Poetry: A Challenge for Me

Yesterday on this blog I explained how stakeholders on the Steemit blockchain have created their own blockchain entity: Hive Blog. Today I tried something new on Hive. Why not? a new blockchain, a new beginning for me.

I wrote poetry.

My formal training is in history and the humanities. I’ve done a lot of writing in my time, but poetry has always been beyond my skills. Rhymes are not important but music in the language is. That takes innate talent, I think, to pull off.

Well, today I settled for less than perfect and had a great time. The wonderful thing about the blockchain is its sense of community, which allows me to explore without a sense of risk. Of course there are negative elements, but that’s true in every society. But, stick to the right neighborhoods, and the experience is all positive.

There is a neighborhood call The Ink Well which was started by a truly talented writer, @raj808. This is where I published my poetry. It never feels risky writing within the Ink Well community. Welcoming people, helpful critiques. All good.

I’ll share just a bit of one poem, to give you an idea of how it ‘sounded’. Remember, I’m looking for music, and I don’t write poetry:


Folk trekked to Delphi Lodge
Where squires lunched
On mutton and black pudding

The poem was inspired by the 1949 Famine March of Doolough, which took place during the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. I learned as I did research for this poem, that there was an even more devastating famine in Ireland during the previous century. The difference between the two was that the first was considered mostly a consequence of natural events and the second was compounded by colonial policy.

If you have a sense of adventure, check out our community on Hive Blog. There are many communities, but you can start with this one.

Next week I’ll post the poem in its entirety. Thanks for reading. Everybody, stay safe.

Catching Up

This was adapted from two Pixabay pictures: one of a tree and one of a man sleeping. It was the closing picture on a story I wrote recently (see below).

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I’ve been absent but I’ve been writing. I’d like to share with you some of what I’ve done.

In the political season, Twitter gets a lot of my traffic. If you care to check that out: https://twitter.com/A_G_Moore. My political beliefs are strong, but never hostile. As is true with many people these days, I’m looking for alternatives to most of the choices we are offered.

The world is always in flux–it just doesn’t look that way from a rear view mirror. Often, people speak of the old days as though issues were settled. But they never were. It’s just, sometimes things are a little more unsettled.

Besides Twitter, I’ve been blogging on Steemit. I wrote some nice stories, I think. I’ll cite the two most recent here, if you’d like to check them out. They are both sort of character sketches.

I think there are enough stories now for me to put together a collection. Nobody reads collections, particularly from unknown authors. But, anyway, I still might like to put them all together. You never know how something will work out unless you try it.

My latest post on Steemit is a research article about pigs, if you can believe that. My posts on Steemit alternate between creative writing and research. If you care about your health, my pig article might interest you. So many issues with pigs can impact other species, including humans.

Here’s the link:

Radioactive Pigs, Wild Pigs, Sick Pigs: The Trouble with Pigs Today

This is a hybrid piglet, descendant of wild boar and domestic pig

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I’ll put a link to my most recent stories here, also:

Larry: A Family Album

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And the other one:

Samuel: An Illustrated Story

Some of the pictures for the story were adapted from photographs I found on Pixabay. Here’s one of them:

This picture was derived from the landscape picture below. I just imagined the scene I wanted and used the original as a guide.

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You can find a lot of interesting material on Steemit. I know some people are suspicious of the blockchain. I’ve been blogging there since February of 2018. So far, nothing bad has happened to me.

I have met some interesting people. Here’s an article by one gentleman who has a WordPress blog, and a Steemit blog. His latest blogs featured a video by a clever young man who demonstrates how to create a blockchain. This really takes the mystery out of the technology.

I’ll post links to the WordPress site, and the Steemit blog:

First WordPress:

World of Chapper

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And then Steemit:

@chappertron

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I hope you don’t mind my extremely casual catching-up post.

I’ll be back soon!

Haiku



I’ve been neglecting my blog here, because of all the writing I’m doing elsewhere, but WordPress will see more of me in the future. One way I can do this is to share my posts from other sites. This one, for example, was written for a contest on Steemit. The prize was insignificant, but the fun of writing the haiku was immeasurable. Only one haiku was asked of me. You can see how I got carried away. The theme: vehicles. I only stopped writing because it seemed unreasonable to continue. Feel free to write your own haiku about vehicles in a comment. You’ll see, it’s addictive.



Haiku About Vehicles


Open the windows
No air conditioning here!
We need a new car!!


I love my wagon
It takes me around the yard
When Mommy pulls me 🙂


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A plane overhead
Makes me think of travel
Where is it going?


A train zooms along
Faces in passing windows
What are they thinking?


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Trucks pound the highways
Carrying stuff here and there
The thread of commerce


That red bicycle
It’s the first I ever owned
I’m proud to ride it


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My black SUV
Has clones all over the road
A bit boring, no?


The bus spews thick smoke
The people inside look tired
Even the driver


I’m in a balloon!
Scary to float free up here
But so exciting


hot-air-balloon-306007_640.png

Gliding off the cliff
I soar over rocky shores
This is really fun


My scooter goes fast
Much faster than my brother’s
He’s always behind!


My canoe, so sleek
Cuts easily through water
Watch out for rapids!


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Gigantic cruise ships
Travel the Caribbean
I’ve never tried one


Spiffy snowmobile
Speeds on past skis and snowshoes
Power is not green


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