconciling depths
some woes come from good intent
rebirths that will never die

In the deep stillness, I ponder scars long etched in my blemishfree beginnings, healed yet forever barren. I ignore the itch of scabs that inflame with the lightest touch or slightest approach; a decay upon my soul. I think of trials past that left behind monuments of fear, conquest, and survival. I cannot change what festers within me. But the most beautiful flowers often bloom from decay.

Soul divinations
beneath these troubled guises
seeds longing to bloom
when dreams and life commingle
they know, Growth must beget growth

Book Candy Corner

The Necromancer’s daughter. A retelling of the legend of Kwan-yin, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy. Set in a winter world of dragons, intrigue, and magic, The Necromancer’s Daughter is a story about duty, defiance, cruelty, and sacrifice— an epic tale of compassion and deep abiding love where good and evil aren’t what they seem. By D. Wallace Peach

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Some tanka prose for Colleen’s #tankatuesday (synonyms for spring and green).

Shalom
Namaste
Namarie.

Soul-gazing and love’s doctrine #poetry

#Whatdoyousee

The death of love’s doctrine
Was a pain to behold
We watched it fade in our children
And wondered what signs we missed
What lessons were mistaught
For how could a Truth so strong it seemed eternal
Wither to dream and fairytale
Was it the dawn of self-love
Misunderstood by many, though not all
Awakening selfish trends
Ambitions that overlooked compassion
The Self at the expense of the bond
For who said one cannot love oneself
and still have love to spare for another

They tried to burn those words we hoped would guide them
But the flames blew out
For the winds of change
Would not accept this change
Love’s doctrine would survive.

Tall Tales Corner

#writephoto

An antic chandelier
From an age of mystics
Its crystals glisten
with light so soft it feels like starlight
and yet so loud
that when the wind gales
and the crystals chime
their voices wail
So flip that switch with caution
Lest you're trapped stargazing
Or rather, soul-gazing
For in perfection
we find the darkest secrets

Hope you enjoy these. For Sadje’s whatdoyousee and Caley’s writephoto.

Looking forward to your thoughts…

Shalom
Namaste
Namarie

What comes Next #RXC #writephoto

Hey everyone,
This is a somewhat unique and personal post for Reena’s xploration challenge and Caley’s writephoto.

It’s no secret that writing is my dream and I mean to do it for the rest of my life. As I write my debut fantasy trilogy(book 2 coming this May), my subconscious has been thinking about what next.

#Writephoto

For Sue in the ether
In the heavens
In the spirit.
We remember you.

As I lined up Caley and Reena’s prompts, I thought about my own art- Writing. So I looked through my old journals dating back to 2013 and behold: I found my next projects.

Acknowledge the great creator’s role in your creativity. And use those gifts.

I was so excited to find that even then I’d made somewhat meticulous notes on how to write these books; the characters, themes, settings, plotlines, even handwritten 1st chapters for all three books.

The Universe is always conspiring to help us. We just need to ask. And the best way to ask is by beginning.

I didn’t have a blog ten years ago, didn’t even know that what I was writing in my journals was poetry and prose. I couldn’t have pulled off those projects then. But now and in the future as I learn and manifest, I think, I hope, I believe I can do them justice. The ideas are amazing(for me at least). I see them from much closer, like my nineteen year old self has passed me the baton, except I’m now much fitter and I know how to get to the finish line.

#RXC

There is no patent on creating
At its heart, it’s freedom.
Soothing
Empowering

If we have the nerve to look, we can see in any face, our own vulnerability.

I hope sharing these encourages anybody else who is waiting to start. Do it for your inner child. Also, I hope to get subscribers for my publications, lol.

Writing projects for the near future

1. May 2023 – Realms of the Mist Book 2
2. November/December 2023 – Poetry book linked to mentalhealth
3. Autumn 2024 – Final Book 3 Realms of the Mist.

Middle/Long term projects

Most details here are tightly under wraps for now. Tentative titles. My 19year-old-self had a real talent for blurbs and synopsis(es), a talent I seem to have lost.

1. Surrensville – A paranormal mystery (novel or series with a touch of the occult)
2. Imagine Endless Things – Literary fiction (‘The play of the century.’ I used to love theatre. Definitely a stand alone novel)
3. Bestowed – Detective horror (stand alone novel)

Poetry will always be in between the novels, where I’ll hope to share personal reflections and any wisdom and experiences I pick/have picked up.

May the universe accept these dreams, because I already have.

What moves people to genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.

EUGTNE DELACROIX

Today’s Tiny Treasure

Physically weak
Mentally strong
Women the epitome
Of inherent strength
Shoulders the burden
Carries the entire weight
Of the family she helps raise
There are so many faces of her
Each in its own way perfect...

