How did I get this Gray Hair?

When I look into the mirror, I ask myself, “How did I get this gray hair?” Oh yes, I have been living with it now for 20-plus years. It is not a stranger to me at all. I had my hair colored once, and that was for a special fund-raising event that my hair dresser had talked me into. She did a beautiful job in bringing the color back to my original brunette. “How long will this color stay in?” I asked with honest concern. Kay looked at me and knew I wasn’t kidding around. She started laughing and answered, “I have been a cosmetologist for over 30 years, and no customer has ever asked me that question. They want to know, “how long can you make my color last?” I suppose my “tomboy” days stuck with me; I was out playing sand lot football with my brother and his friends when other girls were getting permanents. Kay and I became friends almost instantly after she became my hairstylist. When Kay moved away to live in Washington State, I felt like a lost puppy. No woman likes to give up her hairstylist especially if she is a dear friend.

I could not seem to find anyone who could cut my hair as well as Kay could. In the beginning, I shared this sentiment with Barbara, bemoaning my need to find another hairdresser. Barbara said, “I cut hair, let me do it for you. Just fix me a hamburger when I come over.” Perhaps you need to know that Barbara is a funeral director. Her cosmetology clients were all very silent and never complained. The first time Barb came with her comb and shears, I asked, “Shall I sit up or lie down?” Barb truly did a good job, and I never had to lie down, not even once.

Speaking about Barb, she has very attractive silver hair. It is cut in a bob. Her nickname at work is “Harry Potter”, due to her haircut and Harry Potter-style glasses. A group of friends had gotten together for a pot luck dinner one Saturday. Barb was coming straight from work, and showed up in her smart, tailored black suit. She came through the door with a lovely bouquet of red roses. As Barb was arranging the bouquet in a vase, Linda walked into the dining room wide-eyed and focused on the flowers. Linda asked Barb in a troubled voice, “Where did you get those flowers?” All of us in the room were not disturbed by what we already figured out. As Barb stepped back to admire her arrangement as the center piece of the dinner table, she answered, “For goodness sakes, Linda, just consider this a gift from someone who could not join us for dinner.”

Sometimes the process of “natural color,” takes longer for some than others. I met my friend Mary in her second year of a medical residency. At that time, she had black hair cut most attractively in a Dorothy Hamill style. In a year, Mary would become a “real” family practice physician. I am seven years older than Mary, and most of us who have become her friends and patients are six to ten years older than she. It seemed while we were growing into our blood pressure medicine, hip replacements, weight gain and shingles, Mary was eternally young. She would swing open the door of the examining room, revealing her youthful figure, coal-black hair and boundless energy. For years we all would ask each other, “When will Mary finally start turning gray like the rest of us?” It has been 35 years now, and just three years ago, Mary’s hair started turning “salt and pepper.” Now retired, Mary tells us her tennis elbow is acting up and she finally had surgery for her carpal tunnel. We all breathe a sigh of relief and say, “Now that is more like it.”

Whether your hair is silver, white, gray or somewhere in between, let us all take comfort in the words of Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, “It is not by the gray of the hair that one knows the age of the heart.”  

— Jan Atchley Bevan
Presidential Panache, NLAPW Jacksonville branch

Architect's Angst

 

Efim Abken sat quietly working in the pump control room. Despite all of the rapid growth on Mercury, Ticonderoga hadn't yet gotten to the state of one of the Martian cities. Mornings were still quiet. He could still come in and spend time alone with his work. That was, after all, the ultimate in ideal work conditions.

He'd designed the reservoir system on Mercury. Having put together the specs for Ganymede's water system, as well, Efim was one of the unsung legends of the Olympus Union. He hadn't been allowed to work on the Ganymede project, the decision made to turn it over to Jovian locals. It hadn't worked out so well for the Olympus Union.

The functionary who'd initially denied him Ganymede had been disposed of, so to speak. Dkaha was an interesting city. It had never had someone working to monitor the waste systems, until that foolish bureaucrat was reassigned a couple of years ago. His replacement had no interest in making the same mistake. This time Abken had been assigned to the Mercury project early on.

This morning, Abken had found a rather unfortunate task awaiting him. Most days he enjoyed coming in and having the opportunity to innovate. Development was what he lived for the most. Taking his creation to the next level, ever evolving and enhancing it, was a pure joy. Someone had tried to change some of the base programming, however, and now the architect was painstakingly extracting inefficient elements to replace them with correct logic.

