#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge - #Syllabic #poem #poetrycommunity #Sekarageng #VietnamWar #Cherries @pdoggbiker.bsky.social @pdoggbiker @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! For this week's #TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge, poet David Bogomony, aka ben Alexander, invited us to write a Javanese form called sekar ageng. This poetry form consists of a quatrain (4 lines) with 17 syllables each. Each line has three sections of 4 syllables, 6 syllables, and 7 syllables.

This month, I have been reading a book by a Vietnam War veteran and fellow RRBC author, John Podlaski. In his book, called Cherries, he shares his experiences while overseas during this horrific war. I have not finished reading it yet, but his retelling of those painful moments linger with me. So, I decided to write my Sekar ageng about his journey.

unwanted war ~ horrors seen by young men ~ many never to come home

bounded brothers ~ joined by circumstances ~ protected one another

earth's humid hell ~ trekking through booby traps ~ surrounded by enemy

jungle of death ~ war's end brought no relief ~ survivors burdened with grief

Would you like to try to write this poetry form? Join us here.

November Book Reviews #bookreview #books #amreading #readingcommunity #paranormal @SusanneLeist @dlfinnauthor @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I cannot believe I haven't posted a book review since August. Actually, I can believe it. This school year has been extremely busy. I think I'm just now starting to find a routine I can keep. I did read a book in August/September, but I had a hard time enjoying the story, so that review will not be posted here. This space is to share books I enjoy. 

Meet Me In Maine

by Susanne Leist

Genre: Romantic Fantasy, Supernatural Mysteries

Pages: 253 pages

Book Blurb:

Elizabeth Reading and Scarlett Harding travel from New York City to Blue Harbor, Maine, hoping to purchase a bed-and-breakfast in a peaceful town, but what they discover is much more sinister.

After settling into an apartment building and unpacking, Elizabeth and Scarlett visit a local ice cream parlor. As they approach the counter to order, a man rushes through the doorway, clutching his throat and dying in a pool of blood at Elizabeth's feet. When the police arrive, Elizabeth stares at the dashing, blue-eyed David throwing questions at her, stunned that she agreed to a date with him a few hours ago.

When they return to the apartment and Elizabeth begins to pack her bags to leave Blue Harbor, Scarlett pleads with her to keep the appointment at the inn. The next day, they fall in love with the quaint inn and eventually sign the papers, despite Elizabeth's misgivings about the death a day earlier.

After they move into the bed-and-breakfast, they hear of residents dying under unusual circumstances and rumors of a curse placed by the Penobscot Indians on the descendants of the town's original settlers. On their first weekend as innkeepers, a violent storm hits, and two guests are slashed to death in their beds. Then the lights go out.

Will Elizabeth and Scarlett sell the inn or stay and fight the curse alongside their new friends as bodies fall around them?

My Review:

I've read this author's vampire series, so I was curious about this book. Plus, the cover is just gorgeous! This story follows Elizabeth and Scarlett as they head to Maine to buy an inn and start their lives over. Unfortunately, they arrive just as a string of murders begin to take place. They find themselves in the midst of a cursed town where the original settlers want revenge.

The book is packed with action. In fact, I don't know if the characters ever had a moment to rest. Lol! Both main characters had distinct personalities, and I could feel the strong friendship between them. They both found themselves quickly into relationships that I had a hard time getting into. That could also be because for the longest time, they were part of the suspect list. Speaking of suspects, the author did a great job keeping the murderers' identities under lock and key, and I loved that!

The curse wasn't always clear to me. I got the anger between the original settlers and the descendants, but how they identified the cursed ones and had to kill them, no questions asked, was a bit unsettling. And then, I couldn't understand why the curse continued. I have a feeling some of it was left a mystery for a second book. Still, the characters and the action kept me turning the pages. If you enjoy paranormal mystery, I think you'd enjoy this book.

Miracles and Ghosts: A Christmas Collection

by D.L. Finn

Genre: Holiday Fiction

Pages: 153 pages

Book Blurb:

Miracles and Ghosts: A Christmas Collection’s eight tales bring light in the darkest of circumstances. In the novelette, A Perfect Ghostly Christmas, Julie has survived the foster care system and finally comes home. She now owns her grandparents’ house and has received an offer that appears too good to be true. On top of that, the family she felt had abandoned her during her difficult times has reentered her life. But it’s the otherworldly experiences that lead her to something her grandparents left behind. This discovery changes everything and opens a door to danger. The seven short stories explore fractured families, a widower's loneliness, a mall shooting, financial struggles, strained relationships, woodland kittens, and a woman haunted by a red truck. Whether it’s a ghost, an angel, or Santa, some unseen force is there to provide help when needed. A reminder in the busy holiday season or anytime we are never alone, and miracles are possible.

