Punam from d’Verse has provided this splendid challenge: Satiating the Soul
The Challenge
So, for the poetics challenge today I give you a sort of carte blanche. You could write about cleaning, cooking your favourite dish, the joy of giving or how you celebrate your favourite festival. Since Diwali falls a day after Halloween, I expect lots ghouls, goblins and candy galore peppering some poems. I am really looking forward to a smorgasbord of poems to sample and satiate my soul.
This week, Colleen is hosting Tanka Tuesday with a fun Halloween poetry challenge.
This is the challenge:
Witches and their potions are synonymous with Halloween. Let’s create a spellbinding poem. (longer syllabic forms work best). You can write freestyle, but you must include a syllabic form too!
Write a syllabic poem about a witch brewing a potion. Include vivid descriptions of ingredients and their effects.
You can make the poem a rhythmic chant or incantation, enhancing the magical feel of your words. The idea is to have fun, so humor works!
➡️ Feel free to use end rhymes on forms that don’t usually have them. Please let us know the form and if you’re using end rhymes. (The use of end rhymes is optional).
For this challenge, if you’re using end rhymes on forms that don’t usually have end rhymes, you’re creating experimental syllabic poetry. 🥳
I did use end rhymes for my poem which is freestyle rhyming verse (is that a real form or did I just make this up?) with a micro poem at the end. The first word of every line also creates a famous quote. I’ve given you the book from whence the quote comes in the content of the poem. Hehe! This is an inverse Golden Shovel poem as the first word creates the quote (and not the last) as I wanted the last lines to rhyme. This was a most interesting challenge and certainly stretched my writing abilities.
Cooking for Halloween
Double the worms to make it wriggle
Double the worms to make it jiggle
Toil to create the perfect Halloween pie
And a delicious dip of beetles and a fly
Trouble is the oven’s been playing up
Fire in the chimney the cooking disrupts
Burn the crust and Count Sugular will grumble
And Baby Howler will complain and rumble
Cauldron on the stove suddenly boils over
Bubble mixture pops from air exposure
By lifting the pot, Witch Honey the punch saves
The alcoholic fruit bats inside still misbehave
Pricking visible fingers with horny wings
Of these bats no witch praise ever sings
“My goodness,” she cries, giving one a smack
“Thumbs would make a much better snack
Something needs to be done right away
Wicked creatures do not make my day
This on top of cooking, will be my death
Way things are going, I’ll end up like MacBeth
Comes someone my way? Quick, put on a smile”
***
Halloween party
Requires much preparation
Cooking up a storm
Picture caption: The gingerbread Haunted House where the Halloween party will be heldPicture caption: Witch Honey in her holiday swimsuit – fondant creationPicture caption: Jiggle Jelly the sea serpent with his swimming ring – fondant creationPicture caption: Baby Howler in his coffin bed -fondant creation
“Writers of all sorts have found repetition of phrases or lines like a mantra to be a useful rhetorical tool.
Your challenge is to either use repetition as a rhetorical device (repetition of a word or phrase or line) in constructing your poem; or to write a poem that centers around a motto, your own or perhaps passed down in your family or in your culture, showing how it’s been used or misused.:
I am late posting this poem as it took me a while to get it how I wanted it. So, I am posting it for Open Link Night hosted by Lisa who says the following: “Hello to All d’Versians gathered here today at this site of pubtalk and poetry! Lisa here, hosting Open Link Night, where you can write to the offered optional prompt OR link up any poem of yours that you fancy.:
I don’t have any pictures of a black rhino. The are incredibly illustive. I’ve seen a few but they are just too fast to photograph. These pictures are of the white rhino.
Picture caption: Two young malesPicture caption: Mom and calfPicture caption: Close up of a male white rhinoPicture caption: This little guy was scratching his bellyPicture caption: Now he’s rubbing his belly.
The twin lines waver down both sides of the street. Aging sentinels attired in their uniforms of jacaranda blue, spit polished silver buttons which sparkle brightly in the spring sunshine.
A gentle breeze shakes the branches releasing a shower of purple confetti. A nearby bird bursts into excited courtship song.
The environment pays tribute to these revered spring veterans.
Aging sentinels
Smart in jacaranda blue
Silver buttons shine
And, of course, there are pictures:
Picture caption: Street lined with jacarandas taken away from the sunPicture caption: The same street lined with jacarandas but taking the picture into the sun. Amazing how the light differs.
Thank you to talented author, Teri Polen, for featuring me as part of her amazing Bad Moon Rising series of Halloween posts. Teri has some wonderful books that you will find on her blog.
Picture caption: Book Blog Tour Banner for A Noble Bargain by Jan Sikes
Thank you, Robbie, for allowing me to take over your blog today so I can talk about my upcoming new release, A Noble Bargain. I’m deeply grateful for your generosity and support!
Picture caption: Cover of A Noble Bargain depicting a man in an old fashioned vehicle standing outside an office-styled building
The forest industry is often referred to as the oldest industry in America. A Noble Bargain opens in the sawmill town of Crossett, Arkansas. I had a chance to visit the area and do research a few months back. I found that Georgia-Pacific bought the company in 1962. But the original sawmill, known as Crossett Lumber, was established in 1899. The coming of the railroad changed the climate of the industry and the town. The original workers were paid in store credits at the company store, much like the early coal miners in Kentucky. Safety was not a concern and there were many accidents and fatalities. Another fact I uncovered in my research had to do with Yale University. Each year, they sent students to Crossett to study the forest industry. They built camps to house the students for their spring stay of three months. They built the camp in 1946 and abandoned it in 1966.
