Welcome, everyone!
It’s the fourth week of the month! Are you ready for a theme prompt?
This month’s theme is:
In my perfect dream
I see a world united
A beautiful thing
accepting one another
like God always intended
I hope you enjoyed my Tanka. Thank you for stopping by and have a great day.
Hi, everyone! It’s the fourth week of the month, which means, we get a Theme Prompt! Merril D. Smith, the winner from last month’s challenge selected a quote from Shakespeare’s A Merchant of Venice as this month’s theme. Colleen’s 2020 Weekly Poetry Challenge
“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
― William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
After each good deed
no parade or accolades
Take a step higher
on heaven’s ladder until
you have reached St. Peter’s gate
I read The Merchant of Venice in high school, and I remember having mixed feelings about it. The Jewish loan shark (okay, moneylender) Shylock horrifed me with his request for a pound of flesh as payment for a loan.
Here’s a rough and short summary of the story: A man named Antonio owned a fleet of merchant ships. One day, a gold-digging friend of his, Bassanio asked him for a loan so that he could pursue a rich woman named Portia. But Antonio’s ships had not come in with his merchandise yet, so he had no money to lend him. Instead, Antonio tells his friend to ask Shylock for the loan promising that he’d pay it back once his ships return. When Bassanio asked Shylock for the loan, instead of charging extremely high rates of interest, as he usually did, the moneylender asked that a pound of Antonio’s flesh be the payment if the loan was not paid within three months.
Three months went by, and Antonio’s ships had not returned. He was told that they were lost at sea. It was time to repay the loan, but Antonio was broke. Shylock had him arrested and demanded his pound of flesh. Bassanio, now married to the heiress Portia, offered her money to pay the loan. However, Shylock held a grudge against Antonio because he considered him competition in the loan business and an anti-Semite (which he was). Shylock insisted he must be allowed to extract a pound of flesh from Antonio as per their contract.
Long story short (too late), Portia, (Bassanio’s rich wife) dressed as a lawyer (?) managed to safe Antonio’s life. She won the case against Shylock by stating that there was no mention of blood in the contract. Therefore, if he could extract a pound of flesh from Antonio without spilling any of his blood he could go ahead and do so, but if he spilled one drop of his blood he would go to jail. Of course, Shylock knew it would be impossible to cut out a pound of flesh from a man without an enormous amount of blood shed.
In the end, Shylock lost his daughter and part of his wealth to another of Antonio’s friends, and was forced to become a Christian (antisemitism). Antonio’s ships came in afterall, and he and his friends lived happily ever after with their spouses. At times, I viewed Shylock as a villain and other times as a victim. Nevertheless, The Merchant of Venice is a story worth reading.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a fabulous day!
Colleen’s Poetry Prompt Challenge. It’s the second week of the month! That means Synonyms ONLY!
“CALM & PRESENT”
He always soothes me generously giving me the best gift of all being present in the now securing my existence
Since September, 17.9 million acres of Australia have burned in one of the country’s worst fire seasons on record. That’s an area larger than West Virginia, and more than eight times the area that burned in California in 2018, the state’s most destructive year for wildfires.
The fires have now killed at least 27 people and destroyed almost 2,000 homes. The blazes turned skies orange and made breathing the air in Sydney as bad as smoking 37 cigarettes. Those are just the impacts on people. The destruction of the country’s land and biodiversity is harder to fathom. An estimated 1 billion animals have been lost, and scientists fear long-term damage to many sensitive ecosystems.
Though rain brought firefighters a slight reprieve Wednesday, the AP reports that hot and windy conditions that will keep the fires burning are expected to return later this week.
It’s a disaster that’s particularly ominous: In a warming world, extreme fire events like this one will only grow more likely to occur. – Australia Fires: 7 Things Everyone Should Know About The Brushfire Disaster.
What is happening in Australia right now is devastating. I feel terrible for the families that have lost loved ones and are suffering through this hellish brushfire disaster. The number of animals that have perished in the fire is perturbing. 1 Billion animals dead! The firefighters that are putting their lives at risk every day battling the flames are amazing. It is easy to feel helpless, especially if you live on the other side of the planet, but there are things we could do to help.
As if going into battle, the knapsack
full on my shoulders, its pipe and nozzle
slung up like a rifle.
We fought along the river, seeing shrubs
explode, riddled with fire,
eerie sounds of trees shrieking
like things alive, feral, flames like faces
spilling down into the ferns.
We staggered, sick with the hammering heat,
dousing endless flames that slammed at us
like nightmares, sullen ghosts
groping at our limbs. We plunged
into that day's red thunder,
subsumed like suiciders who stare into
the rifle, gulp the flame. Individuals
meandering in something huge.
