#fictionadventurer poetry

[fictionadventurer]

A Secular Christmas Carol

How we love the Christmas season With its quaint old-fashioned ways Though religion is outdated We will keep the holy days Who could care for stale theology With all these gifts and toys? You can keep the Christian duty We'll just take the Christian joys

How we love the Christmas carols With their angels, snow and bells Why, it doesn't even matter That we doubt the tale they tell There's no need to make suggestions That our worldview might be wrong We don't like the Christian message But we'll take the Christian songs

How we love the Christmas dinner With its turkey, ham and pies We will gladly stuff our faces With the food and drinks we prize We'll ignore the rules and rituals Avoid the prayers and priests We've no time for Christian fasting But we'll join the Christian feast

How we love the Christmas trimmings All the tinsel, trees and lights Countless costly decorations That adorn the winter nights Don't destroy this time of beauty With the word of God who came We'll take all the Christian comfort And deny the Christian name

Do you dare find this offensive? Why it almost sounds like greed To keep all these Christian customs For those of the Christian creed We don't ask for controversy There's no reason to get riled We enjoy the Christmas season! Just leave out the Christmas child

[thatscarletflycatcher]

@fictionadventurer's post today about the imagery of the suitors in Lily Between Worlds -specifically the warrior- made me think of this poem (originally in Spanish) by Santos Inzaurralde, about a tree, the Scutia Buxifolia, a common native species:

Tough Wood, Coronilla

(Prologue to Coronilla)

It takes work for you to burn, but, once you catch fire, you don't die out; I just stir the cinders, and lit up like a firefly, you move your wings. In turn, the kindling burns immediately; just a breath and it turns flame, the crackling flame of a minute, that barely gives heat, even less so embers. Sitting by the fire I'm thinking, how much like twins are, wood and soul; there's souls that give of themselves without wearing out, and there's those that without giving, get worn out fast. How often is one deceived by the appearance of so much bright kindling, that in a few minutes dazzles you, but shortly afterwards, there's nothing left.

Coronilla

How alike we are, Coronilla, both born on the back of a hill range, rooting down, like a reaching hand, to anchor the soul between the stones! We don't give ourselves out in flowers, instead, we give shelter in the storm; we don't give fruit either, and yet, a passionflower that can, will wrap around us. The thorns we show, only have the harsh appearance of wild surliness; the only one that gets hurt by them is the one that attempts to enter our heart, but by force; or to tear from us a nest, because a nest never dies alone, and always takes with it the song it was incubating, to give it a beak in Spring. We are in the woods the strongest, almost blood the wood inside; which if it burns ember by night, it will still be bright as a star by midday. We don't wear out in smoke, and yet, if the wood has to burn, it will burn! They may burn the body but never the soul, because the soul, that is root, lives in the stone. Here, in the city, I am a stranger; I miss in anguish my home, and try, on the asphalt, to give shade, the fraternal shade that man carries with him. And even as it pains the soul to feel the distance, and even as it feels the bleeding absence of the blue cardinal and the chalk-browed mockingbird, the claveles del aire and the carquejas; the flying ember of the scarlet flycatcher, the chilca, the romerillo, and the marcela, I don't let go of my ember because even alone, a single coronilla, makes a hill range. How alike we are, Coronilla; born on the back of a hill range, and rooting down, like a reaching hand, to anchor the soul between the stones!

Here you can hear it sung by folk singer Santiago Chalar:

[inklings-challenge]

2023 Inklings Challenge Participants List

This is an ongoing list of writers who have expressed interest in participating in the 2023 Inklings Challenge. I will be updating this list until October 1st, 2023, at which date everyone on the list will be assigned to one of the three Challenge Teams.

I have erred on the side of including people, so if you’re on the list and you do not want to participate, let me know and I’ll remove you. And it’s very possible I’ve missed names in the shuffle, so if you’re not on the list and you do want to participate, let me know so I can add you.