My Review:

I absolutely loved this book! It starts off with a longer short story about a girl who returns to her grandmother's house after many years to figure out what to do with the house. Memories resurface about how her grandparents died while others bring danger to her doorstep. It's a story that sucks you in and keeps you turning the pages until the end. 

The rest of the book is filled with short stories, each one focused on the holiday season. The author takes tragic moments and sprinkles each one with the Christmas spirit so beautifully. My favorites include Christmas Reunion, A Man and His Cat, and The Christmas Eve Walk. This is a wonderful collection of stories to read, and it would make a great gift for others.:-)

Have you read any good books lately? I'd love to hear from you. :-)

Grateful #HappyThanksgiving #Thanksgiving #Gratitude @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! On this Thanksgiving Day, I want to give thanks to you. I am grateful that you visit my blog and interact with me. I appreciate you for reading my poems and stories and for sharing them with others. Truly, I am blessed to have each of you in my life. Thank you! 💗

#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge - #Syllabic #poem #poetrycommunity #silverlinings #tanka @YvetteMCalleiro

 

Hello, beautiful readers! This week, it's my turn to create a prompt for the #TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge. As we are so close to America's Thanksgiving holiday, I chose to go with the idea of silver linings, concentrating on our blessings instead of our struggles.

Most of you know I have an anxiety disorder. I was diagnosed back in 2016 when my doctor asked me to see a psychologist because she was worried my stress would literally kill me. After being diagnosed, I began neurofeedback therapy and attended one-on-one therapy sessions. I also did a deep dive into how to rid myself of anxiety without being dependent on drugs.

In that dive, I found meditation, mindfulness, emotional frequency tapping, and Dr. Rick Hanson. Dr. Rick Hanson really spoke to the intellect in me. He has these weekly emails he sends where he explains why we respond the way we do and how we can change our behavior to lower our stress. He calls them Just One Thing. He also has free weekly meditations as well.

In one of his Just One Thing newsletters, he shared how our brains have been trained to focus on negative stimuli more strongly than positive stimuli. He says, "The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones." He then explains how we can begin to change what our brain focuses on. You can read two of these newsletters here and here. 

During COVID, I was obsessed with John Krasinski's Some Good News videos. I needed something to remind me of all the good in the world during a time when fear held a grip on most people, including me. I wish that program still existed.

So, for this week, I wanted to remind everyone to focus on the good. See the light amid the darkness, and give your energy to moments of happiness and joy. I chose to write a tanka poem, which is a five-lined poem with a syllabication pattern of 5-7-5-7-7. The third line is usually the pivot line.

(courtesy of @RezaAskarii on Pixabay)

dense blanket of night

world cloaked in utter darkness

sliver of moonlight

illumination of stars

silvery beauty shines through

Would you like to create your own poem on this theme? Join us here!

Where in the world am I? #socialmedia #followme #Bluesky #Twitter #Facebook #Threads #supportand promote @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I recently learned about a new social media platform that people are using to promote their stories, so I've decided to join. If you have also joined Bluesky, please find and follow me. I'd love to connect with you there. You can find me at @yvettemcalleiro.bsky.social. 

Like many, I've heard of the toxicity at Twitter/X. I have chosen not to close my account there yet. I have too many author/poet friends who are on there, and I want to continue to support them and promote their books and poetry. Plus, I would like to continue to share my stories there as well. I truly do not use the account for anything else. My life is too busy to spend time scrolling and looking at content. So, if you prefer to follow me there, you can! My handle is @YvetteMCalleiro.

You can also follow me on Facebook (yvettemcalleiro), though I don't post there as regularly as I probably should. It's all about finding the time.

I've also recently opened up a Threads account. You can find me with the same handle (yvettemcalleiro). 

Once you follow me, I'll know you are on that platform, and I will follow you as well to continue to support and promote your works on each platform. 

Let's continue to spread love and light wherever we can! :-)

#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge - #Syllabic #poem #poetrycommunity #Shadorma #awardwinning #karma #shortstory #KarmaDoesntKill @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! This week's #TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge was brought to us by Cheryl (Rugby843). She encouraged us to write a Shadorma, which is a poetry form that consists of six lines with a 3-5-3-3-7-5 syllabic format. The topic was ours to choose.

Recently, I was informed that my newest short story, Karma Doesn't Kill, was the winner of the 2024 RRBC 90-Day Alpha/Omega Short Story Contest. This is a special honor for me because this story loosely follows the life of someone for whom I care deeply. If this story helps even one person think through his/her choices and avoid negative consequences, then my heart will be full. So, in honor of this recognition, I chose to write a poem about karma.

Karma

choose wisely

actions decide path

contemplate

aftermath

before consequences come

life's transactional

Would you like to try to write a Shadorma? Join us here.

