Welcome to Australia (twice in the one month!) for another round-up of Poetry Friday. Since Sally hosted, a lot of Australia has received rain, so dust has settled, and many fires have also been checked back. But what a horrifying month it has been! And it is not over. Even as I write this post (Thursday), the news comes through of the large air tanker crash, killing 3 US crew members. And we are once again reminded of the many different ways people risk their lives in our service. And how precious – and fragile – life is. Continue reading
Category Archives: Photography
My Amber
My Amber Imprinting your shape, feel and texture into the palm of my heart; muscle, bone knobby horns, knees, rump, nose; forehead whirl, and floppy dewlap. Hands smooth across sleek red hide, eyes clouded by tears. I inhale. Hold time. Breathe in the scent of you. Each pat a memory, a caress, a pause; ‘I love you.’ ‘Thank-you.’ ‘Goodbye.’ ‘My beautiful girl.’ 'I love you.' © Kathryn Apel December 2019
She was older than my boys – and lived in our home paddock almost as long as I have. She was my second bottle-reared calf (arriving two months after Cocoa), and for 23 years she has been just a roving glance away – a frequent visitor at the house for sweetest treats. She was our gentle giant; for many years, the fattest cow on the property, and the one cow I have never feared. Loved by many, she would happily exchange hay for pats – from family, friends and strangers.
And now, we’re shedding tears. And clinging to the memories … and a thousand photos of our beautiful Amber.
10 years of reading with Amber. Always her favourite book.
Teary hugs to my grazier husband who has shared the care of our Amber-girl, most especially in recent drought months during my extended author visits – where kids the world over have loved to hear about Amber the cow.
My beautiful Amber-girl. xx
Edit: Thank-you to my online friend Rachel, who I first met when she ordered a signed copy of ‘This is the Mud!’ because it was her daughter’s favourite book, and she’d worn it out! Rachel sent me this verse in response to my Instagram post – and I can tell she has read ‘This is the Mud’ many times. (Including tonight, in honour of Amber – when her girls wanted to know why she was crying, since it’s not a sad story! “See… she’s chewing her cud so that means she’s happy.”)
This is the author who smiles through her tears, at the wonderful memories from 23 years, of a happy old “Moo”, chewing her cud, knowing how much she was ever so loved. ❤️
I cried buckets – and smiled some, too. Rachel, your poem will always be special! Thank-you! xx
World Penguin Day Poem – Adélies
Technically yesterday was World Penguin Day – but since yesterday was ANZAC Day, deserving of its own reflective contemplation and gratitude, I’m running to American time and posting my penguin poem for Poetry Friday.
A number of years ago I was given Irene Latham’s name in Tabatha’s Yeatts’ Poetry Swap – which absolutely thrilled me, because not only is Irene such a beautiful person, but we also share a love of Antarctica – and we had in fact just done our own little book-swap earlier that year… with Irene sending me her picture/poetry book, ‘When the Sun Shines on Antarctica’. (I just hunted up the post I did at the time of receiving Irene’s book, and funnily enough, it was just-on two years ago.)
My favourite poem from the book was, ‘Adélie Seeking Adélie‘… so when I was given Irene’s name in the poetry swap, I knew what poem I was choosing for my mentor text. For whatever reason, I never did get to share it on my blog – so I’m sharing it here today.
Irene’s poem runs down the left. The photo is just one of my (many!) faves, taken from our time in Antarctica, earlier that same year. (You have no idea how much that holiday has influenced my writing – or how much I still yearn to go back… (It is like a physical tug inside me, I tell you!))
Carol Varsalona is hosting Poetry Friday at Beyond Literacy Link. I’m sure she will have a whole bunch of poetry treasures for us. And don’t forget to get up-to-date on the Progressive Poem, with Linda @Write Time. Not many days left, now!
In the meantime, scroll through some penguin hashtags and enjoy these shuffling, sliding, soaring, sleek little characters. Like these two!🐧🐧 (I would include the original @AusAntarctic post, if I could find it, but alas…)
Wrapping Up #MoPoetry2019
For #PoetryFriday I offer you the final week of #MoPoetry2019 Insta-poems. You can read the full collection to-date on my Insta page, @Kat.Apel.
Day 25:
Day 26:
(The second pic with the final stanza from ‘My Country’ – including strike line.)
Day 27:
Day 28:
Day 29:
Day 30:
Day 31:
In a nutshell, a Month of Poetry looks like this…
Thank-you for letting me share each week retrospectively through the PoetryFriday posts. It’s been so much fun reading your comments – and knowing what you’ve enjoyed, and why. It’s also been lovely sharing snippets of my daily life with you. Special thank-you to those who have taken part at different stages – either using the #MoPoetry2019 hashtag on instagram, or by messaging their poems to me. Sharing is fun!
This week we’re The Opposite of Indifference – in fact we are (as always) in LOVE … with poetry.😍 You too can share the love, with more great #PoetryFriday posts on Tabatha’s blog.
Even More #MoPoetry
I do love diarising January in poetry – and have been especially enjoying the dual creativity of picture and poetry. (And the process of combining the two! Such fun.)
Here is this past week’s #MoPoetry2019 for your perusual of the week-that-was. Ending rather excitingly, too, I must say!