Efim had recognized the offender’s coding fingerprints. It was something easy to do for one so experienced and on this level. When he'd realized who the perpetrator was, however, that made it all the more frustrating.

This wasn't a first. That man was constantly trying to make things 'better' where they didn't need improving. Efim was not so arrogant to find himself perfect; however, he preferred that improvements by others were made in collaboration with those closer to his level of intelligence. Why was it, instead, always the fools who dared to meddle in his code?

"Good morning, Efim!"

Another technician entered the room. Time had really slipped away; he'd been here for more than two and a half hours already. Looking up, Abken just nodded. He'd seen the man before but had no idea what his name was. Not important.

This wasn't the man who'd caused him the extra work. Efim tried to pay him no further mind. Whatever job the man was here to perform, it likely had nothing to do with the architectural level. This was a mindless dredge, here to read dials and mark reports. The architect returned his focus to work. The drudge was making it difficult.

He prattled on about some complaint or another, droning about oppressive work hours and the Olympus Union. Efim didn't understand the issue. This was groundbreaking work being done here! Not just anyone was allowed to go to Mercury these days. The man had volunteered for this detail; why was he complaining?

What was there happening on Earth that was worth being a part of? Even Mars wasn't quite as exciting as Mercury these days. Without access to Jupiter any longer, Mercury was the last frontier in the solar system, until someone figured out how to successfully make the trek out to Saturn for colonization. Of course, that would likely be Abken's discovery, but that would be for later.

If the drudge had such issues with the Olympus Union, why bother staying in their employ? There were other companies out there where such mindless work could be found. Efim changed his mind on the initial assessment. This man was an idiot after all. He was just a different idiot than the one currently resented.

Day had turned to evening. Finally, he'd decided to retire to the Abken family home before night gave way to the next day. Upon arriving at his three bedroom apartment, his sons were already in bed. A shame. He preferred to tuck the boys in at night. Their mother had them all day. Night time gave the Abken men half an hour that was theirs. The fool had cost him that time.

Efim sat in the living room with his wife. She knew not to trouble him about coming home late. She knew her husband. Even if he weren't visibly distraught at losing time with his boys, she knew what it meant to him. He'd need to vent. Someone did something wrong, and it kept him late. Considering he was tinkering with some programming on the tablet, it might keep him tomorrow, too.

"How was your day?"

She offered the opening and hoped for the best. He surprised her a bit, however. Instead of telling her who'd kept him late, Efim put the tablet down and offered her a half smile.

“It was the funniest thing," he started. "Someone came in and started complaining about oppression from the Olympus Union. Do you believe that? Opression! He prattled on about injustice of some sort. Paid to work on the cutting edge, and he's whining!"

Her husband shook his head for a moment. Ulyana held her tongue for a moment. She had a definite thought, but there seemed to be more.

"He came in while I was working and was attempting some rallying cry. It was so utterly transparent. As if I’d take up some silly cause like revolution. There's work to be done! Let the drudges complain, we can just replace them. Why the government makes me suffer such fools is beyond me.”

"Why would you dismiss that so quickly?"

"Pardon?"

"The revolution, Efim," she prodded, "why not consider it? You just said yourself that the government forces you to work with fools. Couldn't you change that?"

"What good would this be? Fighting wars takes time and effort that I've got no interest in putting out. Besides, why would I follow these idiots?"

"That's just it," Ulyana exclaimed with more excitement than she'd intended. Lowering her voice, she said, "With your brilliance, you could rally the lesser men. We have but the two cities plus Ticonderoga. You created the water system. You understand it better than anyone. You could take control of Mercury!"

"No, no," he waved a dismissive hand, "this is lunacy. I am an architect. Mine is to develop theories, write programs and make things work. This sounds like too much interaction with too many idiots, or worse, zealots. This is beneath me."

She uttered not another word of revolution for the evening. He turned back to his programming, working out one last revision. Tearing out the idiot's "improvements" had put him in a position to observe his program in the raw. Efim had been able to make at least one improvement today, minimizing the feeling of waste.

His wife, meanwhile, worked on her recipes. Ulyana Abken was responsible for the baby food procuded on Mercury. He loved that she had nothing to do with programming. They had plenty to talk about, but each had their own world to delve into. Both were quite excellent at what they did. He'd initially met her at a posting on Mars. The pair had been inseparable ever since. She was one of the few in the Olympus Union who he didn't feel was, at some stage, beneath him.

