It's been a while

WW1 ambulance "staff" Picture taken by P. Sirvid

It's been a while
since we remembered,
the shattered streets
and shattered lives
a world away from
our quiet suburban lives

Lest we forget
we're living on a world
that never stops shaking,
let us take time to celebrate 
the men and women
on the front lines
willing to give up
a piece of their lives
to help others

WW1 ambulance Picture taken by P. Sirvid

It's been a bit of a roller coaster of a week, ANZAC celebrations...cough...I mean commemorations always leave me a little sixes and sevens, it's important for us to remember the loss and sacrifice of a generation of young men, but sometimes it doesn't feel...right. Quick - nobody smile - I'm the joy police! Maybe I want to hear about how the CO's stood by their principles even to the death, and how most soldiers respected that stance, far more than the public at home. Yes, there is a time to fight, I'm sure, but you don't need to fight to be a hero.

Some of ours are off in Nepal right now...
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/new-zealand-search-and-rescue-team-hit-ground-running-in-nepal-6301819

To donate: The New Zealand Red Cross is probably as good a charity as any, if you have other suggestions please leave a comment. https://www.redcross.org.nz/donate/nepal-earthquake-appeal/

Overseas: http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-25/how-help-nepal-7-vetted-charities-doing-relief-work-following-earthquake

Best wishes for the week,

A.J.

(P.S. I normally post late on a Tuesday, but because the magnitude of this tragedy is so great, and I decided to post early in the hope of encouraging people to donate.)

Tuesday Poem: The Upside to an Earthquake by Emanuel E Garcia

Just when I thought there was no way I could post a Tuesday Poem this week, my knight in shining armour arrives with this little uplifting gem. Can't say how much I appreciate it, given I needed a little smile, so many thanks Manny.  And with no more ado, here it is the "sequel" to The Downside to an Earthquake"...based on a true story...

The Upside to an Earthquake

The earth moved

And she threw herself into my arms

She was awfully cute,

Whoever she was

When the trembling stopped

We disengaged with grins,

Relieved and happy in the knowledge

That between two strangers parting

There would never be an

Aftershock

Emanuel E. Garcia

August 2013

emanuelegarcia@gmail.com

The Downside to an Earthquake may be found here, I highly recommend it

About the Author:

Emanuel E Garcia is an author and physician who resides in Eastbourne. His most recent book, Twenty-Four Caprices for Violin, is a collection of whimsical, fantastic, poignant, macabre and capricious tales, each of which features the violin. Set in wide-ranging locations and milieux, from Vienna to Nashville, Florence to New York, Venice to New Zealand, they capture the bittersweet and ridiculous nature of human follies — romance, repression, vanity, fidelity, ugliness, adultery, mischief, mastery, innocence and betrayal, and is available here  for only $2.99.

I was treated to a number of these stories at a reading at Rona Gallery, and they really did all the things the blurb says.  Unexpectedly fun, given there wasn't a single spaceship. Not even a wizard— unless you count the multitalented Emanuel E. Garcia himself.

...and don't forget the link to Twenty-Four Caprices for Violin to read this fascinating short stories.

cheers,

A.J.

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

 

Tuesday Poem: The Downside to an Earthquake by Emanuel E Garcia

Hello, all my faithful followers!   Yes, I know was meant to be on sabbatical 'til the end of the month - but its worth breaking a sabbatical when a poem like this flies into your radar...
Also I should note, if you like this, you will almost certainly love The Upside to an Earthquake here on my blog.

The Downside to an Earthquake

 

The rumble begins

You wonder just how long it will go on

Before the walls start swaying and

A carelessly placed book falls off a shelf

For the life of you

You can’t remember whether you should

Hide under a table or head for the hills

So you’re stuck in your tracks

Shaking with the thought

That survival’s more important

Than, say, writing poems

Until you come back to your senses

When it stops

That is,

If you have any senses left

Emanuel E. Garcia

July 2013

emanuelegarcia@gmail.com

The rumble begins...

And with it a poem that feels real. 
Wellington has started and stopped quite a bit lately, as the middle of the country has been rocked by quakes.  And we have all discovered Geo Net, (somewhat after the Christchurch folk) so that in the moments after a quake we can quantify it, put it at rest, and return to our senses.

