‘Ring of Stone’ Update: A Verse… “Sad(new)Creature”

40s Beauty by Jan Farthing for Flickr.com

From Samosa’s POV: Samosa appears in “Mark of Fortune” which is the prequel to Ring of Stone. Ring of Stone is underway right now, until then, these poems will be clues to Samosa and Stone’s new life together; it will be as dramatic and as sensual as the first!

Sad (New) Creature

You made me hungry with

and enticing, sugary kiss

and I was made to know you

on that velvet night-

you set me free

and now I stand

a part of you

apart from you

a new creature who smiles

for no reason

and who is catty with her remarks

concerning you and

this is new

even Mom is afraid of

what have you done to me

Stone?

I am now a mirror of

my own bad habits left off

from something whittled off

a stump.

*If you would like an exclusive peek and free download of the first chapter of “Ring of Stone” when it becomes available, please sign up to subscribe to this blog

Bless You!

Review of Avatar: The Last Airbender-The Search Part 1, Who can you trust?

Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search Part 1 by Gene Luen Yang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you have not read “The Promise”, you should read it then begin The Search. These adaptations to the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” series are following a smooth order which ultimately leads to “The Legend of Korra” which aired last year on Nickleodeon. It is a fun way to learn what happened to Team Avatar all those years before Korra drops on the scene.

In Avatar: The Last Airbender-The Search Part 1, the novel starts immediately with a flashback to Hira’a- the Fire Nation land from many years ago. This was the year of Ursa(Zuko and Azula’s mom) falling in love. Not with Ozai. But with a childhood friend named Ikem. Unfortunately her parents allowed Firelord Ozai’s father to marry them because he was much richer and more powerful than Ikem. It is a tale too sad to bear but we must press onward to more mysteries in this book.

Read more of my review on The Norfolk Animation Examiner.

*Book received for my unbiased review from Netgalley.

View all my reviews

Review: ‘My Nature is Hunger’ celebrating National Poetry month with Luis J. Rodriguez’s poems

Gritty as the earth’s plain. Soulful as church Gospel. Poetic as smooth wine after a hard day’s work…Luis Rodriguez’s * “My Nature is Hunger: New and Selected Poems 1989-2004″, will leave you inspired by his words. This book of poetry is broken into three parts; Poems Across the Pavement-1989, from The Concrete River-1991, and from   Trochemoche-1998. 

Within each section are poems from Rodriguez’s life as a young man growing up in a land full of racism, gang violence, and everything else in between. Each are a snapshot of  what it means to be Chicano in America and the pain it is survive where you are.

A poem in particular that touched me was “Running to America” from the first stanza beginning with: “They are night shadows violating borders/fingers curled through chain-link fences.” Pulls us into the world of the immigrants who hold on to what could possibly hold them back and the next line is chilling: “Hiding from infra-red eyes, dodging 30-30 bullets” and every few stanzas the one liner: “Running to America” presses the images and the anxious tone in your heart as these cutting lines continue again in tandem to the speaker’s words stranglehold for a “hungry people who have no country”.

Rodriguez’s style of poetry tells a story and when you really pay attention, you are hit by the tragedy of his past and the hope deferred and he does not hold back on the imagery and his tone is sharp and real.  He comes across as shrewd and sensitive to the people’s struggles. Below you will find a sample of his poem for his son Ramiro called “The Wanton Life”

View this document on Scribd

*Book received for my unbiased review from Netgalley for Open Road Integrated Media

Luis J. Rodríguez (b. 1954) is a poet, journalist, memoirist, and author of children’s books, short stories, and novels. His documentation of urban and Mexican immigrant life has made him one of the most prominent Chicano literary voices in the United States. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican immigrant parents, Rodríguez grew up in Los Angeles, where in his teen yearshe joined a gang, lived on the streets, and became addicted to heroin. In his twenties, after turning his back on gang violence and drugs, Rodríguez began his career as a journalist and then award-winning poet, writing such books as the memoir Always Running (1993), and the poetry collections The Concrete River (1991), Poems Across the Pavement (1989), and Trochemoche (1998). He has also written the short story collection The Republic of East L.A. (2002). Rodríguez maintains an arts center, bookstore, and poetry press in L.A., where he continues writing and working to mediate gang violence.