@ablatheringblatherskite

@allisonreader

@angedemystere

@aparticularbandit

@as-dreamers-do

@ashknife

@atlantic-riona

@brievel

@butterflies-and-bumble-bees

@bytes-and-blessings

@caffeinecath

@caitriona-3

@casa-anachar

@catkin-morgs

@challenger2013

@christian-latte-anon

@clarythericebot

@confetti-cat

@cuppatealove

@cygnascrimbles

@delightfulstrawberrygalaxy

@dimsilver

@dragonladyzarz

@ellakas

@enjoliquej

@esters-notepad

@ettawritesnstudies

@faeriefully

@fairytale-lights

@fictionadventurer

@five-more-minutes

@frangipani-wanderlust

@freenarnian

@friendrat

@frominsidetheblanketfort

@gailyinthedark

@galahadiant

@heniareth

@iamwritehere

@incomingalbatross

@justhereforthesherlock

@kanerallels

@k-she-rambles

@ladygobpire

@lady-merian

@ladyphlogiston

@larissa-the-scribe

@lemonduckisnowawake

@leng-m

@lilflightlessbird731

@lover-of-the-starkindler

@madamescarlette

@magpie-trove

@maltheniel

@misscrazyfangirl321

@mrgartist

@muse-write

@musicofthedaylight

@olyia-stories

@onewingedsparrow

@on-noon

@phoebeamorryce

@physicsgoblin

@plainshobbit

@poetry-vs-depression

@politicalmamaduck

@popcornfairy28

@praise-the-lord-im-dead

@pinkbanditmusings

@queenlucythevaliant

@rachellesedai

@ranger-melany

@reneethegreatandpowerful

@ripple-reader

@rockinlibrarian

@ru-tabega

@scarvenartist

@screwtornadowarningsimsouthern

@scribbly-bear

@secret--psalms--saturn

@septembersung

@siena-sevenwits

@soulwindproductionsblog

@swinging-stars-from-satellites

@taleweaver-ramblings

@teabooksandsweets

@thatsastepladder

@thatoneweaver

@thebirdandhersong

@thejonderettegirl

@theworldiswhispering

@toothanddraw

@tzarina-alexandra

@ughnofreeusernames

@west-toasty

@what-the-dickens

@wildlyironicbee

[septembersung]

then off, off forth on swing,/As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding/ Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding/Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing

!!!! “AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion / Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!”

Hopkins is simply unparalleled. 

[jellicoelodge]

Jellicoe Lodge Weekly Reading

Welcome to another weekly session of the Jellicoe Lodge! This week we step back into a very short but very profound poetry selection—Gerard Manley Hopkins’ ”The Windhover,” suggested by @fictionadventurer and available online here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44402/the-windhover . This is part of a poetry double feature of Hopkins’ work, which we will continue next week with a longer poetic work by this compelling poet.

As always, the tag remains “#jellicoe-lodge“ and the inbox remains open for further reading suggestions! We look forward to the various thoughts, exclamations, comparisons, and quotes for our beloved Lodge members as we dive into this week’s reading!

[why-bless-your-heart]

fictionadventurer replied to your post: I’m trying to teach myself to play spoons and...

This is poetry.

Oh you thought I was unarmed? You thought I was excluded from your jam session because I can't play guitar? Because you don't have a piano? Well you were WRONG wherever there is a kitchen I can play and wherever there is a beat I can improvise I AM INEVITABLE *clickity-clack noises intensify*

[writerly-ramblings]

Tagged by @lillymartian thank you!

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five things you can find on my blog:

Flowers

Quotes and snippets of poetry

Art (often bookish or floral)

Books I’m reading

Occasional rants about how important it is to always carry a notebook with you

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five things I’ve always wanted to do:

Buy edible flowers in a Parisian market

Live by the sea

Learn more languages

Read War and Peace

See Lorde live (using “always” loosely)

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five things that make me happy:

Cooking

Long walks

Good Mexican food

Buying flowers

Drinking something warm and watching the rain

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five things you can find in my room:

Books (so many)

Empty space I’ve cleared for a chair

Four blankets

Laundry waiting to be folded

Seashells and sea-glass

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five things on my to-do list:

