Category Archives: My Poetry

by

ROWing Toward My Dreams… Row Update #11

It’s been a jumbly, tumbly kind of few days, here.  The weather has been unsettled, and I am, too…..

For good reason….

On Saturday, my first poem was published in the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.

On Tuesday, my post appeared  on Tiny Buddha.

I have plans in the work for guest bloggers, and guest posts.

Things are moving, on many fronts, and I am…..

Hmmmn…..

Yes, I am.

Round 2 Goals:

Reading:

  • Read at least 3 articles a week from my To Be Read files on computer, and categorize those I choose to keep or share.
  • I have read Wind and Rain, an article about the out-of-doors, rainy-day fun families can have together.
  • I read a second article there, but it was not very useful, and particularly poorly edited, so I will not recommend it  (or out it) here.
  • I also read  A New Approach, an article by a mother trying out some “free-range” ideas in her family.  This article made me sad, because it seems she’s missed the point of allowing children the freedom of many choices – she seems to be only allowing the freedom as a way of getting more cooperation from her children, and she finishes by limiting electronics (which will likely have led, by now, to electronics being used for all allotted time, and perhaps begged for, or contended over, otherwise…).  There are no further posts on the blog, so I suspect she may have aborted her “experiment” before it had time to prove its merit….
  • I have attained this goal for this week.
  • Read at least 5 blogposts a week (not including my own), and like, comment, and/or share as I am moved to.
  • I have read When Does Fan Fiction Cross an Ethical Line?  This is a pretty serious consideration for me in my Star Trek-related fanfic, which is an integral part of the universe I have created, and I really don’t have any answers.  All I know is, I can’t seem to let go of my Spock-passions, and I don’t want to, either! =D  I commented with words to that effect, more or less.
  • I have read 1 of 5 blogposts for this week.

Writing:

  • Create flash fiction, short stories, dialogues, character sketches, alternate scenes, and poetry for  Chameleon’s Dish.  Wander cow trails, and learn these people and their lives more fully.
  • I have written three more stories about Tisira , the main character from Chameleon’s Dish.  
  • I  have posted  ”The Huntress in Moonlight” to my Story a Day  blog, shanjeniah.org. 
  • I will be adding the next two segments to the blog within the next few days.
  • Finish father-in-law letter and send.
  • I have given this more thought, and have been constructing portions of it in my head.  I almost have a version cohesive enough to attempt another freewriting, but  not quite.
Blogging:

  • Complete Cooperative Catalyst post and relative links (interviews with both children, and their “day in the life” posts from last year) ; submit to editor.
  • I have heard back from the editor; I will be looking at the article again, to see if there are naturally separating themes or portions.
  • He has also read one of my blogposts, I’m THAT Mom…Naturally!, and thought that, with adaptations, it might make a good post, as well.
  • He has also suggested another writer whose posts I might like to read, and a category or two to explore and comment on, to “introduce” myself to what is an organic community.
  • It is quite possible that I will find a home of sorts there. =)

Networking:

  • Continue joining hops, fests, challenges, and other community blogging efforts.
  • As noted above, I have joined two challenges.
  • At the moment, I feel these are all I can handle, for now.
  • Comment on and share blogs regularly; share my blogs as widely as seems feasible, and in diverse ways.
  • I am doing fairly well on sharing my blogs. through several means –  challenges, posting comments,  submissions, and sharing via several forms of social media.
  • For the moment, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the increased attention, and will be just focusing on adjusting, before I diversify further.
  • My essay, Sometimes There Is No Right Way , posted to Tiny Buddha on Tuesday.  It has received nearly two dozen comments and an email, at this point, and I am feeling some pretty major overwhelm.  It’s a big step from where I was, visibility-wise, two weeks ago to where I am now, and I am feeling a considerable degree of disequilibrium at the sudden change after a lifetime of dreaming…
  • As a dear friend and I have been discussing, learning curves are messy.  I will adjust, with time and a lot of deep breathing….and eventually I will get to over 30 comments waiting for me in various places….really!

Submitting

  • Submit at least 5 essays or lists this round.
  • As mentioned above, editing and research are being considered prior to formally submitting a piece, but the lines of communication has been opened.
  • Continue submitting to hops, challenges, fests, etc.; at least 3 each month.
  • As noted above, I have participated/am participating in two challenges thus far, for May.
  • This leaves one challenge left to enter, prior to  this month’s end.

