Gratitude: Louie Schwartzberg at TEDxSF - this is simply beautiful. Enjoy.

http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=932271668&gid=4683976&type=member&item=234302472&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fow%2Ely%2FkaKzc&urlhash=aR2X&goback=%2Egde_4683976_member_234302472

Autumn Leaves

---

Autumn trees

shed leaves like half-forgotten
memories
shaking off the past
to reveal their naked truth

 
in wintry silence wait to be reborn


We toss those piebald leaves
in wild abandonment
delight in scrunching them between our toes
 

It must feel nice to be an autumn tree
flinging off its clothes and shouting … look at me!

 

 Mandy Gayle Edwards 2013 (c)

 

 

Spring hath long passed on

summer but a sigh
autumn leaves compost
sheets of rain fall
somewhere it is snowing

Winter is nigh.
 

Trust

You stand there, watching me.
A startled bird, poised for flight.
I hold out my hand.
You take a few steps forward,
then back.
So unsure of me.
I kneel to you, hold out my arms.

You look for your mother
want to hide behind her skirts
suck furiously on your thumb
Your brow is furrowed.
Where has she gone?
Why did she leave me?

Your eyes pool with tears,
You tremble; fear wells up
deep within you.
so young, too young
to feel the loneliness
of separation.

 
Shyness cripples you.
You long to play out your stories
Delight a captive audience
Yet the moment you have
the spotlight,
You barricade yourself in
walls of silence.

Do not be afraid,
I am here for you.
It's time to shine.
Come, take my hand,
Let's do this together
Just you and me.

Anything is possible,
let's use our imagination,
give wings to our dreams.
Life can be a Fairy tale,
Full of story book Magic,
If we believe it to be true.
Together - You and Me.


Mandy Gayle Edwards 2013 (c)

 

Ode to the Exclamation Mark! (for all my proof reading friends)

Oh what joy, oh what a lark
To ponder the exclamation mark!
I'm told it is a dying art
to use the exclamation mark

In modern 'proof' it is not needed
But I'm afraid I've often pleaded
Why oh why must I delete it?
For it will leave me uncompleted
.
It serves a very worthy purpose
When pain and anguish are in surplus
Or for the element of surprise
Praps when your protagonist dies ...ahhh!!!!

In this modern age of texting
The exclamation needs some flexing
How else you get my voice and tone
Unless you answer your damn phone!

How can I write hip hip hooray!
Without the mark to join the fray?

I know the way we choose our words
Should speak our volumes

but how absurd

When just a stroke and little dot
Gives emphasis to mark that spot

So let me hear no more of this
Insisting it's just amateurish ...
 If this poet should have her way -

The exclamation mark, is here, to stay!

To my friends at SKE - Share Knowledge and Experience - A Virtual Royal Tea/Coffee break

There is a group on SKE
Who simply love to Be
They welcome everyone
With a virtual royal cup of tea.

The only thing you need
Is to think creatively
Have a sense of humour
And share philosophy.

There is no single problem
In the world that I can see
That can’t be solved in SKE
With a virtual royal cup of tea.

(or coffee!)

Poetry for Children

I wrote this poem a year or so ago, when I began my Writing Stories for Children Course, at the New Zealand Institute of Business Studies. I reconnected with my childhood love, of writing in rhyme, and I longed to write stories and poetry, like my heroines Margaret Mahy and Lynley Dodds (Hairy Mclary from Donaldson's Dairy) and of course, the fabulous Dr Seuss. Perhaps I should have a separate blog for children's poems, once I get into the swing and rhythm of it. But for now, here is a poem, I wrote for children ... the first verse just seemed to 'spring out of nowhere,' the rest became a 'labour of love!'  Read it to your children and tell me it they like it. Please! I would love to see it illustrated, and bring the words to life.

Living in my Garden


Living in my garden is a little brown hare
If you watch and listen carefully, he doesn’t know you’re there.
He nibbles on the cabbages, bites holes in all the lettuces,
What a naughty hare he is, to dine upon our radishes.

Living in my garden is a shiny little snail,
And everywhere he goes, he leaves a slimy trail.
He slimes up on the garden wall, then slimes along the top,
Then pops his head into his shell when he wants to stop.

Living in my garden is a wriggly little worm,
If I touch him with my finger he makes me want to squirm,
I’d like to say hello, but I just can’t catch his eye,
Which end is which? I do not know,
So I let him wriggle by.

Living in my garden is a shaggy scarecrow,
He leans upon his rake, and is propped up with a hoe.
Every now and then, I stuff him full of hay,
It must be nice to be a scarecrow, just standing round all day. 


                                                          

Moon Rise

This is simply magic. I shall have to write a poem about it in the future.

 (Posted by: Carol Morris - New Zealand Institute of Business Studies.)

I thought you would and could appreciate this. (Mark Gee - Photographer)

It is a 3 minute video clip of the full moon rising over Wellington NZ. It was shot on a calm summer evening, as people gathered on the Mt. Victoria Lookout point to watch the moon rise.
This stunning video is one single real-time shot, with no manipulation whatsoever. The camera was placed on a hillside over 2 kilometres from the Lookout point, and was shot with the equivalent of a 1300mm lens.
The amount of planning, trial and error, and luck that went into this are mind blowing. He has been trying to capture this for over a year with many failed attempts. But 2 nights ago it seems everything was on his side, and it all came together in a way even he couldn't have hoped.
I honestly can't say enough good things about this video - from the magnitude of the visuals, to the intimate stories playing out with the people, to the sheer humbling nature of seeing the awe-inspiring reality of this giant rock in the sky that we so often don't stop to appreciate.

One thing I encourage you to do is watch this on the biggest screen you have - don't waste it on an iphone screen.
 

https://vimeo.com/58385453 (sound on...!)

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.' Ode to a Grecian Urn - John Keats