Through the looking glass

A photo prompt from Magpie Tales

 

She’s there

A little girl

Her mother’s bedroom,

Shiny hair, long sweeping strokes,

A stiff bristled hairbrush

She cries.  

She’s there again

A little older and wiser

About getting it right

About getting it wrong

And he was so wrong.

But she knew best.

She’s still there

Alice in the looking glass,

Not sure where to look anymore.

She pretends to know

But she fools no-one

Not even herself

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Where went the girl that knew it all?

A Leap of Faith

That’s it, she thought, it’s now or never. It’s time. This year was definitely the year!

She could feel the churn in her stomach at the mere mention of the idea. The butterfly of love flitted back and forth within her chest. Or was that heartburn? The mere thought of his name still made her go week at the knees. At her age she should have more sense. But who said anything about love being ageist? ‘Love knows no bounds’ or was that ‘boundaries’. She had read that somewhere once. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have her fair share of suitors and admirers, but somehow, this was different. He was different and he made her feel different too in a special way she hadn’t known with the others. There was something about him, his smile, his presence, his ability to always put her at ease. She particularly enjoyed how he winked at her when no-one was looking. There was still something about that smile of his that made her heart beat faster.

“Morning Rosie. How are you today?” he called out in his soft spoken accent.

Even now, she could feel herself blush a little, merely thinking about whether or not he could have heard her thoughts. The love butterfly was in full flight now, frantically flying up and down, back and forth like a … butterfly possessed. Perhaps that was a warning signal? What if it was saying, ‘No, no, not one of your better ideas?’.

She could, of course, always choose to ignore it; however, where would be the fun in that? Besides what did she have to lose? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It wasn’t as if she would have the opportunity next year or the next. A year could change a lot, she knew that. She would be another year older. The butterfly of love may have died.

She watched him walk towards her, a tall, dark haired, handsome man in his 20s. Smiling, like he always did.

“Will you marry me?” there, she had said it now.

“What?” he laughed.

“Marry me” she winked and nodded to the calendar behind him.

The young doctor was delighted his patient had survived the operation. She had been in a coma for two days. It was touch and go. Next of kin had been contacted. He had been a little anxious going into theatre. But the decision had been made. She looked so frail even now. But she was back again, at least something of the old Rosie, the light hearted banter with the junior doctors.

“Of course, February 29, I hadn’t realised and my first proposal of the day. Thanks Rosie. Can I give it my full consideration this morning as I complete my ward rounds? It’s not every day I have a proposal of marriage to consider. This decision cannot be taken lightly.”

“Okay ” she smiled and closed her eyes.

He could tell she was exhausted.

If she ever had a grandson, she hoped he would be as caring as this junior doctor. She recalled the patient–doctor relationship of her nursing days, cold and detached. At 87, it was unlikely that she would be around for another Leap Year proposal. She wondered if the young doctor would remember this one.

Google

War Horse ... poetry in motion.

I love the theatre and could go every week if I could afford it. I particularly enjoy being given gifts of theatre tickets, although chocolates, flowers, perfumes and ‘surprise’ gifts are most welcome too. A few years ago at Christmas it was vouchers for horse riding at a local stable yard. This Christmas, I was particularly delighted to receive from The Man, theatre tickets for ‘War Horse’.

During the week, we took the day off work and went to see ‘War Horse’ at The New London theatre. How was it? It was amazing, wonderful and magical. If you haven’t seen the production I recommend that you do. You’ll love it! This is a very cleverly piece of theatre taking the art of puppetry to a whole new level … in my humble opinion.

The acting was first class. The music was excellent but for me the creative team who choreographed the story through the life sized puppets was truly amazing. The movement and the animation of these beautiful puppets were both creative and believable. But don’t just take my word for it, see it for yourself and be prepared to have your heartstrings tugged a little too!

All in all, a truly enjoyable day in the city, stopping for lunch at the beautifully refurbished St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, a recommendation from one of my writing bloggers. The hotel is definitely worth a visit for lunch and great architecture too. We had a trip to The National Portrait Museum to check out the current photographic portrait exhibition - Taylor Wessing’s Portrait Prize winners., the Man being is a keen amateur photographer, you understand.  However, for me, the highlight of the day concluded with the wonderful production of War Horse at one of London's finest theatres.  

A horse is poetry in motion. ~Author Unknown

Still Waters Run Deep

Magpie No 98  : Photo courtesy of Willow

She ran as fast as she could but there was no running away from herself or the truth.

She hoped the passage of time would lessen the pain, but it hadn’t.

She stayed away for a whole year and wondered if that was long enough?

She knew that she would have to return one day, today.

