My husband and I went for a Harley ride last Saturday. It was a beautiful day in the low 80s, with no wind, cloudless blue sky, and the road to ourselves at times. I didn’t think I’d be inspired to write poetry until we drove by two tall rock walls that got me thinking and creating. It was a much-needed moment where all my stress and worries disappeared, and I became a part of the surrounding trees and nature.
The format is 3/5/3/3/7/5 and has a title. I went with an experience I just had with a little hummingbird when I finally got outside after the smoke cleared for the day. It was so beautiful and fresh that I thought it was a good day to write poetry. The hummingbird, a male ruby redthroat, came inches from my face and we looked at each other for several seconds—or eternity. I took it as a good message 🙂
I’m excited to have fellow author, M. J. Mallon here today to share the release of her latest book: “The Hedge Witch & the Musical Poet.” I’ve included my review.
Blurb
The Hedge Witch & The Musical Poet is a collection of poetry and flash fiction celebrating the beautiful vulnerability of the forest kingdom. It begins with the poetic tale of the kind-hearted Hedge Witch, Fern, who discovers an injured stranger in desperate need of her woodland spells and magic.
The sweet pairing learn from each other and through Fern’s guidance, Devin embraces the power of magic to leave behind his trouble past to become The Musical Poet.
Poetry/flash fiction titles in section one of the collection include:
The Hedge Witch & The Musical Poet, Rain Forest Love, A Forest Baby Boy, A Forest Baby Girl, A Modern Witch, Rock of Mine, Chester Don & I, The Network of Trees, More Trees Not Less, Two Boys Watching War, Mum Climbing Trees, Let’s Play, The Scorched Tree, Owl’s Holiday Home, A Man’s Holiday Home, A Child’s Excitement, The Teddy In The Woods, Run! The Organutans, All Hallow’s Eve Candy Girl The Forest Bash, Dreaming At Halloween, A Face on Bark, Golden Willow Tree, Rainbow – Parasol of Light, Lollipop Sunshine Tree,
In Section two I pay tribute to the following poets:Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, Ruby Archer, King Forest, Bliss Carman, Woodland Rain, Emily Dickinson, Who Robbed the Woods, Rupert Blake, Stopping by The Woods on A Winter Evening,Oscar Wilde, In the Forest.
With my poetry:
The Forest Weeps, The Forest King, Raindrops and Childhood Dreams, The Woodland Treasures, Winter Woodland Moon, Child Me.
A unique and beautifully written collection of poetry and fiction weaved magically together. I love trees and nature, so a forest setting pulled me right in. Section one starts off with “The Hedge Witch & The Musical Poet.” A whimsical tale of an injured man, Dale, found by a magical woman, Fern, who takes him in to heal. It was great to see a couple more poetic pieces continue this sweet journey. Section two offered poetry based on some famous poems. The beautiful imagery captivated me throughout this book. I appreciated all the poetry and prose, especially “The Hedge Witch & The Musical Poet” but here are more favorites, “Rock of Mine,” “The Forest King,” and “The Scorched Tree.” It was great to see a couple of samples that I enjoyed from “Mr. Sagittarius Poetry and Prose” included. If you love poetry and flash fiction, especially the forest and magic, this is a collection you won’t want to miss. I plan to add the print version to my bookshelves so I can keep enjoying it.
Author Bio
MJ’s favourite genres to write are Fantasy YA, Paranormal, Ghost and Horror Stories, various forms of poetry and flash fiction. She celebrates the spiritual realm, love of nature and all things magical, mystical, and mysterious at her blog home: https://mjmallon.com
She is a reading, blogging and photography enthusiast!
M J Mallon was born in Lion city Singapore, a passionate Scorpio with the Chinese Zodiac sign of a lucky rabbit. She spent her early childhood in Hong Kong. During her teen years, she returned to her father’s childhood home, Edinburgh where she spent many happy years, entertained, and enthralled by her parents’ vivid stories of lliving and working abroad. Perhaps it was during these formative years that her love of storytelling began bolstered by these vivid raconteurs. She counts herself lucky to have travelled to many far-flung destinations and this early wanderlust has fuelled her present desire to emigrate abroad. Until that wondrous moment, it’s rumoured that she lives in the UK, in the Venice of Cambridge with her six-foot hunk of a rock god husband. Her two enchanting daughters have flown the nest but often return with a cheery smile.
MJ writes fantasy/magical realism because life should be sprinkled with a liberal dash of extraordinarily imaginative magic! Her motto is to always do what you love, stay true to your heart’s desires, and inspire others to do so too, even it if appears that the odds are stacked against you like black-hearted shadows.
AWARDS
The First book in the Curse of Time series Bloodstone has received many fantastic reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and other platforms and was awarded a finalist book award recently from Amazon influencer N. N. Light, receiving a review rating of 5+stars.
Her writing credits also include a multi-genre approach: paranormal, best-selling horror, supernatural short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She has worked with some amazing authors and bloggers compiling an anthology/compilation set during the early stages of COVID-19 entitled This Is Lockdown and has also written a spin off poetry collection entitled Lockdown Innit.
She’s been blogging for many moons at her blog home Kyrosmagica, (which means Crystal Magic.) where she continues to celebrate the spiritual realm,her love of nature, crystals and all things magical, mystical, and mysterious.
