Excavating the Archives: The Legacy Of A Missed Opportunity

This is the first instalment of a three-part drabble serial…

She knew she had done the wrong thing, said the wrong words, but it was too late now.  Such an opportunity would never come her way again.  It was gone.  She had missed her chance.

Her mistake lingered, tormenting her, driving her to return to the woods day after day.  In the dark of the forest, she screamed at the top of her voice.

‘I’m sorry!  Please forgive me!’

She wanted to explain but there was no one there to listen or care.

She was alone now.  The Spirits of the Forest were silent.  The Fae had departed.

You can read part two here.

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This was originally posted on this site in September 2015. You can find that post here.

Excavating the Archives: Ode to a Geode

Unbroken

You hold the promise

Of all or nothing

The sparkling crystal interior

Of vibrant dreams

In rainbow shades

That glimmer in fairy light

or

Stone, plain stone

Smashed for no reason

But to see if

Like the rest of us

You are more magical

On the inside

Than on the out

A divine spark

Concealed within a

Skin of stone

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This was originally posted in August 2015.  You can find the original post here.

Echoes Through Time

Endlessly repeating

Chanting mysteriously, in this

Hollow, cavernous space, words I can’t catch

Over and over they go, lost to time

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Written for Day 16 of A Month of Mini Writing Challenges 2017: Write a poem on the theme of “echo”.  Any length.

Curling Swirling

Curling, swirling

Vines twist and turn

Labyrinthine trails

Drawn in the sand

Etched upon stone

Coiling around trees

Spelling out dreams

Crossing thresholds

Binding thought to movement

Blending shadow and shine

The seen and unseen

An Elemental Mirror

Water is a mirror

Reflecting back at us

Past, present and future

What has been

What is

And what might be

A surface for scrying

Revealing the hidden

Secrets of the depths

Offering glimpses

Of arcane wisdom

Transcending visions

Reminding us

That we

And all that is

Will always be more

Than we can ever know

Ever appreciate

Ever understand

For the magic that

Binds all together

Is a complex web

In which the mysteries

Are concealed

But those who dare to look

On the reflective surface

Of an elemental mirror

May just start to see

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This was written for Day 16 of “A Month of Mini Writing Challenges“.  See this page here for more details and a list of prompts.

Excavating the Archives: The Witch’s Candle

When darkness descends

The candle does light

By it’s illumination

I work ritual and rite.

*

The flame flickers and dances

To my circle I will

Spirits and Guardians

My spell to fulfil.

*

Time-honoured enchantments

Witchcraft of old

Ancient raw magic’s

A sight to behold.

*

When night’s precious darkness

Gives way to the sun

The spell is all over

And my will be done.

*

So, if you’ve a problem

Come visit me

And by the light of my candle

I’ll amend things for thee.

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This was one of the first poems that I actually posted on this blog, back on the 1 July 2015.

Choosing the Road (Earthbound #7)

It has been (many) months since I posted a chapter from Earthbound.  If you are new to this story, visit its index page here where you will find links to all the previous chapters as well as little more information about the story itself.

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The first step of a journey is always the hardest.  You must work out where you need to go and how you are going to get there.  You don’t want to begin by starting down the wrong path, for who knows if you might ever find your way again.  Thankfully I had my map laid out before me.  All I needed to do was follow the directions I had been given.

From my look around I could see there were three options before me.

The first to my left was a narrow animal trail that seemed to disappear as soon as it started beneath the tree canopy.  The way looked barred in places due to overgrown brambles.

The second directly in front of me was much wider and the path clear of all obstructions.  The sun shone down through great gaps in the branches overhead, bathing the path in golden light illuminating a number of wild roses.

The final one was to my right and appeared wider than the first but narrower than the second.  To either side of it grew two young oak saplings flanking the entrance, and just beyond them I could see a little of the way ahead due to the moderate light that filtered down in places.

I had a choice to make.  The dark path, the light path or the one that was in between.   The bramble track, rose track or oak track.

I closed my eyes and allowed my heart to make the decision…

New Dimension (poem)

She grasped the candle
In both hands
Spilt melted wax
Upon the land
Whispered words
Of magic past
Closed her eyes
Home at last
The air it tingled
In colours bold
Keep it close
To have, to hold
In light of moon
In light of stars
That which she seeks
Is not that far
Giving voice to
Her intention
Brings forth change
A new dimension

Past Lives

The stranger smiled.  Alice smiled back, wondering why he looked familiar.  Why he felt familiar.

She forced herself to look away, to stop staring, but she couldn’t stop wondering.  There was something about him.  She would have said it was the energy he was giving off, if she had believed in such things.  But she didn’t.

Instead she made herself concentrate – her stop was coming up and if she missed it, she would be late for work.  As she made to press the button that would get the bus to stop where she needed, Alice’s hand brushed the stranger’s ever so slightly, and a jolt of electricity passed up her arm, causing her to gasp and her cheeks to flush in embarrassment.

A thousand thoughts crossed her mind, none of them sensible, so she fixed her eyes on the floor, feeling foolish.  She spent the rest of the journey wishing either that she was invisible or that a gaping hole in the floor would open up and throw her under the bus.  Neither happened.

When the bus slowed, she made her way down the short aisle before stepping off on to terra firma, but pulled up short to avoid colliding with a pushchair on the path.

A hand on her arm came from behind to steady her, and the pulse of electricity again tingled her skin.  For some reason, nerves fluttered like butterflies in the pit of her stomach.  What was going on here?

‘I’m so sorry,’ the voice said apologetically as she slowly turned round, wondering what would be the quickest way to end the most uncomfortable, awkward journey to work she could remember.  However, the stranger kept on talking.  ‘Your name’s Alice, isn’t it?  I know you from somewhere,’ he continued, perplexed, ‘but I can’t think where from.’

As Alice looked into his eyes she suddenly saw reflecting back at her how she knew him.  Visions of times past flashed before her, visions of her and him, in strange places and wearing even stranger clothes.

‘Jack…?’ she whispered, at once not believing what she knew to be impossible, and yet completely certain that it was the truth.

The Song of the Wild Woman

Here’s an extract from a poem I’ve been working on…

I am a wild woman
Untamed and free
Free to laugh and sing
To dance beneath the night sky
To sleep in the silver light of the moon

*

I am a wild woman
Untamed and free
Free to speak my heart
To sway beneath oaken boughs
To sit in the golden light of the sun

*

I am a wild woman
Untamed and free
A child of the earth and stars
Born of rivers and mountains
Daughter of valleys and forests

*

I am a wild woman
Untamed and free
She who wears her hair loose
Or braids it into knots
The warrior and the witch

*

I am a wild woman
Untamed and free
The shade and the shadow
The rain and the rainbow
The day and the night

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As I mentioned at the top of this post, this is only an extract.  There are many more verses to go…but I think there are probably too many to post the whole poem here. 🙂

Wishing you all a great weekend and the Brightest of Blessings!