‘Tomoe’s Whimper’: A poem for ‘Kamisama Kiss’

*Kind of difficult writing from a male perspective, but Tomoe’s character is so mysterious…here goes:

And she tickles my logic with her babbling

lips and those coy eyes

And I a yokai  who sips

from the red light  district

Is pulled in

Her longing is my whimper

from her cries and echoes,

frail under her strength

strong in her gentleness and

Her longing is my whimper

To have a human goddess

right under my clutches

right under my killing aura and 

powers of fire, I want only one

fire to possess her.

And her longing is my whimper

my secret worship of her

and her tiny voice, long hands and

her shrill scream when I catch her

in a lie or sighing because she loves me

but I am yokai- I can not be loved

a human can not be trusted.

I long to make her whimper

She is me I am her.

She needs me- I want her.

But oh, the longing in her eyes when we fight together

When we tear down walls of pride by shamelessly

baring all unspoken words

of what we wanted before we were…

I know I’m already hers.

Is she mine?

Review: ‘A Good Man’ by J.J. Murray-Writing with soul and with a soul

*Click image for ordering information.

As usual while in the library I look to their featured stands and see what is new. The other day I saw the cover of this book, “A Good Man” by J.J. Murray and thought the color was stunning and even the cover model looked flawless and so I read the back of the book and was immediately hooked from the blurb.

Sonya Richardson, retired WNBA player who prefers to be alone and watch Man v. Food gets a call one day that she has been entered into a new reality show called “Hunk or Punk”- she has the looks, the charm, and…she is forty. But at least she can pass for twenty-nine. And the hunks? All young, black men willing to woo her.

And one white man.

Here is where it gets even more interesting: John James Bond is the former pastor of an AME church and when he is contacted to be on the show, he hesitates and is right to assume he will be the white guy to take the fall in less than four weeks. However, once he meets Sonya he finds himself letting down all his guards and it isn’t hard to do since he is honest. And Sonya, surprisingly, let’s down her shield as well and welcomes his comforting presence. He is quickly becoming a true anomaly in all this. And a fierce competition.

Dialogue

What I enjoyed most about this book was the dialog. I never read a book by J.J. Murray before but he has an ear for conversation and reality. A few readers(okay maybe most) could be turned off by the many “ums” in the book, but let me explain: The term was endearing and it was cute.  The “ums” were like mantras and little innocent moments. Jewels even.The two main characters can not help but like one another in a house full of men who could be seen as “in your face” type however when John speaks with Sonya, it is personal, they relax around each other and their secret flirtation turns into all out seduction using nothing but their words of honesty.

Setting

Never had I read a book that actually takes place on a reality show. This book must have been inspired by pieces from “I Love New York”, complete with obstacle course challenges, cook-offs, singing competitions and Sonya’s family member coming to regulate with a sniping attitude and the fact that they all live in a mansion together-yeah pretty similar to ILNY.

The good part is that Murray has created a sensitive, sweet, intelligent personality for Sonya. She is not a “Sista with an attitude” but she knows exactly what she wants and she gets it too. Although she is from North Carolina and John is from Burnt Corn, Alabama(Burnt Corn? Wow, that was funny)- they find themselves attracted to the sandy beach of LA catching a sunrise (so sweet!)as opposed to being in the mansion, which is filled with tension and lies.

Overall Reaction

I see myself reading more from Murray. He is a writer with a heart for dialogue and infusing fiction with reality. Certainly the characters’ charm wooed me anyway. Sonya was sweet but confident while John was a strong man with a heart for God and where God places him, this could be why some of the men at the mansion couldn’t really be too mad at John…okay some. The entire book felt like a reality television show except with text and it kept me up well into the night because I had to know who Sonya will choose and if any other subplots would ever be solved.

It doesn’t need to be said that Sonya is black and John is white because the book wasn’t really focused on color although the topic came up a few times. The focus was on the Spirit of the people in this work and if you love a good romance(and reality shows) you will love “A Good Man”

Book Details:

A Good Man, J.J. Murray

Published: Kensington(2013)

ISBN:978-0-7582-7722-0

‘A Noiseless Patient Spider’; Whitman flings his soul somewhere

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‘A Noiseless Patient Spider’ (1881) delivers a powerful, two stanza poem comparing the body and soul to a spider and its web. The speaker of the poem. After two readings it appears that the Spider=Speaker’s Body and its web=Speaker’s Soul. We will also look at language, symbols, and tone/mood. Check out the poem below:

A noiseless, patient spider,
I mark’d, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;
Mark’d how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;
Ever unreeling them—ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you, O my Soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,—seeking the spheres, to connect them;
Till the bridge you will need, be form’d—till the ductile anchor hold;
Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul(by Walt Whitman 1819-1892)

***

Objects and Symbols

*A Spider

*The Soul

*A Bridge

There may be more objects you spot, but the poem’s title mentions a spider and the Speaker seems to be observing this little creature closely. The Speaker then says, “Oh my Soul…” in the second stanza which has some significance which we’ll explore later and finally there is the mention of a bridge being needed which will be formed in due time.

