Good morning everyone,
Blowing hot and cold with haiku this morning…
Heat
Heat-leached embers dim
Under salt-and-pepper logs.
Asleep by the fire.
Haar
A frozen forest
Petrified in breathless haar.
Steel blades in stasis.
Things I’ve read this week…
Susan Abernethy is a freelance history writer who I’ve been following on WordPress for some considerable time. Her articles are always well constructed, exquisitely researched, and unfailingly compelling. This article on Lady Katherine Grey is a case in point. Her site is an absolute treasure trove of knowledge.
Dylan Couch is a writer based near Lake Superior, Wisconsin. He is featured in The Fiction Pool this week with a fantastic short story called ‘A Lot’s Changed‘. The bleakness of fractured domesticity is understated and yet so devastating for two children in this piece. There is some really elegant writing on display here, and it is one of those pieces that you really wish you had written!
Thanks for reading, folks. Images courtesy of Pikrepo and Jon Sullivan.
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Near to the Knuckle, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, and Shooter magazine. He is an absentee member of the Glasgow Writers Group, a PhD student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father.
Not necessarily in that order
https://twitter.com/mjrichardso0
Love both of these Matthew. Those salt and pepper logs are just perfect, so too the petrified blades. Just lovely
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Thanks so much Lynn. Looking forward to another one of your pegman stories soon. You really do such a wonderful job with them.
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Always a pleasure, reading your writing. Tell me, how long have you got to go with your studies? Will you be changing your blog name to Dr Matthew any time soon? 🙂
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God no. Another three years, all things being well. The hard part is still to come! 😂
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Wow! That’s some commitment. I did my degree with the OU and that took six years part time. I think I might learn what have learned divorce is like if I’d attempted an MA though :). Hope it all goes brilliantly for you.
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Beautifully vivid snapshots of such great contrasts. Cracking stuff!
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Thanks so much Tom. Unfailingly kind as always.
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It’s always great reading new material from you. I’ve continued trying out a few more short stories if any might pique your interest 🙂
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I’ve got one scheduled in for my Monday morning now that Ive finished your feature length work! 😉
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😀 😀 😀 Thanks for always being such a supportive reader and friend through my work! Wasn’t sure if changing it to Friday scheduling would be less hectic for people over the weekend. As long as it’s still consistent weekly, do you think that’s better?
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I tend to do a lot of my WP catchup on Sundays, but as you are one of the authors whose sites I go to as a matter of course, I’ll be honest and say it doesn’t really matter to me when you post! If you’ve got something I haven’t read up, I’ll read it (even though I’m a few behind you and your so-damned-efficient schedule just now 😂).
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*blushes and hides* Luckily I’ve had an 9-month job hunt to plan for it – wouldn’t have had any material worth posting otherwise! 🤣🤣🤣
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Lovely as always, Matthew. And the haar vista (with “steel blades in stasis”) has imprinted a not-very-familiar term into my brain’s visual art collection.
Thank you!
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Thanks Annie. I’ve only ever really heard it used in the North East of England, although I’m assured that it’s a Scots word as well!
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But not a “ breathless haar.” That’s a Richardson touch of brilliance.
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I can’t say it better than the others have…
Just beautiful. All of it… the poems, images…. the reviews too.
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I like these; I like ‘salt-and-pepper logs’. I had to look up ‘haar’. I like writing that is eloquent but is not afraid of using unusual words where applicable.
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Cheers John. Came across haar a few years ago and have always loved it. Think it is primarily used in the north east of England.
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I love the ease at which you pick the perfect words Matthew.
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Thanks so much. So kind of you.
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Beautiful Haiku Anand Bose from Kerala
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Thanks so much Anand. Very kind as always.
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