Day 18:
Day 19:
Which sparked this little conversation with @annashop_cronulla;
Day 20:
Day 21: If I thought it was bad posting a poem that doesn’t feel finished, it is worse to look back on a poem you’ve posted and find a BLATANT MISTAKE!!! Urgh! This is what happens when you become too obsessed with design and layout. (Though this is the least creative of all my Insta-Poems – but I was playing with two pictures, so… #stilltooktoolong)
I have inserted an edited version into this post – because it’s bad enough looking at the mistake every time I open my insta-page. (I decided to leave it as it was there (with a blushing comment!)… because of course I didn’t notice it until late in the day…🙄 #nobodyisperfect #iaintnobody…🙃)
I was asked if I wrote limericks. Not many – but here’s one, for a bit of fun. I don’t follow cricket – so if there is a Matt or a Gina playing, this is not about either of them! #justforfun #playingwithwords#betterthanplayingcricket😉#watchinggrassgrow #cricket#backyardcricket #summerfun#MoPoetry2019 #InstaPoetry #poemaday#authorsofinstagram #poetryofinstagram#poetrygram #poetry #rhyme #wordplay
Day 22:
Day 23:
Day 24: (Why, hello Good News!)
This week we’re going to Walden with Tara Smith, so join the #PoetryFriday excursion for more great posts. And pop back here next week for the final instalment of #MoPoetry2019! Looking forward to seeing what the week produces. Have a great one.
More #MoPoetry2019
Welcome poetry peeps! Once again I’m linking to my #MoPoetry2019 Insta-Poems for PoetryFriday. This week marked halfway… Rolling downhill now! Thank-you Michelle Kogan, Carol Varsalona, Linda Baie and Jone MacCulloch for also jumping in and sharing the creativity! It’s been fun. I’m looking forward to another week of word art.😊
Day 11:
Day 12:
Day 13:
Day 14:
Day 15:
Day 16:
Ooops. Turns out I was getting ahead of myself – and today is only Thursday! (All day!!) So – here is one more Insta-Poem, to round off my week of #MoPoetry2019.
Day 17:
If you’ve got a fave, I’d love to hear it. It’s always interesting to know what appeals to others. 🙂 If you’re tempted to join in with some of your own, you’ll find us at #MoPoetry2019 on Instagram.
You’ll find the full #PoetryFriday roundup here; http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com.
G’day Poetry Friday Peeps!
G’day! How wonderful to welcome all you Poetry Friday people, not just to my blog, but Downunder. Yes, the round-up is coming to you from Australia, where it’s the middle of summer (soooo hot!) – yet beautiful, none-the-less. So, slip into your togs, (perhaps I can tempt you for a dip in our beautiful Burnett River, later?) find a cool shady breeze, (you might need to make one) take a wedge of watermelon, or a mango cheek, then kick back and enjoy.
I’m in the process of writing a poem-a-day as a snapshot diary-of-sorts for the start of 2019, which I’ve been sharing as Insta-poetry. Perhaps you’d like to take a wander through the week with me before, you plunge into a host of poetry posts from around the world. Day 1, 2 and 3 featured in last week’s post, and on Instagram, but feel free to click back. 🙂 (I would delete the Instagram captions from this post, if I could, but alas…)
Day 4:
Day 5:
Day 6:
Day 7:
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
I’m using the hashtag #MoPoetry2019 on Instagram. You’re welcome to join! There’ll be a newbie up from me today… and more to come each day this month. Meanwhile, the Poetry Friday linkup is below. Can’t wait to check out all your goodies. 🙂
Share your Poetry Friday links here. All are welcome to read… and be inspired! 🙂
Insta-Poetry
I hope your year has got off to a 🎉cracker🎊 start. 2018 was an amazing writing journey, and I am hoping it keeps rolling into 2019. It’s already been quite productive, writing a synopsis and query letter for that historical Antarctic verse novel I worked on throughout 2018, (So excited about that!) and putting down some words for a new picture book that has been rolling around in my mind the past 12 months. AND … In the spirit of Month of Poetry from years gone by, I spur-of-the-moment started writing a poem-a-day as a snapshot diary-of-sorts for the start of 2019. Some Insta-Poetry! I’m not sure I’ll stick with it for the full month (I am quite happy to fall down a hole with other writing projects) … but wordplay is always a good thing, and good fun! If you want to jump on board, I’m using the hashtag #MoPoetry2019 on Instagram. (It’s just me, at the moment.🙂)
If you’re intrigued by that flower in the top pic, you can see more on my instagram, starting at this post. My camera was a wee-bit busy over the 12hr period it bloomed so beautifully.
Sylvia has the roundup this week, at Poetry for Children. Next week I’ll be hosting the #PoetryFriday roundup – so check back then for links to poetry posts around the world and be inspired! For now… I’m off for a crit & chat with some lovely local kidlit peeps. I may be gone for a while… 😂
Cat Call – Me? Ow!
Sliding into the Poetry Friday round-up with a cat-themed poem, and a hint of Christmas. (That is my Christmas tree box and tinsel sprinkled on the floor.)
What cat doesn’t like to hide in boxes? (And what human can resist those poised paws, and twitching tail!)
Our cat has been affectionately dubbed many things, but methinks Little Lion and Tiger may be the most accurate… Those claws!!
You’ll find the full round-up of poetry-packed posts at Laura Shovan’s blog. Or you can stay and play with SavvyCat … who really does have the twitchiest tail.
Flocking with Feathers
They say birds of a feather flock together – and that is never more true than in the Poetry Friday community. This week, our hostess, Christie Wyman has asked us to hatch up some feathered friends in verse form. Since Book Week is upon us, and life is busy, I’m cheating, and pulling out some old faves; photo poems featuring birdlife. Admittedly some are very brief – but that’s the beauty of poetry, where each weighted word has to work within the poem!
I give you a cinquain (didactic), two haiku, and a couplet – a peck of poetry!