Photography:

  • Watermark all photos that appear on my blogs, and all those I post going forward; begin watermarking favorites not on blogs.
  • I decided I am satisfied with the batch watermarking, and this will make it possible to quickly mark all of my pictures within the next weeks, as opportunity presents itself.

Learning:

  • For WordPress, create a running list of questions; work on finding answers!
  • During dinner with Eden Mabee, she answered one of my questions –  about how to replace the standard header text.
  • I have successfully changed my header text.  It may or may not be permanent, but now I know I can do it, so it will be a simpler matter to change it if I decide  to, at some later point.

Self-care:

  • Add JOY to every day!
  • Monday: I allowed myself a mellow day of puttering, both in my writing projects and in my hometending. A simple day spent with my beloveds.
  • Tuesday: Joy Abounding! I slept in, and, although I woke with a headache at the time t’ai chi was starting, and although it was a damp and somewhat dreary day outside, I was basking in the company of my Syster, Eden Mabee.  When you’ve been friends since you were four and share writing dreams and motherhood and a lifetime of shared memories and interwoven stories, hours can slip by….and then, I was greeted in the driveway, a little after 2am, by my family.  Chatted with the children until 5:30am. Sweet day!
  • Wednesday:  Another mellow, wet, restful day of puttering….I feel my energy slowly returning.  I’ve had some bug writing developments over the last several days, and I am feeling a need to lay a bit low and absorb them.  Why is success scarier for me than failure?
  • Add movement to every day, too!
  • Monday: Puttering around the house and yard.  Moving furniture and bicycles.
  • Tuesday: Moving from building to car, and car to building, and grocery shopping…..not a big moving day…..sometimes, that’s exactly what I need.
  • Wednesday: Puttering with hometending; moving more bicycles –  yes, there DO seem to be an inordinate number of them here –  and I still haven’t moved my own!
  • Add more of my passions to each day, in as many ways as I can manage.
  • Monday: Reading and writing, puttering with storyworlds and blogging.
  • Tuesday: A rare, lovely day with a dear friend.  Utterly rejuvenating.  I wrote my story, but, beyond that, I simply enjoyed the company and the unrolling of the moments.
  • Wednesday: Reading, writing, lolling with the kids, absorbing the nearing of a lifetime of dreaming, and puttering.  A hot shower awaits me, after I post here.
  • Add all these for my beloved others, too!
  • Jeremiah: Finding his bigger bike, saying yes to lots of cooking.  Conversation and cuddles, and patience when he needed it.
  • Jim:  A harmonious home, companionship, and consideration.  Laughter.
  • Annalise: Finding her bigger bike, serious and mature conversation, help when a fall spoiled her baby mosquito study, patience when she needed it, imagination and laughter.
 It seems to be one of those periods where I am doing things, but there is really relatively little concrete to report.
Much is happening beneath the surface, and there is no telling, really, what will evolve from here.
I know, though, that it will involve love, and writing.
And I know that I will keep on ROWing, with trepidation and daring, and remain present not only to the misty path ahead, but also to the rocky, swift, twisty places I am traversing right now…..
Until next time, I leave you with 5 more followers to get to know….

And the ROW Linky, for keeping up with all the other ROWers….

Related articles
by

Second Challenge – Platform Building Campaign….

Second Campaigner Challenge

Do one or more of the following:

Write a pitch/logline for a book based on the prompts (less than 100 words)

Write a short story/flash fiction piece of less than 200 words based on the prompts

Write a poem with a twist using the prompts as inspiration (in less than 200 words)

Write a story/poem in five sentences, each sentence based on one of the prompts

Write a poem/flash fiction piece (in less than 200 words) about the water pear *without* using the words “pear”, “spoon”, or “droplet”.

