Frank’s Comments (group member since Dec 07, 2018)

Frank’s comments from the G.N.A. Publishing░N░e░w░ ░A░u░t░h░o░r░s░ group.

call to rise (again again)

I call the sun
to rise
again

banish dark
so I
can see

the lingering cloud
to wisp
and fade

bring
the brand new day
down here
to me

~

Wishing you a wonderful and Happy Easter in 2020 (despite all).

Grasshopper wrote: "The need of the hour. Nice imagery Frank"

Thanks GB. These are rubbish times we're living through.

a social distancing (of money)


at the hardware
store

at the butchery

there is black tape
marking out crosses
on the floor

they are placed a metre
and a half
apart

there is a sign
on the counter
to declare
there is only room
for three people
at a time
in this store

responsible
social distancing
at work

at the bank
as I stepped
a pace forward
toward the glass

the teller
moved back
one pace

she gestured me
to return
behind the line
so that she could
in turn
approach the counter
to do her work

a strange
and almost graceful
social dance

when I bought
a packet of seed
for the rejuvenation
of the home garden
the girl asked me
pleasantly
to present the packets
with the barcode facing up
to facilitate scanning

so she didn’t have
to touch the packet
after I had handled it

pay by card

money is no good
here
anymore

~

Frank wrote: "Frank wrote: "Can I skite a bit? I'm doing my first promo via the Zon at the moment. Has been very successful - #1 in 7 categories.

I'm blown away by it."

Sorry beatrice. By skiting, I mean havi..."

Thanks Alexis. Whatever it is, it's been a good moment.

Frank wrote: "Can I skite a bit? I'm doing my first promo via the Zon at the moment. Has been very successful - #1 in 7 categories.

I'm blown away by it."

Sorry beatrice. By skiting, I mean having a little brag at my own success. By Zon, I meant Amazon.

Can I skite a bit? I'm doing my first promo via the Zon at the moment. Has been very successful - #1 in 7 categories.

I'm blown away by it.

Beatrice wrote: "Great to hear that Frank. 😊"

Thanks Beatrice, It feels like a big moment.

Hello to all.

Don;t want to post links, but do want to share that I have effectively finished A Love Poetry Trilogy - Walk Away Silver Heart; A KIss for the Worthy; and Rescue and Redemption. Walk Away is released as e-book, and all are now scheduled and listed for pre-order.

A year and a half ago I was wondering if it might be possible to produce a collection. I worked with others to produce 3, plus a collaboration with another Australian (prose) writer.

With this trilogy, I have taken the pictures, created the covers, formatted the interiors, as well as composed the contents.

I love this business of Indie publishing.

Had to share.

Cheers.

Are you accepting poems from a brand new collection? My 'Walk Away Silver Heart' is released on Valentine's Day (US time). Happy to pop up a poem if that's ok.

I lose track of do's and don'ts.

Grasshopper wrote: "Happy New Year Frank.
I know exactly what you mean!"

Happy New Year to you, also. And to all the crew that frequent the poetry pages here.

a streaky river (for my face)


every tear
is wept
in black

and tears
there are
so many

cried dry

there is an absence
here
of water

day
is night
the night
is day
running red
in anger

stand
and watch

that is all
that we can bring
ourselves
to do

for the sky
is raining fire
and the earth
beneath our feet
has sacrificed
all that it had
in vapour

green

there is no green

no more
only this dust
that was
a forest

was it
yesterday

was it just
yesterday

I suppose
there must be rain
somewhere
perhaps
it falls
in plenty

I could pray
and
I would pray
for a wind
to blow it closer

but the only wind
like
the only prayer
is just a fan
to build
more fire

I shed
another streaky tear
a dry river

and I let it mark
my face

~

Grasshopper wrote: "Launching a poetry competition for 2020.
All original poems posted here in 2020 will stand a chance to get published by the end of the year.
So rhyme on!"

Perhaps time to post one of my own here.

The apocalypse comes, I'm afraid.

Happy New Year, though, to all.

Herja, Devastation

I'm delighted to share the first review in for Herja, Devastation, right here on Goodreads.

