When I’m among Music and Kindly Books

When I’m among music that holds me late
Dawdling through dance delights
I dream of a firelit inglenook
With candles burning straight
A yellow blaze of lights
Of glowing stars and kindly books

With living pictures in the gloom
A woman’s heart turns back from stone
Liberated in that small cozy room
Heartbeats start again as imagination is seen and sewn

As if I’m alone in garden nights
With elm trees nodding at my thoughts
In my mind’s eye I see these sights
Like inkblots over crowded nightspots

©RedCat

I really should be going to bed. Instead I could not keep myself from writing. For weeks now comparative literature has kept me mired in lyric poetry. From Sapfo to the postmodernist, without having any time to write all that they inspire in me. So this prompt just lit a spark that refused to be ignored.

Poetics at dVerse tonight is called, Dead Poets Society. Our gracious host mentions a BBC Maestro poetry course, written by Carol Ann Duffy. Who she quotes: 

“dead poets speak to us across time through their poems,
and they particularly speak to other poets”,
adding “who often choose to respond across time”.

The task is to read three poems, choose one, and respond to it. My writing itch was tickled by – When I’m among a Blaze of Lights by Siegfried Sassoon 1886 (Matfield, Kent) – 1967 (Heytesbury, Wiltshire)

Sassoon photographed in 1915 by George Charles Beresford found on Wikipedia

Image credits:
Photo by Taylor Wright on Unsplash
Photo by Emil Widlund on Unsplash

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Drowning Bibliophile

This is an unusual feeling for a bibliophile
Usually piles of them make me smile
But now it feels like I’m drowning in books
Astray in a quagmire, kept on tethering hooks

Discombobulated, bewildered and confused
Trying to expound and elucidate ancient literature
Learning to unravel the ineffable mystery
To fathom allegories and tropes of poetry

Oh, the surprises
awaiting those following the path of civilizations sunrises
Oh, the sorrow
when advised to disavow love like Trumbull’s sparrow
Oh, the disgust
when you feel words and language are nothing to trust
Oh, the fear
when you imagine raping Zeus or avenging Furies are near
Oh, the joy
to dream yourself on Lesbos or in Troy

Such is the power of thoughtfully chosen words and rhythmic rhymes
To be read and remembered for all of time

©RedCat

An attempt to capture the elation, confusion and disquiet of myself and several of my classmates embarking on the adventure of Comparative Literature.

Image credits:

Photo by Eugenio Mazzone on Unsplash
Photo by Vasily Ledovsky on Unsplash
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Also shared to tonight’s OpenLinkNight #345 at dVerse.

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The Midsummer Queen

The midsummer Queen
Stands proud and strong
Ready to lead the night’s dance
Ready to give her revelers the chance
To realize where their heart belongs

The midsummer sky
Invitingly deep and softly blue
Companion through the unprecedented night
Companion lending souls its light
Teaching the love, every heart is due

The midsummer sky
Lends insight and opens the mind’s eye
Revealing that which was hidden
Revealing no true love is ever forbidden

The midsummer Queen
Pleased with her fey touched children seems
Happy they still come to her
Happy they by her magic are stirred
Vowing to let her guide them to their dreams

©RedCat

It’s that time of year, where magic seems possible, somewhere near. Making heart and soul buzz with creative energy. Making pens fly speedily over paper. Leaving stories in their wake. Demanding to be let out or keep one through the night awake.

Shared to and read live at the second installment of OLN #341 over at dVerse.

Image credits:

Image 1: Picture of my homemade Maypole. By ©RedCat
Image 2: Vivien Leigh as Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1937. Photo by J W Debenham.
Image 3: Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing. From William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Blake. William Blake, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Glimpses of All Hallows Night 

On the last night
Of summer time
The stars are out in force
Shining bright

In the dark sky
Of all hallows
Restless souls watch
Another year passing by

In a house festooned
With ghosts and ghouls
The witch sheds blood
Offering thanks to the moon

On this liminal night
As the veil thins
The other realm nears
Bringing departed ones in sight

Hear what they say
Voices from the other side
Living in fear of death
You’ll regret not living fully one day

©RedCat

Image credits:

Image 1: Photo by Jake Weirick on Unsplash
Image 2: Photo by Andy Holmes on Unsplash

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Tatters of Brown – Folktober Challenge Day 26

She’s hunting the corridors
In her once splendid gown
Now, just sad tatters of brown
Retracing her steps, as countless times before

Where once there were eyes
Is now pits of black sorrow
Knowing there will never be a bright tomorrow
The house echoes with her cries

She will never again hold her children close
Or see them thrive and grow
Never again see their smiles
Or guide them through life’s trials
Never again hear their laughter
Or have the joy to care and look after

A mother’s love never dies
Keeps her searching forevermore
Trapped here on the lonely moor
Even as the centuries flies

©RedCat

Another small contribution to Folktober Challenge over at The Wombwell Rainbow.
See all images and read other responses for today here.

