Last day of the year and last day of this challenge. Thank you, Paul, it was fun! Badger says, happy new year!
Two badgers
Burley
with shambling gait
badger tracks the hedgerow
leaves his distinctive prints
broad feet sharp-toed
tramples
his path
carving the bank
mud-slide clawed sticky clay
raw, rumble-voiced he growls
The year’s turning
to spring.
Join me every day this December. #RewildTheMundane and/or #ReMundaneTheWild. Fourth Day. NOTE: NO WILD THINGS MUST DIE IN THESE SCENARIOS. I look forward to your draft poetry/short fiction/visual images. Go leftfield and imagine a a cup of tea as a wild animal or plant, imagine a wild animal or plant as a cup of tea, or other domestic object, or task. Email me or add your contribution to this link.
Leftfield Questions
How is a badger like a kettle?
What mundane task would a living badger do in a home?
How would a kettle be rewilded?
Join me every day this December. #RewildTheMundane and/or #ReMundaneTheWild. Fourth Day. NOTE: NO WILD THINGS MUST DIE IN THESE SCENARIOS. I look forward to your draft poetry/short fiction/visual images. Go leftfield and imagine a a cup of tea as a wild animal or plant, imagine a wild animal or plant as a cup of tea, or other domestic object, or task. Email me or add your contribution to this link.
Leftfield Questions
How is a badger like a kettle?
What mundane task would a living badger do in a home?
How would a kettle be rewilded?
Join me every day this December. #RewildTheMundane and/or #ReMundaneTheWild. Fourth Day. NOTE: NO WILD THINGS MUST DIE IN THESE SCENARIOS. I look forward to your draft poetry/short fiction/visual images. Go leftfield and imagine a a cup of tea as a wild animal or plant, imagine a wild animal or plant as a cup of tea, or other domestic object, or task. Email me or add your contribution to this link.
Leftfield Questions
How is a badger like a kettle?
What mundane task would a living badger do in a home?
How would a kettle be rewilded?
How is a bittern like filing?
What mundane task would a living bittern do in a home?
How would filing be rewilded?
For Paul Brookes’ December challenge.
Dusty
an old person’s home.
She has so little time left
why waste it on housework?
Dust settles in the parlour
where no one goes these days
too cold in winter too sad in summer
full of north-flung shadows
and the silent piano.
The cabinet keeps the dust
off the precious things
a safe with windows.
Children look
but know not to turn the key.
Dead moths in the linen press
that smells of camphor.
Hard to tell between scraps of relics
in rust-stained scapulars
and moth wings
but the glassware glitters
eternally.
Marie von Ebner Eschenbach at her desk. Photography. 1912.
*****
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) was an Austrian storyteller, novelist and aphorist.
The eight poems featured here have been translated by Timothy Adès
*****
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach: Six Poems translated byTimothy Adès
*****
SO I’M RESERVED
So I’m reserved, untrusting, cannot share?
God help me, I’m entirely unaware.
I’m not born clever, able to foresee:
I’m credulous as any fool can be,
Bold and impulsive. Cannot lie! that’s me.
My thoughts, my hates and loves are plain and clear:
Look at my face, and read them, written here:
If you don’t learn, that’s your deficiency.
Ich wär verschlossen
Ich wär verschlossen, an Vertrauen arm? –
Dann bin ich’s unbewußt, daß Gott erbarm.
Nicht kluge Vorsicht ist mir angeboren,
Im Glauben nehm ich’s auf mit jedem Toren,
Zur Lüge fehlt mir Feigheit und Geduld.
Mein Denken, all mein Hassen und mein…
View original post 794 more words
lives n Cirencester, married with two children and six grandchildren.
His professional career was in Social Work/ Welfare.
He he has two books of poems, At The Storm’s Edge and A Different Land, published by Palewell Press, the second in July this year. He recently won the Gloucestershire Writers Network first prize for poetry. he has also just been published in Acumen and have had more work accepted by Indigo Dreams.
Previous work has appeared in The Cannon’s Mouth, Riggwelter, Morphrog, Brittlestar,The Curlew, Makarelle, Writeresque, Erbacce, I am not a Silent Poet, Fly on the Wall, Voices for the Silent.
In 2021, he read at Cheltenham Poetry Festival and 2022 Cheltenham Literary Festival.
Twitter handle;@FrankMc80155611
My hopes and plans for 2023 are to develop the range and depth of my work, experiment with recognised forms; read at Cheltenham poetry Festival and share my work with other groups and readings; work towards a third volume; read and study more poetry. Carry on contributing to my two writing groups.
My second book of poems, A Different Land was published by Palewell Press in July.
Two days later, I learned that I had won the Gloucestershire Writers Network First Prize for Poetry with The War Against Speech, which I read later at the Cheltenham Literary Festival.
I have also had work published in Sarasvati, Acumen and Dialect Writers 2022 Anthology and am working on a new collection..
Leftfield Questions
How is a moth like a glasses cupboard?
What mundane task would a living moth do in a home?
How would a glasses cupboard be rewilded?
For Paul Brookes’ December challenge. Not really on-prompt, in fact not at all, but it’s about a kingfisher at least.
Kingfisher
In the pool among the trees,
beneath the sky of winter blue,
the ripples spread, and shadows
lengthen in the half-lit glen.
I tread the dead and noisy leaves,
brush through the sedge and crack dead boughs
that lie in mossy green, as bright
as spring and blue as feather-gems.
A turquoise flash caught in the gloom.
and ripples spread across the pool
among the trees; a piece of sky
has dipped to find a fish then fly.
