Music Blog

April’s Fool

This week at Glyn Wiltonโ€™s Mixed Music Bag,
heโ€™s asking us to write about a song in which
the title or a line mentions the current month. 
Hereโ€™s my featured April artist and his song.

Continue reading “April’s Fool”
Music Blog

March Winds In February

This week at Glyn Wiltonโ€™s Mixed Music Bag,
heโ€™s asking us to write about a song in which
the title or a line mentions the current month.ย 
Hereโ€™s my featured March artist and his song.

Continue reading “March Winds In February”
Dectina Refrain, Poem

Nature’s Buffet

Written for Eugiโ€™s Moonwashed Weekly Prompts.
Inspirations appear below. This is my Dectina Refrain.

Continue reading “Nature’s Buffet”
Music Blog

March, the Mad Scientist

This week at Glyn Wiltonโ€™s Mixed Music Bag,
heโ€™s asking us to write about a song in which
the title or a line mentions the current month. 
Hereโ€™s my featured March artists and their song.

Continue reading “March, the Mad Scientist”
Etheree, Poem

Until Love: A Reverse Etheree

Written for Eugiโ€™s Moonwashed Weekly Prompts.
Prompt words appear below.

This is my reverse etheree.

Continue reading “Until Love: A Reverse Etheree”
Haibun, Poem

Groundhog’s Lament: A Haibun

Written for dVerse Poets Haibun Monday –
Celebrating Groundhog Day
. This is my Haibun.

Continue reading “Groundhog’s Lament: A Haibun”
Flash

Seasons

Shweta is our host for the Saturday Six Word Challenge – #117.
This weekโ€™s prompt word is โ€œgiftโ€. Here is my 6 word story.

Continue reading “Seasons”
Flash

Holding Out Til Spring

Shweta is our host for the Saturday Six Word Challenge – #113.
This weekโ€™s prompt word is โ€œresilienceโ€. Here is my 6 word story.

Continue reading “Holding Out Til Spring”
Haibun, Poem

April Showers: A Haibun

Written for Weekend Writing Prompt #359 (tempest, 29 words)
Moonwashed Weekly Prompt (gilt-edged) and
Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge
(pointless)

Itโ€™s springtime! I love to see my flowers growing but sudden storms wreak havoc on defenseless, gilt-edged blossoms.

roses madly thrashed
springโ€™s wild tempest rains attack
my pointless garden

NARยฉ2024
29 Words

This is “Dead Flowers” by the Rolling Stones – Totally Stripped

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantโ€™s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NARยฉ2017-present.

Haibun

Fever Pitch: A Haibun

Written for dVerse where we are asked to celebrate
the arrival of spring by writing a haibun
that alludes to the first [cherry] blossoms [hatsu hana]

ยฉ NAR

It was five, maybe six years ago โ€ฆ. Iโ€™ve forgotten โ€ฆ. but it was April, that much Iโ€™m sure of because the legion of cherry trees dotting the shimmering green lawn surrounding the hospital was starting to bloom. That was the Spring I almost died from pneumonia. Funny, I canโ€™t recall the year but I remember one particular bud on the cherry tree which I could see very clearly through my hospital room window. As I became sicker with each passing day, the bud thrived, almost as if I was giving it my life force. The day the pink and white blossom fully opened was the day my fever broke.

pink bud unfurling
branches reaching for the sun
life resurrected

NARยฉ2024

This is Perez Prado with โ€œCherry Pink And Apple Blossom Whiteโ€

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantโ€™s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NARยฉ2017-present.

Flash

VERNAL EQUINOX

As I sit here in my recliner looking out my bedroom window, wondering where Christmas has gone, I ask myself if I should venture out for my walk.

โ€œItโ€™s a bleak-looking day and awfully chilly. Stay inside where itโ€™s warm and comfy.โ€

But then I remember that my wonky knee could use the exercise and time is fleeting. In just 83 days the beautiful blushing bride of nature will arrive and winter will be nothing but a distant memory.

NAR ยฉ 2023
79 Words

This is Felix Mendelssohn’s “Spring Song, Op. 62โ€‚No. 6″

This portfolio (including text, graphics and videos) is copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantโ€™s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and not for use by anyone without permission. NAR ยฉ 2017-present.

Uncategorized

IT’S ABOUT TIME!

Are you ready to cast off the winter doldrums and rejoin the land of the living? I know I am! Although daylight has been lasting a bit longer each day, the change is imperceptible. However, tomorrow here in The States we will turn our clocks ahead one hour as Daylight Saving Time begins. Spring ahead, fall back. Losing that one precious hour of sleep will be worth it just to close the door on Old Man Winter.

It seems the older I get the less I like cold weather. Iโ€™ve never been a fan of winter, not even as a child. While all the other kids were sledding and skating, Iโ€™d be watching them from my window under a cozy blanket drinking hot cocoa. Not much has changed! I’m a โ€œbeach bumโ€, not a โ€œsnow bunnyโ€ and much prefer walking into the surf than trudging through the drifts.

Winter is when everything turns grey and fades away. The birds fly south and the trees go bare. The deserted playground swings get tossed about in the cold wind and wisps of smoke spiral out from chimney tops as families enjoy the warmth of their fireplaces.

It takes forever for people to get dressed to go outside โ€“ donning boots, parkas, scarves, hats and gloves โ€“ then they make a mad dash from the house to the car and another dash when they arrive at their destination, hoping they don’t suffer a “mad dash ass smash” in their icy haste. Believe me โ€“ the ‘slip-sliding away’ happens and it ain’t pretty! How about the hundreds of people waiting for public transportation? Fur-lined hoods pulled up over their heads, faces red and chafed, lips cracked and sore, noses dripping and eyes tearing from the wind. Talk about โ€œyour huddled masses yearning to breathe freeโ€!

In just another week spring will arrive. Before long, boots will be replaced with sandals, snowsuits with bathing suits, winter skis with water skis, hot chocolate with lemonade, sleds with bicycles, snowballs with baseballs and winter mittens with gardening gloves.

March winds bring April showers and April showers bring May flowers. Is there anything lovelier than a sunny day in spring? The birds have returned and are chirping their little hearts out. The resilient crocuses and daffodils have popped up through the defrosting earth and tiny buds are forming on the trees. Now is the time for planting seeds and saplings that were started months ago inside warm houses. The sky is clear, the sun is shining and thereโ€™s just a hint of a breeze. Couples walk hand-in-hand through the park and the playgrounds have come back to life. Children pitch tents in their backyards and dads grill the first hot dogs of the season.

Iโ€™ve often said I donโ€™t like February; itโ€™s the shortest month but to me it feels like the longest and the loneliest. Now March is here and it came in more like a lamb than a lion with temps in the 40s and only a slight breeze.

Youโ€™ll get no complaining from me โ€“ not yet, anyway. But it’s still early; why, it’s not even April. Just wait for the blazing summer sun, the mad dashes to our cars to blast the AC, the scalding hot sand at the beach, the highways jammed with people escaping the city for a week at the shore, the lines at the ice cream stands, the agony of a blistering sunburn and the howling dog days of August.

When will autumn get here? Thereโ€™s just no pleasing some people!

NAR ยฉ 2022