Senryu for Magpie Tales

Tess Kincaid, of Magpie Tales, offers the following image as writers' prompt:

image:  Bert Stern

her cellophane wrap

easy to see, hard to read

a first grade primer

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X for ABC Wednesday

Xiphias, a swordfish.


According to Wikipedia, the swordfish is named after its bill resembling a sword.  This makes it superficially similar to other billfish such as marlin, but upon examination their physiology is quite different and they are members of different families.

original watercolor sketch

After I battled one of these for nearly a day before bringing him close enough to the boat to permit a quick touch before the deckhand returned him to the ocean, I hardly knew whether he was a marlin or a swordfish. But I did notice he was huge and heavy. 


Have you challenged an Xiphias?

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W for ABC Wednesday

Wishing you a cozy warm winter with a wealth of spirit, energy and joy!

Wishing you a wonderful 2012!

original watercolor

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Senryu for Magpie Tales

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers the following image as writers' prompt.

image: Lee Friedlander, 1966

folded arms

detached his shadow

saved her heart

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Viatical for ABC Wednesday

A viatical settlement is the sale of a life insurance policy by the policy owner before the policy matures. More information can be found at Wikipedia.

An early Christmas present (from me to me) of the Kindle Fire means that I'm reading with renewed enthusiasm. Added to this is the ability to digitally download Kindle books from the local library. The most recent series of books on my list comes from author James Grippando, creator of lawyer Jack Swyteck. Reading the second of his series, Beyond Suspicion, brought up viatical and I remembered when that word was prevalent in investing terminology.

And never let it be said that I read more than a couple of chapters before playing a bit of Angry Birds. All this excitement brought housework to a complete stop.

Do you buy gifts for yourself or am I the only one who does?

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Haiku for Magpie Tales #95

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers the following image for writer's prompt.

image by Mostafa Habibi

house of sand

an escaping dream

twist of time

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U for ABC Wednesday

 Please follow the link to see others' entries for the letter U.


One of the oldest USPS sites that I'm familiar with. As far as I know, this delightful place didn't have a local post office aid.

The mail is now delivered  by boat and distributed by which ever body is on hand to keep the boat near the dock while the pilot passes over the mail and whatever groceries were requested from the store in a small town on the other side of the lake.

Are you familiar with an older version?

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Senryu for Magpie Tales #94

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers the following image for prompt.

Lunch, George Tooker, 1964, Columbus Museum of Art

dark of rye

color-free milled wheat

artful knead

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T for ABC Wednesday

A portable tenderometer from Google search

I don't have a tenderometer (instrument for measuring tenderness of fruits and vegetables) and probably never will but it would have been handy several times during the last month because an Asiatic pear ripens differently than a Bartlett and yesterday I ruined a costly avocado by cutting it too soon.

Maybe it would be a handy item to have but because tenderometers are used for commercial purposes, I'm on my own again.

The anagrammer page touts Scrabble words, anagrams and several varieties of tenderometers.

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Fibonacci for Magpie Tales #93

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales prompts writers with the following offer:

red

ruby

nostalgia

abandoned by heirs

those golden tales forever curbed

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S for ABC Wednesday

Sun Salutation is my favorite yoga movement, although this time of year it could be named snow salutation. I'm not so fond of snow and there's surely not much sun to be found.

I prefer the easy yoga. Simple stretches are good and easy to do. That's my key: Simple and slow. 

I credit yoga for my recovery from a two-month battle with pneumonia several years ago which left me unable to stand or walk. A couple of physical therapy visits in conjunction with yoga returned me to the walking state. I don't skateboard now but I never did and I'm sure not planning to learn that sport! It just doesn't fit my simple and slow motto.

Do you stretch with yoga or do you skateboard?

Image courtesy of :    http://www.livingwordsofwisdom.com

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Tanka for Magpie Tales #92

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers the following visual for writers' prompt.

breath of Om

hatha yoga tryst

lotus grants

layers bendable

for flexible M

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R for ABC Wednesday

Rocking and Rollicking in the Rakings

Gotta envy the energy of the young, but on the other hand, where would this one be without the raker?

A borrowed photo, a child called Sweetcheeks

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Tanka for Magpie Tales

Tess Kincaid, Magpie Tales, offers the following image for writers' prompt #91.

image source: Google images, unknown photographer

Cheshire cat

dissembles in fog

Alice scans

infertile landscape

the music silent

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Q for ABC Wednesday

Quoz  (absurd person or thing) rocks and rules. Stricken by absurdity flu, much of the media misses the news by pandering to the quoz. 

I can sense a rant by this quat (insignificant person) coming on, so I'm going to quickly quit this post on quoz.

Downside of the quackers is a watercolor sketch based on a photograph.

Have you seen down from under?

~ ~ ~

Two of my novels and several chapbooks of poetry are available in various formats through Lulu Publishing and available as e-books on Nook and iTunes. Thank you.

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Tanka for Magpie Tales #90

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers this image as writers' prompt.

farmer's child

her hands man-like strong

she hid them

wished for model-slim

I saw mother's grace

 ~ ~ ~

Two Nanowrimo novels and several poetry chapbooks are available as e-books or print on Lulu Spotlight  as well as Barnes & Noble and iTunes. Thank you.

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P for ABC Wednesday

An example of a paraprosdokian. 

You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

If you feel the urge to snort, giggle and roar, follow the link where you'll find an assortment of paraprosdokians and suddenly you'll be passionate enough about them to begin writing your own.


Do you know paraprosdokians?

Fractal image.

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Senryu for Magpie Tales #89

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers the following image as a writers' prompt.

Image from Three Hundred Pages

Sunday gray

dulls loblolly pines

silent mind

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CIN Magic

Thanks to Kindle, Amazon and the Public Libraries for offering the new CIN venue. I'm using KindlePC for reading as I await delivery of the soon-to-be-released Kindle Fire.

