National Poetry Month--Day sanc--5 Ws Poem--My Dad

 

 On this 5th day of April it's a 5 W's poem, which you can find here. And now to the madness: 

My Dad, Wayne

Hunts for eggs with my help

In our daughter's yard

On Easter day

Because he can no longer hide (or find) them  

©2021 by H. Linn Murphy

 

 

National Poetry Month--Day Vier--Rictameter--Jesus Christ

 

Today I'm doing a Rictameter. If you're clueless of how to do one, go here. Actually I will have done this in the future and posted it to come up in the past.

 Jesus

Keeper of souls

He waits for us to come

Follow the shepherd to the fold

He weeps when we make choices that sting Him

He has reckoned for our mistakes

Though scarlet now are white 

If we listen

Christus

©2021 by H. Linn Murphy

National Poetry Month--Day 3--Triplets--Apostles

 

Wow am I late. But I had way too many things to do on all previous days to work on poems. So hopefully I can post these when they were due. I'm doing a triplet today. If you want to know how, go here. Otherwise, ta ta ta tum. 

Men of Christ so tuned in, so kind, so sage

Wizened fingers on the pulse of the age

 They know the way to escape Satan's cage

©2021 by H. Linn Murphy

What Have You Been Up TO?

 

Just thought I'd tell you a little about what I've been doing for the last year. 

Life is NEVER boring here, in spite of the thundering herds haven gone their way. Even when the world is erupting in mischief, there are still things to do and be and know and learn.

Things I've done:

Wrote the short story LINGONS.

Made my own version of the cover for HEART OF THE ENEMY. We didn't use it. But it's pretty.

Started writing my JANE AUSTEN AND FRIENDS ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY (I'm pulling words from all her works plus her letters and some from contemporaries' works) and doing the illustrations for it.

Proofed SEABIRD.

Fixed up my den and labeled the bins in there.

Wrote MARKER ON MERROW, a sci fi book.

Started an outline for MERROW'S DAUGHTER.

Wrote several articles for the national chimney sweep magazine I write for.

Rewrote  A TERRIBLE MAJESTY (still not published because it has romance in it, but it's in the pipeline).

Went through all the bins in the house. Found lots of things hidden in various places including my husband's forbidden lair.

Wrote a story to go in the KISMET anthology that won the award for being first in (woo hoo).

Started putting our music on a jump drive. I got all the records and tapes done so far. I still have our CDs to add and all of a sudden I have all my Dad's and Grandma Pat's music to add. I plan to give jumps to all my kids and parents who want them.

Flew to Indiana to ride herd on the grand minions while my daughter and SOL went to Mexico for dental fun.

Published HEART OF THE ENEMY (finally after 3 long years of waiting and a crunchy 2 weeks of nonstop editing craziness).

Took loads of dog walks and played dog butler countless times per day.

Helped my mom take care of my dad, who has dementia or Alzheimer's.

Kept up my journal and made a new journal stencil.

Read LOADS of books (at least 2/week) including both the BOOK OF MORMON and the DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS.

What is hopefully ahead:

I've got to A. learn to market for myself or B. get a fantastic marketer on my team. I'm hoping to find both an agent and a marketer.

I'll probably write either MERROW'S DAUGHTER or A LILY FOR CHRISTIAN or THE JUMPER'S KID in November. Maybe in between one of the others and/or the short story THE MAY QUEEN.

I'm planning a trip to Hawaii with my sis and her family because I've never been to Hawaii.

Me and my husband are planning a trip to Duluth Minnesota (because he loves watching the shipping in the Great Lakes and I just love to travel and meet people and do crazy new things).

I want to get back into running and sword-fighting. So I need to do lots of knee work.

I want to self publish SEABIRD, then see how feasible to publish a bunch of other books I have backed up in the pipeline. 

I'd also LOVE to go back to Ireland, to Carrigafoyle Castle to do research for FORLORN HOPE, the prequel for HEART OF THE ENEMY. And of course play great music in loads of pubs there. 

I need more bodhran and tin whistle practice.

So that's a start.

National Poetry Month--Day 2--Couplets--Following Christ

 

 

Today we're doing couplets. If you want to know what they are and how to write them, go here:

Christ the Lord has ris'n for us

His pathway forward is a plus

He directs our steps in all we do

So we can take that journey through

The rocks and canyons of our day

We need to study, act, and pray

How can I follow at his feet

When all I do is incomplete?

Just keep my eye set on the prize

And I with Him will someday rise.

Though flawed, mistaken, sometimes fearful

We can prevail if we stay cheerful 

I choose this time to pay Him mind

To seek His light, His footsteps find.

Give fear, mistakes, and hate away

Remake me new for a new day

©2021 by H. Linn Murphy

National Poetry Month--Day 1--Lantern Poem--Bloom

 

 

Wow. National Poetry Month caught me off guard. So here's my first poem of the year:

Today it's a Lantern Poem. If you want to know what that is, go here:

Bloom

Fragrant

Color splash

Tiny painting

Flow'r

©2021 by H. Linn Murphy

Spectacular Lakes

I just saw a picture of the tri-color lakes on top of Mount Kelimutu on Flores Island in Indonesia and had to run them to ground as I'd never heard of them before.

Flores Island sits near the northern coast of Australia and features the only volcanic peak in the world with a lake system like these. Two of them (Tiwu Nua Muri Koo Fai or lake of Young Men and Maidens, and Tiwu Ata Mbupu or Lake of Elders) share a wall of a couple of meters in breadth and the other (Tiwa Ata Polo or Enchanted Lake) is about a mile to the west.

The native peoples believe that Tiwa Ata Polo, which is often dark red or black, is the home of evil spirits. Tiwu Nua Muri Koo Fai, which ranges from greens to blues of all ranges, is thought to be the final resting place for the spirits of those who die young. Tiwu Ata Mbupu is thought to be the place where the spirits of those who died of old age reside, and its colors range all over the spectrum, from a brilliant emerald to blues to mucky browns or deep red and beyond.

I wanted to know if these fascinating lakes are safe to swim in. Turns out if you do so, you are in a goodly amount of danger. The mountain is actually a volcano and the lakes all sport underwater fumeroles. These openings in the earth's crust spew steam rich in high mineral content gases such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, sulfides, sulfur dioxide (which needs only another oxygen molecule to be sulfuric acid), and  hydrogen chloride or hydrochloric acid. As these gases rise, they often bring with them blooms of various nutrients. The lakes are unlivable to plant and animal life, so have nothing to consume the nutrients except bacteria. The corrosive vapors have a distinctly irritating stench to them and can irritate your eyes and nose.

So if you visit these lakes, you're going to want to take your own water to drink, maybe some nose plugs, and your camera. The scenery is spectacular.

Lake of the Young Men and Maidens and Lake of the Elders

 Image credit :  by unknown via www.placestoseeinyourlifetime.com

Further reading:
Gregory B. Paternack and Johan C. Varekamp. Geochemical Journal, 28, 1994.
Hikmahtullah, H. Subagyo and B. H. Prasetyo. Indonesian Jour. of Agricultural Science, 4(1), 2003, pp. 1-11.

Enchanted Lake