When she bleeds, she bleeds in Technicolour by Sadje.

I’m sharing a lot of personal things of late. Maybe that’s the universe pushing me to finally ask that girl out, lol.

I hope to post some poetry and prose for Women’s day tomorrow.

Shalom
Namaste
Namarie

The Spice of Life. Poetry and updates

Hey everyone,
I’m bursting with good news. I finally dispatched the beta copies of Book2 in the Realms of the Mist trilogy. (Title and cover coming very soon).

My eyes welled up as I glossed those famous last words in an intricate font: “The End.”
Guys, I don’t know how to describe the happiness and accomplishment I felt. I whooped and jumped and gave my laptop a giant KISS.

Now I can wait for Beta feedback as I concentrate on the promo campaign. I can catch up with courework which I’m sure I’ll ace. Trust me, there’s no coursework that can compare to even writing one chapter of a book.

All that’s left after the Beta feedback is a final copy-edit for the little bits that escaped my own personal edit. I would have been practically alone in my author dream but for a number of remarkable people from the wordpress community, who have given me invaluable guidance and encouragement. THANK YOU. It only gets better from here.

Okay, enough about me. Here’s some poetry for you.

moonwashed musings

Rising or setting
The bliss is the same
Between then and next
It’s the now we cherish
So here in this moment
Nothing is truer
Than this love

#Whatdoyousee

The world may change us. Misplaced deeds or words may incubate hate. Thank God our love is bound in nostalgia. #TWT

Tall Tales Corner

Between forsaken lines
dwell cocktails of musings
He writes a heart that stings
The spice of life

Of cinammon romance
And currie betrayals
Black pepper portrayals
Balance in life

In the bachelor's kitchen
variety is scarce
but potency is terse
Just - what - matters

Hope you enjoy.

I feel I should apologise for always joining prompts but I post once or twice a week and I have so many favourites.

The first poem is for both Eugi’s moonwashed weekly prompt and Sadje’s #Whatdoyousee
In bold, is an accompanying twenty word story for Bookish bubble’s TWT
The Tall Tales Corner is for Colleen’s #tankatuesday where she asked us to use spices in our kitchens to write about recent events in our lives. Since I’ve been submerged in editing, it’s a cocktail of mental events, but I did use the spices in my kitchen to portray some of that in the three Abhanga poems.

Shalom
Namaste
Namarie.

Doors and blades of grass #poetry

#writephoto

Once, we painted the door to shared dreams of two
Unloved, it now reminds me of you
Fades of time corrode its sheen
Too long left unseen
Glum relic
Pinned
Pedantic
with hope grating thin
My soul barters for its queen
Must I swap new greens for an old blue
Or evolve, to sparkle in different hues

Great expectations
On the tip of a lone gaze
longing for the stars
I stretch for the heighest leaf
When grass below has all I need

#whatdoyousee

An Andaree poem for Colleen’s tankatuesday
Based on image prompt from Caley’s #writephoto
And theme from Reena’s xploration challenge.

The tanka continuation was inspired by Sadje’s whatdoyousee

Today’s Tiny Treasure

...
Shine little glow worm glimmer glimmer
Shine little glow worm glimmer glimmer
Lead us lest too far we wander
Love’s sweet voice is calling yonder

Shine little glow worm glimmer glimmer
Hey there don’t get dimmer dimmer
Light the path below above
Lead us on to love
...
Extract from this beautiful rhythmic poetry and song.
Glow worm by LadySighs

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An Andaree has an 11/9/7/5/3/1/3/5/7/9/11 syllable structure with an AabbcbcbbaA rhyme scheme.
Hope you enjoy.
Looking forward to your thoughts

Shalom
Namaste
Namarie

Flowers and gods

I live in a world of gods but they are silent
A lifetime of worship, devotion, and sacrifice
yet they deny me this one boon
They deny me you

Come back, my love…

A semblance of power pulses all around us
I reach for it, delve into the alchemy of the great mother
and preserve you in a stasis of aching beauty
but it is not enough
The gods hoard all the rest
And I need you, my sunrise

In a world without gods, our wills stir the cosmos
I reach into the infinite
and touch the divine dispersions once denied me
My chains are shattered
I see your soul in the chaos that must not be disturbed
But for you, my love
Anything!

