I have no idea what form this poem is, but I have a feeling I’m not the first to create one like this. It feels a little like Emily Dickinson to me. I used the fortune for the title, but that may change if I ever publish it.
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Life to you is a dashing, bold adventure By Michelle Garren-Flye
You’re too old for adventure everyday, so why do you battle pirates in the bath and sharks in the kitchen sink? You’re just too old for this kind of play! Add it up…do the math then tell me what you think.
It might be too late for you, I guess. Real love can’t match what’s in your mind— so for me there is no chance… But what if I join you on your quest? Just maybe if I was one of your kind, in your eyes, my person would enhance.
Who cares if we choose to escape the strife? After all is said and done, it’s our life.
Happy National Poetry Month to you! Welcome to April. My favorite month of the year.
Every April, I try to post a poem I write every single day. This year, I’m actually incredibly busy with my bookstore, my new editing business, and trying to get my first two novels republished by me instead of the traditional publisher that had them until recently. (See previous post.)
So, instead of trying to master a particular type of poetry (I’ve done haiku, sonnet, and villanelle in previous years), I’m opting for what I hope is a simpler route. I’m writing what I call fortune cookie poetry.
It’s pretty simple. Each day I’ll break open a fortune cookie, read the fortune, and write a poem based on it.
A little background about me and fortune cookies. A few years ago my life took a turn I had never anticipated. At the time it devastated me, and I became obsessed with wishing I could know what was coming at me before it actually hit me. Astrology, online Tarot and Magic 8 Balls (I recently got a real one for my birthday), hitting shuffle on my iPhone music after asking it a question…and fortune cookies.
Have any of these things helped? Probably not. Life is life and sometimes it smacks you around. Unpredictability is just what the world is, and no amount of crystal balls are going to help you see what’s around the bend…or, sometimes, right in front of you.
With that said, I still eat fortune cookies. And right now I have the sweet taste of one in my mouth and I got an even sweeter fortune. And I wrote a poem about it. It’s a sort of sonnet with a kind of cool rhyme scheme. 🙂 Hope you enjoy.
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Love is in the Air By Michelle Garren-Flye
Love is in the air, you say? Well, that explains it all. I’m not looking up today so I guess I missed its call.
Don’t bother looking out for me. I don’t think I believe anyway. Love has no real allure, you see, and on my nerves, it will fray.
Seductive whispers just won’t work now that I’ve been set free. I don’t want to sound like a jerk but I don’t think love is my key.
So go ahead and float about! Someone else will hear you out.
In 2010 I received what felt like maybe good news… One of my novels had been accepted by a publisher, Lyrical Press. At that time, Lyrical Press was an independent e-pub only publisher. That meant my book would only be available as en ebook. Kindle. Nook. All the other hot items on everybody’s Christmas list.
I consulted friends who had had more luck than me. The consensus was, basically, “Congratulations. At least it’s not self-publishing!” (haha! The worm has turned on that one!)
Lyrical Press did a wonderful job with my book, helping me edit, format, and designing an outstanding cover I will always love. Probably the most of all my covers. Secrets of the Lotus became a real book on July 5, 2010. Shortly after that, Lyrical accepted another of my books, Winter Solstice, which they published in 2011. And a few years later, Lyrical Press became part of Kensington Press, giving me the ability to say two of my books were published by Kensington Press. Pretty cool.
Late last year, however, I realized I wanted to do more with my books. Having taken the self-publishing thing to an extreme, I now own a bookstore, and I want those books on the shelf with my others. I contacted Kensington and they reverted the rights to me. Unfortunately, these rights do not include the original covers, but I have become rather handy with designing covers myself so no worries.
I’ve learned a lot about self-publishing in the past fourteen years. I’m currently putting both books through my own editing and formatting process and hope to have them on the shelf, literally, by summer. I have redesigned the covers already, and I’m getting excited about reintroducing these two stories to you guys.
Today I’m remembering my mother. She died one year ago. Throughout this year, I have had moments when I wanted to talk to her more than anything else in the world. And knew I couldn’t.
Maybe that’s where this poem came from.
At any rate, I’m sure it’s not just me. (Although some of you may not write ghazals about it. Or attempt to. I’m still struggling with this form!)
Hug someone you love today.
Oh. By Michelle Garren-Flye
I wait for the rhyme to come but, oh, pain? The rhythm runs through my thumbs, oh pain!
Sometimes it all feels right—no strain— and others it’s nothing but, oh, pain.
Some might seek comfort in cocaine but that will not shelter me from…oh. Pain.
Your beauty I have come to know, fain would I reject its attraction, oh Pain.
