I had a lot of ideas when I thought of green. I ended up with a haibun which is a combination of prose paragraph and a haiku. I’ll be out there dancing until the rains return and fill our lakes and wells:)
LOOK UP
The weather-beaten soil is devoid of life during another dry winter. Even the mushrooms gave up and retreated into the earth while the weeds withered into themselves. The mighty cedars and pines push their roots deeper in search of the life-giving liquid. Hose water provides what the season couldn’t, a lifeline for the thirsty potted plants. A rain dance in the forest becomes a prayer that there will still be the verdant lushness of spring where life burst forth from winter’s silence and offers the world hope.
I’m excited to share the cover and pre-order for my final planned children’s book, “Tree Fairies and Their Short Stories!” It is a chapter book suitable for middle-grade and those young at heart.
Here’s my first attempt at a children’s cover:)
BLURB:
When reality and magic meet in the forest
It’s 1969, and twelve-year-old Daniel Burns is camping in the redwood forest with his family. Danny wants to listen to his music and read, but his family has other plans. S’mores around the campfire and stories end their first day. The family is sleeping soundly in their secluded tent when Danny wakes up and finds his sister, Colette, is missing. Assuming she went to use the outhouse, he goes after her. When he finds his sister, they discover there is a thin veil between reality and fantasy.
Two bonus short stories offer a glimpse into the magical world that finds Danny and Colette. These hidden beings not only share our world but have a role in protecting their forest.
I ended up picking this date not only because it’s my son’s age, but it’s a full moon and lunar eclipse! An event made for fairies:)
Paperback to follow!
Note: I was focused on this release so I wasn’t around as much on blogs and social media this week. I will try to catch up as best I can, and will be around more next week:)
There will be a Tree Fairy Blog Tour weaving through the end of May and into June. Miriam Hurdle has graciously offered to host on release day to get the tour started. Watch for it, and all the other amazing sites the tree and city fairies will be visiting!
I had a vision as a little girl as to what life should be. It was only an idea in my mind of something I’d read or seen on TV. It wasn’t my reality, but my dream of perfection. I grew up with that idea surrounded by contradictions. Still, I felt I could make this vision appear.
As an adult, I worked on this idea. For a while, I thought I had obtained this perfection of what should be. Unfortunately, I found out this idea didn’t exist, while reality and lessons demanded my attention. I struggled with that and fought the very idea of it. What I came to realize was this was a battle I didn’t want to fight–or be a part of it.
I woke up to myself–my strengths and weaknesses. It was not a life where nothing bad happened, but good things happened along with the bad, too. As I continued on this journey, things continued to change. People grew and transformed. It wasn’t always easy, but it wasn’t as bad as it first seemed, either. What I found was the sun always rose and set, the season’s changed, and most importantly, there was love to treasure. This endless journey shows up in my writing and poetry.
To celebrate National Poetry Month here’s a poem from “Just her Poetry.” This shows how brief and beautiful moments are:
PERFECTION
Vibrant…
Beautiful…
Inviting…
Its fragrance welcomes you
Making everything around it
Dull in comparison.
It’s a splendor of—
Yellow, red, purple, white,
Orange, green, and blue.
It illuminates the world.
Delicate, yet strong.
It’s bathed in the sun
It’s nourished in rain
It’s supported by the earth
Hummingbirds are drawn to it
The bees create from it
Humans capture images of it
It’s nature’s art—a limited edition.
Soon, the colors fade.
They wither on the branches.
They carelessly drop to the ground.
They become the balance that creates…more.
But this beauty’s only temporary.
It’s all there is and all it gives.
It is beauty, nourishment, and aroma.
The flower’s gone as quickly as it appeared
But never completely forgotten
In a fleeting moment of petaled-perfection.
Watch for the Monthly Newsletter this week!
Next week is Easter so there won’t be a blog, but I’ll be back the April 28th. Happy Easter to all who celebrate:)
There will still be special edition blogs to watch for!
Embrace your inner child by following your inner truth. D.L. Finn
poetic qualities however manifested: the poetry of simple acts and things.
poetic spirit or feeling: The pianist played the prelude with poetry.
something suggestive of or likened to poetry: the pure poetry of a beautiful view on a clear day.”
Poetry’s origin isn’t clear. It’s believed to have been around for thousands of years in different forms. Over time it has grown and changed. Now, there are over 50 types of poetry, including Haikus, Lyrical, Dramatic, Cinquains, Epic/Ballads, Sonnets, Couplet, Narrative, Limerick, and Free Verse. For most of these, there’s structure, and rules including lines, stanza, metering (measuring), and rhyming (patterns).
I found my love of poetry when I enrolled in a poetry class in college. I tackled metering, rhyming, played with syllable emphasis, presentation, sound, images, and many other elements of poetry. Free verse became my favorite to work with. It gave me room to express myself fully. I didn’t have to worry about the rules that went along with more traditional poetry.
I still use some of the basic parts of poetry in my free verse. One of my favorites is alliteration or same first letter. Images can be brought forth through similes or metaphors. Sometimes rhyming takes over giving the poem flow, like a gentle creek. This type of writing has a strange side effect on me, though. For the rest of the day, I find myself rhyming everything. This also happens when I read Dr. Seuss books, but it doesn’t stop me from reading or writing it.
“Just Her Poetry” is the product of the last two years of my life, with the addition of fan favorites from “No Fairy Tale.” I love expressing this “Word Art-Form” through nature as in the first half of the book. Certain emotions needed to be expressed differently, which is why there is a second half. Many venting poems didn’t make the cut, but I did feel better after writing them.
In sharing my first poetry book, I hope you will take a moment to join me on the back of a Harley, the beach, the forest…or at my desk wondering about life.
Note: The photo of the ocean was my first choice to be the book cover. No matter what we did with the title, it didn’t look right. So, we tried other pictures and the forest won. I still love the picture of the ocean, but I’m very happy with this cover.
Watch for a special edition blog this week!
Sorry I haven’t been around on social media. I’m recovering from a nasty virus. I’m getting there but have to pace myself.
Embrace your inner child by reading a good book! D.L. Finn
