Little Family

There was this little family 

that lived on a rose petal.

They never missed

a 

sunset.

Spider and Cosmos

That Cosmos Flower...

Remember the ant? (a few posts back).

Well, he was telling other ants about his glorious journey to the center of the Cosmos and a curious spider over- heard. 

The spider said..."I think  I want to see it too."

And so he went.

And he reached the glorious blazing pink flower with the yellow center.  

He too was overjoyed and mesmerized with the blessings and the inner peace 

that only a sunset can bring.

The Spider hung out... meditated and enjoyed the sunset... on the petal of a flower.  

Wouldn't you?

 Do you?

Soul Dreams

Do you share your soul dreams?
The ones that might seem frivolous....
The ones that might be scoffed at....
The ones that you are shy about
The ones you have deep feelings about....
Soul dreams....

Paths

 Pathways

Pathways are comfort

footsteps created by other beings

a guide

there is peace knowing

a well traversed space

stick to the

path with a little peek 

at what is coming up

curves and ridges

the trees

rocks

there is a sense of

community and safety in 

the steps of a well worn path

or

go off the path

 discover secrets and notice 

hidden things

explore

take 

a 

risk

Ant Story

There was a little backyard ant.   All by himself he trekked up the tall flower bush.  He worked steadily and focused for a long while. He crawled up and under the flower and then back over to the top.  He made it.   He saw the yellow and he ran happily towards the beautiful yellow.

He hung out with it, covered his body with it.   He had the best day.



He decided to crawl out to the ledge of the flower and rest on the tip of a petal to watch the sunset and  simply be grateful for such a wonderful day.

He took the shortcut back.

Meditating in the sunset on a petal tip... wouldn’t you?  Do you?

Her life was no longer a place where dreams go to die.

PR for Poets - By Jeannine Hall Gailey - A review by Toni

My Review:

What a completely wonderful resource book.  It is everything you need to know but might be afraid to ask about publishing and promoting your own lovely writing.  I found the book useful to prioritize projects, and to gain an over all process in putting out your work.   

I am so thoroughly thrilled to read this book and have this information.   Now I know all the useful tips for putting forth a poetic piece for publication.     I  had a geek day of reading,  enjoying the process, putting in notes.  So many of my questions are answered. 

The book provides comprehensive tips for when the decision is made to start sharing art with the world.    This is very good food for the introverts soul, the ones that are afraid to ask, self promote, and share.  As well as the people that procrastinate out of not knowing or being able to come up with lists based on not knowing what to expect. (Me....me .....me)

The book talks about the unique nature of poets, as a group of artists that sometimes for personal, stigma or peer pressure have trouble with self promotion, social media and the ways that are out there to share their art into the published world. 

Until I read this book,  I have been overwhelmed on some of the very basic beginning steps and avoiding personal deadlines, and not doing a great job of moving forward. While I am sure I will still stumble, there is little unanswered in this book.    

I got a giggle here or there on some of the sensible talk such as "what to avoid for your Author Photo."  :) . The writing was really down to earth and it felt like I was sitting down with a professional writing /publication mentor, basically giving all scoop.   I love great information in a resource book combined with a great personality. 

I am thankful that all the experience and wealth of  information and experience that has been chronicled in a book  will help Poets all over the world.  (And I love that cover too!!! )

Thank you Serena for inviting me along the Tour. Serena's Blog

About the book:

"PR For Poets gives you the tools you need to connect your poetry book with its audience. With tips from top experts in the field, this book helps you navigate the ins and outs of the publishing and book marketing worlds, including:

 PR kits and sell sheets

 Pitch letters
 Author photos
 Social media
 Book prizes
 Swag

 Book reviews
 Readings
 Launch parties
 Book tours
 Book clubs
 Interviews
 And more…

About the author:
Jeannine Hall Gailey served as the second Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington, and she has been a featured contributor in Poet’s Market for many years. Gailey is the author of five books of poetry: Becoming the Villainess, She Returns to the Floating World, Unexplained Fevers, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, and Field Guide to the End of the World, winner of the Moon City Press Book Prize and the SFPA’s Elgin Award. Her work has been featured on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac, Verse Daily, and in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. She spent four years teaching in the MFA program for National University, worked fifteen years as a corporate writing manager, and worked in publishing as an Acquisition Editor for Microsoft Press.

Jeannine’s twitter handle is @webbish6.
For more information, visit www.webbish6.com.

Sunset Cosmos

Teaching me about light, sunset and flower petals.   Thank you earth, sun, cosmos, and Nik.

Shedding layers - The vines

On gardening
15 years of vines
Many years of trying to manage them but not quite
Never really managing them because they grew so fast and she gave up
She went out to cut
Just a few
There were layers of life and death
Mold, decay, and ugly
Layers of dead branches
Some branches so thick
15 years of layers
The patio with pristine flowers, succulents, sunflowers and tomatos
The ones that she "posted" for all to admire
Hiding the ugly dead constricting vines that took over all the things
The innards gnarly and neglected and shamed
No more hiding, no more shame, the truth
She went out to cut
Layers and layers
"I will just start with a few"
There were even more layers
She cried "I can’t do this alone"
Decay, mold, hardened branches
Overgrowth and neglect not leaving space for the new vines to grow
The cutting and chopping began
She was not strong enough to wield a hedger
It was going to have to be - one vine and branch at a time
As much strength as she had
Every little chop would matter if she did the work, if she was brave
She used a small and broken hand cutter that occasionally pinched her hand, she broke a purple polished manicured fingernail
She grew strong pulling out the vines and cutting through layers
There was power in pulling the vines, it kept coming out from deep in the trees and dead branches
It was relief, but was it?
She opened her eyes and saw the progress in a short time
She sighed with relief
She now knew it would not take 15 years to remove all the layers
She could find beauty in the work and accept the bits of progress
Wipe her tears, clean up the pile, accept what is
She could anticipate the space she was making for new life and love
The ruins could be uncovered and growth and beauty could happen
She knew there would come a day when the cutting stopped
There would be room for the flowering vines to roam and bloom

Nik’s Black And White

Exploring light and dark....

Web...

What a clever spider, spinning a web so so close to the thing of beauty.  

For Sharon... remembering Sassy

My friend lost her cat Sassy ( her best friend, life long buddy) a few months ago.   I planted ten cent seeds from the dollar store and hoped they would bloom in remembrance. 

They did... the first bloom is gentle and small but it got a photo shoot.  Because it’s ok to be gentle and small and not perfect. 

Thanks to "Nik" #sunsetflowers