My last refrain is your domain; rest, you’ll fly in my love, oh pain.
Photo and text copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
I’ve been told that the worst sin is to covet what you don’t have. It does seem that this is the way most humans spend their lives. I do not except myself from this, either. It’s always hard to wait for the universe to bring you what you need. Especially in today’s world of social media designed to display everything others have.
And today is the worst for those who covet love. Romantic love, family love, the love of friends or even pets. Our spirits yearn for all of it. Unless we feel we’ve been denied it for so long we shut ourselves off to it. Unless we decide we are one of those unfortunate individuals who was put here to never have what others have…no matter how much we covet it.
Perhaps there are such individuals. I don’t know if they were made that way by whatever heartless gods there are or if they became that way because they coveted so much they couldn’t see or feel love anymore.
I believe there is love out there for you if you truly open your heart to it. I cannot tell you what form it will come to you in. It may or may not be the true love you see in fairytales. It might be a stray cat or dog. It might be a flower blooming in an unexpected place or a kind word spoken by someone you thought was indifferent.
Look for it. You’ll find it if you’re persistent. And when you do, let it fill you up with love that you can share with someone else.
Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope this day finds you filled with love to give others.
First of all, I cannot begin to tell you how much I love Rattle. If you want to know why, check them out. I’m a subscriber, and they send me a poem every day, and the poetry is so good, it makes you feel good about just living in a world where people can think that way, you know? Yes, it is my ambition to have some poetry accepted by them, and I do submit to them from time to time, but I also just get so much inspiration from them.
For instance, every month they have an ekphrastic poetry challenge. If you don’t know what ekphrastic poetry is, it is a poem written because it was inspired by a piece of artwork. Here’s this month’s: Ekphrastic Challenge. I have entered this challenge several times, and I’ve always missed the mark and then read the responding poem and figured out why. But it doesn’t even matter. I’ve written so many poems and I’m learning every time I do it. Anyway, as soon as I saw this challenge, I knew I would enter it. I wrote three poems. This is the one I submitted.
Self Portrait
I am scraps of lost mail
pulled close around a center axis;
a book snapped shut by an unfeeling hand;
a paper doll cut from yesterday’s news
and left to crumple underfoot.
I refuse to yield to cripple and age,
obtuse in clinging to antediluvian belief,
a vow given long ago
and held in my chest,
concealed, mostly, by wisps
of lost dreams and things
that I won’t let go.
And you can’t make me.
I am obstinate in the face of the wind,
making myself ridiculous,
clothed in scrapbooks and memories
that threaten to blow away;
an object of pity perhaps
with no objective in mind.
So pull out my heart,
and crumpled bits of newsprint
I can’t share
will spill at your feet but
spell out only what was
because sometimes forever
and ever won’t go away.
I also just yesterday published Chapter Two of my new venture, “Nothing New Under the Sun”. You can read it here: “Nothing New“. Although the story is called “Nothing New Under the Sun”, it’s all new to me as I’m publishing it on Kindle Vella in episodes, and it’s a mystery. I have an idea for it that I think you’ll like. I like to think of it as literary upcycling. And that’s gotta be new.
Maybe there’ll be a tropical sunset in a future episode of “Nothing New”. What do you think? Photo by Michelle Garren-Flye Copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
A friend recently gave me a book called 1000 Words by Jami Attenberg. It was full of writing encouragement (not advice), which was exactly what I needed. And in the spirit of that book…
I’m trying something new.
KDP started something a while ago that I liked the idea of. Kindle Vella. It’s an episode at a time storytelling tool. Very much like Wattpad and some other sites out there, so not really new. But it’s based off the Amazon Kindle platform, so it’s got a little bit of “oomph” there. Plus, all my books were published using KDP, so Kindle Vella feels very familiar already.
With that said, my story is called Nothing New Under the Sun. It’s a mystery set in a small town on the coast of North Carolina in a bookstore with a cat… Well, they do say “write what you know”.
I hope you’ll check out Nothing New Under the Sun. Maybe leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I’m hoping to have some fun with this. And just so you know, I never use AI to write my stories. It’s all me.
Nothing New Under the Sun by Michelle Garren-Flye. Copyright 2024
People think I’m crazy when I say this is my favorite day of the year. But it is. It’s the day I feel the most hope for the future.
Today. The darkest day of the year.
Want to know why?
Because every day after this one gets brighter.
In honor of the darkest, most hopeful day, I’m doing a “live poetry writing”. If you haven’t joined me for one of those, it’s sometimes interesting since I’m working at my bookstore and am often interrupted.