Image credits:

Image 1: Claimed photograph of the ghost, taken by Captain Hubert C. Provand. First published in Country Life, 1936

Image 2: NWT Roydon Common by Richard Osbourne

Image 3: Dorothy Walpole by Charles Jervas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Image 4: John Sell Cotman – Raynham Hall, Norfolk, circa 1818

ps. I have become aware that in some browsers this blog is experiencing what is called the white screen of death. I’m working on figuring out how to fix it. ds.

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Fields Beyond – Folktober Challenge Day 18

1.18. Bananach

Fields Beyond

Some say I should curse my love, for making me become this.
That I should have refused her hand, as I lay dying on the battlefield.
I say she swooped down and saved me, took me to the fields beyond.
Gave me new meaning and eternal love.

So what does it matter? How I look, or the horns I bear.
I bear them proudly, without feeling their weight.
They are a sign of my prowess and courageous heart.
Of her giving me part of her essence, meaning she’ll always be near.

Now we fly the skies together. From afar seeing what becomes of man.
Diving down to pick up, those that no longer have flesh hands.
After we have them delivered, we fly back to our fields.
In the soft twilight, there is no need for armour or shield.

There we lay together, exploring the way to each other’s bliss.
So truth be told, I’ve never been happier than this.

©RedCat

When inspiration strikes, whether it’s convenient or not, I try to write. And few things are as good at waking my muse as the pictures curated by Paul Brooks over at The Wombwell Rainbow. See all images and read other responses to the Folktober Challenge here.

You can read other ekphrastic poems here.

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The Anthropocene Hymnal – An Experiments in Fiction Publication. Out now!

I’m very proud and happy to tell you that The Anthropocene Hymnal – An Experiments in Fiction Publication. Is out now! I’m as bursting with joy and gratitude today as I where when the editor asked me to participate with two poems. Mother of Creation and Leaves fall to Moulder.
Below you’ll find all purchase information.

The Anthropocene Hymnal is a collection of 63 poems from 34 poets from across the world. Beautifully illustrated by Valdis Stakle and with cover art by Kerfe Roig, the anthology is the brainchild of Ingrid Wilson, and in her own words is “a unique response to an unprecedented crisis.”

…

The second part of the book looks at what hope means in difficult times – what we still have to hold on to – what can still be done. Taking the form of invocation and prayer, these poems cast a thread to find a way through and call on that in us which is bigger than our current crisis.  RedCat’s Mother of Creation gives new names to hope, while Kerfe Roig’s Mercy 1 and 2(after ML Smoker)  speaks of  finding a way back from despair with “You leave a candle burning, / place it in the window.”

Excerpts from the Advance review by Lindi-Ann Hewitt-Coleman

You can find a list with all the contributors here.

For more information and several readings of poems go to Experiments in Fiction.

The waiting is over! You can now purchase The Anthropocene Hymnal in Paperback and Kindle format from Amazon (just select your relevant region).

There is also a PDF version of the book available. The PDF is not sold but revived in response to a donation to the WWF Fundraiser. Once you have made your donation (minimum €3 or equivalent in your currency) please email confirmation to experimentsinfiction@protonmail.com and and the PDF will be sent by return email. The aim is to respond to your email and send you the PDF within 24 hours of receiving it. The editor will also be making regular personal donations of the Amazon royalties as and when I receive them. Please follow my fundraiser page for updates!