Ulyana finished her work first, coaxing Efim to bed. He was reluctant, but she was quite persuasive. They made love, quietly, so as not to wake the boys. She promptly drifted off to sleep, the conversation from the living room forgotten. Efim, however, was not so easily released. His mind spun with a new and interesting problem: how could one conquer an entire planet? Efim Abken was known as the greatest of problem solvers, and this did make for an interesting problem.

Back at work the next day, Efim had managed to establish one of his sought after enhancements. The sins of the previous day were all but erased. He'd even taken measures to lock the offender out of his programming. Around lunch time, satisfied with his work, the architect sought out the man who he'd dismissed so readily yesterday.

"Excuse me, you," he said to the man, whose name he still couldn't recall.

"What can I do for you Efim?"

"The things that you were talking about yesterday, they left me curious." He offered the man his traditional half smile. "Are you truly looking to make a change around here? To make a difference beyond," he waved at the tablet filled with reports, "this monotony that you pursue?"

"Well... yeah!"

"Do you know any others? Rather," Efim explained, "do you have friends who feel the same? Those who have similarly pointless jobs, and wish to also hope to make their existence more meaningful?"

The words were out before the architect realized that they might be inflammatory. No matter. Either the man ignored the insult, or didn't understand it. Most likely, the latter, he decided.

"Sure, there are a bunch of us who think about this stuff. We talk about it sometimes. Why?"

"I'd like to hear more," Efim stated plainly. "Gather some of these friends of yours after work. Let's get a beer and talk. Perhaps I can offer something to your cause after all.

Gary Bloom
The next great science fiction adventure! http://olympusunion.com

"The Past Repeated"  http://amzn.to/rBnlBs

"Drawing Battle Lines" http://amzn.to/xqSxZL

"The Future Reborn" http://amzn.to/ZlujDT

My Child is being Bullied: Now What?

