Rain, Rain, Go away,
Come again another day.
Life can always look so grey,
On the days rain comes to play.

Yes, it's raining. I don't actually hate the rain. Some days it's nice to be in a warm cosy house when it's tipping it down outside. The problem comes when I'm feeling a little blue and it's raining. That tends to be during the long dark teatime of the year that falls between Christmas and Easter.

I find myself searching for signs of Spring, things like bulb sprouts and leaf buds. Where I live, that happens around the end of February usually.

I also write a lot of poetry at this time of year. It's not always that good, so you're not likely to see much of it!

Good things do happen at this time of year though. For example: one of my writer buddies has just signed a contract for her book and my favourite Horror Webzine, The House of Horror is actually becoming a quarterly print Magazine!

Basically from Issue #20 onwards, they will be going to print and the website will become the details site. This creates a whole new paying market for horror and dark fantasy writers because HOH will pay 1/4 cent per word up to 2000 words!

Keep your eyes open for more news on that - I'll post it as and when it comes up.

Another piece of good news is that you can now find "Welcome to Wherever..." on Duotrope.com! I'm hoping that will make it easier to find submissions each month - I'm not doing too badly for february at the moment...

Toodles!

I wonder what I'll do this week.

I wonder what to do this week,
I really wonder what,
I look at the white space in my diary,
And I really don't care a jot,
That I don't have any coffee mornings,
Parties or Bar-be-ques,
To fill my hours with meaningless babble,
About what wine to choose.

I wonder what to do this week,
Should I go here or there?
Should I go down to the beach,
Would the beach really care?
If I didn't visit for a while,
And sit upon the rocks,
Watching the sea flow up the shore,
And the shore just shrug it off.

I wonder what to do this week?
Does my Keyboard call?
Is my Bead Loom all that lonely?
Should I let the washing up stall?
What could I do with the time I have?
Where could I go?
Who could I meet on the way?
Will I ever know?

I wonder what to do this week?
I guess I'll just let time flow,
Past me from the future,
And watch it slip and slow,
Over the Rocks of Unplanned Events,
Dammed behind the Logs of What I need to do,
Into a Pool of No.

(c) Mandy Ward, 13th June 2010

Spring in Rhoose.

We've had some beautiful weather recently - it makes it a little difficult to imagine the Volcano in Iceland, but I'm enjoying it all the more for that reason.

Walking the kids to and from school has been inspiring - I've written two poems in three days!

I thought you might like to see them.

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Spring Sunshine

The humble fuzzy bumble bee,

Buzzing ‘round the flowering tree.

Sipping Nectar here and there,

Delivering pollen everywhere.

The elegant fluttering butterfly,

Hovers o’er flowers nearby,

Delicately tasting from each bloom,

Feeling no need to rush or zoom.

As the sunshine brings the sky to life,

Stop to look and forget your strife.

Remember peace is always near,

When you stop to look and hear.

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Spring Colours

Green tipped brown,

Reaches to blue.

Gold smiles down,

At white peeping through.

Yellow and pink,

Compete for the eye.

Red wins the day,

Looking up at the sky.

_________________________________________________________

I hope that you like them and they give you a sense of what I see when I wander about the village.

My Photography skills aren't the best and I have an old digital camera that doesn't get the fine detail properly, no matter what I do with Photoshop!

I love spring sunshine and sea air - the scent of the salt in the wind brings back memories of my childhood and relaxes me almost as much as sitting on the sea shore.

I wish I had a laptop so that I could find a warm sheltered spot in the sunshine and write outside. I'm sure that I would get a lot more done!

I hope that you're enjoying spring where you are... what is it like for you?

It's not for me

"When in Rome, Do as the Romans do!
As my mother used to say",
Dad said as he picked up an oyster,
and swallowed it away.

I looked at the slimy creature,
wet and looking sad,
Sat in his shell of mother of pearl,
It made me feel quite bad.

"An Oyster is a person too",
I thought I heard him say,
"I swim and eat and make pearls too,
I hope you won't eat me today."

I shook my head and said "No."
"I shall not eat this creature,
He does not deserve to die that way,
As part of a Sea Food feature."

"Not even going to try it lass?"
My father said over my shoulder,
He reached across and picked it up,
"I thought you would be bolder!"

I had to watch as my Dad,
Swallowed the creature of the sea,
I shuddered and closed my eyes,
"Sorry dad, it's not for me!"