My main character, Oliver Quinn, works at the sawmill. But his job is outside loading lumber onto train cars. There is a reason he doesn’t want to work inside the mill, which I reveal in my story.
Excerpt:
He gazed up at the clear sky, a contrast with the brown, orange, and gold leaves on the trees. “For you, Dad. The dream you never got to live.”
While he drove, he thought about the good times when his father took the time to teach him to pitch, catch, and swing the bat. Swing for the fence, he’d tell him. Then there were the ball games he’d attend when his father played for the Crossett Millers. The desire had been strong in Patrick Quinn to make a better life for his family in whatever way he could. He was good at fighting in the boxing rings, but the sawmill provided security and a regular paycheck. He sacrificed his dream for the family. That was until the fateful day when a saw blade ripped through his leg, severing the main artery.
Now it was Oliver’s turn to provide a better life for them all, and perhaps that included Rose. He couldn’t think of anything more rewarding.
Throughout the story, Oliver remembers the strength of the dream that brought his family to America. And, as the man of the house, is determined to make a better life for his mother and sisters.
Have you ever seen a sawmill in operation? While I didn’t get to tour the plant, I found a lot of fascinating facts in my research.
Picture caption: Promotional meme for A Noble Bargain by Jan Sikes. The wording says “The sawmill claimed Oliver Quinn’s father’s life. He won’t let it claim his.”
Blurb
A true testament of character, resilience, and the magic of never giving up.
The year is 1948 and folks in the sawmill town of Crossett, Arkansas, work hard and play hard. Oliver Quinn does both. Oliver is the son of Irish immigrants who firmly believe in pursuing the American dream. His deepest desire is to play major league baseball. He only needs one chance to prove himself.
Rose Blaine is living in a nightmare where dreams don’t exist. She’s suffered for years at the hands of her violent moonshiner father and his partner. During a brutal attack, she must fight back or die. The aftermath is devastating.
Fueled by desperation, Rose strikes a life-changing bargain with Oliver. If he’ll take her and her brother to St. Louis, Missouri, she’ll introduce Oliver to her uncle, a baseball legend.
While their journey is fraught with unseen perils, they forge an unbreakable bond and make surprising allies.
When destiny throws them a curve ball, they must find the courage to create a hopeful future out of the ashes of shattered dreams with newfound fortitude.
I’ve been an avid reader all my life. There’s nothing I love more than losing myself in a story.
Oddly enough, I had no ambition to be a writer. But I wound up in mid-life with a story that begged to be told. Not just any story, but a true story that rivaled any fiction creation. Through fictitious characters, the tale came to life in an intricately woven tale that encompasses four books. Not satisfied to stop with the books, I released music CDs of original music matching the time period of each story segment. In conclusion, to bring the story full circle, I published a book of poetry and art. I was done.
Wrong!
The story ideas keep coming, and I don’t intend to turn off the creative fountain.
I love all things metaphysical and often include those aspects in my stories.
I am a member of the Author’s Marketing Guild, The Writer’s League of Texas, Story Empire, and the Paranormal Writer’s Guild. I am an avid fan of Texas music and grandmother of five beautiful souls. I reside in North Texas.
Picture caption: Cover of Sounds in the Silence featuring an old house against a creepy evening background.
What Amazon says
A dual timeline where murder has consequences forty years later for the living—and the deceased.
Maria and Logan Davis stumbled upon the perfect old house by a secluded lake—a prime candidate for their dream inn. They knew a renovation was involved but didn’t expect a persistent ghost that pleaded to be found. Determined, Maria delved into the mystery, only to uncover a haunting love story and murder from the Roaring Twenties. Yet, the young couple’s curiosity shifts to fear when they realize someone is taking a dangerous interest in their barn. With time ticking away, they must unravel the secrets of their home’s past before it’s too late.
My review
This dual timeline story is a perfect mix of devoted couples and creepiness. The happiness of the two couples from different eras, and their pleasure in each other, is strongly contrasted by the weird religious zealotism going on around them, intent on destroying their love.
Maria and Logan Davis have just purchased a large, old house which they are planning to convert into an inn. The story kicks off with Maria hearing an eerie voice in the evening and from there, the introduction to the ghost unwinds quickly. Simultaneously with Logan and Maria getting to know about the existence of the ghost and wanting to learn her story and help her, all sorts of strange and unpleasant occurrences start to happen in and around their house. Something evil seems intent on stopping the couple from helping the ghost.
Charles and Helen Elliot lived in 1924 during the prohibition. They have no children and are determined to live their version of a ‘fun’ and entertaining life. Despite the law prohibiting drinking, the couple acquire large stashes of alcohol and throw lavish and decadent parties. Initially, several of the local townspeople including the sheriff and his wife, attend the Elliot’s parties. As the story progresses, the local people fall under the intense spell of a newly arrived minister who is establishing a church in the town. A charismatic man, the minister successfully converts the locals and, when Charles and Helen refuse to capitulate and join the church, turns the town against them.
This is an interesting story of religious fantasist and its effect on people. I enjoyed the psychological aspects of certain characters slow erosion of their sense of wrongdoing under the spell of the minister. It reminded me of the memoir, Child of Satan, Child of God, by Susan Atkins, which told the story of the Manson girls who eventually became murderers in the name of their religion.
This is a great book, fast paced and exciting with lots of food for thought. It is especially topical in this current environment of war and social disruption.
roberta-writes.com 