Fading Light

SKYWATCH
http://skyley.blogspot.com/

FADING LIGHT

Darkness had already crept into the house;

The sky had just a tender glow of pink.

There, from the landing window, I saw the final glow

Before the sun made up its mind to sink.

*

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Young women were once advised to gather…….'a key, a ring, a flower, a sprig of willow, a small piece of cake, a crust of bread, 10 of clubs, 9 of hearts, ace of spades, and ace of diamonds.' They were told to wrap these in a handkerchief and place it under their pillow, and to say, upon going to bed, the opening lines of my poem.

LUNATIC HARVEST

"Luna, every woman's friend,
To me thy goodness condescend.
Let me this night in visions see,
Emblems of my destiny."
*
Me speaking:
I have gathered the gifts required.
They will lie, when I've retired,
Under my pillow safe and sure
Held in a handkerchief, secure.
The Harvest Moon will float above
Bringing glorious dreams of love.
The ace of Diamonds or the Ring
Are sure romantic thoughts to bring.
But if I dream of Cake or Bread
There'll be successful work instead.
Flowers portend domestic joys.
Birds? Many children, girls and boys.
Diamonds mean money, Keys great power.
Dream of Storms? A torrential shower.
The ten of Clubs means life abroad,
Willow means love goes overboard.
Dream of Geese I'll marry twice.
But the ace of Spades is not too nice!
It stands for Death so I fear the warning:
I may not be alive by morning!
*
All this leads me a merry dance!
I'd rather leave the lot to chance!"
*

Prepared

                           Brenda Bryant

MONOCHROME

PREPARED

It may rain or it may shine.

One hat's yours and one hat's mine.

Brollys, coats, all ready to go,

Even though the wind may blow.

Everything we have is shared

And, as usual, we're prepared.

*

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                                  Sisley

VAGUE

(An Acrostic)

Valleys and hills dissolve in mist

All is vague, all merged, and faint.

Gardens with flowers and trees persist

Under a pale and light-starved paint.

Earth with a muted atmosphere.

An artist's view of a fading year.

*

Vulgar Limerick!

MAD KANE'S HUMOR BLOG

http://www.madkane.com/humor_blog/

The first line was suggested by Mad Kane! As an Aussie I had to guess what 'buns' were, but I think I got it right!

VULGAR LIMERICK!

A man who was known for his buns,

Declared 'I know everyone shuns

A lack of division!
It causes derision!
They must come in twos and not ones!'

Now another one in case I jumped to conclusions!

A man who was known for his buns,

Said 'I bake them for Goths and for Huns.

I find if I drop

A cherry on top

They don't notice the pale under-dones!'

*

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This is not me OR Granny Smith!

Dedicated to Granny Smith

http://phyllisophy.blogspot.com/2010/08/green-is-for-grannys-green-fingernail.html

See what she's done about it!

INVISIBILITY!

Invisibility!

It'll happen to you! You'll see!

One day you'll be striding along,

Whistling, and humming a song,

Lithe and bright and hearty,

Life being one long party;

People greeting you in the street

Saying 'Gosh! You're so great to meet!';

Thinking 'I'm ME for evermore!

I wonder what goodies are in store';

And, suddenly, bent back, grey hair!

And you become nothing but a 'spare'!

Someone at the traffic lights

Who shouldn't be still alive by rights!

Someone who should be moving on

'And we wont even notice when you've gone!'

But, friends, don't let them do it to you!

Don't let them try to look right through you!

Speak up! Speak out! Though you are a pest!

Even though 'they're' not impressed!

Answer back! And push right in!

Being 'you' is not a sin!

Shout out loud 'Hey folks! It's ME!'

No more invisibility!

*

13 Ways to Say 13!

THURSDAY THIRTEEN
http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com/2010/09/13-ways-to-say-13.html

THIRTEEN WAYS TO SAY THIRTEEN!

From just one simple word and its foreign substitutes
It's very nearly possible to work out our language roots.
Take English, well, I say 'Thirteen', it seems a simple choice.
And other people say it in an almost similar voice.
'Trece' they say in Spanish; 'Tredici' Italians say.
In Swedish the word's 'Tretton', similar in a way.
    In Czech the word is Třináct with a lot of twiddly bits.
It's 'Trzynascie' in Polish! (Your tongue has to do the splits!)
Then there's the 'Trieze' we learned in school; that's what they say in France.
And the 'TR' that those start with hasn't merely been up to chance.
I guess (and I'm  no expert) that the 'TR' signifies ' 'THREE',
The languages must have had a link! It looks that way to me!
But take a look at Icelandic ; 'Pretan' they say, I think!
And it's 'On üç'  in Turkish! They definitely lack a link.
But go to the other ends of the earth, to an isolated place
And 'tekau mā toru' are the words of the Maori race.
In Romania it's 'Treisprezece'. Much too hard for me!
In Bulgaria they say 'Тринадесет ' ! (Well at least it starts with a T!)
But my favourite of all is Norwegian! 'Treten'! You read it here!
It looks exactly like 'Three Ten' ! It's all so very clear.
Thirteen ways of saying 'Thirteen!' Tongue-twisters I am sure!
(Please don't put in a request for me to find thirteen more!)
 *
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SUGARED ALMONDS!


