Short Sharp News Alert #5 ~ Writer's Island is Back!

The new logo!
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The new badge!
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Short Sharp News Alert #5 ~ Writer's Island is Back!
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In the words of founder Rob Kistner:
After a one (1) year hiatus, we are very happy to be back on Writer’s Island and pleased to announce that the first new writing prompt post will go up •right here• on Saturday, May 1st, 2010.

In my words:
It is here that I began my writing connections! (Rob found me dabbling around in some whirlpool!) And so began a writing/blogging journey that sails home!
~

Celebrating my 1st Blogoversary

Pic collage by Gemma Wiseman ~ Red Hill ~ one of the most scenic landscapes on the Mornington Peninsula

Writer's Island prompt ~ Celebration ~ This post is now a special dedication to Writer's Island
Meme Express prompt ~ festive + fireworks + fun + family

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One year ago today I began blogging
Not really sure where I would travel
Poetry would be there
But I longed for pics ~
My own pics
~
Finally
Within the year
My dream to own
A digital camera
Became real
~
So now
I try to bring
The landscapes
I love
Close to
The poetry
I love to write
~

THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE WANDERED HERE AND SHARED MY WORLD.
YOU HAVE INSPIRED ME TO KEEP WRITING!
And today, my spirit is filled with the festive spirit of fireworks! Yippee!
~

P.S. This post has now become an extra celebration. I celebrate my contact with the Writer's Island family of bloggers and the host, Rob Kistner. He intends to close the prompt element of Writer's Island. To quote my comment just made to Rob on the Writer's Island website: It is thanks to you that my blogging world opened. By chance, you found my blog, posted a wonderful comment about my poetry, then invited me to Writer’s Island. This was where I discovered the world of prompts. Since then, I have explored others, but have always posted regularly to Writer’s Island, my first “home”.
Lately, armed with my digital camera, my writing is finding new worlds. But it all really began with you, giving me confidence to get my writing known! For that, I cannot thank you enough.
So. I wish you eternal happiness in your creative world. It is a very important sanctuary.

THANK YOU ROB! IT HAS BEEN A FUN TIME

(My aristocratic? insignia ~ Lady Gemma the Unique of Walk Upon Water)

Lonely in a Grey Landscape

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Lonely, naked tree in a grey landscape

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Writer's Island prompt ~ Avenge
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Avenge is a lonely

Naked

Tree ~

Dark limbs

Crossing and

Re-crossing

Grey landscapes
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Morning darkness
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Who could imagine
A grandfather would become
An axe murderer
Butchering the lives of
His wife and
Two young grandchildren ~
Slicing and cutting the mind
Of his own daughter ~
In a sense
She lives
But what living?
Just a tiny light
Struggling
In a dark morning
Waiting
To be switched
Off?
~
Evolving news
Weighted with blurry detail
Is a horror of echoing
WHY'S
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Swirling morning clouds
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Some news suggests
He could have suffered with
Dementia ~
Some news mentions
His son sank to suicide
~
From a public perspective
A little light
Swirled with cloudy shapes
Is not quite enough
To give avenge
A reason
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But inside
Inside is another landscape
Where surreal realities
Avenge
Surreal realities
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Window on breaking morning light
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Maybe
As time flows
A little colour may dawn
Linking
Softening
Framed
Dark shapes
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Cobwebbed window with a hint of rain
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Meanwhile
I only see the hint
Of a leaning cross
On his window ~
Faintly webbed
In one small corner ~
And if you look closely
You may see
Tiny tears
Suspended
~
P.S ~ This poem is in response to the latest news ~ see report in The Age ~ of a man who axed his family at Cowra, NSW. Police are still trying to find a motive.~