She had made a mistake, a big one.

She hadn’t been true to herself

She knew that now but it was too late.

She smelled the pine.

She stared at the still blue waters.

She wished she had told him.

She hadn’t …

Happy New Year

Photo by The Man

Happy New Year to you my loyal followers, all 20 of you! And to those of you who read my blog but for whatever reason are a little reluctant to 'follow' on line. But that's okay with me. I know sometimes it takes courage to contribute to a blog ... been there done that and I'm now wearing the tee shirt (medium size) to prove that! Anyway, let me wish you all health, happiness and prosperity for 2012. I do enjoy and value your comments when one of you stops by to say hello. Thank you for taking the time.

I must admit I've really enjoyed the interaction on line with my blogging buddies and I feel I've learned lots too. I've been impressed by many of your writings and saddened too by one or two challenges you have encountered during the course of the year. I've enjoyed celebrating some of the successes you've celebrated  too, like the launch of a new book or having a story published or quite simply acquiring a new reader or two! It's been interesting to note how some blogging communities are very active and very supportive to the 'newbie bloggers' among us. (I'm still learning lots about blogging!). I guess the real power lies in the 'engagement' part of the process. I know the best conversations are those which are 'two- way' ... and I understand that sometimes it feels a little different with on-line conversations. Off line I can easily talk for Ireland ... sometimes I have!  On-line, there's no body language to read, facial expressions to see or instant responses. Sometimes there is a reluctance to engage, to offer opinion, to comment or to reply. However, I do encourage a little persistence and courage on your part and who knows what you might learn in 2012. Who knows what difference this might make for you and your fellow bloggers? Go on, I invite you to make 2012 your 'engagement year of all things new' and see what you learn and who you meet along the way.

Happy New Year.

Resolve to make at least one person happy every day, and then in ten years you may have made three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy, or bightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment.

Sydney Smith

How to body build a blog …

Sometimes, I find it a real challenge thinking about a topic for a blog post. Do you? Maybe if I was better organised I could sit down and write a batch (collection?) of posts so that I could feed them into my blog over the course of days and weeks. But I’m not! This system would make me a more organised blogger (I imagine) but would it lose the spontaneity of the writing moment? Would it kill the creativity?

Like many writers there are times when I come up against the inevitable ‘bloggers block’. Some of you may identify with my dilemma. Symptoms are easily recognisable – blank page, endless screen staring, one or two trips to the kitchen to make yet another cup of tea and the endless reading of blogging buddies’ blogs. (Yes, it was a mouthful writing it too!) Well, today is one of those days. I’ve spent time this afternoon ‘blog dipping’ and I stopped by Inkpots and Quills where my blogging buddy Ann shared a writing dilemma of her own – unfinished projects. Ahh, every writer has them. I enjoyed reading how Ann is going to great lengths to remedy the situation and how her postie (with the rippling biceps) is going to great lengths to ensure she has all the writing material she needs. Writing need not be a lonesome pursuit. I hadn’t really given much thought to all the help and assistance ‘knowingly and unknowingly’ given to the writing process. All I can say is that posties delivering numerous books to writers in pursuit of ‘better writing’ should be given generous Christmas tips! I’ve yet to see any writer dedicate a novel ‘To my wonderful postie’. I wonder if Ann’s postie is a reader of her blog. It did make me chuckle thinking about whether or not her postie had considered making book deliveries part of his daily workout.

Having recently rejoined the gym, I can appreciate how book lifting could be incorporated into the body building programme. Who knows it could one day become an Olympic Sport? Stranger things have happened.

But I digress, maybe today is one of those days where inspiration for blogging will not come, so I’ll leave it for another day. However, do stop by Inkpots and Quills and say hello.

By the way, what is the collective noun for a batch of blogs?

It's life but ...

photo courtesy of  Lee Friedlander and Magpie Tales 

Okay, now what?

Dunno … it’s not quite what I was expecting. I thought it would be somewhere more upmarket.

Upmarket?

I thought it would be more … more luxurious.

Luxurious? Don’t be fooled by the posh address. This is it, the place where ‘working late at the office again’ happens.

You sure?

Certain.

Well are you going in or what?

What if she’s there?

You don’t have to say who you are.

I couldn’t lie.

I’m not suggesting that you do.

Will you wait here?

Sure, but the traffic cop may move me on.

I won’t be long.

Alright, I’ll drive around the block.

I’ll be as quick as I can.

Don’t worry take the time you need. He won’t be back for some time.

You sure?

Sure, I’m sure. Haven’t you forgotten something?

Thanks … don’t know why he can’t pick up his laundry like everyone else!