A dull day, threatening rain.
A grim railway waiting-room threatening boredom.
A magical sugared-almond window to lift my spirits!
*

Silent Treatment

THREE WORD WEDNESDAY

http://www.threewordwednesday.com/

This week's words are

break negative surface

SILENT TREATMENT

Three days! And we hadn't spoken!

Just how long would it take?

It was all his fault! That was certain.

But which of us would break?

How I hated his negative attitude!

He was mean and he was callow!

He'd said I was all surface show!

He'd accused me of being shallow!

We'd shouted insults loud and long!

We obviously loathed each other!

I told him he was a selfish boor;

He said 'You're like your mother!'

But we ran out of insults, by-and-by,

And the Silent Treatment began.

Three days! And we hadn't spoken!

God! What an irritating man!

He was duty-bound to speak first!

After all, he was to blame!

But, if he didn't speak, I wouldn't!

Two can play at that little game!

Then I caught his eye and looked away;

Was that the ghost of a grin?

I looked back just to make certain.

I mustn't let him win!

But I couldn't stop my lips twitching

And, before, I knew it,

I'd burst out laughing and, heaven knows,

I hadn't planned to do it!

We ended up in each other's arms!

Silent Treatment was for the birds!

But, oddly enough, we discovered

We still didn't need any words!

*

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Reidel

FADE AWAY

Faraway a lone bird calling

As the golden mist is falling.

Darkness hovers near at hand

Evening shadows paint the land.

All the trees stand tall and black

While the next bird answers back.

And the moon has risen to say

'Your lovely day must fade away.'

*

Sea Sparkle

WATERY WEDNESDAY

SEA SPARKLE

Flecks of water on the glass;

Splashes from the boats that pass.

Choppy waves that dance and flicker,

Ever brighter ever quicker.

It's a delightful boating day

For people in Port Stephens Bay.
*

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PSSST!

When Margie Higgins came to tea
This is what she said to me....
No, no, no! I mustn't say.
Awful rumours start that way!
She knew I wouldn't pass it on!
I thought about it when she'd gone.
Very little holds a candle
To a juicy bit of scandal.
To think that snooty Poppy Slatt
Would lose her self-control like that!
Little-girlish and demure!
Just a cover that's for sure.
Saw her only yesterday!
Never thought she'd be that way!
It seems he was covered with tattoos!
What a piece of scrumptious news!
Half her age, or even less!
Any port in a storm, I guess.
Under the boardwalk, too, I hear!
Would I consider that? No fear!
Of course, my dear, my lips are sealed,
But, one day, all will be revealed!
Please keep mum! You must! You must!
How lucky you're someone I can trust!
*

Gerrymandering

                                                           

Elbridge Gerry

ABC WEDNESDAY

GERRYMANDERING

Not a very appealing face, I'm sure you must agree.

His Saturnine expression is hardly filled with glee!

Not exactly a villain, a manipulator, rather,

But the way he manipulated put everyone in a lather!

It happened in America, but the term is used world-wide;

It's been spoken a thousand times ever since he died!

In the early eighteen-hundreds Elbridge rose to fame;

He governed Massachusts; everyone knew his name.

He wanted his party, the Democrats, to win the next election,

And so he altered electoral boundaries according to his selection.
Cartoonists noted the shape thus formed and called it a 'salamander'

While commentators derided it with gusto and with candour!

An actual salamander

A cartoonist's version!

'Gerry's Salamander' was spoken of far and wide

Then changed to 'Gerrymander'  and frequently applied!

The 'G' came to be softened (it was hard in the actual name)

But that's how Elbridge Gerry attained his lasting fame.

*

Quote:

"In 1812 the word "gerrymander" was coined when the Massachusetts legislature redrew the boundaries of state legislative districts to favor Governor Gerry's party. The Governor's strategy was to encompass most of the state's Federalists, allowing them to win in that district while his party, the Democratic-Republicans, took control of all the other districts in the state. The term eventually became part of world political vocabulary, and is still in use today"

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TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.

New Growth on a Gum Tree

SUBTLE SPRING

Spring sings a wild cantata as it surges through the blood,

As the snowdrops and the daffodils rise out of the slush and mud.

But that's in another country, where Winter takes a hold

With snow and sleet and icy winds and the greyness and the cold.

Here, in our Southern country, Spring tiptoes in, quite shy.

We hardly feel it coming; it could almost pass us by.

Oh yes, the birds are singing, but they've whistled all along;

Though there's now a nesting urgency in the music of their song.

Oh yes, the trees are in full leaf, but our trees are always green;

Bare trees are simply not a part of the true Australian scene.

Oh yes, the flowers are growing, and they're seasonal, it's true,

But right through the chilly winter, some hardy flowers grew.

And so our Spring is subtle; there is no bursting forth,

No passionate explosion as in April in the North.

First comes the golden wattle, then jacaranda's blue;

They add a touch of drama, when the season is quite new,

But the sign of Spring that captures me and thrills me when it comes

Is the pink tinge of new growth we see on the eucalypts, our gums.

I miss the Springs of my childhood, I always will, I think,

But 'My heart leaps up when I behold' our subtlety of pink.

*