Her eclectic blog shares details and information about her new releases, author interviews, character profiles and her love of reading, reviewing, writing, and photography: https://mjmallon.com/
INDIE PUBLISHED BOOKS
Mr. Sagittarius Poetry and Prose, (with photography,) This is Lockdown, (an anthology,) and Lockdown Innit Poems about Absurdity and The Hedge Witch & The Musical Poet. http://mybook.to/MrSagittarius
mybook.to/Thisislockdown
mybook.to/Lockdowninnit
Next Chapter Publishing
YA Fantasy series, Bloodstone and Golden Healer in The Curse of Time.
For details of publications please visit: https://www.nextchapter.pub/authors/mj-mallon
Bloodstone Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/bOyrgW
Bloodstone Audiobook:
UK: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Bloodstone-Audiobook/B09SK9GFB1/
US: https://www.audible.com/author/M-J-Mallon/B074CGNK4L
Golden Healer Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mgjY67
CONTRIBUTIONS TO VARIOUS ANTHOLOGIES
Word Weaving #1: A Word Craft Journal of Syllabic Verse
Moons of Autumn by Colleen
Chesebro (Poetry,) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09DWDMXWK
Poetry Treasures 2 Relationships compiled by Kaye Lynn Booth & Robbie
Cheadle: https://books2read.com/u/3kP8aK
100 Ways To Write A Book Alex Pearl (proceeds to Pen International.)
Darkness descends
Crushing my soul
clouds hide the stars
hope in the past
youth was breezy
love abundant
happiness flowed
moonbeams magic
I take my path
make the journey
Darkness descends
I went with a haibun but also used this picture for inspiration or an ekphrastic.
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Point of View
I started this journey so long ago. Every corner turned, I’d find another identical rocky path. It’s been day after day of the same. Each day is longer than the one before it. Although there is food, water, and a place to rest, there are also unpleasant reminders that others have made the same trek. Having no choice, I have only added to that. Occasionally, I’d see a golden light off in the distance shimmering through the open-top tunnel. Encouraged, I quickened my pace toward it. Finally, when I got there, the light would disappear, and I’d be back in the darkness. It’s been a cruel game that has gone on for too long. The promise of finding the meaning of life no longer held my interest. I didn’t care anymore. The problem was, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find my way out of this torture chamber. When I realized I had been looking at this from the wrong perspective. I climbed the wall.
This is a haibun which is a prose paragraph combined with haiku or senryu. I enjoy offering stories or even insights in this format.
Personal Paradise Lost
In a burst of color, the last of the day falls into night’s waiting hands. I sit on the rocky ledge bathed in the purple, orange, gold, and gray of the event. Although it happens every day above the vast azure water, it still offers me the hope that I’ll need as the moment fades away into darkness. Someday I will venture outside my guarded world, where the gentle waves and salty breeze are the only movements in this paradise. Here, a storm brings gentle rain, and the sunbeams provide growth around me, yet nothing changes. The sameness has become my personal prison in a place that some consider perfection. I long to captain my boat into those beautiful colors and see what is beyond my horizon.
nature’s artistry
awakens my stagnant soul
inspiration flows
It’s been busy around here releasing my new book! Tomorrow is the last blog stop for this tour. Thank you to everyone who followed along and a huge thanks go out to all the blog post hosts. I kept it small this time, so I didn’t put my usual call out for hosts.
Positive reviews have been coming in, so I can stop holding my breath now. I’m thrilled people are enjoying meeting Charlie, Jane, Ben, and, of course, Drea.
I’m trying something I haven’t done in a while thanks to Jan’s post on Story Empire I’m running a giveaway on Rafflecopter for the release. I’m giving away Amazon Gift Cards. It’s been a while, but I think I remembered how to do it 🙂 This runs from June 23rd to July 7th.
I am also going to try a paid blog tour on July 29th for a day blitz and see how that goes. More on that later. This was another idea from one of Jan’s marketing posts on Story Empire.
Yesterday I joined my daughter for our first book signing at a local art show in Sacramento. I have been avoiding this for as long as I could—my daughter doesn’t take no for an answer 🙂 It was a wonderful time and I was blessed to meet a lot of amazing people. A little girl bought Tree Fairies, and when her mom explained to her I wrote it, her eyes grew so big! Those are moments you can’t get from behind a computer. All the good advice from fellow authors helped! That candy dish full of See’s lollipops was a hit. Thank you!
I was going through my books and found a stack of indie paperbacks I’d hadn’t read yet. So, I have been catching up with them. Some of them had been in the stack for a long time.
Now for the poem.
I entered a poerty contest over on Word Craft Poetry Blog. I wrote 12 poems with the “Dreams” theme in mind, and narrowed it down to one for my tanka prose entry. Here was one of the poems I wrote that day but didn’t use in the contest:
golden sun rises
nightmares darkness dissipates
the light shines on dreams
healing beams caress my soul
heavenly message of hope
Embrace your inner child by reading a good book! D. L. Finn
I’ve been feeling life a little too intensely lately. When I start to feel overwhelmed, the best thing I can do is step outside and walk in the forest. Here, I can do some walking meditation, write poetry surrounded by trees, or simply be. I may not accomplish all I need to, but these moments provide the peace my mind, body, and soul needs.
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