We choked in smoking semi-darkness,
shadows through the lead-coloured
air of limbo.
Now the aching blistering weight
of the knapsack pulling my shoulders.
Exhaustion worries the scorched end
of some unity: thought and action
fused into one. Sagging now,
heavier than the slopping drums
behind the tractors coming in.
We see the new men walking in
and seem to meet our earlier selves
but are more certain and more tired.
I, older than my youth, seeing these men
as if they were children.
Colleen’s 2019 Weekly Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge No. 145 (Photo Prompt)
“There are skeletons in this earth.”
–Corinne Duyvis
Thank you for visiting! I hope you enjoyed my double Cinquain!
Well, I’m off to work on my WIP. I hope you have a wonderful day!
Enchant and Fly are this week’s prompt words chosen by Colleen Chesebro ~ The Fairy Whisperer.
*The catch is that we can only use the synonyms to these words in our poems.
Colleen hosts a challenge that anyone could participate in called, Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge every Tuesday, and you have until Sunday to create a post featuring your Haiku, Tanka, Haibun, Etheree or Cinquain poem. She is an author and poet, and also does book reviews and so much more on her blog. Be sure to check it out.
Hello, everyone!
I do not have a poem for you today. Instead, I’d like to invite you to head over to author, C.S. Boyack’s blog, Entertaining Stories where the main character of my new book, Son of the Serpent is being interviewed by Lisa the robot girl on her show, Lisa Burton Radio. Please head on over there and check it out and let me know what you think. Thank you!
Welcome all you demonologists, and exorcists. You’ve landed on Lisa Burton Radio, the only show that brings you the characters from the books you love. I’m your host, Lisa the robot girl, and have I got a seasonal treat for you today. “Welcome to the show, Dracúl.”
“I’m not sure how to take that welcome Lisa but I am pleased to be here.”
“So many times, characters get a bad rap, an underserved reputation if you like. There is good and bad in everyone. Give our listeners an idea about your childhood.”
“I do not agree that there is good and bad in everyone. Some creatures are just bad. As far as my childhood – I did not have one. I woke up in a forest one night as a child with no recollection of who or what I was or what I was doing there. All my memories were…
View original post 1,709 more words
My novel, The Fall of Lilith’s latest review is featured at Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore along with several other Authors/ Books. Please visit Sally’s blog and check out all the wonderful books with their latest reviews. Thank you!
Hi everyone! Head on over to Colleen Chesebro the Fairy Whisperer’s blog and check out my short horror story! Thank you and enjoy!
Since it’s Halloween, I have another special treat. I’ve invited fantasy/horror author, Vashti Quiroz-Vega to share a terrifying tale with you all. It’s a spooky read, so be prepared to get the shivers! Vashti said, “It’s a story that I wrote years ago (2013), and I’ve completely revised it for your blog.”
But first, let me introduce you to Vashti. I’ve had the pleasure of reading her poetry and stories for a few years now. Vashti and I also share the love of Pomeranians, with both of us owning dogs of this breed. She writes some scary stuff, so grab a cup of coffee and settle in. This is one Halloween tale you won’t forget!
AUTHOR: Vashti Quiroz-Vega
Vashti Quiroz-Vega is a writer of fantasy, horror, and suspense/thriller. When she isn’t creating extraordinary worlds or fleshing out powerful characters, she enjoys reading, traveling, kayaking, photography, and seeking adventures.
An award-winning…
View original post 2,988 more words
♦
Pleasure and Excite are this week’s prompt words chosen by Ronovan Hester of Ronovan Writes.
Ron hosts a challenge that anyone could participate in called Ronovan Writes Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge every Monday, and you have until Sunday to create a post featuring your haiku poem. He is an author and poet and also does author interviews and much more on his blog. Be sure to check it out. Read Ron’s Haiku Prompt Challenge Guidelines for more information.
♦
Image from Pixabay
♦
by Vashti Q
♦
♦
Image from Pixabay
♦
Click to buy The Basement
Click on image to enter to win.
Thank you for voting!
Read a chapter from The Basement
Words written when connected with God
Having fun, while encouraging, and promoting bloggers
Author, Inspirational Blogger, Book Reviewer & Promoter (James J. Cudney)
I discover, motivate and rejuvenate here !!
And so it goes...
Vigilante Justice
Honest Recommendations On the Best Books of 2020
Cherish The Written Word
I saw the Angel in the marble, And I carved till I set him free.. Every story has an impact, each tale matters
Recent Comments