Leftfield Questions
How is a kingfisher like a mop and bucket
What mundane task would a living kingfisher do in a home?
How would a mop and bucket be rewilded?
Rhona Greene is a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer from Dublin and an avid poetry fan. She is published in several Black Bough Poetry editions, was shortlisted in the Dai Fry Mystical Award contest and her poem in Afterfeather gave the edition its name, making her one of the anthology’s featured writers. She is also featured in Sarah Connor’s Advent poems and has read for Annick Yerem’s Advent project and Eat The Storms Poetry Podcast. Twitter & Instagram: Rhona_Greene
This year has been full of such wonderful poetry experiences and surprises, things a year or two ago I could never have imagined happening and every day poetry continues to be a constant source of joy and comfort to me. I am so grateful for the very special community of poets I have come to know and love and for the amazing encouragement, support and opportunities that have come my way in the short time I have been writing.
This year in July I submitted a poem for the first time to @TopTweetTuesday at Black Bough Poetry for an event hosted by Briony Collins and I was thrilled my poem was selected to be included in the anthology Briony was curating from selected submissions. Then to my great surprise, honour and delight my poem ‘The Sky Road Home’ was placed as the opening poem in the anthology – which was named ‘Afterfeather’ inspired by a word in my poem! I did my very first poetry reading as one of the featured poets at the anthology’s zoom launch and it was both the most nerve wrecking and thrilling experience all at once. And then to top it all off this poem has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize! I am totally astonished and so excited. What a wonderful adventure this little poem has taken me on and I am so grateful for all the support it has received and I am still pinching myself that any of this has really happened.
Link to Afterfeather edition:
https://www.blackboughpoetry.com/afterfeather-edition
Link to Pushcart Nomination tweet for The Sky Road Home: https://twitter.com/TopTweetTuesday/status/1597482657986011137?s=20&t=rq4Lm-HPwwUzObiHV4Ol-A
Link to all Pushcart Nominations from @TopTweetTuesday
It was a real joy and privilege to be asked to be involved in Black Bough Poetry Best of the Net selection process helping to choose poets for nomination from their Silver Branch Project.
Link to the Black Bough Poetry SilverBranch Best of the Net Nominations:
Link to the selection team:
I wrote my second poetry review for Black Bough’s September Book of the Month feature celebrating Louise Mather’s wonderful poetry in ‘The Dredging of Rituals’
Link to my review of The Dredging of Rituals by Louise Mather: https://www.blackboughpoetry.com/book-reviews-june-dec-22
I submitted a poem to the Dai Fry Award for Mystical Poetry contest with Black Bough Poetry and was stunned and overjoyed to find myself on the longlist and then the shortlist and my poem ‘Shiny Distant Thing’ is published in their wonderful anthology ‘Sun-Tipped Pillars of our Hearts’ which takes its lovely name from Lauren Thomas’s exquisite winning poem ‘Stone Circle’. This was such a special project and a real honour to be included in this way and I was delighted to read my poem at the very special launch event in October.
Link to ‘Sun-Tipped Pillar Of Our Hearts’ edition:
https://www.blackboughpoetry.com/about-6
Link to shortlist for the Dai Fry Award:
Link to my poem ‘Shiny Distant Thing’
In December I recorded two poems for Annick Yerem’s gorgeous #AdventWithAnnick project: the first was @seagoatscreams/Ankh Spice’s hauntingly beautiful poem ‘березы (Birch trees)’
Link to my reading of ‘березы (Birch trees)’ by Ankh Spice
and the second way my own poem ‘Secret Code’ which I originally wrote for Sarah Connors 2021 Advent feature.
Link to me reading my poem ‘Secret Code’: https://twitter.com/missyerem/status/1602919451124539393?s=20&t=ZLVe9E7mH3pPTxbpRv0KzA
Link to Sarah Connors 2021 Advent series where Secret Code was first featured:
https://fmmewritespoems.wordpress.com/2021/12/22/day-22-the-spice-drawer/
I hosted @TopTweetTuesday for my second time in the middle of December and it is just the most exhilarating joyful experience to spend time immersed in glorious poems by poets all over the world.
My poetry year has ended on a complete high with Part II of my piece ‘Little Crosses’ published in Black Bough Poetry’s super Christmas/Winter edition Vol.3 (Part I is in Vol.2) and I was bowled over with the invitation to be the feature reader at the book’s zoom launch, reading Little Crosses Parts 1 and II and I am still buzzing from the joy of that magical night.
Link to Black Bough Poetry’s Christmas-Winter edition Vol.3:
https://www.blackboughpoetry.com/christmas-winter-edition-3
Link to text of Little Crosses Part II: https://twitter.com/blackboughpoems/status/1607784013426757633?s=20&t=DUmVqAed8sZ9uBz2WpUp-w
I hope to continue to enjoy reading poetry and supporting and celebrating the wonderful poets and small independent presses who create such exciting work and to hopefully write a little bit more too.
Happy New Year to all, may 2023 be kind to you.
Rhona Greene
For Paul Brookes’ December challenge.
Serpentine
Summer there are snakes here,
beneath plums and blackthorns,
the elms and trailing vines.
They nest in vole burrows,
waiting for the meadow
to rise up from winter,
to slink, heavy-bodied,
grey-green silvered, among
orchids, a reapers hook,
to clean up spare fieldmice
set purple heads nodding
green grass stalks quivering.
A noble enough task.
Frank MCmahon
The Wombwell Rainbow 