#PreOrder “Deep in the Forest Where the Poetry Blooms!” #poetry #nature #fairies #harley #forest #magic #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #poems

Hi!

I’m excited to announce my poetry book Deep in the Forest Where the Poetry Blooms: Just Her Poetry Book Two is available for pre-order!

Blurb

Embark on a captivating journey with D. L. Finn as she guides you through the intricate landscapes of free verse and symbolic poetry. Hike with her through the magical forest, feel the wind on your face riding on the back of a Harley, or bask on the warm Hawaiian shores. Her search for life’s magic invites the reader to traverse through the four seasons in part one. Emotions, observations, and stories weave through part two’s texture. Whether the words explore a sunset, healing, or magic, each poem flows through moments where poetry blooms.

Excerpts

From Forest Magic/Fairies

FAIRY
Shimmering forest fairy
Silhouetted by dawn’s blush
Agility accentuates rainbow wings.
She darts to an ancient pillar.
Owls, rabbits, deer, and foxes gather
To witness her royal coronation.
Ancient pines and Douglas firs stand tall,
Like protective parents hovering over their baby.
This little fairy born with tree wisdom,
Is evidence magic still exists.


From Flowing From the Heart

BEYOND
Swirls within a pearl,
Etched into a pattern.
Trees careful locations…
Rocks knowing expressions…
Petals velvet jewels.
Alternating slants and shades,
Within our ordinary moments.
A smile appears in orange lichen…
A mountain appears to be a sleeping woman…
A craggy cliffs appears to be watching.
Nature’s mysterious images, a reminder
To look beyond dull expectations,
Where seeds of imagination and truth grow.


From Poetry Stories and Some Truth: Told through haibuns

Magic Pages

The magical gift sits next to my bed. Dressed in black leather, it holds
the ideas of generations. I gently open the promise of endless entertainment in the two hundred and thirty pages. I can barely contain
my joy with so many words that offer knowledge, insight, thrills,
adventure, heartbreak, or laughter. It may take more than one lifetime
to explore. Yet, it’s never full and always welcomes new editions onto
its electronic shelves—even the bad ones. It is my paradise.

add to my Kindle
with the best of intentions…
to read every word

AMAZON UNIVERSAL PREORDER LINK

 

NOTE: I just enjoyed a weekend of camping, or my verison of it in a trailer, at our local lake. I will only be around for two days this week, before getting back to some time off.  The monthly newsletter will be out! If you are subcribed check your email. I hope everyone has a fantastic week! Next week I’ll share an excerpt for my other upcoming release 🙂

New Release! “Fusion: Poems of Life” by @BalroopShado #poetry #poems #nature #life #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #newrelease

Welcome! I’m so happy to welcome Balroop Singh here today to share her latest poetry collection: Fusion: Poems of Life!” I included my review 🙂

Blurb

Fusion is the elixir of life. We seek it in every aspect of the cosmos. The magic of fusion manifests itself in the colors of dawn and dusk, in the melodies of nature, in the singing of birds, in the miniscule moments of joy, inspiring us to live in harmony with each other despite the edges that threaten to swallow us.

The poems in this collection are an amalgamation of harmonies and edges that bind us firmly. We have to wade into murky waters to measure the depth. We have to risk the heights to know our worth. Slippery snow makes us learn how to create footholds. Some songs of life dilute in the hourglass of time to erase the shadows – dark or light, all the colors play an equal role to create a fusion.

Excerpt

This poem “talks about the journey of life in metaphors.”

Colors of Life…

They’re blue and lilac
With cuddles and caresses
Rocking like our cradle
Life sounds sublime initially.

Yellow and green mingle
To greet the first steps
Butterflies look charming,
Fairies step in to offer magic.

Pink and red flutter our hearts
Passion reigns supreme
Adventure holds our dreams,
Love gets a new connotation.

Darker shades set in
Black and gray dominate
Shadows hover to scare,
Ego refuses to bend.

Ashen and gray may jolt us
But life keeps its smile
If we let the clouds pass
And revel in starry delight.
© Balroop Singh

UNIVERSAL AMAZON LINK

My Review

“Fusion: Poems of Life” takes the reader on a vivid journey through nature and life’s emotional aspects. I enjoyed the entire collection, but the nature-based poems really captivated me because I am so comfortable there. It was very hard to pick from the beautiful imagery, but here are a few of the many I highlighted. “The dream of my life was/To fly with the clouds/Drape their colors,/Adapt their shapes…”—Dreams, “Snow clad mountaintops/Kiss capricious clouds./Emerald lake watches,/As rosy hues of dawn smile…”—Ambrosial Love, “Stormy sea swallow/Stories of eons/Some shores speak…”—Changes, “Hold the first rays of sun/Softly in your hands or/Soak them gently in your eyes…”—Magic Moments, “The shimmer of violets allures me/A flower fairy sits smiling/Sprinkling her magic dust…”—Flower Fairy, and “The moment she wears her scarlet gown/She gets a call to cast her spell/Edgy enchantress grabs her crystal…”—The Scarlet Gown. A collection I read in one sitting, but one I will also revisit. I can highly recommend this to all poetry lovers.