Silent Sentinels

Pic on Flickr by Gemma Wiseman ~ Ghostly sentinels
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ secret + silent
Writer's Island prompt ~ Guardian
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Springing from a tiny road ~
(Weaving away from
The gleam and sway of
Bay waters) ~
A secret
Surprising
Elegant
Driveway
Leads to
The colours of dreams
~
A serene lake
Teeming with wildlife
Is wine for the eyes
And a cellar door ~
Laced with lemon trees
Ringed in casks ~
Offers boutique wine
For the spirit
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Casked lemon trees
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But the silent sentinels ~
Gracing
All comings
And goings ~
Seem like mystic
Bemused seers
Guardians of time
Who have seen it all ~
Watching a cast of actors
Play a part
Perform a moment in time
And leave with bubbles
Of memory
Tightly corked
In a bottle
~

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Trees lining the Stillwater Crittendon Estate driveway
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NOTE: These trees almost gleam with a ghostly, grey-white glow. As I drove out of the beautiful Stillwater Crittendon Estate winery, (at Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula), there seemed to be quite an intense drama emanating from these trees. It could have been the chilly winter afternoon, broken only with brief bursts of rain and sunlight. It could have been the fact that I only came to the winery seeking new pics and felt a little over-awed with the beauty of the place ~ with its villa accomodation by a lovely lake and rather up-market restaurant and cellar door. It could have been I longed to stay a little longer, but felt like an intruder.
~

Kookaburra Curiosity

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Curiosity begins with one watcher
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Writer's Island prompt ~ Curiosity
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Kookaburra curiosity is
Subtle curiosity
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The play begins with
A lonely watcher
Who looks as if he is intrigued
With somewhere else
But just happens
To be in a tree
Overlooking your driveway
And just happens
To have landed there
When you drive home
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ There are 2 of us here!
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Kookaburra curiosity is all about
Keeping movements
In leafy shadows
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ 2 watchers in waiting
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It is all about being
Cool
Nonchalent
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Curiosity is tuned teamwork
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It is all about being
Tuned
Together
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ 3 cosy Kookaburras
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It is all about looking
Cute ~
Pretending your movements
Are of passing interest ~
But when you toss down
Some food
We will gracefully dive down
Just short of where the food lies ~
Watch you ~
And then hop over
To partake in your offerings
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We will reward you with
A roll of hearty laughter
In some distant
Shady
Leaves
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Alchemy

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Mornington Peninsula sunset
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Writer's Island prompt ~ Awakening
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Leaden limbs may sigh home
But when light slips into
The charged blush of dreams
And clouds are fired with golds
The spirit feels
A waking zest
Of sacred wings
On the wind ~
Natural
Alchemy
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Distance Breeds Beauty

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Crow on a school lamp post
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Writer's Island prompt ~ Coercion
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Absolutely nothing will coerce me to like crows ~
They linger
Like eyes of night
Watching for any chance to
Scavenge for
Scraps
Remnants
Of humanity
~
And yet
I find the vagrant artist in me
Is fascinated ~
Maybe feels
A dark love
For the distant beauty
Of their midnight silhouette
Strident
Against a blue sky
~

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Corella feasting on the school grass
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Absolutely nothing will coerce me to like
The ragged, doleful faces of corellas
Blotched with
Misplaced
Rouge
Round
Grey-blue
Parchment
Eyes
~
And yet
I find the sentimental dreamer in me
Enjoys watching
The distant charm of
A flock of corellas
Dancing
Stray waltzes
Like wild
White tears
Of snowdrops
~

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Distant view of corellas feasting

Relentless

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Afternoon Rainbow
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Writer's Island prompt ~ Questionable
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The beauty of a rainbow
Is an eternal wonder
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But when a certain eye
Corners the primal bow
With the cobwebbed
Barbs of a tall
Relentless
Fence
(Right where the pot of gold should be)
Somehow
This beauty is
Questionable
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Missing Heartbeat

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Black panther
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Writer's Island prompt ~ Superstition
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Sleek night in slinking motion
Prowling the fears of a missing heartbeat
Black panthers
Sponge the imagination
With the questions of
Superstition
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P.S. Why did I choose an ornamental panther as my pic? Perhaps I could say I just want to use my own pics and I have not seen a panther for real. But there could be more reasons. In recent years, there have been some news items suggesting sightings of panthers in strange places. Australia is not regarded as an environment for panthers, and yet...

