Guest Posted 28 May , 2009 Share Posted 28 May , 2009 The Money Tree. Last night I saw a splendid thing as I sat upon my back step. I had pondered long and hard, where I should get money to pay my debt. Before my eyes grew a tree, a thick trunk of silver bark, and leaves of emerald green, glistening in the dark. Was it my imagine, or was it a dream, I saw notes fluttering instead of leaves. I shook my head, and the next morn rose. Alas, no tree. I wondered at what the mind weaves. Sorry, pathetic attempt at humour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 28 May , 2009 Share Posted 28 May , 2009 You've all been so busy on here recently - marvellous!!!! Michael I think you'll just have to explain to John and Marie that whatever they think you may have to write Harlequin novels! Or maybe you and Ozzie could race to see who gets a contract from PF first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Johnson Posted 28 May , 2009 Share Posted 28 May , 2009 John and Marie aren't the problem - it's Madame. True her brother Marcel read British detective novels, but I think she would have drawn the line at Harlequins. Not so my grandmother Johnson - she lapped them up. When she died in 1970 we had a pile of them to get rid of. I'm afraid of Madame. True story. A few years ago I was bidding on a postcard of the Welland Canal Acqueduct. Orders came from "She Who Must Be Obeyed" that I was to stop buying on eBay. So I was very relieved when someone else overbid me. I emailed him to express my relief. He asked what my interest in Welland was and I explained about my grandparents. His father grew up in Welland, and was friends with my uncle. And his father remembered going over to the Darte family house to get help with his homework, and having great difficulty understanding Grandemaman's accent. Like many authors, my characters are drawn from real people. My grandmother died when I was 3, so I have grafted my mother's personality onto her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 28 May , 2009 Share Posted 28 May , 2009 Hmmm...would a GW detective novel be acceptable ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Johnson Posted 28 May , 2009 Share Posted 28 May , 2009 Hmmm...would a GW detective novel be acceptable ? Col. Mustard in the Estaminet with the Gew 98! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 28 May , 2009 Share Posted 28 May , 2009 ^ Madame is formidable but not a battleaxe? So I shouldn't nip over to the cast for your film and suggest Margaret Rutherford or Hattie Jacques? (Do you know them?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Johnson Posted 28 May , 2009 Share Posted 28 May , 2009 Elle sait ce qu'elle veut, et elle tout arrange. No not a battleax. A strongwilled, capable woman. Grandemere stood 6 feet tall, and doubtless smoked. Definitely not Margaret Rutherford. I think Kim was very close with Katherine Hepburn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 28 May , 2009 Share Posted 28 May , 2009 I've had to go right back to #68 to catch up! salesie, thank you for such a detailed reply there. I only see what you show me and it's very generous of you to share your secrets. You've given us a lot of help this month. I'll try and take it all on board.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 28 May , 2009 Share Posted 28 May , 2009 Elle sait ce qu'elle veut, et elle tout arrange. Michael I haven't done any french since 1963 - who would have thought I could remember savoir and vouloir! or that I'd be chanting the conjugation of verbs this evening. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salesie Posted 28 May , 2009 Share Posted 28 May , 2009 I've had to go right back to #68 to catch up! salesie, thank you for such a detailed reply there. I only see what you show me and it's very generous of you to share your secrets. You've given us a lot of help this month. I'll try and take it all on board.... You're welcome, CGM - though they're not "secrets" per se, just my own thoughts (for what they're worth). That said, I won't be around the forum very often for the next eight to ten weeks from next Wednesday; I'm working away four to five days a week and will probably only have web access at weekends. It will be a good time, at night in the hotel, to write more of "Seeds of Discord"; should manage a further forty to fifty thousand words if I get my head down - unless, of course, there are a few Estaminets in the Southampton area to entice me from my bunker? Cheers-salesie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 29 May , 2009 Share Posted 29 May , 2009 There's a lot of poetry this month and I'm really appreciating it. There's something about poetry; every word has to justify its place. Squirrel, even though your poem starts quite lightly there's a sense of foreboding in the second verse so the third verse has an edge to it. You don't spell it out but I feel it. Superb. Ozzie you've written poems this month! Did you enjoy it? I hope you write more. I keep thinking of the end of the first one "and live for another day." Live for another day is so much more powerful than live another day. As I said, every word... Regards CGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 29 May , 2009 Share Posted 29 May , 2009 Thanks CGM, your comments are much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 29 May , 2009 Share Posted 29 May , 2009 Actually, it was bloody hard work, CGM. I take my hat of to those that