I’m featured in the anthology Sally is reviewing. I’ve purchased this book, and when I have time, I’ll read and review it here. Meanwhile, enjoy Sally’s review and check out the book.
Month: April 2019
Share Your Short Story – Winner for April
My story didn’t win Stevie’s contest, but it’s featured here anyway.
There were not too many entries this month, and so I’m just picking one winner which resonated with me because I am also from the Boomer generation. I’m rather thankful I am too.
Kelly Artieri’s ‘When Values are no Longer Valuable’.
https://www.kellyartieri.com/single-post/2019/03/04/When-Values-Are-No-Longer-Valuable
Congratulations Kelly! Here’s your laurel:
The next contest will be in JULY 2019. Below are the other lovely stories which were submitted. Thanks to all who took part. My anthology of winners is coming along nicely, but I will need a few more in order to publish.
Abbie Johnson Taylor: Abandoned https://abbiescorner.wordpress.com/2019/04/02/abandoned-fiction
Debbie Harris: Far away from home as she knew it: https://debs-world.com/2018/09/22/far-away-from-home-as-she-knew-it/
Writer in a Hat: Compatible https://writerinahat.com/2019/02/14/compatible/
Phil Huston: Painted Ladies https://philh52.wordpress.com/2018/05/08/rasputin/
In the Garden (Poetry)
On this, the last day of National Poetry Month, here’s a poem that appears in the spring/summer issue of Magnets and Ladders, which is produced by Behind Our Eyes, (BOE) an organization of writers with disabilities.
Another version of this was published in my collection, How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver. You can click on the Play button below to hear me read it. I hope that as we move into May, you’ll still take time to read a poem or two now and then. Poetry is meant to be enjoyed year round, not just in April.
In The Garden
There are no trees, just an expanse of dirt
with steps leading down from the yard.
At the age of twelve, while Mother and Dad work,
I sit on the steps,
study seed packets of peas, corn, tomatoes.
With limited vision,
I read labels, gaze at pictures.
Five-year-old brother Andy is out riding his bike.
Sirens wail in the distance, come closer, are silenced.
“It sounds like fire engines,” says Dad.
After a while, the phone rings.
I hurry in the house to answer it.
A male voice asks for my mother.
I rush outside, call her to the phone.
“Hello,” she says.
“Oh my god! We’ll be right there.”
She slams down the receiver,
returns to the yard, me in tow.
“Ed, we need to pick up Andy at the police station.
He was playing with matches near that shack
at the bottom of the hill when it caught fire.”
I’m abandoned in the garden.
My Books
My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds
That’s Life: New and Selected Poems
How to Build a better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver
My Other Links
Song Lyric Sunday: You Should Be Dancing
The theme from newepicauthor this week is “boogie/Rock/Rolling Stone.” “Boogie” is another word for “dance.” This song from Saturday Night Fever encourages listeners to get off their backs and start moving. When I listened to the movie sound track as a teen-ager, I was often lying on my back on my bed, and I felt compelled to do just that when this song came on, especially after I started taking a disco dancing class and learned some cool line dancing moves. Enjoy this song and have a super Sunday!
The Bee Gees–You Should be Dancing
Lyrics Courtesy of Google
My baby moves at midnight
Goes right on till the dawn
My woman takes me higher
My woman keeps me warm
What you doin’ on your back, aah
What you doin’ on your back, aah?
You should be dancing, yeah
Dancing, yeah
She’s juicy and she’s trouble
She gets it to me good
My woman gives me power
Goes right down to my blood
What you doin’ on your back, aah
What you doin’ on your back, aah?
You should be dancing, yeah
Dancing, yeah
What you doin’ on your back, aah
What you doin’ on your back, aah?
You should be dancing, yeah
Dancing, yeah
My baby moves at midnight
Goes right on till the dawn, yeah
My woman takes me higher
My woman keeps me warm
What you doin’ on your back, aah
What you doin’ on your back, aah?
You should be dancing, yeah
Dancing, yeah
What you doin’ on your back, aah
What you doin’ on your back, aah?
You should be dancing, yeah
Dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
You should be dancing, yeah
Songwriters: Barry Alan Gibb / Maurice Ernest Gibb / Robin Hugh Gibb
You Should Be Dancing lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management
My Books
My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds
That’s Life: New and Selected Poems
How to Build a better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver
My Other Links
AUTHOR’S CORNER:Taking Pictures With Poetry by author Abbie Johnson Taylor
Thanks to Patty Fletcher for giving me an opportunity to share my insights about poetry on her blog. I have a couple of corrections. First of all, since CreateSpace no longer exists, My Ideal Partner is not available there anymore. Also, the correct URL for DLD Books in Denver, Colorado, the outfit that published My Ideal Partner, is http://www.dldbooks.com/index.php. Enjoy!
My Corner 