About a year ago, (please don't laugh), I was driving from Arthurs Seat to school. It was very misty early in the morning. I swear I saw a large, very large black cat slink across the road. It was definitely not a dog. (There were fields on both sides of the road where cows, horses and sheep grazed.) This animal was not actually running, but moving swiftly with a sleek gait. That image haunts me. I replay it over and over, wondering what I really saw.
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I do love the mystery of panthers. But maybe some subconscious superstition of my own deters me from posting a real pic of one.
~

Flow of Other Clothes

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Year 9 Asian Experience
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Writer's Island prompt ~ Alter Ego
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For a little while
It is exhilerating
To step into the identity
Of another culture
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To celebrate another hair design
To feel the flow of other clothes
To be
An alter ego
Folding and shaping
New origami
Life
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Year 9 Asian Experience ~ 2

What ugliness?

Pic on Flickr by Gemma Wiseman ~ Views within views
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Writer's Island prompt ~ Transformation
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Window views are mesmerising ~
A special pot of gold beyond the rainbow
A special wishing well
~
But a window tinctured with
Lightly tawny textures of
A thin blind
Transforms into
Worlds within worlds
Dreams within dreams
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Blackbird at Balnarring Beach
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An ordinary black common crow
Is usually
Just a black bird
Just a scavenger
Just an ugly Hitchcock omen
~
But close up ~
Snapped mid pre-flight motion ~
The blackbird
Arches into the elegance of
Monumental grace ~
And its wings
Surprisingly
Ring with the tones of
Captivating
Deepest
Midnight
Blues
~

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Old pier pylons at Balnarring Beach
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Even something old ~
Like the fragments of some pier
Jammed in the tumble of rockfall~
Unwanted
Neglected
Rotting ~
Become
(In a certain light
At a certain angle)
Beautiful sculptures
Contributing to
The magic
Of a seascape
~

Unexpected Characters and Smiles

Gemma Wiseman's Flickr pics of street figurines at Rosebud ~ Click on pics to enlarge! (There is another character on my Flickr. He's worth a drink or two!)
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Writer's Island prompt ~ Unexpected
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Shopping in Rosebud
Is no ordinary shopping experience
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Imagine a village-like atmosphere
In a town-like setting
~
Imagine this place
Is on the shores of a bay
Where an amble on the beach
A pier
Or coastal track
Is as close as crossing the road
From the buzz of the shops
~
Imagine
All the while
Larger than life
Jaunty characters
Observe you
With fixed
Nonchalant
But colourful
Indifference
~
But just may draw
An unexpected smile
From you
~

Playground Truce

Pic on Flickr by Gemma Wiseman ~ Playground in Mornington park
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Writer's Island prompt ~ Reconciliation
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A child's playground
Snuggled under friendly
Shady
Trees
With sea views
To the horizon
Is a great place to
Reconcile
The child within
And the child
Without
~
It is a great place to
Let the earth
Of the mind
Float
In the innocent waves of
The spirit
~

On my AuraGem Songlines, I have written another, somewhat sad poem related to a child called Toy Library. A pic of Mornington Toy Library is included.

Shadowy Light

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Mystic mask and light
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Writer's Island prompt ~ Overshadowed
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Is it possible
To be overshadowed
By light
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Can the glare
Of a glow
Shadow
The outlines
Of reality
With blurred light
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Is it possible
That an extreme pool of light
Creates
A shadowy
Mystical blindness
~
Strange
How just a small candle
Selects its own
Light and
Overshadow
~

Another version of this pic appears on my AuraGem Songlines. And a poem responds to it. The posting is called Grey Filters.