Author Bio

Balroop Singh, an educator, a poet and an author always had a passion for writing. She would jot down her reflections on a piece of paper and forget about them till each drawer of her home started overflowing with poetic reminders, popping out at will! The world of her imagination has a queer connection with realism. She could envision the images of her own poetry while teaching the poems. Her dreams saw the light of the day when she published her first poetry book: ‘Sublime Shadows Of Life.’ She has always lived through her heart. She is a great nature lover; she loves to watch birds flying home. The sunsets allure her with their varied hues that they lend to the sky. She can spend endless hours listening to the rustling of leaves and the sound of waterfalls. She lives in California. You can visit her blog at http://balroop2013.wordpress.com

Embrace your inner child by reading some beautiful poetry! D. L. Finn

#TankaTuesday Weekly #Challenge #263, Taste the Rainbow—Green! @ColleenChesebro #writing community #poetrycommunity #poetryChallenge

Here is Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday Weekly Challenge #263.  It’s Taste the Rainbow week and the color is, green. Bonus points if you can write it without saying the color green.

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.

heavy clouds gather

rain…mother nature’s nectar

bless our wilderness

#TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 224, #POET’SCHOICE @ColleenChesebro #WritingCommunity #cinquain #butterflycinquain

Here’s Colleen Chesbro’s Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge #224. This week is the poet’s choice!

I decided on a butterfly cinquain: 2/4/6/8/2/8/6/4/2 and used a picture I took walking along the river for the visual.

INSPIRATION

The path

Becomes my guide

Awakening senses

Dazzling me with its beauty

Magic

The moment caresses my soul

Thoughts flow with the river

Words are blooming

I write.

What is Poetry? “Just Her Poetry Seasons of a Soul”

 

Just her Poetry Season of a Soul picture

What is poetry? Here’s the definition I found on dictionary.com.

poetry

[poh-i-tree]

noun

the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful,

imaginative, or elevated thoughts.

literary work in metrical form; verse.

prose with poetic qualities.

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.

JUST HER POETRY PRE-ORDER LINK

Just Her Poetry Cover

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


Sources:

dictionary.com

https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/a-brief-history-of-poetry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_poetry

An Interview with Nature. “Just Her Poetry Seasons of a Soul”

Just Her Poetry Cover

For March, I’ll be focusing on poetry to celebrate the release of “Just Her Poetry Seasons of a Soul.” This will include a blog tour with some amazing hosts. Although, there will still be my Book Reviews, along with any special edition posts.

This week I’m interviewing Nature, who’s had a huge influence on my poetry and writing. She’s been particularly busy, so I feel lucky she was able to drop by for a quick visit.

 D.L.’s interview with Nature.

DL: I’m happy to be here with you today Nature.

N: Well, I’m happy to be here, but then I’m always here. You are usually inside your house.

DL: Yes, that’s where I live, but I love being outside with you.

N: You do look happier once you are with me.

DL: I am. Thank you. I love to write poetry under your grand trees or by the ocean.

N: I’ve observed that. You sit by yourself with that blue notepad. Sometimes your family is down the beach, or your wonderful kitties are by your side when you are home. I did have to wonder when I saw you on the back of the motorcycle, writing. I thought perhaps you weren’t well or needed help.

DL:  I didn’t think you noticed, but yes, I try to write in as many places as I can, including on the Harley with my husband. His back comes in handy as a table.

N: I see everything and wish more people would notice me. They would be so much healthier and peaceful.

DL: They would, I agree. Your four seasons are amazing, Nature. Do you have a favorite?

N: They are all wonderful in their own way, although some places don’t have all four of my seasons. If I had to choose…well, I won’t. It would be like picking a favorite child. Do you have a favorite child?

DL: No, I love them all equally and get why you won’t pick a season. Each one has their gift.

N: Exactly. You seem to enjoy all of my seasons. I’ve watched you snowshoe through the icy drifts in the winter, lay on your deck at night stargazing in the summer, hike through the fall colors and work in your garden or sit by the river in the spring. I’m glad you’ve included all the seasons in your current poetry book.

DL: It’s because you’ve inspired me no matter what season it is.

N: Thank you. I’m honored to be such a substantial part of your writing. I appreciate your pictures of me, too. I think you’ve captured the forest on this cover. The sun peeking through was a nice touch. I’m hoping that more people will think about me as they read your words. Then, they might start taking care of what I have to offer. In these modern times, they seem to prefer staring at their cell phones.

DL: I’m glad you like the cover. It’s my favorite one to date, but all I did was take the picture, you provided the rest. I’m with you; I hope people will put their phones down, venture outside and enjoy what you have to offer and take care of it, too. You help us connect to our souls.

N: Well your souls are what communicate to me. I’ve learned a lot from those interactions. Mostly all good.

DL: Some of it isn’t good?

N: No. Better not to talk about that while we are promoting your new poetry book. There are a few that…well…never mind.

DL: Understood. I’m thankful you were able to make time to visit with us today, Nature. I know I’ll be seeing you soon.

N: Anytime and yes, I will see you in a couple of hours when you walk the dogs. That always amuses me how you say you are walking them when they are dragging you.

DL: I can’t argue that.

N: No you can’t. I’d better get back to work. Bye.

 PRE-ORDER ON AMAZON


I have a favor to ask! My youngest daughter, Danielle who has been on my blog before, wrote a book and “Mom” has beta read it. I think this requires another set of eyes or two. So if anyone has “extra” time and could help with a read, I’d be forever grateful.  Email me at d.l.finn.author@gmail.com if you can help out. I know how busy everyone, too. I will be helping her publish hopefully this summer. Right now we are “discussing” the benefits of editing and joining clubs…

.disneyworld

Embrace your inner child by reading a good book! D.L. Finn