We kayak where lives Hippopotamus,
And hope it isn't submerged, a-bottom us.
With kayak a quite crunchy hard shell --
Us: savory filling that screams and yells, --
We'll be a three-bite river taco to hell.
River Taco [Lyric Poem]
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Author Archives: B Gourley
PROMPT: Biggest Challenge
Daily writing prompt
What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?
I certainly have my ideas, but I’m not going to jinx it or create a self-fulfilling prophecy on the matter. Sometimes the easy is hard and the hard comes easy, and — above all — people suck at making predictions (except in the case of self-fulfilling prophesies.)
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Chiaroscuro Clouds [Haiku]
at days end,
clouds not burning bright white
sink into black.
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DAILY PHOTO: Weissgerber Lande, Vienna
Image
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Wind Snitch [Free Verse]
The straight-stemmed turbines
are tattletales,
telling all about the stealthy
thief sneaking overhead.
With no clouds in the sky,
the wind could slip
out over the treetops,
and no one would know.
But the turbines turn,
slow as Taiji titans,
letting no movement
go untaxed.
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BOOK: “Of Love and Other Demons” by Gabriel García Márquez
Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García MárquezMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher – Penguin Random House
This novel revolves around the young daughter of an aristocrat in 18th century Cartagena, Sierva Maria, who is raised by slaves, goes native, and – after being bitten by a rabid dog – is sent to a convent for exorcism. The other central character is the priest, Father Cayetano Delaura, who is dispatched to evaluate the girl and perform the exorcism. Father Delaura doesn’t initially believe the girl is possessed. Sierva Maria speaks the African tribal languages of the slaves who raised her (rather than speaking in tongues as the Nuns believe,) and she is a psychological wreck in large part because the Sisters treat her horribly, believing her to be demon infested. In the process of cleaning Sierva Maria up, tending to her wounds, and coaxing her to speak to him, the priest falls in love with the girl.
It’s a compelling story. Gabriel García Márquez opens the book with a prologue in which he proposes that it was a legend he was told by his grandmother that formed the seed of the story and the real-life discovery of human remains with extremely long hair that trigger his writing. (Sierva Maria has long hair because it was never cut because it was promised to the Saints in prayer when she was saved from choking on her umbilical cord at birth.)
Being set in the 18th century, the book features a fascinating mix of people who believe the problems of Sierva Maria can only be demon possession, an Enlightenment-influenced doctor of the view that it there are more logical explanations, and the many shades in between — epitomized by Father Delaura’s migrating views on the subject.
I’d highly recommend this book for readers of historical fiction.
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PROMPT: Teenage Self
Be your authentic self.
And stop touching yourself so much.
But the first advice wouldn’t be understood, and the second would be ignored, so I’m not sure that it would be a productive undertaking.
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Last Blossom [Haiku]
bloom-laden Cherry
tree attracts no viewers;
the last blossom does.
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DAILY PHOTO: Saint Joseph Cathedral, Hanoi
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PROMPT: Bores
Augers, drills, and trepans. They’re the most boring things I can think of.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 