Orchid Wings

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daydreams of flying,
white wings, soaring, gliding
on every breeze Continue reading

A Halloween Story

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Halloween Party Prep

The littlest Trick wept white, cobwebby tears when Lord Phantomdor chose potion-boiling witches.

Choose me! he thought. Too shy to shout, he stayed still as a pumpkin.

Trick’s cheery smile was not Halloweeny, but he couldn’t frown with a party coming. Nor could he let go of his wish.

Trick smiled despite tears trickling and tangling into a thick, stingy mess while Lord Phantomdor chose ghasties, spook-dashes, rook-chompers and bald-banters, until

Lord Phantomdor’s eyes fell on the scariest –

now looking like a funnel spider lair –

the littlest Trick had turned into the best party decoration of all.

And was chosen.

Copyright 2019 Brenda Davis Harsham

Notes: This 100-Word Story (not counting the title) was written for Susanna Leonard Hill’s spooky kids lit contest. Feel like crafting one yourself? Or witch-crafting one?

Writing Tip — first figure out what your main character wants and why s/he can’t get it. Then tell his/her story with a beginning, a middle and an end.

Hope you stay safe and don’t eat too much candy today!

Apple Blossom Breeze

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spring is certain
when squirrels chase each other in
an apple-scented breeze

Copyright 2019 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

Inside the Poppy

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inside the poppy,
lies a dark purple pulse
a secret heart

Copyright 2019 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

Anticipating

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anticipating,
the frisson of the unknown,
is better than knowing

Copyright 2019 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

Daisy Days

 

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crowded banks of daisies
drowse and nod,
smiling

Copyright 2018 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

Spring Rain

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rain plops
plink, plink
shiny drops
trees drink

squirrels scatter
flowers glisten
birds natter
i listen

Copyright 2018 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

#PoetryFriday — Starry, Starry Spring

Flowering Tree

starry petals,
snow foreshadowed
their fall

Copyright 2018 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

Words Keep Me

Pink Hyacinth in Rain

implacable rain
drenches skin, soil and stem but
my words keep me dry

Copyright 2018 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

A Book by the Brook — Don’t Ask a Dinosaur

Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.

— William Shakespeare

A Book by the Brook: Book Reviews at FriendlyFairyTales.com

This light romp from Deborah Bruss and Matt Forest Esenwine has loads of laughs as dinos try wrapping presents and baking cakes in Don’t Ask a Dinosaur. The text has loads of those tough dino names, all with dots to separate the syllables into pronounceable snack-sizes. And it scans smoothly and rhymes! I know, I couldn’t believe it either. Plus, Louie Chin did a wonderful job bringing the dinos to vivid but not-too-scary life. Continue reading

Spring Greening

Blue scilla flowers

tiny shoots
break the brown earth,
rabbits are glad

tiny shoots of gladness
tickle my wintery skin

Copyright 2018 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

A BOOK BY THE BROOK – HIDDEN CITY

A Book by the Brook: Book Reviews at FriendlyFairyTales.com

For those who like to be in on the newest news, you should check out the book trailer for a brand new poetry collection. Hidden parks and irrepressible dandelions put down tap roots and grow up wild in Sarah Grace Tuttle‘s Hidden City: Poems of Urban Wildlife, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2018. Continue reading