She’s learned to juggle
Bills, appointments, household chores
Her life’s a circus
©2023 Annette Rochelle Aben
https://wordcraftpoetry.com/2023/01/17/tankatuesday-weekly-poetry-challenge-no-303-1-17-23/
Hunting for fresh knowledge
Sorting fact from fiction
Solve the contradiction
Back to square one
©2023 Annette Rochelle Aben
Thank you, Annette, for the opportunity to share the news of my new book, just in time for the winter solstice and Yule.
Annette and I met on the blogs many years ago, and we both live in Michigan. Of course, we bonded over syllabic poetry. But we also share a love for freestyle poetry. One thing I like to do with my poetry is to work between the realms—a bit of magical realism always brightens a day.
Here in Michigan, we’re surrounded by water. Lake Michigan to our west, Lake Superior to our north, and Lake Huron to our east, while Lake Erie borders our far southern edge.
In this book, I wrote some poetry with Lake Michigan as the location. I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But now, Michigan is my home. I wanted to bring in a sense of where I came from to this collection.
Besides, it’s true… fairies wander there.
Fairies Wander There
When ancient winter winds spirits prevail,
cold moonlight shakes across the lake
as whirlwind waves grow in scale,
shore birds rustle in deep sanctuary.
Between sand and shore, grass, and bough
star-shine dapples the watery strand
where sand dunes build castles in the air,
and sea grasses sing ballads to mussels in their lair.
Breathe in this pure-frost Lake Michigan air
for fairies wander there.
© Colleen M. Chesebro
About the Book:
In this second book in the Fairies, Myths, & Magic series, step into a world where dark fairies, and other magical beings converge in a collection of poetry and short stories inspired by winter and the celebration of the winter solstice.
From Autumn’s scary fairies to the forgotten female characters of Yule, prepare to embrace the magical winter solstice myths from around the world. Meet Frau Holle in the Wild Hunt, Befana—the Christmas Witch of Italy, and the Japanese goddess Ameratasu who controls the springtime. Prepare to embrace the Scottish trows, The Irish Goddess of Winter—the Cailleach Béara, and Snegurochka—the Snow Girl.
Learn how to make Yuletide rituals part of your celebration by embracing the symbols of Yule by decorating with evergreens and crystals.
Fairies, Myths, & Magic II Links:
Colleen’s Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Colleen-M-Chesebro/e/B01N9MV2RX
Amazon Universal Link: https://mybook.to/FairiesMythsMagicII
About the Author:
In addition to poetry books, Chesebro’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of her writing community on Word Craft Poetry.com by organizing and sponsoring a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called #TankaTuesday, where participants experiment with traditional and current forms of Japanese and American syllabic poetry.
Chesebro is an assistant editor of The Congress of the Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology & Gitty Up Press, a micro-press founded by Charli Mills and Carrot Ranch.
In January 2022, Colleen founded Unicorn Cats Publishing Services to assist poets and authors in creating eBooks and print books for publication. In addition, she creates affordable book covers for Kindle and print books.
Chesebro lives in the house of her dreams in mid-Michigan surrounded by the Great Lakes with her husband and two (unicorn) cats, Chloe & Sophie.
Find Colleen here:
Word Craft Poetry: https://wordcraftpoetry.com
Colleen M. Chesebro, Author, Poet & Unicorn Cats Publishing Services: https://colleenmchesebro.com
Facebook Page: Colleen M. Chesebro, Poet & Author: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085941528913
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/colleen-m-chesebro-6b856b237
Her
Hair was
Longer now
Soft and flowing
It draped over her
Shoulders, cascading down
Just like in her younger days
Everyone remarked how it looked
Like a pale gray scarf that kept her warm
They shed some tears as the casket was closed
©2022 Annette Rochelle Aben
Pale blue morning sky
Golden, copper, and bronze leaves
Crow spreads wings in flight
©2022 Annette Rochelle Aben
Annette Rochelle Aben 