The Quills Issue 7

Grateful to have 3 artwork, 1 tanka prose, and a book review of my picture book, Will You Still Love me? A Puppy Haiku Story in the Quills Issue 7. Thank you so much, editors Hemapriya Chellappan and Oni Tomiwa Olanrewaju.

"Dreaming of Summer"

                                        "Cast a Spell"                                

"On a Whim"

You can download the pdf of the full issue here. 

Poetry Salon: Abundance

 So honored to have my alcohol ink art as cover in Poetry Salon. 

I also have and another art piece one cherita prose in this issue. 

My pandemic days often start with an abundance of circles. Every morning, when I open my eyes, I see my dog’s button eyes staring back at me. The clock on the wall says it’s time to take her outside. In the backyard, dapples of sunlight dance around the pots of pansies and succulents as she winds around the trees and bushes. After her morning playtime, we go straight to the kitchen. While my sunny-side-up eggs are sizzling on the pan, she slurps some water from her bowl. We begin our afternoon activities. She naps on her favorite couch or sits right behind my back until it is time for our evening walk. I, on the other hand, do my work on the computer or drop splashes of colors on my craft paper. Like the circles on my art pieces, I feel safe and protected in my own little world.

millions of dots
in the dark sky

from within

in limitless possibilities
my mind and heart
expand

 I'm happy to be featured with the very talented, Christina Chin. Thank you, Kathabela Wilson. Your introduction is awesome as always.

Where Tanka Prose Grows 2019 (First Place)

I still can't believe that I won first place! I had two tanka written for the prose and I keep changing my mind. Too bad I can never know if I still would have won if I submitted the other tanka. Thank you so much to Amanda DCosta and Susan Burch for organizing this contest every year. 

Hope you enjoy my first attempt in submitting to this contest!

Eclipsed

     As soon as my eyes are closed, I’m swept into a library of dusty memories. The heaviest book from my crammed bookshelf easily slips between my hands. I’ve no choice because it opens itself and I’m instantly wearing my green and white uniform. Over and over, I stumble on the same sentences. I grasp for more words from a poem which I know I’ve memorized a hundred times. Nothing comes back to me. All I can gather are beads of sweat.

Then I miss the bus. Or did I just ride the wrong bus? Someone is waiting for me at home. He's now pacing back and forth while I’m going around in circles. Should I call and say I’m running late? Why can’t I remember anybody’s phone number?

I scurry in and out of shopping malls. Where’s the red dress I saw the other day? I rummage through a stack of clothes bins and squiggle my way deep into the bottom. Deeper…Deeper… Before I know it, I find myself running to a bus stop. I’m so relieved to see four-wheel vehicles leading to somewhere… But where is home? I try to fly. I know I could fly at one time. Maybe this time I would.

“What’s happening here? Why am I at the wrong side of the freeway? I’m going back to Oroville!!! We are supposed to be on our way to Sacramento?” his voice an octave higher.

I wake up from a haze, wondering which one isn’t real. 

a spiral

winding to the center

of a moon shell . . .

that time when I lived 

in a world of paper dolls

***Comment by contestants: This is an interesting tanka prose that presents a dreamlike state to the reader. The title and tanka work too.   I like the fact that the title has more than one meaning. I am not sure the last line of the prose is needed. One quibble is I was distracted by the several question-mark sentences in the second paragraph.

Click the link here to the website so you can see the other winners and enjoy their tanka prose as well.

Sonic Boom Issue 2 (tanka prose)

Elegy

 

Every day is a chore. The most difficult time of day is when I need to drag myself out of bed in the mornings. I hate waking up to a pile of dishes in the sink, dirty clothes strewn all over the bedroom floor, books and magazines lying around the house, phone messages of friends who worry about where I am.

 

There are a few things I consistently love to do, though. Brunch is composed of tea and honey, toast, and soft-boiled eggs. I eat in front of the computer to see what's new with my Facebook friends. The chat room is left open through the day just so that I have company, even if I don't feel like talking at all.

 

Then, I'm lost in a shuffle of to-do lists. Nothing gets accomplished as I move from one colossal project to another.

 

without you

I stumble on memories

I thought I'd forgotten . . .

the words of an elegy

finally complete

Healing Conversations with Mildred

     The edited show Healing Coversations on Firefly Willows is now posted on BlogTalkRadio.

     Here is the link: 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fireflywillowslive/2013/11/03/healing-conversations-with-mildred-lynn

     This is absolutely a learning experience for me. I wasn't very comfortable talking on air because I wasn't sure how to naturally start talking once I was asked to speak. I also think I was talking to fast.
     
     Yet, I was thrilled to share my tanka prose and poetry. If I'm not mistaken, I shared 6 sets. I also felt good being able to share some of my lessons and thoughts about grief and loss. 

     Some people may not like the idea of finding answers or comfort through a psychic, but for me it worked. I think I'm like other people who are open to anything to explore some answers from different ways. As long as it's not harmful to me and it helps me get through the pain and sorrow, then nothing is wrong with it.

     I hope you enjoy the show and that you learned something from it. :-)

Haiku-Doodle: Chrissi's Song

     Today is the first day of November. It's a perfect day to start striving hard to write daily as I used to.
     So, here goes....

     On Facebook, Margaret wrote this...

     Today, Chrissi Villa offers her clear and present voice to the All Souls posts on my blog. The tanka prose she shares there, in honor of her late husband, is a welcome addition to a week-and-a-half of poetic tributes that seem to have taken on lives of their own.

    http://haikudoodle.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/chrissis-song/
    
      I'm honored to have my tanka prose featured in the series of "banka" or dead poems that she is currently posting right now. Her blog is now open for any poet who would like to contribute a short poem in honor of a loved one. This is her 4th year of posting tributes in memory of All Souls Day/Day of the Dead.

     Click this link for more details.