The Sting

W3 Prompt #100:

Wea’ve Written Weekly

So I have just discovered the Wea’ve Written Weekly prompt on WordPress and thought I would have a go. Prompts are not just just sources of inspiration but also bring writing communities together. I find it very stimulating to see what a prompt can mean to different people. The variety of poems/prose written to a single prompt never ceases to astound me, so from time to time I have a go.

Apparently this is the centenary prompt in this series with the prompt given by last week’s “winner” Suzanne Brace. The prompt was to write an introspective poem in free verse to the theme “Stranger”. So here is my humble offering

The Sting Part 1

You can find more of my poetry in my book “Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection of Poetry and Thought”. For more info click Home

Steve

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The Sting Part 2
The Sting Part 3

The Kiss

Inspired by Magritte for dVerse

Today Melissa hosts dVerse Poetics where she asked us to write a poem inspired by the art of René Magritte. I had to tackle this one since I live in Belgium

Magritte’s and his art were rather enigmatic. He was known for his surrealistic paintings many of which are famous worldwide.

Magritte was reluctant to explain the meaning behind his art saying “My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, ‘What does that mean?’ It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing, it is unknowable.” (https://www.renemagritte.org/)

I chose the painting The Lovers II and wrote a piece about The Kiss. What can we read in the kiss? Can we read anything in it? It is after all just a kiss.

Steve

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Back Down to Earth

A Quadrille for dVerse

“Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection of Poetry and Thought” is available for sale on all major platforms and can be ordered though independent book stores.
ISBN-13: 978-9918007356

Writing prompts are a great source of inspiration. There are many to be found online on various platforms. I do write to them from time to time, but only when a prompt offers the chance to take different angles or offers a unique challenge.

Today I decided to write to the prompt of sharp proposed by whimsygizmo on dVerse. It came with the added challenge of writing exactly 44 words. I am a sucker for that kind of challenge as it mixes writing with puzzling.

The end product can be found in the image. A situational poem that allowed me to use one of the images that has fascinated me all my life. That of a ray of sunlight cutting through the darkness in a room. Feel free to leave a comment. Any feedback is always appreciated.

Steve

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Friday’s Frivolous Fanfare

Allowing the Creative Process to Take Over is True Freedom

The creative process has no reason or rhyme. There is no limitation to what can become inspiration. It can be a sound, smell, texture, colour and often an emotion. How we take hold of that often fleeting spark is very personal.

I know poets and artists who always have a pen or pencil and paper by their side. The former so that they can take notes or begin with a draft of what they want to express, the latter to sketch out an image that has formulated in their head.

I must admit that I tend towards the less traditional form of note taking, the smartphone. Sometimes I will start mumbling away while driving and record my thoughts digitally to be revisited again. Other times I simply use speech to text to take down words that begin to be shaped into lines of coherent thought. I have hundreds of half poems recorded. Some will never develop while other may flourish into a new piece. Their destiny is decided by the mood I am in when the time to write is available.

There are those moments, however, when putting words down just isn’t enough. The poem becomes a package with static or moving images to form a reel. On rare occasions the spoken words turn into words that are being sung. It is not a planned process but simply allowing the mind to work outside the boundaries of text.

Now I do not profess to be a singer, but non-singers sing too. Unfortunately I do not play an instrument so if I do decide to record a sung version they are all “a Cappella”.

The piece in the video is a simple message to those who have purchased my book that was released a week ago. I hope that they have found something in the book that made them laugh, cry or simply contemplate. You may read the poem below or if you are brave, turn up the volume and watch the video.

Pen to Paper

I thought
I thought I had something to say
I dreamt
I dreamt it was the only way
So I put it down on paper
And I sent my heart to you
Hoping you’d read it
And understand me too
Now that it’s done
My heart, it is with you
My heart, it is with you

Steve

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Everything is Virtually Unreal

Can we trust what we see and hear?

In a world of fake news, doctored images and videos, we no longer trust what we see and hear. Everything is virtually unreal. Or is it?

Perhaps reality has taken on a different dimension, and its definition is far more fluid than what it was in the past. We allow our minds to enter digital worlds taking on new skeletons and new skin. Age is a picture that we can select in a drop-down menu. We can change gender or even species on a whim.

Now the digital world is reaching into our world. Realistic faces speak in realistic voices engaging in realistic conversation. And although the connection isn’t physical, they become more human as we become more connected. At what point do these relationships become real?

Their perfection and our imperfection make for an irresistible bond. Soon we will have no need for each other, and only a need for them.

Is this what will bring the downfall of humans? Only time will tell.

In the pictures you can see a poem written on this theme. if you would like to read more of my poetry click on “home” button for information about my book “Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection of Poetry and Thought“.

Till next time

Steve

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Giving is a Two Way Charm

The Bond Between Author & Reader.

Last Friday was the official release of my book. I celebrated with an online poetry evening on Instagram together with my good friend Andrew Horner of @Talesofthenook

It was a good evening and at the end I had the chance to look back at the past two years and reflect on the path that took me to finally realising a dream. I hope I don’t take another 58 years to publish my second book.

