If you want a weekly reason to write, go to Magpie Tales. The terrific Tess Kincaid provides a photo/illustration, and dozens of poems and vignettes come pouring out from all over the blogosphere.
Write one, link it via Mr. Linky, and then read and comment on the other Magpie Tales.
too late for the phalarope
too late
a man destroyed,
a family slayed,
soil red-brown with blood
and damp from tears
too late to turn back
too late to wail in warning
a brick house crumbles,
turning to sand in an hourglass
that disappears
too late to avoid
the inky-black night
too late for the phalarope...
too late
Note: The seashell made me think of Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton. It's a book about a family in South Africa; they were destroyed because of apartheid. One single seashell took a man from his family forever... (The phalarope is a South African bird.) I won't say it's a feel-good read, because it certainly is not, but the rhythm of Paton's writing style, the fact that it is a window into what was life like then in South Africa---it makes for a worthy read.
Last night (okay, technically it was early this morning) I watched the movie The Color of Freedom. The history of South Africa has interested me since I was in high school...
In case you have missed it, the movie is about the real-life relationship that formed between Nelson Mandela and a prison guard. It stars Joseph Fiennes, Dennis Haysbert and Diane Kruger. I won't claim it is one of my favorites, but it kept me interested until the end. (I found it at the library; you can't beat their prices on DVD "rentals.")
However, one of my favorite books IS Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton. It is a tale of South Africa and apartheid, focusing on a devastating "tragedy" brought on by a tiny sea shell. Intrigued? Find the book and read it.
(Paton also wrote the more well-known novel Cry the Beloved Country. I adore this book too, but while Phalarope is a story told with a small aperature, this story is told with the shutter wide open.)
