For Those Who Like A Spot Of Cloud

Heading back today, I noticed the formation of the clouds, and as I didn’t have my camera on me, as soon as I got home, I launched onto the front balcony to grab some shots.

On a side note, I have been trying to catch up on my time this week, but it is not working. I am down to one post a day, and have been unable to do the inspiration or Follow Friday since last week. Please bear with me (as opposed to bare with me which is a whole different and wrong story) whilst I try to regain some semblance of time.

Haibun Thinking: The Sentinel

Every Tuesday, Haibun Thinking appears in the reader with a challenge to create a Haibun.

Haibun is a Japanese literary form that combines one or more paragraphs of your written narrative (prose) with a concentrated (short) poem – the haiku. Hai stands for haiku, bun stands for prose.

The haibun and/or the haiku present a relationship between the nature of the human experience and ‘nature’ (the natural order of life). (thanks to Penny for this)

If you want to have a go, then head HERE, or if you want to see what others have written, head HERE.

This week is “Film Week” where a prompt from either a film or an actor/actress/director/producer etc or a donated photo. The quote this week is:

“Don’t forget – I’m just a girl,
standing in front of a boy,
asking him to love her.
— Notting Hill

I chose the photo though.

© Arthur Browne

The Sentinel

The castle looms in the near distance like a sentinel watching over a land, making sure no one attempts to harm its charges. It has stood there for centuries, watching the seeds turning into trees, watching twigs turning into bushes, watching lakes turn into puddles and puddles turn into lakes. It watches people come and people go. It watches as life changes over the years, over the decades, over the centuries.

Horse power changes to horsepower; candle power changes to candlepower; lighthouses change to houses of light. Life turns to death and death to life. The sentinel sees this all and never comments. It stands in all weathers, just watching. As philosophers come and give their predictions and then time takes them, the castle watches those predictions come true or fade into nothingness.

The sentinel stands proud, never falling as it watches the creatures who built it find new ways to destroy each other, knowing they will find new ways again. It sees the families running through its halls getting to know it, knowing these small children will come here with their children.

If it could smile, it would as it knows that no matter what, there will always be people who want to learn about the history, about the life gone and times past. So the sentinel silently watches.

standing tall and proud
the castle watches time go by
sees life eternal

Beautiful Skies

(Thanks to my nephew for the title)

This came to me after reading Christina’s post Of Moonlight or Madness

Beautiful Skies

Whether waiter or debater
At midnight or noon
You cannot miss the crater
When you look at the moon

Whether serious or joker
Practical or fun
All know it’s solar
When you look at the sun

Whether walker or driver
On pushbikes or cars
There is nothing nicer
Than a night full of stars

Whether mother or father
Being ever so proud
Your smile getting larger
With your child naming clouds

Whether starting or finished
We all get the prize
Beauty never diminished
When we look at the skies

So now I tell you this
What many have found
It is too good to miss
The beauty all around

^{© A Forbes 2014}

Challenge Wednesday 19 February

If you are looking for a fiction / poetry challenge, take a look here

Jeremy's Daily Challenge

The idea of these challenges is to use the given prompts to create a piece of flash fiction (100-200 words) or a poem (14-20 lines)

As a poet I read a lot of poetry and some more on top. I also find one line taken out of context can lead to a whole new dimension of creativity. The idea of this challenge therefore is to create what comes to mind from lines of poetry.

This week’s lines of poetry are:

• Why preyest thou thus upon the poet’s heart – Sonnet — to Science by Edgar Allan Poe
• And lunch blended into naptime – An Ordinary Life by Barbara Crooker
• plugged in lamps and the television set – Old Age Home by Burt Kimmelman

If you use this prompt please link back

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