Poetry Train Monday - 11 - Spatiotemporal Limits

This poem came from a creative cycle while I was in university.


Spatiotemporal Limits


Antigone only guessed at the voices
Which whispered their laws
Though Kubrick's apes
Swayed to the music of the spheres
Gazing upon the implacable
Face of the monolith

Were these the same angels
Who mixed the paints
For Kandinsky to dip his brushes
His planetary musings
Were they actually cells dividing
Could these forms
These colors
Be molecules
Or solar roundabouts
Obelisks
Or untabulated laws
Did Sophocles feel them too
On that Meditteranean morning
So many rotations ago?


1993 Copyright Julia Smith

No Sven But Still Sweating

Tonight the part of Julia shall be played by Brad S. My head won't let me look at the screen so Brad is posting this for me.

We were going to head out to see Harry Potter again but Brad thought that I shouldn't do that to myself. Instead we stayed home and watched one of the movies Brad brought home from Blockbuster; Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. Alan Rickman was in it even if he wasn't Snape. Really liked this film. Compelling sociopathic main character, magical realism and a harsh look to 18th century Paris - all good. For those who love quirky independant film.

Getting lots of rest as the rain and barometric pressure continues. Luckily, some of my story problems are working themselves out as I lay here. Good thing I don't have to worry about Sven.

"Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes."

- Henry David Thoreau

After a lovely week together, my aunt and uncle are flying back to Michigan tomorrow morning. It will be an early start, so I'm off to get a few hours of shut-eye before I drive them out to the airport.

We had a big family dinner at my sister's, they took in the jazz festival and went to see the Tall Ships. The brothers went fishing in the Atlantic while the wives went shopping, then Mom had a smaller dinner here so Gram could spend time with them among less commotion. Ten of us went to dinner last night so we could listen to my local uncle play jazz with a regular gig he's got in Halifax with the Chalmers Doane quartet. Tonight they're sleeping over at our place and we had a great visit.

In the hilarious category: my uncles and my aunt went to visit Dad's grave this afternoon. Keep in mind that as Dad's urn was interred and we were all at the graveside, a powerful wind whipped over us from Bedford Basin the whole time, as though Dad were saying goodbye through the elements. Well, this afternoon, no sooner had my uncle said, "Well Norm, we've come to say goodbye," when a crack of lightening and a clap of thunder answered him. I guess my dad likes a dramatic gesture!

Thursday Thirteen - 15 - 13 Characters From My WIP

I'd like to introduce you to some of the main characters in my current WIP, a Dark Age vampire novel whose working title is Brotherhood of Blood.

1 - Peredur – Main character





A 6th century Welsh warrior betrothed to Tanwen. While defending against Irish raiders he falls to a spear, cursing God with his dying breath. At that precise moment, a member of the Brotherhood arrives on the battlefield to carry him to his new vampire life.












2 – Tanwen – Main character

Daughter of the wealthiest man in the village, she awaits her beloved Peredur only to be told he will never return to her arms. Consumed by grief, she finds solace with the outcast son of the village Wise Woman, the only one who seems to understand her anymore.



3 – Cavan – Third member of love triangle

Handsome son of the village Wise Woman, he has always nursed an unrequited love for Tanwen. A powerful magician, he leans toward self-centered use of the energies his mother uses for healing. But his charm shields his true nature from everyone until it is far too late.







4 – Melnak

He is the member of the Brotherhood who appears to Peredur, taking him from his death throes and shepherding him to his new life. The brethren act as Iron Age peacekeepers, maintaining the balance of power between men and vampires. He is the oldest among this select group of ancient beings.





5 – Leader of the Vampire Clan

So far unnamed, this character is the opposite of Melnak, who is the mentor character in a group of equals. This leader rules his clan with a heavy hand. He hears about Peredur’s emergence into the vampire world and tries to woo him away from the brethren.

6 – Rhodri

Strong and ready to take his place in the village as a man, this son of the blacksmith is betrothed to Tanwen’s sister Meira. When Peredur falls in battle, Rhodri breaks two hearts by agreeing to ask for Tanwen’s hand in marriage instead.