About the Author:

Emanuel E Garcia is an author and physician who resides in Eastbourne. His most recent book, "Twenty-Four Caprices for Violin," is a collection of whimsical, fantastic, poignant, macabre and capricious tales, each of which features the violin. Set in wide-ranging locations and milieux, from Vienna to Nashville, Florence to New York, Venice to New Zealand, they capture the bittersweet and ridiculous nature of human follies — romance, repression, vanity, fidelity, ugliness, adultery, mischief, mastery, innocence and betrayal, and is available here at http://mebooks.co.nz/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=485 for only $2.99.

I was treated to a number of these stories at a reading at Rona Gallery, and they really did all the things the blurb says.  Unexpectedly fun, given there wasn't a single spaceship. Not even a wizard— unless you count the multitalented Emanuel E. Garcia himself.

... and just a reminder the poem's sequel, The Upside to an Earthquake is here :) 

cheers,
A.J.

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

Two more projects ticked off. One more to go. The big one.

Yes, there was an earthquake - but that's not the big one I was thinking of...please let there not be another one.  And yes, times are busy, but not so busy I couldn't manage just one more project - getting out of my usual genre and having a wee crack at horror...

Baby Teeth

What really fascinated me abut this project - apart from the fact that so many great authors were writing sotries for it, is that there were so many great authors involved at all stages, and all with great energy and new ideas just bursting out of their skulls. Like crowdfunding the anthology. Something you can see in action at  https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/1214

I've found it amazing how quickly Lee Murray and Dan Rabarts have got everything together so fearlessly, when I've been struggling to put together an anthology featuring Te Papa.

@ Te Papa anthology (now available online here at http://www.amazon.com/Lost-The-Museum-Phillip-Mann-ebook/dp/B00KTV5K0U)

This has taken a while, possibly because the idea of getting permission totally terrifies me, and possibly because members of my family get breaking the cardinal rule (don't get sick) in spectacularly time consuming fashion.  (Poor things it's been awful for them.)  But you heard it first here folks.  I fully intend to get contracts off, and copies of the proposed Anthology to the museum by the end of the week.  Done and dusted you might say?

But no, assuming getting the acceptance isn't that difficult there are so many more things to think of - the cover, the layout, even the title is now in question...  But now, instead of panicking, it's time to say - Lee Murray and Dan Rabarts have organised theirs - and in  a matter of weeks.  So while all the i's are being dotted and the t's crossed those are the things I'll be looking to get done by the end of the month.

Cheers to my avid followers,
I can't wait to get back to being a layabout poet  ;)

A.J.

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

PS and did I mention Baby Teeth... ? It's very horror, so if you're a fan of horror, why not buy the book or visit their facebook page
PPS my earthquake poem, Boys, Please Don't Rock the Boat, can be found here at http://anafflictionofpoetry.blogspot.co.nz/2010/09/tuesday-poem-boys-please-dont-rock-boat.html

Boys, Please Dont Rock the Boat

  The boys are restless, 

Māui-tikitiki-o-Taranga

And his brothers

Treading lightly

Enough for atua but

Creating the tiniest crack --

A devastating splinter

For mere mortals.

And we watch in fear,

Those who infest the fish.

We watch and listen from afar -

"Kauaka tikoki e te waka"

Knowing your music is

 You                  Not ours.

                                                            are

      shocked.

             All are shaken,

                overwhelmed, relieved,

                 for, in this place we hold life is sacred.

         Families, friends, the cleanup crew,

           no one forgets the North waits

                                                             for Maui to

               carve

                               the fish

                                we

                                        pretend

                                               is

                                                        land

Alicia Ponder

I felt the earthquake was the province of people who had lived through it. That raw emotion belongs to you who lived through it and are still living through the aftershocks. Still something like this doesn't pass anyone in New Zealand by, we all know people who are affected, so this was my take, a little late. Hopefully there's some kind of balance with North and South -- apart but together. Also if anyone speaks Maori feel free to tell me if I've stepped wrong. I was using online dictionaries for hours to try to get the phrase "don't rock the boat". Which was a bit of an eye-opener, because I thought it would be dead easy. And it wasn't - a bit like the shape itself. :)

PS if you want to know about quakes in your corner of New Zealand - why not check out GeoNet? It can give you updates, either choose your region or check out the overview.

A..J. Ponder - Amazon author page