Sabbatical - there's a story running rampant through my brain

The Sign Off

There's a story running rampant through my brain
and I'd hate to tell it
once again
to fly off to the never
never land
where never stories lurk
because once it's lost -
so it always will remain.

Yup - I'm taking a break - you can partly blame this little guy - Ike.
He's been a rather distracting little Imp - always wanting to know what's happening around Wellington and wanting to be aired out!

Not only that but he's taken residence up at http://wizardsguide.wordpress.com

But mostly there's a story I've been meaning to write and I'm hoping to force it into the world care of NaNoWri Mo (National Novel writing Month)
Ugly yes - but aren't all newborns - except our own?


So thanks everybody for reading and I'll be back properly 1st of Jan - but might pop back and forth a little for the sheer heck of it, "on the spot" poems like this one and other important updates :)


cheers,

A.J. Ponder

A.J.
 
A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

Rational Disbelief

Rational Disbelief

The rational world

is divided into quarks

subatomic probabilities

particles riding on

waves of matter

throwing logic in its wake

like so much

flotsam and jetsam

The rational world

is full of irrational numbers

and nonsensical ideas of

a universal elegance

in a universe

too big to view

with anything less

than infinite scope

and all the while

the space between two points of nothing

and everything in between

is as screwed up

contrarian

counter-intuitive

and diabolically mysterious

as

tiny bosons spinning

away

and polarising all

your favourite assumptions.

A J Ponder 

This poem came from some kind of discussion where someone mentioned they "believed in science" and I thought it was an odd thing to say.  All I could think was - science isn't about belief - because where science falls over is in faulty assumptions, methodologies and dogma. It totally fails when people say something is true and we believe them because of their stature.  So I felt obliged to point the poor unsuspecting believer to the bizarrely compelling and almost unbelievable Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman, where he slams the hollow appearance of learning (rote learning) in favour of asking questions and discovering the answers for yourself. So please - whatever you do - don't believe in science and definitely when it comes to science don't believe a word I say - because I say  "if you believe in science you're doing it wrong."

And lastly-

Fun week, very busy - does it ever stop - or as you get older does life run away faster than a dish with a spoon fixation?  I suppose it must - but before the dog gets carried away or the cow jumps over the moon how about sailing through this far less daunting portal to make your way to the lovely poets in the Tuesday Poem blog. 

A.J.

A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

The Final Happily Never After (Part 3)

 If you're not sure what this - or how how intrepid heroes could have got this far - then check out the first edition of Happily Never After, and Happily Never After part 2 or we could kick start everything with the short version - but where's the fun in that? 
   
The short version.   The Narrator is having a bad day.  He (or she) is angry the story-book characters are not behaving like they're supposed to.  They don't want to speak in rhyme and they certainly don't want to get married.  So the narrator's decided to conjure up a giant with the help of his magic book and get rid of these annoying characters once and for all...



And so with no further ado
The next section after part two:

NARRATOR turning page: Ahem. 

Since our heroes would not wed,

The giant came and killed them --

JACK: Stop right there.  We don't want to die.

RAPUNZEL: And marry?  Never.

RAPUNZEL runs to NARRATOR and turns the last page of the narrator's book.

RAPUNZEL: Jack and Rapunzel become famous pilots and live happily ever after.

JACK: But--

RAPUNZEL: And they never get married to anyone.

JACK: Yay. Let's go! 

JACK and RAPUNZEL run off stage.

GIANT (sniffing): But I'm still hungry -- and I can still smell the blood of an Englishman.

NARRATOR: How did you know I was English?

NARRATOR runs off stage followed by GIANT.

THE END

A.J. Ponder

And so the end of our epic tale, the boards are bare,  the heroes have gone home for dinner, and thanks to these people for the book cover.  It's perfect.  (After all, I believe the giant is still chasing that narrator!)

Don't forget to always climb beanstalks when the opportunity presents.  Sometimes there may be giants, but more often I think you'll find geese with golden eggs and other such novelties.  So go on, go, and search for your treasures  at this your local beanstalk.  (Otherwise known as The Tuesday Poem Hub.)
Or this beanstalk leading directly to the Portal of Fairytale Poetry. 

If anybody knows some I've forgotten, please message me (note, poems are in alphabetical order)

A.J.

A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

Happily Never After (part 2)

If you're not sure what this - or how how intrepid heroes could have got this far - then check out the first edition of Happily Never After - right here.

Otherwise, how about kicking back with the short version: The narrator is disappointed because his story is not quite going as planned - Rapunzel is refusing to be rescued on the grounds she'd rather stay with the witch, and  so sensibly she declines the extremely painful experience of having someone climb up her hair. Jack, the ostensible hero is somewhat relieved...   