Bullying is a pandemic in our nation's schools. Realizing this, we must do all that we can to help our children deal with the pressures that these annoying behaviors poses on their lives. Parents, we have a huge responsibility, but are we doing all that we can to intervene?
Let me ask these questions
As a parent, are you aware of the anti-bullying laws and policies in place at your child's school? If so, how is it being enforced? If not, have you voiced your concerns and/or asked to work closely with school officials in hope to create anti-bullying procedures at your child's school? Do you know if school officials at your child's school are clear about what actually constitutes bullying behaviors?
In some cases, there are concerns about what constitutes bullying behaviors verses normal play, or friendly horsing around. I know that you have these concerns too, so I'll define what bullying is and what it looks like.
Bullying Defined
Verbal (name calling, teasing, insulting, or threatening)
Physical (hitting, kicking, scratching, pushing, stealing, hiding/destroying someone else's property)
Social (refusing to talk to or play with someone, purposefully excluding someone)
Cyber (using electronics such as computer to write mean, demeaning messages about someone)
There are signs of bullying that you can watch for
Poor eating habits or asking to eat as soon as he/she gets home - bully takes lunch or lunch money
Depression
Torn clothes or mysterious bruises/scratches
Isolating self from others - appearing lonely
A change in grades - poor grades
A sudden dislike for school
Exhibiting unfounded anxiety
Low self-esteem
Complaint of sick feelings - stomach aches, headaches
Asking not to go to school
Signs of threats or suicide
If you have reason to believe that your child is being bullied
Stop, Look & Listen NOW
Talk to your child. Ask him/her about their school day. Ask if there is anything that you should know. Whatever you are doing or plan to do, stop! Your child must trust that you will drop whatever you are doing to see him/her through this crisis. Your child needs to know that you are listening to them; you hear their frustration and the pain that they are experiencing. You may want to repeat what you heard them say to you, thereby acknowledging that you are really listening. Let your child know that you will be there for them "at all costs."
Documentation
Get the story as clearly as possible from your child and document everything from your child's version of the bullying incidents to every conversation you have with school officials. Be sure to write things down as soon as an occurrence arises or a conversation happens. This way, incidents are still fresh in your child's mind. You may want to keep documentation separated by tabs in a tablet or a notebook to maintain a distinct record of each person's story. It will be important to keep your child's version separate from a school official's so that messages don't end up overlapping, getting accidentally mixed-up or combined.
Have other students been affected by the bully or bullies who are attacking your child? If so, what are their names? Were there any witnesses to the incidents? If so, what are their names? Does your child remember which class the other students are enrolled in? Can your child point them out? Encourage school officials to interview other children who may have been bullied.
Use dates, times and settings in your documentation. Did the incident happen in the cafeteria, classroom, or playground? Detailed documentation will not only help school officials target bullying incidents, but it will also give school officials an indication of how best to resolve issues as they examine antecedents (causes/variables that may have prompted the bully to react inappropriately), so that changes and individually tailored support plans can be implemented.
Approach school staff immediately
Bullying will not just stop on its own. Don't be afraid to approach school administrators.
You might find that some school officials and administrators may be territorial and believe that they are the educational experts, and you are "just a parent." Since you are your child's greatest advocate, here are a few ideas about how to approach the issue of your child being bullied while working collaboratively with school officials:
Do your research. You can assist school leaders with ideas of how to bully shield and bully proof the school that your child attends.
Approach the school leaders as if you are on their side. Do what you can to avoid creating an adversarial relationship between you and the people who have the power to help stop what is happening
Let the school leaders know that you are not only concerned about your child, but all children enrolled at the school. This will soften your approach thereby giving you greater lead-in for support and next steps.
Begin speaking to the school counselor before working your way up the organizational chart - Test the water, first.
When my own child was bullied at school, I spoke to the school principal directly. Due to budget cuts, this particular school had no assigned counselor. I approached the situation as a concern for the other child as well as my very own child. I said, "Perhaps this young girl is having personal problems in her home- life that's making her feel angry." Other times I would say, "Sounds like this child wants to take charge and is a bit bossy. Perhaps she can be shown how to use her leadership skills in a more positive and productive manner." By using this approach with the school principal, I believe that I softened the conversation, thereby gaining the principal's attention. It appeared that she was more willing to hear me.
But, there are times when the school will not help, so now what can you do?
Before I address this problem, I want to urge parents to always gather as much information about your school the first week or two of the new school year. This is the time when the climate is still warm and friendly, and stress levels aren't heightened due to the pressures of trying to keep up with everyday school life. Know the district level office organizational chart and levels of administration assigned to your child's campus. Attempt to retrieve their contact information such as names, email addresses, voice mail, and telephone numbers, and perhaps location of their office - this is last resort and never show up without an appointment.
When your child's school will not listen to you or help you through a bullying crisis, and you know that you have done your part, you have spoken to the classroom teacher, school counselor, assistant principal and principal if circumstances have taken you this far, you should contact central office staff and speak to your child's school assigned area superintendent.
Share your concerns and let this individual know that you have tried to work collaboratively with school officials at the campus level of your child's school. Trust me - Now that bullying has gained national attention, there is no doubt that this person will be all ears.
There are approximately 48 states that have laws mandating anti-bullying programs and services in schools, but some schools have been slow in implementing the programs.
Be sure that you know the anti-bullying laws of your state (Bully Police, USA has a state by state listing of anti-bullying legislation). Be ready and able to recite the Senate Bill and House Bill laws associated with the bully's offense. For example, if you live in Texas and your child is experiencing sexual harassment issues at school, and no one will address the issue, share your knowledge of SB 471 and HB 194. If you do this, everyone will know that you mean business!
When to call a lawyer
If you have gone through all the recommended steps above, more than likely you will not have to call a lawyer; however there may be times when your story will land on "deaf ears." If no one will listen to you, or if everyone has listened to you and they have chosen not to intervene, there is no more time to waste. You will want to get legal advice immediately. Time is of the essence and the safety of your child is paramount!
Focus on your child
Remember, there are effective steps that you can take as your child's anti-bullying advocate. Consider the fact that bullying related suicides are real.
STOP whatever you're doing and act quickly on your child's behalf. Our children count on us to help them during crisis. This is not the time to put ANYTHING else before your child. Show your child that they can trust and count on you.
About the author
Author Cherrye Vasquez has a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction; a Ms.Ed in Special Education; and a BA in Speech Pathology/Audiology. She specializes in Multi-cultural education and holds certifications in Early Childhood Handicapped, Mid-Management and Educational Diagnostician.
Cherrye is passionate about empowering children, so her platform centers on diversity and bullying issues. She feels strongly that if children are empowered and armed with the tools needed for a deep love of self and self-identity, they will be able to withstand life's challenges, including bullies.
Website:
http://www.BooksThatSow.com
Twitter
https://twitter.com/bullieswillstop
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Summer 2013 - Please look for Cherrye’s new release – Clique, Clique, Stop

Summer 2014 – Cherrye’s Bully book will be released

How to Improve your Work

                                                           Free todoay on Amazon & Amazon UK
I'm convinced you can't write well unless you read books by writers who have figured it out and learn from them. Classic writers like Hemingway and Faulkner and Wolfe and Steinbeck. Present day writers like Michael Connelly, Nelson DeMille, C.J. Box, Lee Child, Stephen King and Robert Crais. All very different. All highly accomplished. All able to touch something human in us that goes beyond adventure and trouble and crime and spies and bad guys and good guys and all that.

