Stellar Evolutions

 My poem 'Devoured' and story 'Till all the Seas Go Dry' have been included in the Stellar Evolutions anthology of selected pieces from the first 15 issues of Polar Borealis magazine. Here is an announcement on the SF Canada website, which includes links for more information and to order via Amazon:  https://www.sfcanada.org/stellar-evolutions-edited-by-rhea-rose/

It is Still. . .

It is still winter for us.

Though the leaves spread and the buds swell,

Though the soil warms and the birds build

Nurseries, and the frogs rest from their spawning.

Our buds are still closed, our branches bare,

As we wait for the benediction of release:

The sweet summer, the easy summer,

Gathered on the grass as careless as the dandelions.

Story in Polar Borealis

My story, 'Till All the Seas Go Dry' is in the latest issue of Polar Borealis, which can be read/downloaded free at this link:

http://polarborealis.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/POLAR-BOREALIS-14-April-2020.pdf

Do it At Home

This morning I was discussing the current situation with my husband, and he used the phrase "Times have changed," which set me into "And we've often rewound the clock. . ." And then of course I had to come up with a few lyrics:

A month ago, we filled our schedules
With classes and jobs and revels
But now we all
Do it at home
Good teachers too have left the classroom
And are learning how to zoom
Over chrome and
Do it at home.

If watching shows you like
If mangling prose you like
If drinking beers you like
If throwing spears you like
If taking a test you like
While you're undressed you like
No one will oppose
But don't forget to wash your hands my friends,
And until this pandemic ends,
Do not roam:
Do it at home.

World Storytelling Day - Monkey and the Five Pillars video

We held a virtual tellaround on the Storytelling Alberta facebook page to celebrate World Storytelling day this year. Here is a link to my video of me telling the story 'Monkey and the Five Pillars':

https://www.facebook.com/StorytellingAlberta/videos/1390416794483535/

For more about Monkey, check out the classic book by Wu Ch'eng-en or one of the many adaptations. I am partial to the TV series I used to watch as a kid. (Full of 70s wackiness!) Here is a link to the theme song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-SUoHmpRdM

Much love and gratitude to all those across the Pacific who are leading the way.

Another Poem (for Winter)

I was going through some of my old scribble files looking for something with a summer theme, and found a rather sweet little thing on the opposite topic that I'd forgotten about. Thought I would share:

The sun that shines in winter

Is the most welcome sun of all,

It makes the snowdrifts glitter,

It makes my house feel small.

For when I stand in sunlight

With the sky so wide above,

My heart that was curled up tight

Opens itself to joy and love.

A little poem for 2020

When we stop respecting those who make the messes

More than those who clean them up

No one will be afraid to go barefoot

Because the shards of arrogance

Will have been patiently gathered

And melted into lenses of clear vision.