Announcements For the Week of 9 December 2019

Image by Darwin Laganzon from Pixabay

Due to the forthcoming WEP Challenge story on December 10, there will be no Tidbit Tuesday this week. Tidbit Tuesday will resume December 17.

The Battle of the Poems continues. I have only one participant for most of the poems. Come on, People, vote! It will help me to decide which poems to enter in the November PAD Chapbook Challenge final.

Naughty Netherworld Press' first non-erotic novelette or novella (to be determined at final word count) is due to be published at the beginning of 2020! Check the Weekend Writing Warriors tag to enjoy the current snippets from Ketil and Yitzy's Adventures in the Xura Dream House. This twenty-first-century New Cthulhu Mythos buddy tale features a group of outcasts trying to save the Cosmos. Will the unlikely heroes triumph, or will Earth fall to Nyarlathotep as so many worlds have before?

I am preparing to finalize my manuscript for the Waters Edge poetry competition. I honestly never expect to win these things because my mind does not work the way the minds of the judges of such competitions work, and I'm not going to pretend to be something I'm not. If my entry wins, they will publish a chapbook of my manuscript. If it doesn't, I'll publish the chapbook. Either way, look for my Another Autumn poetry collection in 2020.

I hope to get back into participating in the Pegman and Mindlovemisery's Menagerie prompts in 2020. I always enjoy those.

That's all the announcements for now. If I suddenly become insanely wealthy, I will have a butt-ton of lucrative giveaways in 2020! If I do not become insanely wealthy (which, let's face it, is the more realistic possibility) I will still have several literary and craft giveaways in 2020. 

Ornery Literary Services

Beta reading, proofreading, editing, book reviews

Will work for tips and links

Haikai Challenge #116 + Haiku My Heart: Cold Moon

the cold moon looks down

on a quiet little town

as the year runs out

~Cie~

Notes:

The Haiga and the Haikai Challenge logo were both created using stock images and the free Pixlr online photo editor. If you share the Haiga, please credit me. Please feel free to use the Haikai Challenge logo, no credit necessary.

Heeding Haiku: First Snowfall

Image Source

outside my new home

the first snow begins to fall

melancholy hope

~Cie~

Carpe Diem #1791: Bare Branches

Image Source

bare branches

a painting against the blue sky

leaves under my feet

crunch foretelling coming snow

chill breeze blowing through the air

bare branches like claws

reach into the great unknown

hard winter ahead

too little snow or too much

the wind chills me to my bones

the blue sky turns gray

the snow begins to fall down

blown by the cold wind

I retreat inside the house

the cold tries to reach me there

the leaves are long gone

to the earth or raked away

nothing can linger

things that lose their youthful shine

are hidden away from view

unforgiving sky

tells of foul weather to come

thankful for warning

I plan my week according

to the weather prophecy

chill breeze cuts through me

its cruelty refreshing

brutal honesty

the winter shows no mercy

to anything in its path

~Cie~

Notes:

The Hokku of the first verse was written by Yozakura the Unknown Haiku Poet. The rest can be attributed to me.

Carpe Diem #1790: Sunset Flowers

Image Source

seen for a moment

in the last of the sunlight

sparkling wet flowers

~Cie~

Notes:

Here is the poem by Matsuo Basho (1644 - 1694) provided for inspiration.

in the twilight rain

these brilliant-hued hibiscus -

a lovely sunset.

Battle of the Poems 2019: Day 1

Image by Andrew Martin from Pixabay

The rules are simple! Leave a comment telling me which poem you like best.