Application stuff

Finish Feel Free

Revise and submit a story I’m working on

Make dinner reservations for Saturday

Summer plans? (tied to application stuff)

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five things you may not know about me:

I love good pasta and can make it by hand

Mulan is my favorite movie

I really like being read aloud to

Blackberries are my favorite type of berry

Mojitos and Pimm’s Cups are my favorite alcoholic drinks, homemade lemonade and hot chocolate are my favorite non-alcoholic ones

Tagging: @overdressedcarp @strikingneil @scarvenartist @soldier-poet-king @fictionadventurer and anyone else who wants to (no pressure)

[fictionadventurer]

The Unprintable News

All the planes that safely flew All the crimes folks didn't do The men who lived their day unharmed Free from danger and alarm

All the bridges that don't break The parts of Earth that never quake The homes that stand untouched by flame Those who of crime are never blamed

The friendly dogs who never bite The folks who sleep safe through the night All the simple kindly deeds That offer help to those in need

With headlines shouting all that's black My news provides the truth they lack: Although this world has fear and fright Much more often, things go right

[fictionadventurer]

I've always wanted to try book spine poetry.

Exile West from home Wind, sand, and stars Of other worlds

On the way home At the back of the north wind Quiet Night

The singing tree On the banks of Plum Creek Almost Home Life is worth living

[fictionadventurer]

Newborn

Living is enough adventure for now. I'm used to constant comfort and my mom's eternal heartbeat.

Life's too bright out here. I can feel hunger, sometimes cold and pain. Even gravity's a new sensation for one whose world was water only a few days ago.

Give me time to sleep and grow. I'm sure the world is wonderful, but it's rather big and I'm very small.

The world will still be there for me when I find the courage to open up my eyes.

[fictionadventurer]

After learning that it was Fibonacci Day and reading about the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Ratio in nature, I just had to write a Fibonacci poem to celebrate. The syllables in each line follow the Fibonacci sequence.

Since I wanted it centered, you get the poem in an image, but I'll put the text under a cut.

Upon Learning About the Golden Ratio in Nature

God's

Math

Paints worlds

In patterns.

Spiral galaxies

Down to trees and flower petals

Showing off His love of beautiful arithmetic

[fictionadventurer]

Luke and Mary

It's a long and dusty road to Ephesus, and a humble house waiting. The woman offers you a seat by the table— "Rest. Have some water. May I wash your feet?"—everyone's mother. You know her son from stories, and ask to hear the tales known by her alone.

When she speaks, you want facts, dates, figures, but forget about notes in your awe. This woman spoke with angels, then turned and scrubbed the floor. She prophesied in song, brought forth the Lord (in Bethlehem!), spoke to shepherds and kings with equal favor. And she kept all these things in her heart.

She has no throne, but David's queen will have no honor she does not share. She brings heaven near to earth so you can almost see it. Through her the Son lives, and his mother will be no less immortal.

[fictionadventurer]

A Child in the Snow

I wish I were a polar bear With fur all snowy white My coat would fit me perfectly And not have sleeves too tight

I wish I were a penguin chick So fuzzy, soft, and cute Whose parents let him play outside Without these clunky boots

I wish I were a caribou With antlers on my head I wouldn't need to wear this hat That fills my soul with dread

I wish I were a spotted lynx With giant furry paws I'd have no need of mittens: They'd be shredded by my claws

Yes, if I were an animal I'd brave the snow with pride But since I'm just a little boy I'd rather go inside

[fictionadventurer]

There's a peace in the cold and darkness A blessed silence in the soul Fearful in summer's comfort But recognized with joy In the gentle and Glittering light Of the first Falling Snow

[fictionadventurer]

Prayer After Family Thanksgiving

Thank you for dishes to wash kettles to scrub children to chase noses to wipe diapers to change tantrums to calm toys to bring out and put away and bring out and put away fights to break up tears to dry babies to hold snuggles to share the million ways to show our love

[fictionadventurer]

starfall

snow like starlight soft swirling flakes sparkle in space

stars like snowflakes sweet shining lights shimmer in sight