Thank you, Cassandra.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Grasshopper wrote: "Thanks for the excerpt Frank. Cage Dunn is a member of our group too. We had featured her recently. Glad to have you both back.Great initiative. Have marked the book as to be read."

Good-o, GB. Hope you enjoy it when you get a look.

Would you be interested in an ARC copy?

Hello GB and friends.




Herja, Devastation

What a busy time.

I'm delighted to let you know that an Australian colleague (Goodreads Author Cage Dunn) and I have just published a grand experiment in the form of Herja, Devastation - a story of a Valkyrie and her mortal assassin/associate. The story is narrated by the assassin and combines free verse poetry (by myself) and prose (by Cage Dunn).

The book is original in its concept and currently sits as the #1 new release for Poetry in Australia and Oceania (always a lovely moment to get a picture of. Here is the opening poem, but more can be seen via the 'look Inside' function at Amazon:

service



I was a man
once

never forget it

what sort of man?
.
.
.
.
not much
I don’t suppose
but still . . .

I stood
and I stood
alone
needed no one

wanted nothing
at all
except my wits

I always had
my wits
about me

it was my wits
that kept me sharp
it was
my wits
that kept me
ahead
of others

even when I knew
it was
all up
for me

with nowhere to go
and no way of escaping
even then
I knew that I had done
everything
one man could do
with wit

I didn’t ask for her
to save me

I did not
once
raise my eyes
in a plea

but
she came
like a fire from the gods

she came
like nemesis
singing

and wit?

I’d no wit
at all
no mind
no brain
only addle

she took me

she claimed me

and my wit
is nothing
now
but another word
for service

~

An excerpt from Devil In The Wind. This is a fair representation of my writing style, I think.

Callignee Butterflies

butterflies have always lived
in our meadow

you can see them moving
everywhere you turn
in little flits
out of the corner of your eye

on this land we cleared
to make our home
they’re as much a part
of every small thing
as we are

on black saturday
we might have gone
or might have stayed

there was nothing
to give us advice
better than our eyes
fixed on the thick smoke
at the back
of the hill

when the air turned still
around us
it could have meant anything

in that eerie silence
who would know

but ten tiny wraiths
fluttered to the floor
of our lounge room
looking for safety
down as low as they could get

and when the emptiness
started to roar we knew
we’d better start running

it was time to go

~

Beatrice wrote: "Hi Frank. Really good to see you.
Bernard does post the occasional poem for us. We appreciate rhymes at all times."

Hi Beatrice. I'm not much of a rhymer, I'm afraid. Very much free verse storytelling from me.

I've been writing in response to photographic images a lot, lately and don't feel inclined to post without access to the picture. Plenty of them at my blog, though, as I post at least daily. Currently pursuing a poem-A-Day as a project. The last one project of the sort went 15 months and I'm still happy with the work that resulted, so it's a worthwhile exercise, I think.

Catherine wrote: "Welcome back Frank."

Cheers, Catherine. never far away.

Busy as, though.

Grasshopper wrote: "That's a very interesting concept Frank. I'm sure you would find interested parties. Could you elaborate more on the interview blog? Is it text or video? We could appreciate it if you could post a ..."

It's interesting, GB. In my Blog travels I have encountered quite a few authors and bloggers who either host guest bloggers to write an article on their site, or who coordinate an online interview. Not dissimilar to the interviews you conduct here from time to time.

I will be participating in a number of these in coming months, I think, but am always keen to encounter new hosts and new audiences, to allow them to get to know me, and ultimately my work.

For my own blog, I'm cleaning up a recorded 'live reading' that I did at a Library appearance a few days ago and may post the session there in 2 or 3 pieces (it runs over an hour).

I also am thinking of posting a series of informational articles, I suppose you'd call them, about mental institution life as a lead up to releasing the poetry collection.

The collection is still a few months away from being in book form, but I am creating my ARC list now and would be happy to include folk from here that are interested in reading/reviewing when it's ready.

Bradley wrote: "We miss your Haiku Frank. Do keep posting them for us."

It's good of you to say so, bradley. Not really haiku. Just meant to keep a 17 syllable, 3 line structure.

Glad you enjoyed them. My personal preference is for free-form 17 syllable pieces, rather than mimicking haiku, but sometimes we need to stick to the familiar.