7 – Meira

Tanwen’s sister and closest confidant. When Meira’s intended agrees to wed Tanwen at their father’s insistence, Meira cannot forgive Tanwen for going along with it. But Tanwen means to fight it at every turn and cannot get past the hurt at discovering her sister could turn on her.





8 – Andras

Tanwen’s father, Andras is a key figure in the village and was a famous warrior in his own right. His coldhearted handling of Tanwen’s marriage prospects sends ripples of hurt throughout his family. Tanwen feels betrayed by him, since she never feared her intimidating father until now.



9 – Wladyslaw

A former prince of the Polanie (now Poland), he makes it difficult for Peredur to accept his new brotherhood of equals in an age of masters and servants. Wladyslaw is so unmistakably part of the nobility, Peredur must work past his own ingrained behavior to treat this prince as one of the brethren.



10 – Sigbjorn

Another of the brethren, this Nordic warrior is affable and easy for Peredur to befriend. Gives him most of the practical advice he needs to adjust to his new vampire existence. He is the one who lets Peredur know that he has surpassed every one of the brethren in his training.



11 – Xantos

An angel who appears to Peredur in a moment of supreme torment.





12 – Saint Cittinus

The 2nd century Carthaginian martyr whose holy relic bones were made into amulets, used by the brethren to wrestle the human souls of common vampires free from their sinister form.



13 – Brude

Another of the brethren, Brude is a red-haired Pict. Peredur feels closest to Brude and to Sigbjorn, while Melnak is a source of tension due to his role as mentor/leader.

Wordless Wednesday - 9

Thwarted

I was all set to mail out my assortment of Nova Scotia goodies to Scotland for fun and a laugh, when the eagle-eyed postal clerk saw me about to drop two fridge magnets into the box she'd just put together for me. She then informed me that magnets are prohibited items as far as Canada Post is concerned.

She had a laminated visual aid in case I had trouble following her logic. Reluctantly I removed the magnets from the box, as they were the initial reason for doing this cultural exchange in the first place. But having worked in customer service for many a year, I will never give another worker a hard time for doing her job. I mailed off the stuff that is not in the "Class 9 – Miscellaneous" section of the Canada Post grid outlining "Dangerous Goods". Although on the visual aid the drawing was more like those red U-shaped magnets that could hold up a bike. Don't think fridge magnets are meant to hold up appliances.

Now for my plotting and scheming. How to sneak my fridge magnets through the mail and across the sea...

Poetry Train Monday - 10 - For So Long

This was written about a week after my husband and I found ourselves in a major relationship transformation. We met while we both worked at a Famous Players movie theatre, became best friends and were very close for two years. All of a sudden things began to change between us. Once we figured out that our friendship couldn't contain our true feelings, it seemed very shocking. We started telling everyone, "You'll never guess who I'm going out with." But absolutely everyone guessed it was us.


For So Long

I saw you and
Recoiled in horror
I knew who you were
Even as we were introduced

You patrolled
On the outskirts
Sensing the danger
Sending yourself out on reconnaissance

Your affable grin
Generosity
Insight
All made it easy
Your barbed humor
Your penetrating stare
Gave rise to whispers
And I heard them
Each time we parted

What was it that told you
To step to the right
As I moved to pass you
One step
One kiss
I dropped my purse
Waved the white flag
How could I resist
When I knew who you were

One touch of your hand on my body
I feel the terror, the serenity
How I long for the sting of
Your palm against my skin
I could draw back, then
Keeping my sword
Already offered up
My fingers wary of the cutting blade
Your fingers outstretched
The pommel a perfect fit

My rage was easy
But when you kissed me
I cried
It was so hard
Your soft lips
Ripped the clothes from my body
I moved to deflect
What was merely the glass of champagne
You poured for me

Two scorpions facing off
Stingers arched above our backs
The poison dropped instead
Upon our shelled spines
Blinking away the sweat
To find it's only
You and me
Entering the lion's den
Martyring the known
For the unknown

It's hard to beat back the Destroyer
When he's your Lover


Copyright 1989 Julia Smith