And so with no further ado:
Happily NEver After
Part Two

RAPUNZEL: And have him climb up it?  I told you -- I don't want to be rescued.

JACK starts walking away.

NARRATOR: So Jack the oaf went on his way,

no princess would be wed this day.

RAPUNZEL (waves): Thanks for not rescuing me.

JACK: Any time.  Dashing pilots never rescue people unless they really want to be rescued.

RAPUNZEL: A pilot?  I love flying, -- and broomsticks are so cold and uncomfortable.  

RAPUNZEL jumps down off her tower and runs to Jack.

NARRATOR: What?

RAPUNZEL: Let's go.

JACK: Good idea.  Where?

NARRATOR turns page.

NARRATOR: Long our heroes walked and walked

to seek and find the huge beanstalk.

JACK and RAPUNZEL walk offstage.

NARRATOR: Then they climbed up, up, up, up,

until they reached the tip, top, tup.

 JACK and RAPUNZEL walk onstage.

JACK: Gosh that was a terrible rhyme.  I think they're getting worse.

RAPUNZEL: I think you're right.

NARRATOR glares at the two heroes and turns the page.

NARRATOR: Fine.  Here's a giant for you to fight.

GIANT walks onstage.

GIANT: Fee, fi, fo, fum.

I smell the blood of an English-man.

JACK: English?  Do I look English?

RAPUNZEL: Man?  Do I look like a man?

GIANT: Boy on toast, girl on bread,

with just one bite you'll both be dead.

     GIANT chases JACK and RAPUNZEL.

JACK: Oh no!  When the narrator turns the page, whatever he says comes true.

NARRATOR turning page: Ahem. 

Since our heroes would not wed,

The giant came and killed them --

And so...(dramatic music)...will our two intrepid heroes survive?

Or will the narrator manage to kill off his two less than accommodating lead characters?

Hold onto your glass slippers - keep your finger on the magic portal at the Tuesday Poem:(same magic portal, same magic time, same magic place if you don't want to miss awesome poems from New Zealand and all around the world)and hold your breath for next week's final exciting edition of Happily Never After.


Happily Never After part 3 - just a small magical twitch of a finger away....

A.J.

A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.
 

Happily Never After: A play where the narrator plays with poetry

ok this probably deserves a little introduction - it's a play where the Narrator has got it in his/her head that rhyming is the order of the day...but nobody else quite has the narrators enthusiasm.

Happily Never After
by A. J.  Ponder

CHARACTERS:

• NARRATOR
• JACK
• RAPUNZEL
• GIANT

Scene: The NARRATOR is reading from a large book.  RAPUNZEL is in her tower.  JACK is walking onstage.

NARRATOR: Long ago and once upon a time,

Our hero Jack would speak in rhyme.

JACK: What?  No I don't, I want to be a famous pilot.

NARRATOR turns page.

NARRATOR:  Hmmm.  Jack didn't look where he was going, and fell into a puddle.

JACK falls over.

JACK: Ouch!  What do you think you're doing?

NARRATOR: Not rhyming.

JACK: You rhyme, I'll fight the monsters, ok?

Jack walks to RAPUNZEL's tower.

NARRATOR: Soon our Jack, so brave and bold,

found a tower of burnished gold.

RAPUNZEL (leaning out): That better not be some idiot prince come to rescue me.

JACK: No, definitely not.

NARRATOR: Jack go rescue the fair maid,

an evil witch has her afraid --

RAPUNZEL: That's not true.  Well, she is a witch, but only her cabbage stew is evil.

JACK: Yuk!

RAPUNZEL: Yes it's horrible, but on the up side she is giving me flying lessons.

JACK: Really?  Could I learn?

RAPUNZEL:  No.  Whoever heard of a boy riding a broomstick? Go away.

NARRATOR: Now Rapunzel, maiden fair,

Shouldn't you let down your hair?

RAPUNZEL: And have him climb up it?  I told you -- I don't want to be rescued.



And so (dramatic music) you will have to wait till next week to discover:
Will the fair maiden be rescued?
Will the narrator get the rhyming and romance they desire?
Or will Jack become the famous pilot he always wanted?
Hold onto your glass slippers -keep your finger on the magic portal at the Tuesday Poem:(same magic portal, same magic time, same magic place)

Or go straight to Happily Never After Part 2
 
and remember...
Sometimes its important to let down your hair. And sometimes its best not to let people climb up it - but when they do - I think P S Cottier's Rapunzel (here) has the exact right attitude ;)

A.J.
 
A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.