The next morning I woke to find out that a few books had actually been purchased and I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. The author invests time and energy into putting together a book for publishing, however, the whole process really comes to fruition with that first purchase.

I feel extremely humbled by the fact that someone thought that my work was worth purchasing, and hopefully worth reading too. The relationship between the poet and the reader is a special one. The former dedicates themselves to their craft, often tapping into personal experiences as inspiration, and the latter takes the time to enter the mind of the poet, and react to their work.

I really look forward to receiving feedback from anyone who gets their hands on my book. Whether in the form of a review or a simple message. I hope that some of them will be positive but I am prepared to take the negative as well. Life is not all roses after all.

Once again, I would sincerely like to thank anyone who has purchased my book, and anyone who will in the future. I really appreciate your support

Steve

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The Hour of Reckoning

Official Book Release.

It has been a very long wait. I am in my 58th year and my first solo poetry book finally goes on sale tomorrow.

When I was nine my class teacher wrote “Good creative writing. Presentation can suffer sometimes from rushed work” (see below). I hope they were right about the creative writing. I am not sure about the rushed work since it took another 49 years to publish a book.

“Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection of Poetry and Thought” is as close to a reflection of who I am, and how I think, as I am ever likely to produce. I have been asked whether the book has a central theme and while I did consider focusing on one theme, I eventually opted to show the full range of my poetry. It was not an easy decision. Books with a particular theme are easier to promote, but I wanted my book to be as authentic as possible, and Old & UnWise covers topics including social justice, domestic abuse, the environment and humanity in general. At the same time I believe that we should enjoy the creative process for what it is, and there are a number of poems that are simply flights of fancy and fantasy. These can range from the whimsical to the dark. They can be nonsensical or have an underlying message.

Those who know me well know that I fret over the legacy my generation will leave for the youth of today, especially since I am both a father of a wonderful daughter, and a coach of young men. At the same time I also love to have fun. Both the thinker in me and the comic are revealed in the book.

I trust that it will contain something for everyone and perhaps a little surprise in between.

Steve

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Do you have the time

To talk about time?

James Kirk insists that Space is the “Final Frontier” but I tend to disagree. We are managing to send rudimentary space craft into space, manoeuvre them somewhat awkwardly and sometimes even manage to get them to land where we want to. Time is proving to be a different conundrum.

We assume that time can only move forwards, and at one speed. That is because we have not learnt how to control time.

Yet time seems to control us. We work to time. Many of us are slaves to time. We measure our lives in time. We often judge people on how they keep time. And as we get older we tend to ruminate about time.

I am no exception. Time fascinates me, more than anything else. I often catch myself wondering about travelling through time and what an absolute mess that would be. Can you imagine that?

The poem in the video is simply called Time.

Do you have the time to listen to it?

Feel free to comment. I promise to take the time to read it.

Steve

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These Words are not Mine

A peek into “Old & Unwise”

Extract from “The Carrot that Wanted to be Straight” © Stephen Buttigieg 2024

With only ten days till the official release of Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection of Poetry and Thought I thought I would throw a few titbits to those who may be tempted to purchase the book. The following is an extract of the foreword written by Joseph M. Holloway who kindly agreed to edit the book.

Old & UnWise reads like an amusement park, an adventure that can be read front to back with a blend of all the sounds and smells that excite and terrify us at the same time. It can be taken one ride over and again, too, because the flow never feels cliché. I prefer the funhouse, such as “The Carrot That Wanted to be Straight,” which speaks to the styles of Shel Silverstein and Countee Cullen:

(see image)

With succinct rhyme yet rhythmic pace, Steve presents the struggle of Earl the carrot in a way that evokes empathy from us, the reader. His description of the natural world in such nontraditional narratives also adds to his sensory flavors—sometimes bittersweet.

The book is available for pre-order on some platforms and from 08 March will be available on most online book platforms. For those of you who prefer to purchase the book from a local bookstore they should be able to order it for you. For more information about the book check out previous blog posts and visit my homepage by clicking on the button below.

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Night Crazies

When your mind simply goes into overdrive.

Inspiration is a very strange thing. It is a Shapeshifter that can be a smell, an image, a sound, the taste of charcoal in the night air or simply the sensation of a spider running down your back. We never know when it is going to hit us, and for how long it will linger.

As a writer that moment has to be captured in the form of a note, a phrase or perhaps a recording. Then if needs be, it can be developed, shaped and extrapolated into something complete until the writer/poet can finally rest with, perhaps, a slight sense of satisfaction or relief.

My good friend Andrew Horner @talesofthenook came up with a challenge to write a piece to go with a short instrumental from the music on his spoken word album written by the ever so talented @eleventalesmusic

As I wrote down the poem I tried to capture the essence and rhythm of the music and found myself singing the words. The end result is a song/poem which can be found in the video. The words and the broken voice are mine, I only wish I could compose music with the versatility of @eleventalesmusic

The adapted poem is one of the 172 pieces in my poetry book “Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection of Poetry and thought” which is available for pre-order on most platforms. The official release date is 08 March 2024. More information can be found on my home page

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