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Blue Forest Of Remembrance – April Ekphrastic Challenge

Jane Cornwell

The blue forest of remembrance is full of quavering echoes
Whispering through the trees susurrations of memory
Wandering among the trees dreaming soul shadows
Most lost in pensive reverie
Reliving, rethinking, re-choosing life through hindsight’s windows
It’s all part of sleeping souls nightly recovery

Whispering through the trees a multitude of echoes
Joy and happiness, sorrow and pain
Most lost to the wind blown shadows
Others fall as antique white petals rain
All part of how memories lights the windows
How dreaming souls lead their wake selves to staying sane

Joy and happiness, sorrow and pain through the trees echoes
Some souls dream of floating in happiness rainbow bright
Others fall ensnared in clawing painful shadows
Losing another nights fight
How dreaming leads to the memory windows
How souls fare in the forest, changes every night

©RedCat
Stockholm
©RedCat

Inspired by the suggestive painting by Jane Cornwell and three words from the Skyloverwordlist; Quaver, Pensive and Antique White.

To see all art and read all poems for today go to The Wombwell Rainbow.

I especially liked Looking for Clues by Merril D Smith and the Villanelle Sylvia by Tim Fellows. 

Written in the same poetic form as Mind Finds Soul Fearlessly Shines. One of two invented by me. Because I realized a form used but once, might not be a form at all, so I had to see if I could use it again. I’m glad to say that it worked. 

I’m still unsure of how to denote it so that anyone but me could use it. How do you denote a line (2, 4, 6) that only partly repeats in the next stanza? Is it a refrain? Or that the last word in lines 1, 3, 5 repeat in every stanza?

Next I have to see if I can repeat the form used in Moonsea.

Also read at Go LIVE with dVerse!

Photo by Evie S. on Unsplash
Jane Cornwell


likes drawing and painting children, animals, landscapes and food. She specialises in watercolour, mixed media, coloured pencil, lino cut and print, textile design. Jane can help you out with adobe indesign for your layout needs, photoshop and adobe illustrator. She graduated with a ba(hons) design from Glasgow School of art, age 20.

She has exhibited with the rsw at the national gallery of Scotland, SSA, Knock Castle Gallery, Glasgow Group, Paisley Art Institute, MacMillan Exhibition at Bonhams, Edinburgh, The House For An Art Lover, Pittenweem Arts Festival, Compass Gallery, The Revive Show, East Linton Art Exhibition and Strathkelvin Annual Art Exhibition.

Her website is: https://www.janecornwell.co.uk/

April Ekphrastic Challenge – GloPoWriMo 2021

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The Poets Symphony – Raw Earth Ink

When poet’s write a symphony
Notes and words find destiny
In lyrical poems, verses and melodies
Emotional word music journeys

© REDCAT

Any other year
I’d invite to a soirée

Gather all my friends
Celebrate until the night ends

Honoring the drive to create
Sharing the dream to exhilarate

Entertain by dancing a silly caper
Show happiness – that my words are printed on paper

© REDCAT

Since this is anything but a normal year, I raise my glass to you all, wishing your dreams come true!

I’m so happy and proud to reveal

Three poems by me in 

The Poets Symphony

“A really good poem is full of music.”
Eric Whitacre, American Composer and Conductor

Tune in to just a few lines from a song and one can easily be pulled back into a single moment in time, memories rising unbidden. New moments to be discovered, music weaves through our lives tying them all together.

Lovingly composed by thirty-one artists and writers from around the world, The Poets Symphony delivers the seduction of music in the form of poetry, lyrics, rhyme, digital art, photography and more.

From inspiration to nostalgic memory, love affairs to the musician himself, place the needle on the record and allow the music of life to flow through your soul.

You can find the paperback at lulu (recommended), Barnes & Noble, or Amazon. (Lulu has been shipping out books in about a week (or less) while Amazon is taking over a month to ship out book orders.)

You can also read it on your Kindle.

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Pain

A child cries heart-wrenchingly
With growing pains
A mother cries silently
Wishing
Heart filled with anguish
To take away and hinder all pain

Through experience knowing
Life contains heartache and pain
It’s even required for growing
All she can do
Is to help her children see it through
Emerge on the other side of fear and pain

In all life’s disappointments
Through all sorrows and pains
Be a supporting presence
Hold them with love and care

As long as there’s breath in her body
Always there

©RedCat

The other night I never got to fall asleep. Around midnight my youngest started to cry heart-wrenchingly because of growing pains. Aside from heating the wheat-heater, there was nothing I could do beside hold him and comfort him. He fell asleep again, fitfully. Waking every other hour to cry. Sometimes during the night, after crying myself because I felt torn in two wanting to do something and knowing I couldn’t, I wrote this poem.

Image credits:

First image: Photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash
Second image: Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash
Third image: Photo by __ drz __ on Unsplash

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