post the wonderful poetry that they do. I was "slightly" p'ssed and thought, "Have a go, ya mug!" It was hard to contain the flow of words into such a small area, and not let it run away into prose. I had to rethink every word, and the delete key got a big workout!!! I think I will stick to prose. Cheers Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Johnson Posted 29 May , 2009 Share Posted 29 May , 2009 Kim, some ideas lend themselves to prose, others to poetry. Would this poem of mine http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...st&p=774161 have been more effective as a chunk of prose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 29 May , 2009 Share Posted 29 May , 2009 Kim, FWIW, go where your heart and mind lead you - if it be prose then fair enough; if it be poetry then that's fair enough as well. You can always put a poem in with the prose as well if you want to. Whatever you do, it's whether you like it or not that counts. If other people like it as well it is a bonus. Get sharpening your pencils for next month. What's the topic by the way. How about "Dawn"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Johnson Posted 29 May , 2009 Share Posted 29 May , 2009 I think it was going to be "The Letter", but my Blog is going through letters at a great rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 29 May , 2009 Share Posted 29 May , 2009 Squirrel, Thank you. That makes a lot of sense. I think "The Letter" was suggested for next month, even though my mind immediately conjured up up a story about "Dawn"! Can we have The Letter, then Dawn? Cheers Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 29 May , 2009 Share Posted 29 May , 2009 Micheal, I ain't no poetry type, but to me, it would be that it could stand as it is, or you could take it further and make it into a story. There are so many leads in the poem, that it could be several stories!! I see at least four. Cheers Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunboat Posted 30 May , 2009 Share Posted 30 May , 2009 You cant give up after one go....I liked it I liked the idea and I liked the imagery yes I may have rearranged the odd word here and there as I daresay many who read my poems would want to do the same. As squirrel suggests it's what it does inside your mind and soul that matters sometimes images come that lend themselves to meter and to be thread into verse, others need to be expanded into a longer narrative. Go with what feels right. In this instance the image is definately one best suited to poetry in my view and it works nicely. Let's have more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 31 May , 2009 Share Posted 31 May , 2009 Thanks Ozzie. I usually stick to fact, so fiction is new to me! Bruce Hello Bruce, Such an eventful and incredibly interesting life. It wasn't until I read your comment above and went back and looked again that I realised how many facts are in the piece you wrote. It's packed with them! but I only ever felt that I was outside, sitting on the grass in the sun, listening to a gentle voice quietly sharing memories with me. Masterful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 31 May , 2009 Share Posted 31 May , 2009 Actually, it was bloody hard work, CGM. I take my hat of to those that post the wonderful poetry that they do. I was "slightly" p'ssed and thought, "Have a go, ya mug!" It was hard to contain the flow of words into such a small area, and not let it run away into prose. I had to rethink every word, and the delete key got a big workout!!! I think I will stick to prose. Cheers Kim Well, that's decided it for me then. Think I'll leave poetry to everyone else. Prose is hard enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 31 May , 2009 Share Posted 31 May , 2009 Ozzie they are two delightful letters about Little Mate. May he have a long and happy life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 31 May , 2009 Share Posted 31 May , 2009 Have a go anyway, CGM, you may suprise yourself! Cheers Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 Well, I won't rule it out then, but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 Hey, CGM, I have never had a thing for poetry. In fact, been put off by some local town zeolots. Prose seems to come a lot easier, but; The help and strength that the mates here give, has given me the nerve to attempt poetry. So, here is another attempt. All incoming criticism, most welcome as I am definately not in the league of other poetry contributors, but would like to stretch myself. Back along the lines we moved, the sad, the weak, the strong, All clad in khaki, all one, from the fierce and savage fighting of days past. Tired and worn, we marched, and yet we still found song, As we looked down and trampled over the dead, and knew our destiny was cast. Through the rain of shrapnel, the hail of bullets, We made our way through the bleakness Of man's hate, man's greed, Towards cold, stinking, flea infested billets, To safety, where we could let the rage recede. With visits to the Estaminets, with a French girl's Twinkling eyes, We could joke, and drink, and tell the Devil where to go With wine, and beer, and fries, And for but a moment, forget about our foe. C'mon CG, have a go. I'm up for being laughed at, it is all a learning experience, ouch, and... this is the place to 'Have a go!' Cheers Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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