I'm a big fan of James Lee Burke. I've read all of his Dave Robicheaux novels. I just finished Feast Day of Fools, Burke's latest in a series featuring an aging, small town Texas sheriff named Hackberry Holland.

So, what's so great about Burke's writing? The plots are certainly excellent, but that's not it. Many writers can lay down a good plot. What makes Burke's writing sing for me is his characters. What can I (and maybe you) learn from reading a book about dysfunctional, psychopathic characters who consistently carry out brutal and heinous acts as a routine day's work? Why would we want to read about people like this?

Burke is much more than a creative writer with the required skill sets of crafted scenes, powerful dialogue and twisting plots. He's a master at revealing the human heart and the demons that reside within all of us. He's a genius when it comes to natural description, immersing the reader in the desert harshness of Mexico and Texas or the lush coast of Louisiana or the hard streets of New Orleans. He's learned the secret of revealing the depths of a character in a simple paragraph, of choosing exactly the right words.

Here's an example from Feast Day of Fools. Hackberry Holland, Burke's protagonist, is watching his deputy Pam Tibbs at a crime scene.

In moments like these, when she was totally unguarded and unmindful of herself, Hackberry knew in a private place in the back of his mind that Pam Tibbs belonged to that category of exceptional women whose beauty radiated outward through their skin and had little to do with the physical attributes of their birth. In these moments he felt an undefined longing in his heart that he refused to recognize.

The paragraph paints an instant picture of Pam Tibbs. From prior parts of the book we know she's not beautiful in the conventional sense. Burke could have just said she wasn't particularly pretty, not that her beauty "had little to do with the physical attributes of her birth." I think the ability to describe a character with a phrase like this is as good as it gets for a writer. The paragraph tells us even more about Hackberry. It reveals the essence of who he is. Hackberry longs for connection he cannot define. More, he refuses to acknowledge it's there. By implication, he must control his emotions or things might turn bad for him. He fears their power.

Two characters defined. All in seventy words.

Hackberry, over seventy years old, struggles with unresolved feelings about Pam, who is half his age. Along with the dangerous and evil characters Burke spreads across the pages, we find ourselves engaged with a protagonist aware that he is long past his prime, taking it one day at a time, struggling with unexpressed and powerful emotions and doing the best he can to see that justice is done.

Dave Robicheaux is another character any aspiring writer can learn from. He is a violent and dysfunctional man who is gentle and full of love for his wives (they get killed every now and then) and his adopted daughter, Alafair. He's full of destructive anger that comes raging out past the walls of polite manners he's built to contain it. He's from a nightmare of a poor, southern working-class family and a background laced with brutality, love, sex and alcohol. He believes in traditional values of honor and friendship. He's driven by demons many of us might find familiar. He's a Vietnam Vet. He's an alcoholic who struggles to stay sober and sometimes slips. He has deep integrity. He cares. He seeks and lives and believes in social justice. He sees Confederate ghosts slipping through the mists of the Bayou.

One hell of a character. Read James Lee Burke and learn.
Alex Lukeman

Trying to break into a B&N store

Most of our readers and contributors are Indie writers like myself. We have a few lucky mainstream published authors in our midst that I envied from the start of my writing endeavors. I decided to self-publish with Createspace after a 18 months of inertia on my agent's side and impatient waiting for things to happen on mine. Promoting my work and creating a platform that every author needs was the next step to getting noticed and making sales. This website is part of it.
Like me, you probably eagerly take every promotional opportunity with interviews and guest blogs or radio/ podcast interviews and tweet the heck out of your PC and mobile device. I follow every blog giving advice on writing, editing and selling my product. I also carry business cards and books in my car and steer a conversation my book's way when appropriate. That plus getting book reviews and writing press releases. Not to forget the networking. Still- it's a long, arduous road to success --whichever way you define it.
After a year of trickling book sales, I learned that there are on demand publishers that can make it into the Ingram's distribution list and via that to the holy grail of an established book store that actually has my printed copy on its shelves. Some authors only concentrate on eBooks, but a physical book in my hands, for me, was my humble  yardstick of success. Half a year, some added chapters and various editing hurdles and publishing obstacles later, a very a handsome man looks at the potential buyer from his shiny, sexy cover of the new bright blue version of Next Time Lucky. B&N here we come!
So we are on Ingram's list, Mr. Right and I. When and how does a store decide on which book to order, however? You must wait for a sales rep to pitch your book to the stores and a purchasing manager to choose it from thousands of listings. Good luck with that as a newcomer. Cold sales were never my forte, yet I plucked up my courage and walked into a B&N store to talk to the acquisition manager introducing myself as a local author...You know the spiel! (That's not what they're called here, btw: They are  "Community Relations Managers". (n.b.!)
A simple email would have sufficed, I was told.
Following up on my email that remained unanswered for weeks also gets my knickers in a twist, yet I managed to do it.
The reply I got triggered off this piece:

