Prodigal Moon Poem #WeWriWa

 

Genre:

Poetry plus a supernatural coming of age story (vampires). 

Buy Link:

https://amzn.to/3vz8uXw 

Publication Date:

February 15, 2024

Ebook Price:

$1.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited

Book Blurb:

The poems, story, and thoughts included in this brief volume were inspired by the independently produced album Wayward and Upward by Spinoza Gambit. The story Prodigal Moon and the poem 401 Rush were included in the Wayward and Upward anthology published by Off Topic Press.

I opted to publish this book on my 59th birthday. It would be a wonderful gift to learn that my work inspired you or led you to learn more about the Wayward and Upward album and anthology.

With love,

Ornery Owl

Book Length:

49 pages

Excerpt

About Prodigal Moon

I was inspired by the idea of something that disappears and returns on a predictable schedule (the visible moon) and something that cannot return (a lost love.)

Prodigal Moon 

Prodigal moon

You can spin me a silent tune

But you can’t return my love to me

I dare you to try

Catch him on the fly

Before he escapes ‘cross the sea

Author Bio

Ornery Owl is a wise old bird who seeks the truth behind the lies. She uses her observations to heal the wounded soul. In essence, she is the spirit of an odd little bird whose wings were clipped at a young age. She is at once a whimsical manifestation of poetic expression and a fierce protector of those targeted for derision by an angry and unsympathetic world. Depending on how you perceive her, she can be either a goddamned delight or your worst nightmare.   

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Ornery Owl's Mercifully Brief End of Post Rumination

No one:

“Gosh, I wonder how Ornery Owl deals with imposter syndrome.”

Me:

“Well, boy howdy, I’m glad you asked! Let me tell you all about that!”

The answer:

I still haven’t got that shit figured out.

I know I’m capable of writing between 1000 and 2000 words a day, no problem.

I take on multiple writing projects every month.

I complete at least one project every month.

I submit or self-publish something every month.

Yet I still find myself thinking “I just can’t do this” and sabotaging myself every month, waiting till the last minute to complete said project.

http://wewriwa.blogspot.com

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

Happy Valentine's Day aka Eat Chocolate Day and One Day Before Ornery Owl's Birthday aka Resting Bitch Face That Never Rests Day from the fiends at Naughty Netherworld Press.

Do you need a last-minute Valentine's Day gift for the coffee lover in your life? No problem! Grab the Valentine's Day box with these premium items while supplies last, or craft your own gift box anytime!

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$59.00

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Charity Sunday: Denver Rescue Mission #SnipSun

 

Image by Leroy Skalstad from Pixabay

When I was working delivering groceries and takeout in downtown Denver, I often drove by the Denver Rescue Mission. Their work is never done. There isn't enough room to accommodate everyone, so I would see homeless folks outside. 

I saw a group of people in wheelchairs huddling together to keep warm.

I saw an elderly man with a walker sitting up against the wall.

The nearby trash cans tend to be perpetually overflowing. The police are always in close proximity, but I never witnessed anyone causing problems. 

I would be homeless myself if it hadn't been for my son allowing me to live with him. After I was fired from my more-than-full-time job in March of 2017, I could no longer keep up with the bills. I was never able to work full-time again because of my increasing levels of disability. From that day forward I was only able to do low-paying contract work and my reserves quickly disappeared.

The house that my son and I now live in is bought and paid for thanks to the generosity of his dad, who used the money he inherited from his aunt to purchase it.

I don't dislike my ex-husband. Far from it. We divorced amicably in 1994. We have been family to each other for years. 

There should be no homelessness, but with the cost of housing, it is becoming reality for more and more people.

My family has given to the Denver Rescue Mission for decades. I will donate a dollar for every comment I receive on this post.

https://denverrescuemission.org/ways-to-give/

The following is an excerpt from my newly-published poetry volume, December Mood.

Our Last Stand

Free use image by Peter H on Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/gang-floor-pforphoto-house-4058017/

When I was young, I believed that my dreams would come true eventually if I just believed hard enough. I believed that when I wished on a star that fairies or angels would work to make my wishes come true.

I believed that if I worked hard, I would be accepted into the Magical World of Shiny Happy People that lay beyond the Wall of Despair.

Then my body failed me.

My son and I moved away from the city to a town far from anywhere.

My Big Bright Dreams are dead and gone, but I believed that perhaps a few people would pay a couple dollars to read my little stories.

My money is gone.

I had one last chance

to turn defeat to triumph

I failed our last stand

there is nothing behind the wall

except a space where the wind whistles

144 words

Prompts used and how the poem was created:

D’Verse Poets: Write a piece of prose incorporating the given verse.

https://dversepoets.com/2020/11/09/of‐houses‐walls‐and‐whistling‐winds/

The verse is:

“there is nothing behind the wall

except a space where the wind whistles”

from “Drawings by Children” by Lisel Mueller

What I wrote is a non‐standard Haibun. For those who don’t know, a Haibun is a piece of prose followed by a Haiku. Mine is non‐standard because I placed the two lines above at the end of the Haibun. I originally had them at the beginning of the piece, but I thought they worked better following the Haiku.

If this form goes utterly against the prompt, the hosts of the hop can feel free to remove my link.

I won’t take it personally. I’m too damn tired.

What I wrote is not fiction. It is the Reader’s Digest Condensed Soup version of an entirely autobiographical situation. I would not recommend eating too much of this soup. It will give you heartburn and a bellyache.

The November PAD Chapbook Challenge prompt for today was to write an “our blank” poem.

The title of the Haibun is “Our Last Stand,” and those words also appear in the Senryu portion following the prose.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write‐better‐poetry/2020‐november‐pad‐chapbook‐challengeday‐9

The word of the day is Triumph, which also appears in the Senryu. I have to say that I feel anything but triumphant in this moment. In fact, I feel like I’m going to hurl.

