October 26, 2015

My First Time Flying


Another witch poem, this time from the younger sister's perspective.  Though it is a companion piece, you'll notice that this one employs assonance, while the older sister's doesn't. 


My First Time Flying

The wind is blowing way too much.
This death-trap that you call a broom
is bucking like a wild horse.
If I fall off, I’m blaming you.

I hold you tight around the waist
and look below to see my doom.
Cat-black pavement fills my sight,
like an unlucky, asphalt tomb.

Now nauseated, I look up,
and I’m blinded as I do.
The setting sun dies bright and bold,
a blazing beacon in the gloom.

I gasp, astounded by this sight,
and wonder how I never knew
how breathtaking it is to fly
above the clouds, below the moon.


October 18, 2015

Poem for Sarah in October

We walked wearing black through the yellow neighborhood,
         there and back,
                  under the blue, blue sky
And talked about the changing colors and how life begins
         and how seeds stay dormant
                  and we wondered why.

October 13, 2015

Goblins and Ghosts

Delilah paced the upstairs greenhouse, tugged her elbow length gloves all the way back up, donned her plain black mask, and gave her spiky pink hair an experimental shake, then stuck her head out the window to look down at Millicent, who was pulling laundry down from a long clothesline.
“Oh, Millie, are you almost done with that?”
“Almost. I just want to bring this in before it gets dark.”
“Hmm, yes.” Delilah grinned at the lengthening shadows in the garden, happy that her plan to keep Millicent busy and out of the castle all day had worked. “Anyway, I don't want you to be late, so...”
“Late? Late for what?”
“The party. My party. It's being held in the throne room.”

October 6, 2015

Book Delays and Better Days


This week's blog post is not a ghost story, as was promised. Also, it's a day late in coming. The story is almost done, but a lot has happened to make writing a bit difficult, particularly in the last few days. Nothing major, just little annoyances that pile up. Long story short, the past week had a personal vendetta against me. First, there were stressful situations at work, topped off by my deftly carrying a coffee cup up two flights of stairs only to set it down, drop it, and watch it shatter on the floor. Then there was the day when I was going to pick up my brother, but my phone was dying so I turned it off for the day, and drove to the spot where we had arranged to meet, only to turn on my phone to find that he had texted me earlier saying he no longer needed a ride. On the way back, I hit every red light. To make matters worse, I took a trip for the weekend with my mother, leaving my car at home with the windows slightly down—it rained all weekend.

But what has been weighing on me the most is that there's been a kerfuffle with the cover of Miscast Spells, and some debate about the release date. The interior of the book is written, edited, and formatted (the headers alone cut my life shorter by several years, but it was worth it), but the cover is proving to be an unstickable situation. Thus, there's no possible way for the book to come out this fall. I worried about that for a while, which is why this week's short story isn't done, but then I came to the conclusion that this delay is all for the best. Months ago, I had misgivings about a fall release, since Miscast Spells is really more of a spring/summer book. These current delays further cement the idea in my head that a later date is better, so I am setting the official release as February 2016 (not technically spring, but it's still close enough without being unduly late.)

PS: As for that goblinical ghost story, I'll post it next Monday. :)