#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge - #Syllabic #poem #poetrycommunity #music #musicalinspiration #tanka @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! For this week's #TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge, poet Willow Willers challenges us to use music or a song as inspiration. When I was younger, I was very much into music. I grew up in the late 70s, 80s, and 90s, and I absolutely loved the music of my generation. I knew all the lyrics and would sing along every time. I remember recording the music from the radio onto my cassette tapes and getting frustration when the radio station would cut into the song to plug in a promo for the sole purpose of ruining my recording. Ah, those were the days! 😂

Nowadays, music tends to be background noise for me. I still sing along to some songs, but for the most part, I am lost in my own thoughts while the radio plays in the car (the only place I really listen to music). When Willow gave us this prompt, one song immediately came to mind, and I knew I would write with that song in my heart.

When I got divorced in 2009, Black Eyed Peas released I Gotta Feeling. I was in a very low place in my life. I was dealing with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and raising a three-year old as a single mom. This song came on the radio and filled me with happiness, energy, and hope. It became a mantra for me. I would sing every word in the car. Eventually, my son started singing the chorus with me, and it became our song. In fact, it's how he learned the days of the week. Lol! To this day, whenever the song comes on, he and I will sing it.

I chose to write a tanka, which is a poem with five lines in it. It has a syllabication pattern of 5-7-5-7-7, where the third line is the pivot line. Tanka poems are untitled.

stress overwhelms me

heaviness drains my essence

music changes mood

soul and sight focus on light

all's right with the world again

Would you like to write a poem with us this week? Join us here.

#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge - #Syllabic #poem #poetrycommunity #womensrights #abortion #kimo @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! This week's #TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge was hosted by the poet Lisa. Her challenge this week was to write a poem using synonyms for the words promise and comfort. I have bolded and italicized my synonyms in my poem below.

I chose to write a kimo, which is a three-line poem with a 10/7/6 syllabic pattern. Kimos focus on a single frozen image. Here in America, our elections took place last night. Not only were there elections for the presidency, but most states had local elections as well. In my state, we had an amendment to repeal the six-week abortion ban that our governor imposed on us. Sadly, in our state, an amendment needs 60% of the votes to pass. The amendment only reached 57%. The majority of our state does not want a six-week abortion ban, but it doesn't matter. 

My heart is broken for the daughters, nieces, sisters, and granddaughters that no longer have the rights I had growing up. It hurts for the children who will be born into neglectful and abusive families. It aches for the babies who will be born to drug addicts and alcoholics and will most likely have a drug dependency or some kind of disability because of it. It cries for the babies who will be born with a life-ending disease and will suffer for the hours/days that they live before dying. It screams for the pregnant women who will be forced to carry those babies to term or will have their lives put in danger because something goes wrong with their pregnancy and the doctors won't help them because they fear losing their licenses.

This is not pro-life; this is pro-power. The bible clearly states that God gives His children free will. Actions have consequences, and each person will atone for those choices when he/she has his/her judgment day. This abortion ban takes away a woman's free will to make her own choices for her body. This ban is not pro-life. If it were, it would consider all the lives that will be negatively affected by this ban. It does not. Already, other bans in our country are showing a higher infant mortality rate. They are showing women dying because they were not give the care they needed in the midst of a miscarriage because doctors were afraid to help them. Families are being left heartbroken. Children are losing their mothers. This is not pro-life. 😔

her autonomy obliterated

health care assurances - gone

no solace in darkness

If you'd like to join us in writing a poem this week, click here.

#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge - #Syllabic #poem #poetrycommunity #etheree #Halloween #witchesbrew @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! Happy Halloween to all my followers who celebrate! For this week's #TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge, Colleen Chesebro invites us to get into the spirit of Halloween by creating a poem that encompasses a witch's brew. She encouraged us to create a chant or incantation and to try to incorporate humor and rhyming words.

I chose to write an reversed Etheree, which is a poem form that has a syllabic structure of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. I also decided to add rhyme to these descending lines (AABBCCDDEE). I hope you like it!

(courtesy of @Yvion on Pixabay)

Skinny Wishes Brew

Asian ginseng and ginger - just a dash!

bud of sage to reduce a hot flash

cardamom to raise energy

cumin to stop lethargy

mix and bake in the sun

pray your will be done

visualize

skinny thighs

drink in...

thin!

Would you like to join in the fun? Join us here.

#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge - #Syllabic #poem #poetrycommunity #kimo #dunes #waves #rejuvenation @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! For this week's #TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge, poet JadeLi invited us to choose three (or more) words from a word garden and create a syllabic poem with those words. Certain words immediately stood out to me: dune, wave, and woman. The winds were so strong this past weekend, preventing me from getting my beach fix. It makes sense I would be drawn to those words. Hopefully, this weekend will be beautiful.

I decided to write a kimo. A kimo poem consists of three lines with a syllabic pattern of 10-7-6. It focuses on a single frozen image. It does not rhyme and is untitled.

(courtesy of @juliearens on Pixabay)

dunes separate serenity, chaos

waves lap calmly on the shore

woman rests and renews

Would you like to join us in the fun? Click here.