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2020/11/09/triumph/

Buy Links

This book is always free from Kindle Unlimited. The price to own a copy is $2.99.

https://amzn.to/328embo

The PDF is available from Payhip for $1.50, which is approximately half of the Amazon price. Any tip included to help offset fees set by Paypal and Payhip is appreciated.

https://bit.ly/DecMoodPH

Or buy the PDF on Odysee for 15 LBC, which is approximately half the Amazon price. The value of an LBC at the time of this posting was approximately $0.05. 

https://bit.ly/DecMoodOd

http://www.facebook.com/groups/SnippetSunday

Weekend Writing Warriors: December Mood #8Sunday SnipSun

 

Genre: Poetry

Words: Approximately 20,000.

Heat Level: Nuclear blast for outrage. Frozen ocean on Neptune for sex.

Blurb

This is my third poetry volume. Per the description on Amazon:

Ornery Owl is a curmudgeonly crone who does not play by the rules. She is a proud feminist and not the fun kind. She is a mother who wonders what kind of world she will be leaving her son. She hopes against hope that her words will prompt people to think and make changes for the better.

The works in this poetry collection were written in the autumn and winter of 2020. They are filled with anger and appreciation, gratitude and grief, hope and outrage, trauma and healing. They cover topics such as abuse, bullying, body image, eating disorders, PTSD, misogyny, sexual assault, size shaming, and climate change.

The words are the real, honest revelations of a disabled woman who was repeatedly misused before learning to respect herself. You may resonate with the words, but know that they have the potential to awaken painful emotions and trigger disturbing memories. Hopefully, they may also inspire those who need the nudge to become their own advocates.

Snippet

YOUR TRUE LIGHT

Be shining your light

In time of new beginnings

Light need not be bright

Don't let naysayers stop you

From sharing your true talent

Further Thoughts: Your True Light

A few years ago, I wasn't in a great place mentally. In truth, I haven't been in a great place mentally for most of my life. For me, poetry has always been the one place where I can let it bleed. The medium doesn't judge, but people still do because, let's face it, people suck.

There was a commenter who referred to the angry, dark poetry that I was writing at the time as "cathartic" and said something along the lines of that I would one day be "a beacon of light for the world."

This made me see red for a couple of reasons.

Buy Links

This book is always free from Kindle Unlimited. It will be free to own between December 17 and December 21, 2021. The normal price is $2.99.

https://amzn.to/328embo

The PDF is available from Payhip for $1.50, which is approximately half of the Amazon price. Any tip included to help offset fees set by Paypal and Payhip is appreciated.

https://bit.ly/DecMoodPH

Or buy the PDF on Odysee for 15 LBC, which is approximately half the Amazon price. The value of an LBC at the time of this posting was approximately $0.05. 

https://bit.ly/DecMoodOd

Hoppin' Around the Xmahanukwanzyule Tree

http://www.facebook.com/groups/SnippetSunday

http://wewriwa.blogspot.com

Readers Roost Spots Open

I have spots open for promo posts on Readers Roost. https://bit.ly/ReadersRoost

All I need is a media kit or HTML-ready post. Include any images you'd like to have in the post such as a banner, book cover, and author photo if desired.

Email me at chartley65 at gmail dot com with BOOK PROMO in the subject line. You can also leave a comment on any post at Readers Roost with your email and I'll contact you. 

I have some availability to do book reviews but those take longer as I'm quite busy with my own projects. Promo posts are much easier for me to manage.

Happy holidays to everyone!

Sly Speaks + Fat Friday + Friday Flashback: Diet Culture Rhetoric Is Not Poetry

This poignant gem was originally published on 17 January 2010 on my now-retired poetry blog.

life It would be far easier to diet if I didn't like food.

This, apparently, was the entire-ass poem.

A year later, I would finally take the long-needed step of ditching diet culture for good.

That is a terrible statement, let alone being a terrible poem. 

It isn't even a poem, it's a blurb. A very stupid and brainwashed blurb. It's a tweet that shouldn't have been tweeted. It is a lot of things, none of them good. A poem it is not. 

The Chili Bean Tanka is a better poem, and it is not a good poem. In fact, it is close to Vogon poetry in its poetic injustice.

It goes a little bit something like this.

I ate the chili

between the beans and the spice

digestive horror

beneath the cover of night

noxious eruptions take place

As I mentioned previously, I struggled over the holidays. My abusive partner ED (Eating Disorder) reared his ugly head and I relapsed into my old restrictive eating and self-loathing patterns. Which, by the way, never made me thin, they just fucked my metabolism over and made me hate myself even more. 

However, reading this micro-poem that should not be, I could see where I'd been myopic in my criticism of a poet whose book I reviewed recently. I gave the book overall high praise, but I stated that her "poem" which read as follows, and I quote:

love ends but calories are forever

was not so much a poem as unfortunate diet culture rhetoric, and I wouldn't want to read it as a tweet, let alone in a book of poetry.

Given the unseemly evidence above, that critique was hypocritical of me.

However, there is a lesson to be learned.

Next time you think publishing a pithy pearl of poignant perspicacity such as this...

Go to the kitchen and grab yourself a snack. Or at least have something to drink. Your blood sugar may be low because if you think that's worth publishing, you obviously haven't been thinking clearly. Step out for a breath of air and clear your head of the Diet Culture nonsense. You've obviously bitten off more of it than you can chew.

That being said, Words Written in the Dark is, overall, a thoughtful and thought-provoking volume of modern poetry, and I recommend it highly.

Fat and Ornery

Image copyright Open Clipart Vectors

Ornery Literary Services

Sly and Snarky

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