For added difficulty/challenge:

Complete at least three of the above activities and tie them all together with a common theme (feel free to either state the theme in your post or leave us to guess what it might be)

Write in a genre that is not your own

Ask Challenge entrants to critique your writing. After the Challenge closes, you may wish to re-post your revised piece(s), and I’ll include a Linky List at the bottom of this post for those wishing more feedback on their revisions (note: revised entries will not be judged, so please label clearly your original post and your revisions. Please do not offer critique unless someone asks for it, as per the usual blogging conventions. If you do ask for critique, make sure you ask for it clearly so people know you want it, and please be prepared to receive feedback that may not be 100% glowing. If you are a critiquer, please be tactful and courteous, and remember to provide positives as well as negatives.)

I would very much appreciate critiques, please! =)
The Prompts:

Two people are sitting together under the remains of a concrete bridge. Their backs are against a rusted bridge support. One person’s leg is cut. The other person has wet hair.



  • Write a pitch/logline for a book based on the prompts (less than 100 words) -

No Ordinary Magic  (96 Words)

 Too often, our modern world of technological marvels seem almost magical. And still we demand more, and more. Are we so jaded and numb that we miss the moments of true and simple magic in our own lives?

Come open your soul as we delve into the rare magic in everyday moments such as kicking a ball across a bridge on a bright cold day; artistic play with water and light; the moment just past striving; or an instant of mutual interest.

To the attentive, all of life is sparkling, extraordinary magic!

  • Write a short story/flash fiction piece of less than 200 words based on the prompts.

Facets (191 words)

I wait, and watch, as time grows short. Passersby, all in a hurry, seem not to see me at all.

They won’t allow themselves to slow to the pace of breath, of life, of magic.

A small boy bounces, kicks, and chases his ball across the bridge, snuggled in a jacket this crisp, waning afternoon. Skipping, random rhythm; soft scrape of feet on smooth stone…

A young woman in a suit, posture tense, repeatedly plays a video of a pear conjured of prismatic water droplets. Her expression is flat. She checks her phone, then again.

Little knot of children, shirtless and rumpled and dark in the sun. All squat and stare, their intensity clear and unmoving. Fascination for small simple gifts in a patch of earth….

The laptop shifts to dancing line art. Frantic texting. Lovely patterns, lovely autumn park, met by indifference.

A girl sits beneath the crumbling old bridge with a dripping cut on her leg, a boy with wet hair beside her, his arms uplifted, then, sparkling glittering arc down to her finger. Waterdrop rainbows, joyful embrace, impassioned kiss…

Time grows short.  Enchantment, wisdom  - life…

  • Write a poem with a twist using the prompts as inspiration (in less than 200 words).

Enchanted Vision (  119 words)

Park bench, late afternoon.

Crisp September light.

 Little boy bouncing ball on wide stone bridge.

 Soft scraping of feet,

 Quick, laughing breath.

 Young woman with laptop and cell phone.

 Conjured waterfruit and dancing lines.

 Wonder and beauty on her screen.

 Rapid-tense texts; frustration-sharp sighs.

 Three shirtless children squat studying patch of dirt.

 Motionless, silent, intent on this instant.

 Attending the gift of the earth and life.

 Under the bridge, a pair of young lovers.

 Scratch-broken leg, wet hair clings to scalp

 He scoops the pond, lifts the prize,

 Adorns her finger…..

They melt together as air finally ends

 No one notices my soundless pleading.

 I know the magic of life at last

 In the instant I die.

  • Write a story/poem in five sentences, each sentence based on one of the prompts.

Instants in Time 

Sunlight, shadow, sea, square tiles, and columned railings become the playground of a small boy in a long red coat, following joy in the form of a bouncing ball. A young, dark-haired woman with a bleeding leg sits under the old concrete bridge; a young man sits beside her, hair and clothes dripping unnoticed as he slips the diamond ring upon her shaking finger. Beside me on the bench, my neighbor’s laptop shows the birth and death of a water pear, again and again, and she ignores it, texting frenetically and breathing in short, sharp sighs. Three little children, shirtless and dark and seemingly not bothered by the cooling breezes, explore the patch of dirt between them with motionless attentiveness. As my last breath ends, the hot dog still lodged in my airway, a lovely digital sculpture shifts gracefully across the screen, and, above the sounds of her texting, I hear the woman complaining that her time is up.

  • Write a poem/flash fiction piece (in less than 200 words) about the water pear *without* using the words “pear”, “spoon”, or “droplet”.