Poem 1:

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time

I dreamed

once upon a time

he was

but now there's nothing left

except the misery

as summer disappears

and the barkers burst the colorful balloons

and take down the faire

players only love you

when you bring them money

gas, grass, or ass

no-one rides for free

little boys grow up

become corrupt

use and throw away

stupid girls

once upon a time

I believed in something

once upon a time

I thought someone waited for me

now I know the truth

the only one waiting 'round the corner

to put his arms around me

is death

that no matter where I am

I'm just two steps ahead of that man

some days I'm philosophical

some days I'm scared out of my fucking mind

and some days I'd welcome the bastard

with open arms

once upon a time

you were mine

you loved this wretched, broken thing

but like a leaf on the breeze you blew away

some things are too corrupted to love 

I thought I saw you coming back to me

but then I woke from my dream

the fairytale disappeared

in a puff of smoke

like Little Jackie Paper

you snuffed out your dreams of Puff

dragons aren't real

magic only exists in fairy tales

and love is nothing but a lie

once upon a time

I believed in happy ever after

now I only believe

that dreams vanish

and hearts break

and

everything

dies

~

Poem 2

Alpha to Omega

all alone adrift

boiling bad blood brew

chewing cyanide capsules

drinking death's draught

exhaling exotic excitotoxins

feeling fancy-free

gladly grabbing green

hoarding hazy hemlock

incinerating incriminating images

jaded joy juxtaposed

kicking kaleidoscopic kings

love long lost

makes me mad

nothing nice nevermore

only old offerings

placate pagan poltergeists

quietly quaffing quince

rebellious rogues repel

sweetly singing satyrs

thrilling tap-dancing troubadours

unique undines undulate

vanquishing vicious villains

while winsome warblers

xor xanthic xenophobes

yesterday's yearning youth

zap zingy Zambonis

Which one do you choose? One or two? You can leave an explanation, or just say which one you like.

Remember, whoever participates the most often will receive a $5 Amazon gift card. In the event of a tie, I will invoke the mighty coin, dice, or what have you.

~Cie~

We're back!

What Lunch Looked Like

How y'all am are? I was not expecting to be back so soon, but, as fate would have it, I'm here and so are you! So, let's do this!

After spending a freezing night without power in the old Grover Hotel, the Ornery Old Lady (that's me) and Sonny Boy headed to Greeley to gather up some supplies in case we were looking at another night to a week or more of this. We stopped at Taco John's, a place I haven't been to in some 35 years. In fact, that's where I made my last post from!

I was glad to find that Taco John's still tastes the same, but the price about knocked me out of the ballpark. Twenty bucks for a chicken quesadilla, a stuffed taco, Potato Ole's, drinks, and some guacamole, queso, and sour cream. Honestly, it's not that bad for today's prices, but I can remember when I was in high school and would go to Taco John's instead of eating the cafeteria swill. I'd have five bucks on me and get a whole meal and still get change back. Well, so it goes.

We went to Home Depot and bought a propane-powered space heater and looked into getting a backup generator. We picked up a snow shovel, which I thought was steel. It was aluminum and it bent easily. Not a winner there. We got a flashlight and a mini lantern. Then we headed to visit my son's second cousins on his father's side. They said that if the power was going to be out for a while, we could bring the cats and stay with them.

We hit the King Soopers to get some nonperishables like crackers and tinned kippers and then headed for home.

My son was reading the instructions for the space heater and I was getting the snow shovel out of the car when he came running out in an excited mood. The power was back on! I looked down the street to see the blinking red light just beyond the general store, and it never looked so beautiful!

It's still colder than a well-digger's ass in the old Hotel, but the furnace is back on and the temperature is rising. I've got salmon, potatoes, and corn in the oven. I also have (I hope) a fun opportunity.

I am going to need help deciding which poems to put in my manuscript for the November PAD Chapbook Challenge. So, for the next month, I will be having a Battle of the Poems. I will put up two poems, and I would like readers to decide which of the two they prefer. You can give me a reason, or just say "I like number (one or two) best." 

There will be a prize as an incentive for helping me. 

The person who comments on the most poems will receive a $5 Amazon gift card in their email. In the event that there is a tie, I will use a coin, dice, or Random Number Generator to help me choose.

I think this will be fun, and I hope I can get a few people to play along.

The first Battle of the Poems will appear tomorrow!

~Cie~