*Language/Rhyme

Here is where we get to more meat and potatoes of the poem, where they flow of the words and their positioning gives juicy meaning. Remember, this is what I gleaned from my reading, it may not necessarily be what you discover.

*”Noiseless, Patient”(line 1-slant rhyme)

*Mar’d…mark’d(lines 2-3; repetition)

*Vacant, Vast(line 3-alliteration)

*Filament, filament, filament(line 4-repetition)

*measureless oceans(line 7- slant rhyme)

*”Ceaseless musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect with”(line 8-9- ‘ing’ sounds-slant rhyme)

Plenty of slant rhyme and repetition. Slant rhymes are families of words that are not “whole rhymes(like “cat”-”hat”) but have endings that almost rhyme in sound. Like noiseless and patient- hear the “ent” sound? Also the repetition have a particular wave to it. Think of what a spider does. A spider throws out its thread, seeming never-ending and so of course there will be repetition here as the Speaker tries to establish a rhythm similar to a spider sitting and tossing its thread.

Then we come to the Speaker’s comparison of his/her body to a spider and its web. Lines 6-7 mirrors line 4.  Check it out:

Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,—seeking the spheres, to connect them;(line 8)

It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;(line 4)

Tone/Mood

In Line 8 the human being has its soul tossed from it and it seeks its source. This could be Heaven. In line 4, the spider throws out filament after filament, seeking what it may catch and hold on it. Now, this poem can have double meaning. I am speaking of the afterlife but what if it’s about venturing out on one’s own to discover what is out there?

The speaker seems to moan, “Oh my soul” a couple of times in this poem. The Speaker cares about this unseen property in the body and the Spider is an object he/she can properly compare it to. I can’t say the poem is sad, but the Speaker is seeking something.

After your reading, is the Speaker sad? Ambivalent? Joyous? Or other?

I love responses!

*Key Terms*

Promontory-a high piece or point of land

Filament-a single thread or flexible thread

Gossamer- film of cobwebs

Ductile-capable of being drawn into wires

Uncomfortable characters in ‘The Thirteenth Sacrifice’ by Debbie Viguie

In “The Thirteenth Sacrifice” Samantha Ryan’s past haunts her-which manifests itself in her dreams complete with screams, blood, and cutting rituals  and now it is affecting her job and those she care about.

Samantha Ryan is a witch. From one of the most powerful coven. However, she is now a Christian and Boston cop by choice and refuses to use her powers for any reason.

Until people start showing up dead on college campuses and everywhere else.

Now, I am not really into Witchy books but after reading the “Crusade Series” by Debbie Viguie and Nancy Holder, I thought I’d try this one out. Also, Viguie’s Kiss Trilogy is good. The Thirteenth Sacrifice was fascinating with added suspense and the unexpected twist in the end. A couple of things made the book a page turner:

Uncomfortable characters.

Samantha Ryan is not a comfortable character, meaning she is like you and I but she is a witch and when she is asked to go undercover;  she  uses her spells and magic to try to capture the killer. She employs old sets of skills, rehash old nightmares to seek clues and do even more diabolical things I will not even mention here.

Eventually she meets Anthony who owns an Occult museum and he is handsome has intense green eyes…and hates witches with a passion. Samantha finds herself in a complex situation given that he hates witches and they begin liking one another. Samantha’s partner, Ed is a comfortable character and is married. However he handles Samantha’s secret will determine if he is a partner worth having.

Power sequences.

Since reading action filled books like Crusade, Halflings, and other novels, I find that scenes with people using powers requires imagination and maybe some science. I was thoroughly interested in how Samantha would get herself out of sticky situations. Is she stronger than the High Priestess? Is there more power she can tap into?

Was there more I wanted to see from The thirteenth Sacrifice?

Yes.

I wanted more than just a sprinkle of romance. It is quite there and a few pages do sizzle with possibilities but at least the book held my interest and I am definitely going to read Book 2: The Last Grave.

*To You: Are you more into action, romance or the perfect balance? Why?