Fruit of Life (145 words)

I stare in wonder at the digital legerdemain on the laptop screen. I try to imagine how the conjuring was done; what miracles of science, math, art, and programming were involved in the glorious fruit, seemingly formed of water and delicately, impossibly balanced. Who conceived of such an elegant and lovely mirage, and how? Was it brought to virtual life as an act of personal passion, or with the calculation of a team with a product to hawk?

Then, I am captured by the pure leaping joy of it, the ethereal beauty of the instant when it, as though from nothing, clings to the shape in a shimmering dance of life – life suspended, to end in the next heartbeat, before this breath is expelled….

The form collapsed, in iridescent spray – a wordless lesson in the momentary nature of all life.

***************
I completed the entire challenge, including the increased difficulty option, and, as stated above, I welcome criticism!

Follow the other Platform Building Campaigners!


Related articles
by

La Reve des Etoiles (The Dream of Stars)

This is, in my opinion,  the best poem I’ve ever written.

The word “unfettered” has been a longtime central theme of my life; this is the first documented case of my using it in my writing.

This was written either during or just after my senior year of high school, just because I had words and ideas in me that wanted out into the light. Guess I’ve been unschooling me for quite a while, now…

Venus reflected in the Pacific Ocean

Image via Wikipedia

La Reve des Etoiles (The Dream of Stars)

Written by Shan Jeniah Burton -Copyright 2012

Why is it that some souls never hunger for the stars?
They spend their lives searching for
a simple pot of gold at rainbow’s end
and find that mystery enough for a lifetime.
I’ve never been content with normal riddles.
Instead of a gold pot, give me the ball of Sol’s gold.
If I could only go beyond Venus, then Mercury,
I’d soar so close, I’d be caressed by heat as none before.

I’d let it cleanse me, burn away my imperfections
leaving me elemental and without flaw.

Then, beyond the burning and back toward Earth -
From the golden fire into silvered ice.
I’d bound about freely, unfettered by mundane gravity,
Become doubly purified by Moon’s austere beauty.
I’d try to lie on my back and make moon-angels.
Then rise up weightless from luminescent surface.

O! Pearl of immeasurably great value!
I’ll leave Pearl behind for swirls of diamonds -
Each fiery starjewel alight with possibilities.
Other planets, other lives, other hopes and fears…
Other eyes looking up and outward to the stars…
Other souls striving to catch a dream,
To dare the impossible and touch ultimate light.
The dream of stars is a universal thing -
Intelligent life seeking control of its future.

Moon Dreams

Moon Dreams (Photo credit: jurvetson)

Related articles
by

Trifextra Weekend Challenge – “4AM Call”

And so to our weekend prompt. We’ve often said that we love how each of you responds so differently to our prompts. This week, you’re all starting with the same 5 words and your task is to turn it in to your own story in only 33 words. The 5 we have given you are NOT to be counted in the 33 words.


Complete the following story in exactly 33 words:

The phone rang at 4am.

Here is my challenge, largely and currently autobiographical in inspiration and execution, and exactly 33 words long, not including the fist five, which are the prompt.

This story now appears in the

Pittsburgh  Flash Fiction Gazette.

Starlight Over the Rhone – Vincent Van Gogh

“4am Call”

Written by Shan Jeniah Burton Copyright 2012

The phone rang at 4am.

“I’m NOT answering!” I glared.

Yesterday’s crackling anger still stung.

Phone insisted; stopped.

Too much time passed.

More…

Knocking; frantic barking.  Sherriff at  our door.

“He’s being medflighted..”

My trembling arms embraced our children.

Starry Night- Vincent Van Gogh

And a little more from Trifecta, and where you could help me “be a winner”….

For this weekend’s challenge, we are once again asking you guys to choose the winner. You can vote using a link that will appear beside each thumbnail at the close of the contest.  Linkz will remain open after the close of the contest to allow for voting.  Submissions received after 9 pm EST on Sunday evening, however, will be deleted by admin.  You will only have the 12 hours following the close of the contest to vote.  Due to the restrictions of the linking service, you may not vote for a link from the same computer where it was submitted.  We hope you believe in your work enough to find another device to vote from, and we are sorry for the inconvenience.

If you enjoyed my story, please consider visiting Trifecta and voting for Shan Jeniah Burton. 

Related articles