For:
Reena’s Xploration challenge
Eugi’s moonwashed challenge

Tall Tales corner

The flowers which sank an empire
grew on a land rich in minerals of mass destruction
They came with gifts and lies, masked in dreams
But this time we refused them
They said the weapons they'd make would protect the world
But mining them would leave our land in ruin
Our air would be fouled
Our waters, poisoned
So we refused them
When diplomacy failed, they attacked our culture
Not long afterwards, their ships landed on our shores
And all we had were flowers
But this time, the world was watching
And one way or the other, these flowers would sink an empire

For Caley’s #writephoto prompt – battleship

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I feel I must disclaim that both the tales in this post are works of fiction and explored perspective and are not in any way intended to offend. Discussions are very welcome.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Shalom
Namaste
Namarie

Evolving. A haibun #poetry and #prose

#whatdoyousee

It is not an impotence to shine, that anchors me in the obscure. Neither is it loneliness or despair that keep me from the sun. Perhaps it is the clarity from rays beaming upon glamour and gore alike, or the beauty that can only be dreamt in the dark, which keep me here, away from where I must go. Am I incomplete, if I bloom where the world cannot see?

demeure of shadows
does light hide in the hidden
where the pollen floats

#TankaTuesday

It is not wonder but a yearning to wander, that chains my gaze to the lady in red on a backdrop of sullen winter. The only cold I have known is the one from a shoulder, as my pleas wisped into nothing. She draws the eye, gay in the grey. And I think, maybe the light I seek, must come from within.

thralls of mystery
a rapscallion wonder looms
virgin decisions

The days of going-with-the-flow are behind me. These be monstrous tides. I cannot survive if I cannot swim. The old strokes won’t do, a minute’s breath falls short. I must find those pockets of air. Here in the depths, I must evolve.

dirigible ways
call the wide-eyed butterfly
to bloom in the dark

©judeitakali

Reena’s xploration challenge
Sadje’s whatdoyousee
Colleen’s tanka tuesday

Book Candy Corner

In this second book in the Fairies, Myths, & Magic series, step into a world where dark fairies, and other magical beings converge in a collection of poetry and short stories inspired by winter and the celebration of the winter solstice.

From Autumn’s scary fairies to the forgotten female characters of Yule, prepare to embrace the magical winter solstice myths from around the world. Book on Amazon

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Hope you enjoy this. Looking forward to your thoughts. Just one more paper to go.

Shalom
Namaste
Namarie

Approaching the future. A #senryu series

Dire predictions
the dimple in a grim smile
Is my resistance

like changing seasons
heedless deeds spin fortune’s wheel
a chain reaction

I see with thine eye
Is this the lover’s edict
hybrid creations

#Whatdoyousee

In a lawless world
karma keeps a watchful gaze
the peasant toils on

Inhibited soul
you must bloom in their vision
to grow your wisdom

On a dreamer’s whim
pave new ways to withered ends
that you must rebuild

#writephoto

A Senryu series for Colleen’s TankaTuesday. See if you can pick a favourite.
Also for:
Sadje’s whatdoyousee
Caley’s writephoto
Reena’s xploration challenge.

Tall Tales Corner

We named her Aangaz 
the village clutz
Clumsy to a tear

Tinkles trailed her tippytap step
pots and pans broke in her wake
coins and trinkets fell from her pockets
the children chortled with laughter
but always returned her lost treasures
and how she loved them so

One day the earth shook
trees fell, roofs collapsed, wildebeests stampeded
Many passed, more were injured
but none of them children
For Aangaz the village clutz
Tippytapped through the mayhem
Clumsy with everything-
except what she truly loved...

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Looking forward to your thoughts. I’m still getting a hang on telling tall tales, I’m not writing them just right, but I’ll get better.

Shalom
Namaste
Namarie

Between Echoes #Whatdoyousee #etheree

In the midst of a hero and villain
She contemplates a colourless whim
In the gray she’s found no rewards
Only aches from toeing lines
She weighs ambivalence
On slabs of regret
Between echoes
All answers
Demand
Choice

#Whatdoyousee

The unscratchable itch!
Only another can relieve you
But who, depends on you
Your deeds lure them
Your intentions harness karma
Hope alone is futile
For this thing you want
requires faith
And faith is tested
Is strengthened
Is nurtured
So get up
Maybe you can’t do it on your own
But still, you must do

Book Candy Corner

Mama, me and Mother nature – By Eugenia Francie Hoffman. “This book relates to my childhood and takes place in the late forties through the sixties. It could be about anyone’s childhood during that time. I was a curious child, always wanting to know more, always wanting to create something and always busy with anything and everything, just like my mom and just like mother nature.”

For much more from the author, check out her blog: Moonwashed Musings

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Hey guys, hope you enjoy the poetry for Sadje’s whatdoyousee image prompt.

With the addition of corners to my blog posts in yet another busy study-work-write… year, I think I can maintain my blog presence better than I did in 2022. The corners allow me to create quicker posts but still offer more to the reader.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Shalom
Namaste
Namarie