DAILY PHOTO: Rocky Scenes from Chitradurga Fort
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Author Archives: B Gourley
BOOK REVIEW: A Boy Named Rose by Gaëlle Geniller
A Boy Named Rose by Gaëlle GenillerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
Release Date: July 18, 2023
This is the story of a preternaturally likeable and enthralling young cabaret dancer, the titular boy named Rose. Rose’s entire life has been lived in the cabaret that his mother runs, and much of the story revolves around his introduction to the broader world as his fame grows.
It is eye-catchingly illustrated in a way that creates and facilitates a unique feel for the story.
As stories go, it’s not particularly emotionally rousing. I suspect that is partly because, as is common with literary fiction, it’s more character-driven than story-driven, and this presents a challenge for the graphic novel format in which the reader has more direct exposure to the characters’ external happenings. One may see a character being pensive, but without insight into that individual’s mental world one doesn’t feel it as intensely as one would with a novel that allows one some internal insight.
That said, a world is presented that is so foreign to most of us, life inside a cabaret, that it generates interest in that sense.
Overall, it was an enjoyable, light-hearted read.
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PROMPT: Historical Figure
Oh, there are so many: Voltaire, Kusunoki Masashige, Drukpa Kunley, Diogenes (the Cynic,) and Socrates top the list.
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Black on Blue [Haiku]
a black cloud crawls through a blue sky on a bright Fall day.
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DAILY PHOTO: Budapest Roofs Under Blue Skies
Dorothea Tanning’s Birthday (1942) [Free Verse]
Oh, I've been in that dream:
door upon door to nowhere,
inexplicable nudity,
elements that seem fine
from a distance, but -
from up close - make no sense.
And then I saw the creature at her feet,
and knew I'd never been in that dream.
I can't fathom the genetic cocktail
that would need to be cooked up
to create such a monstrous pet.
And then it hit me that the winged badger-mutt
is not nearly the most disturbing aspect...
What are they looking at?
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Tenacity [Haiku]
saltwater waves batter a lush Mangrove on a rocky shore.
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Cattail Time [Haiku]
cattail metronome:
keeps time out of phase
with the tall grass.
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DAILY PHOTO: Sunset over the Bay of Bengal.
Melting Stone [Free Verse]
Upon the ocean shore,
there is a rock:
hard,
black,
porous,
volcanic.
Gentle seas send ripples
against its base.
Stormy seas send waves
to relentlessly batter it,
crashing over its top.
Both the lapping waves
and the crashing waves
cart away parts of the rock --
one unit of grit at a time.
The lapping waves need patience;
the crashing waves need energy,
but they both insist a tax be paid
for their labors.
Just looking at the rock,
one can tell it was once different:
bigger,
its pores filled
with other rock -- softer rock,
rock that the sea long ago turned
into sandy bottoms and beaches.
The rock is dissolving like an ice cube,
except in geologic time.
