SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

 

Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.

Guidelines for submission:

  1. List Splintered Glass prompt which inspired the work in the text of your email.
  2. Submit material to be published as Microsoft Word document. Submission should not be longer than one page. Editing will not be provided, please be careful.
  3. Include two brief sentences about the author. Example: Michael Whozits is the author of A Book and The Curl, a blog. He is a retired pilot and avid surfer.
  4. Submission must arrive no later than the 3rd Wednesday of the month in which the Splintered Glass prompt appeared. Only one reader’s submission will be selected for any given month.
  5. Send submission to karoxby@gmail.com.
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MEASURING A FRIENDSHIP

We laughed together

Every time we spoke.

For a brief, easy moment

Or riotously

Till our eyes watered.

 

While we laughed

Our hearts were lighter

As if we were once more

Children at play.

 

Did that shared laughter

Outweigh the deep

Political divide,

And the long lists

Of troubles poured out

Over the many years?

 

Did our laughter

Have more weight

On the scale of time?

Were those light moments

Enough to support long friendship?

 

For words spoken in elegy

Or in epitaph,

What higher praise

Might there be than these:

 

We laughed together.

 

#Friendship #FriendshipValues

 

 

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A SPECIAL ART

Never can too many songs be sung

and never can too many bells be rung

to honor a gentle, caring heart:

To be a friend is a special art

 

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CAMP OUT

refractions

With the flames licking away fright of the night,

In a circle around a patch of earth:

The Boy Scout troop—so tried and true—

Each one alone with his secret fear

Of some unknown beast from every sound.

Even total silence was cause to peer

Into the night for the ogre waiting, waiting.

The younger now tried desperately to sleep,

As the older scouts stood watch in the night—

Four hours alert and four hours asleep—

Keeping the fire burning high and bright

Until morning brought in the rising sun

With no one missing and no one harmed.

What tales will they tell of this first night?

 

#ScoutsandPoetry #CampingPoem

 

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Author’s Notes

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“A SPECIAL ART” was found among the author’s papers. It is included in this last week of the month because it is when many countries celebrate friendship, this week or the following in August.

REFRACTIONS—a poem by Robert Roxby

“CAMPOUT” was first published in the author’s collection, “Reflections on a Lifetime.” The poem describes a memory from 1929 when he was he was thirteen.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“MEASURING A FRIENDSHIP” is a recent poem by the author. It is included because July 30 was the first proposal for an International Friendship Day. The United States celebrates this on the first Saturday in August.

 

 

 

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STORY IDEA

No submissions this month, so here’s a story idea for you.

START OF THE STORY

Narrator, main character and her sidekick arrive at the beach house from a short swim in the ocean and a walk up the beach. When they arrive, the husband tells them two strange men came to the door wanting to speak to the main character. She tells him the men are after the trees on a property she recently inherited. She does not see them as a threat though both her husband and his work buddy agree the two men looked dangerous. Her son picks up on this and worries that someone is going to hurt his mommy remembering something that happened in the past.

CHARACTERS

  • Narrator, a school acquaintance of the main character–  more conservative and rather shy. Newly returned to hometown for vacation from work out of state, she happened to run into main character at grocery store on the day threat arrives. She was invited to the beach house where main character is living before either of them know of the threat.
  • Main character, a former free spirit now married and mother to young child. She is still prone to sudden and rather wild enthusiasms which her husband manages to restrain by his calming influence.
  • Husband to main character, intelligent, good looking,  good provider and father.
  • Sidekick, and long-time best friend of the main character. Always a tag along on main character’s adventures. Slightly in awe of the main character with little character of her own.
  • Son of main character, a worrier—mommy-minder, six years old.
  • Husband’s work buddy who happens to be visiting when the threat arrives.
  • The strangers who deliver the threat.

SETTING:

A small beach town where the main character has purchased an older home, somewhat updated, but still quirky, at the far edge of the town beach near a tidelands marsh.

Now it is up to you. Are the strangers truly dangerous? What do they really want? Will the narrator now be pulled into the intrigue? Good luck. Do let me know if you develop this.

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SPLINTERS FOR JULY 2021

  1. Try concentrating on one of the five senses when retelling a childhood memory.
    1. Follow Kathleen Roxby’s example (Skates, July 30) and choose sound—the sound of the ball as it hits the racket, bat, backboard, etc. You get the idea.
    2. Or try one of the other senses: the taste of the ocean water and sea air while surfing (see “Pacific Sarabande” on July 23); smells while hiking in the woods, jungle, mountains; the feel of the air and your muscles as you bike; concentrate on sight while describing riding a swing. These are a few, you will have your own.
  2. July 30 is International Friendship Day.
    1. Are you one of the lucky ones with a lifelong friendship? What is your secret? Any other thoughts about this friend?
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PACIFIC SARABANDE

It is a day for the eye of Monet:

In the subtlest hues of blue,

a melody of ocean and sky

wraps the California coast.

 

The sky is a singular blue wash…

that translucent clarity sometimes found

in watercolor landscape paintings.

 

A mixed blue palette of ocean

spills for miles tantalizing the eyes

from the horizon to the surprise on the shore:

 

Prussian blue, a shiver of cold

unrelenting, fathoms of darkness

threatens at the edge of sky…

 

Undulating midway,

Violet and cobalt blue

unravel in ribbons, swirl into pools…

 

Sliding over the coastal shelf

A deep turquoise, more blue than green,

A hue more Mediterranean than Pacific.

 

The rising perfect curl of wave

Catching the w0estern sun

Glows in palest aqua, almost light jade

 

Then spills onto the shore

Foaming rich with undertones

Of periwinkle and lavender.

 

It is a day for the eye of Monet,

A phantasm of blue:

Ocean and sky in a gentle sarabande.

 

#SeaPoetry #PacificOcean

 

 

 

 

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RIVER-NIGHT LULLABY

Hear the poem-sigh of night,

A lullaby

That floats its benediction

On the altar ear.

Dream what dreams you may

While the little summer-driven boats

Bloom with the rising moon.

 

#RiverPoetry

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“GH” WORDS WITH HOMONYMS, OR NOT

Those pesky “gh” words (ought, caught, etc.) don’t just cause us spelling problems or pronunciation problems. They often rhyme with words that do not use “gh” to add to our confusion.

One “gh” word with a homonym is “through” (ooh sound). It rhymes with the verb “threw”. A person unfamiliar with English can be forgiven for using “threw” as in “I went threw the door”. Many a young native speaker has probably made the same mistake.

But our British friends do not make things easy. Rhyming words “draft” and “draught” (British form) are actually the same thing. While “draft” looks like it sounds, “draught” may sound closer to the word’s origin as in to draw (pull) from which we get the term “draft horse”.

But we have yet still another blip on the horizon, “draftsman” refers to the act of sketching another interpretation of the word “draw”. When creating an illustration, you may “draw” or pull a pen, pencil, piece of charcoal or chalk across a page, hence the connection with the origin “draught”.

The “draft” in sailing is concerned with the keel’s pull, its depth below water level which affects how much water resistance you need to power against (pull) to move.  A draft of air is when cooler air is drawn into a warmer space. Again the origin is with “draw” as in to pull.

The same is true for draft beer or ale. The server pulls down on the tap to release the liquid into glass or mug. When you pour it down your throat, you also get a draft. That is you pull it into your mouth and down your throat.  All of the above are drafts and can be spelled “draughts”.

Don’t you just love the English language? You can play all day with puzzle after puzzle and never run out of questions to explore.

 

#EnglishLanguage #ESL

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