The first book I read via CIN was The Tiger's Wife: A Novel by Tea Obreht.

Haunting, lyrical and literary, this book written by a young woman born in 1985 received several awards and places the author firmly on the path to stardom.

The Tiger's Wife is a book I'll not forget and surely will want to re-read at another date.

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O for ABC Wednesday

What a challenge it is to wait until after the morning oatmeal to search for ABC topics. Today, I found two that work together and caused me to laugh at the same time.

I learned that if a person is well versed in oikology (the science of housekeeping) he would be unlikely to locate oose (furry dust that gathers under beds).

I solved one by replacing my ordinary bed with a waterbed which goes all the way to the floor and prohibits oose. However, should a leak occur I'd have a bigger problem than a little dustbin of oose. It might require the use of oikology.

Do you have loose oose  or are you talented at oikology?

Image: Fractal O


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Senryu for Magpie Tales

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers the following image for writers' prompt # 88

guided by hindsight

he edits life's errata

squeaky clean memoir

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N for ABC Wednesday

It's hard to have a negative numb down day when there's a rainbow on the north wall!

This piece of fun fell through the peekhole in the front door or bounced from a southern window off the grandfather clock or a multiple of crystals. Needless to say, it pleased me. 

Do you welcome indoor rainbows?

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Haiku for Magpie Tales

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers the following visual for writers' prompt #87.

the head chef

plucks, strips down and browns

line dancing

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Fractal Haiga

summer folds

into storage bins

hunters moon

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M for ABC Wednesday

The image is from Wikipedia.

Magpie


This is the first year I've seen magpies in my yard. For several weeks, they've rocked small limbs and pestered squirrels while they remain firmly in possession. With long tales and clearly defined black-and-white feathers, magpies race past the windows, bathe in rain puddles and shake themselves dry in the surrounding pines. I'm pleased they've chosen to anchor here for now.

Do you have magpies in your world?

 

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Haiku for Magpie Tales

Tess Kincaid offers the following picture for writers' prompt #86.

image: Michael Sowa, from The Little King

dream crasher 

December shadows

the down side

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L for ABC Wednesday

Lottery

Some time back I read The Tontine, a two-volume novel by Thomas Bertram Costain. Certain parts of it stayed with me and I recently searched for more information. I plan to read this again.

A tontine begins with a number of people investing their funds in a manner which allows the survivor to be rewarded with the full sum.

Another type of lottery is the tombola in which each entrant wins a prize. I'd be in favor of this one.

Our lottery claims to use the money for funding schools which I've always found a little strange.

And, yes, I play the lottery even though winning is unlikely as being lit by lightning. Do you?

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Haiku for Magpie Tales #85

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers the following image for writers' prompt.

october sun sets
on wings of the elephants
fermented cities

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K for ABC Wednesday

Kale is headless cabbage according to the Wikipedia page. The first time I tasted kale was when a daughter used it as garnish on Tuscan Sausage Soup and I loved the flavor but failed to do anything about it - a fine kettle of kerfuffle.

After reading the Wiki...page, I searched for recipes and found a kazillion which range from soups to chips. It appears to be a very healthy vegie. It's even possible, not probable, that I could grow some next season.

Yesterday, a daughter brought me a batch of the tastiest kind of her homemade vegetable soup with a 'side' of fresh kale. Now I'm thinking kale chips.

Are you a kale liker/lover?

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Fibonacci for Magpie Tales #84

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers this image as prompt #84.

tempo rubato

her

lapse

of faith

shadow like

travels ankle high

rejoins to greet the midnight door

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J for ABC Wednesday

Juju represents a form of witchcraft, according to know-it-all Wikipedia.

Juju would be my favorite activity right now if I could push autumn to the side while enjoying a bit more summer. The weather only recently turned delightful and it's now making its departure. I'm just not ready for cold.

A little juju, or maybe a lot, might be a very good thing for me.

Are you ready for fall?

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Haiku for Magpie Tales #83

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers the following image for writers' prompt #83.

The Snake Charmer, Henri Rousseau, 1907

in his dream

the jungle charming

morning chic 

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I for ABC Wednesday

Izzard is a new word to me. It sounds unlike its meaning which is: the archaic name for the letter Z. I think of Harry Potter, Oz, hen parts, crawling snake-like things and such. I doubt I'll ever have a chance to use this word even though I'd love to.

Would you use it?

 

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Haiku for Magpie Tales #82

Tess Kincaid prompts writers with this image: The Revenant, 1949, Andrew Wyeth

egg compounds

ghostly brush overs

Rorschach blurs

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Haiku for Magpie Tales #81

Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales offers the following photo prompt for writers on post #81.

loose pebbles
swallow, clank and drop
yesterdays

 

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H for ABC Wednesday

I'm on the lookout for a humgruffin. It would give me great pleasure to call someone a humgruffin just because the word is surely a quirky one that belongs in a poem, a knock-knock joke or a backpack of fave sayings.

Humgruffin is defined as 'a terrible person'. Maybe I know a lot of them or maybe I know only one or none. Terrible is not very definitive. The more I think about it, the more I'm not sure I'd know one if I found it. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I know many.

How many do you know?

 

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G for ABC Wednesday

A gracious geranium hosts a hyper hummer who'd been sipping sugary nectar from the feeder before spying the real thing.

The picture is a little blurry (okay, it might be a lot blurry) because these little guys move far faster than my camera. She grazed my ear as she gallivanted from one end of the deck to the other.

A chance to catch her in a still shot came soon after this when she flew up to examine a fly strip. Glad she didn't get glued to that, although it would have been an easier photo capture.

Is your shutter speed as fast as the general hummingbird?

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