Monday, June 30, 2014

My Book Shelf - ASCHENPUTTEL

~ click images to make biggerer ~

ASCHENPUTTEL (c) 1965 by Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin



This book is THE favorite from my childhood. 
Looking through the pages, I can see why I like to read and write fantasy. 


Look, all of the elements are there: bats, rats and black cats.
And since it's the Grimm version of Cinderella, it's not sanitized.


It's written in German. Here's the English translation.


I didn't get my image of a prince from here, though. 
This guy would never do it for me, except for the hair. I like the hair.

You can still buy this book for 9,95 euros or 13.58 US.

Monday, June 23, 2014

ears to hear


silence in the garden
quiet in the yard
a lull upon the lawn
stillness on the porch
peace 



Saturday, June 21, 2014

rivers of green


sunlight strikes the water
the sky turns green
and i a reminded to color
inside the lines

trees can not be purple
like the color of your
cheeks when i do the
unexpected

walking on eggshells
crushing my imagination
under you boot heels
of sync step

it's impossible to make
the impossible possible
or passable, probable
plausible

not all things in
nature are symmetrical
neat or orderly
dirt has its pleasures

lines are meant for
crossing into other
worlds of daring
do

there's no fitting
into the middle
ground 

Friday, June 20, 2014

the game of love


He loves me
He loves me not

Is a dangerous 
Game to play

You pluck each
Petal of a bloom

Hoping to get
Not the nots

Much better a
Happy ending

He loves me
He loves me lots






Thursday, June 19, 2014

white on white - 4 thursday 13


13 white things i love


vanilla
snow
the crests on ocean waves
angels
daisies
crisp Egyptian cotton sheets
seashells
pearls
smooth delicate porcelain tea cups 
clouds
stars
thick sweet whipped cream
~
the potential of a blank sheet of paper




Tuesday, June 17, 2014

anywhere


I could live inside a nutshell
like Thumbelina floating 
down the river to new 
adventures

I would peek over the edge
blinking at the sunlight
reflecting off of iridescent
dragonfly wings 

I should step off the edge
get my toes wet
take the plunge to new
adventures

~

wandering for dVerse Poets

subscribe to 
for my monthly newsletter 
containing information 
you won't get anywhere else
next issue comes out 
just before 
the summer solstice 
June 19, 2014

how old are you?


if we were to cut ourselves in half 
at the waist 
would we see the rings of lives
well lived or 
all the waste


Monday, June 16, 2014

why do you lie?


This is the story that made me want to be a writer:

My great-great-grandfather 
(whose name I still haven't gotten out of my mother) 
was a shoemaker in Adnet, Austria

One evening, 
he was on his way home from 
delivering and getting paid for 
a pair of lady's wedding shoes. 

At the tunnel in the mountain along the road, 
he was jumped, robbed and killed by a local man 
who was never punished. 

Saturday, June 14, 2014

dizzy


move too quickly from a position of rest
lightheaded
falling down 
when really you should float up
like a balloon
hot air
cold cheeks
sweaty brow
dry mouth

just keep moving in any direction
circling
a straight line
2 forward 1 back is progress
level headed
air headed
turning around
feet on the ground

on the move in time space
point
wave
rippling in black holes
swallowed up
pushed down
joining in
running out

prompt idea from dVerse


Friday, June 13, 2014

moon

~ click image to make biggerer ~

there's a slightly greater chance 
that the 13th will occur on a Friday 
rather than any of the other six days of the week

i couldn't see the full moon because the sky was cloudy

the full moon occurred at 12:11 a.m. EDT, exactly

this was the strawberry moon
so called because of the brief
strawberry picking time

13 is a baker's dozen because
baker's used to cheat their customers
with light loaves of bread
a 13th loaf kept them out of jail

12 is a divine number
13 transgresses this completeness

if 13 people sit down at a table, one will die

in a Tarot deck, XIII is the Death card

13 is my lucky number




Thursday, June 12, 2014

Throwback Thursday - 1971 #TbT

~ click image to make biggerer ~

Summer 1971

My brother, James 
(Jim to the the rest of you, 
Jamie to those who've known us since 1971) 
is on the left. He's 9 here. 
I am on the right and 12 at the time of the photo 
but I'll be 13 in a few months. I have braces.

This was taken in Salzburg, Austria, 
during our family trip back home. 
I believe we are in the apartment of 
our Tante Hermi and Onkel Seppi.

You're digging those really rad striped pants, aren't you?

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

the day after


I unplugged yesterday. Kept things turned off. It was horrible.

I thought I'd have the hardest time with the TV. I'm a TV baby. It's always on, pretty much 365/24/7 and has always been for as long as I can remember. It was our babysitter, entertainer and background music for our lives. Interesting to me was that I missed the TV less than anything else. The only time it was hard was first thing in the morning because I watch my DVR'd late night shows with my coffee.

I'm not much of a phone chatter so that didn't bother me and it wasn't a surprise that I didn't miss my phone. I made notes on stickies instead on my phone's notepad.

Not opening my laptop all day was very hard. I looked at it lovingly, wishing I could check my email or read facebook or blogs. I wanted to google the answers to all kinds of questions. I wanted to use it to procrastinate all day. Not opening the lid freed up all kinds of time.

Thank goodness I still have some actual books. I read The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler (which I recommend to all creative types) and got halfway through. I buy reference books in paper form. Otherwise, I would have been reading cereal boxes. I made lots of paper notes to help the revision of Divine Death. I didn't miss anything while I was reading but that's not really news.

It's not good that I am so dependent on internet access. I don't like how out of sorts I felt by being away for only 24 hours. Something to work on.

I'm happy to know that I can go without my TV.

Monday, June 09, 2014

masonry


grains of sand pumice my soles
as the sound of waves rock
roll against the boulders damming
my heart 

the pressure of my lungs
crystallize them into faceted gems
tearing, blocking, constricting
my throat

* Children in the throes of strong emotions are told to "use their words" instead of striking out physically. I usually shut down.



Friday, June 06, 2014

Celebrity "Hall Pass" List

Which celebrities would make it onto your "Hall Pass" list?
These are my top ten for today (they are subject to change depending on my mood):
You'll notice I have a "type."

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Picture
Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Chris Hemsworth Picture
Chris Hemsworth

Hugh Laurie Picture
Hugh Laurie

Gerard Butler Picture
Gerard Butler

Matt Bomer Picture
Matt Bomer

Jason Momoa Picture
Jason Momoa

Jason Statham Picture
Jason Statham

Nathan Fillion Picture
Nathan Fillion

Christian Bale Picture
Christian Bale

Sean Bean Picture
Sean Bean

Bonus: any man in a kilt


Hugh Jackman




Thursday, June 05, 2014

oppression


daffodils confined
in a vase
can't dance

nightingales clipped
in gilded cages
go silent

tigers caught
behind steel bars
pace ruts

orcas captured
in stale aquariums
suffer boredom

children chained
to wooden desks
die inside

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

seeds




the most beautiful seeds come from
weeds that blow upon the wind
dancing like ballerinas
dressed in white tutus
and delicate slippers 
until changing in the next movement
over the bright grass with bursts of yellow
butter so creamy that it dribbles down
my childhood chin dazzling the sun twinkling
in my blue eyes
eyes as blue as the skies
of summers that live in perfect memory

prompt idea from dVerse