(At 11:16 a.m. I’m already interrupted by customers. How dare they? Just kidding!)
Winter Solstice
By Michelle Garren-Flye
(11:20 a.m. debating about form versus free verse…really should’ve thought about this ahead of time!)
What makes the darkest day of the year so bright?
When the sun leaves early, why do I still hope?
I refuse the fear the end of day, the coming of night
With the long darkness, I know I can cope.
(11:23 a.m. I’m thinking sonnet, then. I do love sonnets.)
Daylight may not last as long while the night grows
and flowers cannot emerge in the absence of sun
but even now, I sense the spread of nighttime slows
and the approach of dawn will soon come.
(11:29 a.m. I know. Sun and come don’t really rhyme…)
In my bed, I wait to hear the first bird’s sweet whistle
(11:38 a.m. Sorry, I was off trying to find a book for someone. Back now.)
in the dark and the cold, with my head on my pillow.
and then it comes, like a message of dismissal
to the cold of yesterday, a welcome to tomorrow.
(11:45 a.m. I did stop in the middle of those last few lines to check out a customer. Not doing badly on time, considering…)
I jump from my bed, ready again for employ.
This day and the next I feel will bring joy.
(11:49 a.m. I wrote this couplet to end the sonnet thinking I wanted to write about joy, but as I wrote the last line, I thought maybe I should concentrate on faith instead. So, I’m working on an alternate.)
I jump from my bed, but wonder about my haste,
I pause to think but I know: it’s all about faith.
11:54 a.m. I’m done. This was fun and I will most likely polish this one up some. No idea what I might use it for, but it’ll go into a folder on my computer, anyway. Thanks for joining me! Enjoy the darkest day of the year, but don’t forget to have faith. Tomorrow will be brighter!
Poetry continues to be my main objective in spite of a couple of ideas I’ve had about novels. If I hear about a new form of poetry, I have to try it out. And then I have to stretch it. Remember Stretch Armstrong? How you would stretch and stretch him to see how far you could stretch him and he’d still go back to his original form…until he didn’t.
I sort of feel like I did that with haibun. Haibun is the combination of a haiku and a prose poem. Matsuo Basho wrote them. I discovered them relatively recently and decided to give them a try. And stretched the form a bit. What do you think? Is it still a haibun at its heart?
Silence
By Michelle Garren-Flye
it’s awkward, silence,
because it wants treasuring
and I reject it
laying too heavy on my ears in the dark, begging to be broken, shattered against the brick wall, revealing the death of sound ringing in my ears, spilling out like the yolk of an egg until the utter madness is stunned by a brief click in the wall behind the thermostat as the furnace breathes life into our emptiness…
don’t rejoice too soon
complete silence verges on
total perfection
you will seek it again, want to crawl into it, feel it envelop you in velvety warmth as if it can never break because it always always bends and that’s why you can never make friends with silence, why you can’t love it even if you want it, you will always seek release from it, but…
the birds will ghost you
the wind and waves will give up
leaving you…awkward
This weekend, I saw the Taylor Swift movie with my daughter. It was fun and a little awe-inspiring. One of the first scenes was this little tiny woman standing on top of a lighted podium in the middle of a huge stadium absolutely full of people shouting and crying and singing along.
Now, I love music. It’s been a big part of my life for a long time. I’ve been to several concerts, including legends like John Denver, Robert Plant, and Bon Jovi. More recently, I’ve seen several K-pop concerts with my daughter, including Stray Kids and Twice.
All of those experiences were wonderful, but seeing this woman (who really is still human, no matter how great her talent) standing on that podium made me so envious. Wouldn’t I love to be able to do that? To get that immediate feedback from a crowd hanging on your every word.
But that’s not my life. My life is to write and doubt and hope that someone out there reads and finds meaning. What Taylor Swift has in excess, I undoubtedly lack.
Maybe we all have to give up whatever that is in order to have performers like her? If so, it’s definitely worth it.
Loud (a poet’s wish)
By Michelle Garren-Flye
Sometimes I wish I could be a bit loud,
proclaim each verse and be proud!
But I’m doomed instead
to be great in my head.
In the face of the crowd, I’m just stoic;
my voice comes out less than a croak.
(Can you hear in the back?
Forgive my panic attack.)
My confidence is next to none.
(As in, out of ten, about a one.)
So I’ll just continue to write,
convince myself it’s not trite.
I may wish to throw my head back and rage—
But instead I’ll whisper my words to the page.
A bit of fall color. Photo and poem copyright 2023 Michelle Garren-Flye
BREATHE: Michelle Garren-Flye 