"I have researched your book; while the ISBN you provided does list the publication date as 1/13, I noticed that this is a reprint of a 2010 publication, with slight adjustments...Between this book being a reprint and lack of sales since it's (sic!) publication, I am going to pass on the opportunity to host an event with you and your book Next Time Lucky." ( no sales on B&N that is!-- Duh!)

Would you have let it sit at that? I called her directly and was told that "B&N 's Small Press Division has the policy NOT to take books on board that are published by small presses. And since it hasn't sold yet, they will not consider the signing." She admitted it was a Catch 22. 

How does a book get on a shelf if nobody has bought it before? How do buyers grab it in a store if it's not on a shelf? 

Fellow authors on writers sites assured me that mainstream shops like B&N are shooting themselves in the foot by underestimating or even ignoring Indie authors. From a best-selling Pen Woman I learned that readers come to her book signings and still buy online...Online sales look like the way of the future.

An article I recently saw: "Traditional or self-publishing?" is nothing but one big rhetorical discussion for me. Blog posts claiming that best-selling authors go the self-publishing route now in order to retain their rights and earn more money is one thing. To get the ball rolling as an unknown newbie is quite another. Give me a traditional publisher anytime.

            Your experience, please! 

                                                              

  Siggy Buckley

Pls. check out my hub: www.SiggyBuckley.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/SiggyBuckley 

   Discussing Poetry
                               over
                                          Dinner

. . . and so . . .

I put my fork aside, adjusted my napkin, and began

Yesterday, I sat down to a feast of poetry
Cooked up by steamy, rising young poets and served on new plates
I flipped through its tantalizing menu

Appetite ready to choose a possible pleaser

Unfortunately, the first poem’s flavor was dulled in a spaghetti of obscurity
Clung to by a thick spiced sauce of overcooked metaphors and illusions
It was a heavy concoction burdened with salty emotion

Having no beginning nor ending and giving no satisfaction

Very well, I thought, I'll try another poem
I paged to a beef steak raw protest of gang life betrayed and street loves gone wrong
It was garnished with drugs, bullet peppered and blackened
Then drowned in a gravy of resentment
A chef's bad day creation

There were more dishes to sample
Some were cooked and stirred to choking blandness
And others too sweet to taste for long
Being drowned in syrupy self preoccupations and worn out slights

Creations of young poets craving self indulgence

Unsure of the finer dishes and traditions that life would soon offer

But after a long search I found a few that were perfection
Poems leaving pleasant tastes and promises of new delights
They were quite good, really

Inviting me back again
Exquisite creations to anticipate and savor . . .

With that said, I picked up my fork and tried the chocolate torte

C 10/07
Sandy Hartman

 

Here come the summer holidays, dear reader.  Again, a time to celebrate our fortunes and misfortunes, our friends and family, and those other things that sustain us. . .

Most especially the gift to create and express our feelings about them.

www.eonwriter.com          

Sandy Hartman

The Suitcase

The Suitcase.
I beg that before you pack to leave,
You follow these instructions; please.
Place my passion in first,
Then place it under the pillow of your bed.
Wrap yourself in it when you are alone at night,
And let it lead you, to where it wants to be led.
Place my heart in the centre,
But keep it close to your own.
Don’t leave it on the journey
To die cruelly all alone.
Let my love be the last
That you fold carefully within.
When you arrive unleash it.
Wear it like perfume,
Clothing your skin.

Danny Kemp
http://theauthordannykemp.com/
Danny Kemp is a best-selling London based author whose thriller The Desolate Garden is being made into a 30 million $ film. He is also well-known to many of us from FB!