Harbingers

Evening calls to silhouette sentries,

rainslick roads swift-swallow sound;

lifeblood weeps to parch-dry ground,

while ravens silent-watch from trees.

The banshee wails on late-night roam;

then piece-by-piece, they carry me home.

© Ginny Brannan January 2012

**Image Credit to Whitebook @ DeviantArt, titled A Christmas Story for Rezzan

Uplifted

wherever I am,

poetry lifts from mundane

giving flight to dreams

© Ginny Brannan January 2011

Image Credit: http://chance-of-sunshine.blogspot.com/2011/09/umbrella-season.html

Sharing at BlueBell Books Thursday Short Story Slam January 5th, 2012

For the Love of Books

Written for Bluebell Books Short Story Slam Week 13, inspired by their picture prompt provided below:

Blue Bell Books Short Story Slam Week 13

When you were small we had our nightly ritual:

After supper and before lights out

I would sit on the edge of your bed and

read you a story --‘Good-Night Moon,’

‘The Velveteen Rabbit,’ ‘The Adventures of Pooh’

Still hear your little voice echo “One more time, mommy…”

Soon enough you started school, learning to read

and reading to me.  But after homework lessons,

you would still ask me to read to you for a while.

We graduated to chapter books:

the ‘Happy Hollister’ mysteries from my childhood,

the wonderful poetry of Shel Silverstein.

We travelled to Middle Earth alongside Bilbo Baggins,

Frodo and Samwise.  No matter I couldn’t speak elvish--

I would change my voice for each character and make up

tunes for each song, and we would be on our way over the

Misty Mountains on our quest to destroy the ring.

In Middle School you met a young man named Harry Potter,

who paralleled you in age.  Yet another quest: protect friends

and loved ones and defeat the evil Voldermort.

We shared these stories too, though now you would

read first--devouring from cover to cover non-stop,

then passing along to me. I loved our discussions--

what we liked or didn’t, and where we thought

the next book in the series might take us.

In High School you discovered my old Stephen King

books  on the bookshelf, and read them all, then

added even more to the collection. And every so

often,  you would revisit Middle Earth again,

J.R.R. Tolkien a perennial favorite.

I count among my greatest achievements  

instilling the love of the written word in you.

No money is ever wasted that is spent on a book.

Our next great adventure lies in Winterfell,

as we share the series  “A Game of Thrones”

“One more time, mommy…”

Indeed!

©  Ginny Brannan October 2011

 Here is a Link to Bluebell Books Short Story Slam Week 13

G.Brannan, personal collection, 1990

Photo of my son with winning artwork and gift certificate from Waldenbooks, with which he chose Charlie the Caterpillar!

On the Wind

Photo provided by Bluebell Books

I watch my young child flourish

in all that she sees--

each orb forms a whispered wish

sent out on the breeze:

"May friends always be near you,

may you grow up to be strong;

may joys be many, sorrows few;

and may your days be ever long."

© Ginny  Brannan  October 2011

Written as a 7/5 Trochee, Two quatrains, alternating syllable count seven/five, abab rhyme scheme

Written for Bluebell Books Short Story Slam Week 11

They provide the prompt, we provide the story!

On Distant Seas

Each dawn I’m drawn down to this shore--

to soft white sand and gentle breeze;           

dream of my love on distant seas

sailed off to fight another's war.

“Pink sky in morn, sailors be warned!”

I pray he will return once more,

but life holds no such guarantees.

Each dawn, I’m drawn down to this shore...

©  Ginny Brannan September 2010

Written for BlueBell Books Short Story Slam Week 9

Image Credit: Art at Google.com

Reward for Participating in Short Story Slam

Planting Magic Seeds

Image credit: mnn.com

"Look what I planted!” is how she began;.
“I think that it’s magic!” she said with a grin.
“Just like Jack’s beanstalk, how tall it will grow,
and up it to fetch those gold eggs we will go!!”
I looked at her, smiled, nodded and said:

“We’ll climb it together...now, it’s time for bed!”

May we view each day through our child’s eyes--

  with love, amazement and happy surprise.

 * * * * * * * * *

I remember a time when my own son was small, maybe not quite four, and we were walking to the store in winter. He would approach each snow mound, poke and kick it, saying that he thought it might hold long-lost buried treasure. As he ran ahead, I dropped a coin or two into one, so that I might see the amazement on his face as he discovered it on his return trip! Feeding a child’s imagination helps to foster and promote curiosity, and a lifelong joy of reading and quest for learning.

©Copyright Ginny Brannan July 2011

 http://bluebellbooks.blogspot.com/2011/07/thursday-short-story-slam-week- 5.html

Poseidon Awaits

Like a forest of trees just awaiting a breeze,

their masts are lined up in the bay.

Bobbing and floating, seems no one is boating

this beautiful warm summer day.

Where are their Skippers, those happy “day trippers?”

Perhaps they have all gone away…

Let us hoist our sail while the fair winds prevail,

enjoying the feel of the spray!

  

© Copyright Ginny Brannan July 2011

Photo prompt courtesy of Blue Bell Books Thursday Short Story Slam

Unforeseen (Etheree)

Skies

laden

with moisture

burst open--first

hail, then rain, heavy

enough to flatten plants

and small shrubs. Water rushes

along the road flooding storm drains.

Warnings flash across the T.V. screen:

"Tornado approaching. Take shelter NOW!”

Huddled in our basement, we watch the screen--

see clouds gather, spinning, on the move.

Quickly, vortex crosses river,

swallowing up debris, trees;

ripping roofs off buildings;

tearing up Main Street.

Eastbound, it hits

nineteen towns--

we are

spared.

©  Copyright Ginny Brannan June 2011

 On June 1st, 2011 a very rare and almost unheard of phenomenon occurred here in Western Massachusetts. A category F3 tornado touched down,  and tracked 3-1/2 miles south of where we live on it's 46 mile path across the state. 
*The tornado forms." Photo taken by author of TV screen from live broadcast local news. 

Etheree

The poetry form, Etheree, consists of 10 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 syllables.  Etheree can also be reversed and written 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  This is a Double Etheree with more than one verse,  where the second verse is an inverted syllable count. Free verse style, unmetered.
Posted: BlueBell Books Short Story Slam