Sunday, February 08, 2009

Poetry success, gardens and a birthday lunch

Some good news today - my poem about the litany (how perfect for a Sunday really) is now published and can be found here. You can even give it marks out of five and leave comments if you like - so go for it is what I say! I've also heard that The Battered Suitcase webzine will be publishing two of my poems in June, so I'm thrilled about that too.

And talking of poetry, here's this morning's meditation:

Meditation 68

We stand
in a web
of connections

that links us
to a thousand others
we do not see.

Be careful then
of the great canyon
that divides:

if you choose
to pass through it
you will be truly alone.

Still, not all good news though - I had yet another rejection from Smokelong Quarterly magazine (I fear they will soon become like Mslexia in that they take one look at my name and reach for the shredder, alas ...), so have taken a deep breath and sent that particular piece of flash fiction out to the next lucky recipient. And maybe I'll give Smokelong a rest for a while - which I'm sure will be a great relief to them!

Anyway, for the rest of the day, I've taken Lord H out for a pre-birthday lunch (it's tomorrow, if you're asking) at Wisley and a wander around the gardens - which was most enjoyable and the rain held off, hurrah. And we managed to spot nuthatches, chaffinches, green finches and a plethora of tits (as it were), including a coal tit. There were a lot of families with young children about, but the strange thing about Wisley is that there can be crowds of people and it still doesn't feel too overwhelming for we sociopaths. Lord H was musing about whether taking one's young family to Wisley is a particularly "Surrey" thing - in that it's like taking them out to the park but you have to pay to get in or be a member, so your little darlings will be safe from mixing with the poor people. Hmm, he may well be right, you know. In which case, it's a miracle they let us in at all.

I also did a very daring thing and actually walked around the new butterfly enclosures in the glass houses too. Which was very brave as the last time I did that - fifteen years ago on our honeymoon - I (foolish and innocent girl that I was!) hadn't realised they wouldn't be behind glass cages and started hyperventilating and swatting them if they got too close. Which didn't go down too well with the butterfly keepers at the time, I can tell you ... Well, they're insects - fly spray is the only answer if they dare to be inside. Anyway, this time, I am calmer and more mature (ho ho), so I just smiled and ducked if they flew towards my hair. And so I've laid that demon to rest at last - though I certainly won't be doing it again in the too near future. One act of courage per year is enough.

Tonight, I'll be watching the Christianity programme (though I'm not sure of Ann Widdecombe's skills as a presenter, to be honest) and then it's The Devil Wears Prada, which I am loathe to miss. So I'll have to video Lark Rise to Candleford and the programme on Turkey that follows it for watching later.

This week's haiku is:

Snow brings strange magic:
the world pauses, entranced by
a vast white silence.

Today's nice things:

1. Spaces being published
2. Two poems being accepted for publication
3. Meditation poetry
4. A day in Wisley
5. TV
6. Haikus.

Anne Brooke
Anne's website - no longer a menace to the butterfly world ...

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