A New Leaf

You know, there’s nothing worse than becoming addicted to a game and having it fail on you. I’ve been playing Solitaire Garden for a few weeks now. There are 800 levels to it and despite the fact it’s a tri-peaks solitaire game, it’s been getting progressively harder. The idea is to play a round of solitaire to earn a star, then use the stars to complete tasks in the garden. Tasks can take anywhere from 2 to 5 stars so you have to go through several levels to complete a task.

As I said, some levels are easier than others and it’ll often warn you if it’s a “hard level” or a “really hard level.” But I’m nothing, if not persistent. It took me several days to get past level 626 and after that the tasks dried up. All I get is the message “More tasks will be available soon. In the meantime, beat more levels to earn more stars.” So I kept going, racking up 39 stars for future use, until I came to level 649. Now I’m getting a message “New levels coming soon! Stay tuned.”

*sigh*

It’s pretty obvious that fate has stepped in to force me to turn over a new leaf. I’ve making noises about getting back into some good writing habits (or any writing habits for that matter) but despite all my good intentions, every time I open my lap top (while sitting in the living room) I automatically gravitate to the games. So what does fate do? Take away my favourite game.

Okay fate, I hear you. Here I am in my office typing this.

To be fair, I really have been wanting to get back into a routine. And on the weekend I started thinking about stuff I needed to get done, stuff I wanted to get done, jotted down a few ideas for moving forward . . . . I even made a couple of lists – not just for writing stuff, but for every day stuff as well.

Then I started thinking about my blog format and how a wordage report doesn’t really work anymore because I haven’t really been doing any writing. And while I have a non-fiction series in mind for Wondering Wednesdays, I’m not sure what to do about Fiction Fridays. I can finish the excerpts from my NaNo novels, but then what? Do I start over again with different excerpts?

It would be great to start something totally new, but can I justify that with all the novels I got that need finishing? And I’ve still got the final edits to do on Blood Ties, the final book in the Moonstone Chronicles. I’d like to see it over and done and out by Christmas.

Which doesn’t really solve my problem of what to do about a Wordage Report or Fiction Friday, does it? That’s just the way my mind is circling these days, I guess.

In the end, what matters is that I’m here in my office and I’m getting new words down, even if they are words in a blog post. But it’s either that or clean my office. Which would you rather do?

Eintou

It’s the first fiction Friday of the month, which means time for some poetry!

Today I’m sharing one of the forms I explored ten years ago on a different blog. And I’m starting with this one is because it was last month’s “poemwork” for my poetry group, so I wrote three new poems to add to the two I had from before. I won’t always have a new form to share, but I’m hoping to at least have new examples of it.

The Eintou is an African American poetry form consisting seven lines with a total of 32 syllables - 2 words/syllables the first line, 4 the second, 6 the third, 8 the fourth, 6 the fifth, 4 the sixth, and 2 the seventh. The term Eintou is West African for "pearl" as in pearls of wisdom, and often the Eintou imparts these pearls in heightened language.

The Eintou developed as a means for African American poetic forms to take their place in the forefront of American poetry. Many African American poetic scholars and critics often attempt to mimic Euro-American forms as a means of demonstrating poetic expertise, or stand by "free-verse" as an African American form. It was rare to see serious examination of African American poetic forms; in fact most critics regarded African American poetry as "formless" or "mimicking."

The 2-4-6-8-6-4-2 structure of the Eintou is crucial in terms of African and African American philosophy. Life is a cycle. Everything returns to that from which it originates. The concept of a pearl, which is a sphere, and the cyclic nature of the Eintou's structure capture this. The life of the Eintou begins with two syllables or words, expands as though growing and then returns to two syllables or words. In this fashion the Eintou never escapes its beginnings or history. It flows from, through, and ultimately returns to that from which it came.

Structure:

Line 1 - 2 syllables
Line 2 - 4 syllables
Line 3 - 6 syllables
Line 4 - 8 syllables
Line 5 - 6 syllables
Line 6 - 4 syllables
Line 7 - 2 syllables

And now for my examples. The first two were the ones I wrote for the original post, and the last three are the ones I wrote last week.

I wish
upon a star
like the cricket advised
Pinocchio, Geppetto’s son.
But life’s no fairy tale,
my wishes don’t
come true.

The words
escape from me,
spilling onto the page
where they find a life of their own
leaving me far behind,
stumbling to
catch up.

Sunset –
a blaze of gold
on the far horizon,
red sun sinking below the waves,
moon rising as night falls
starting a new
cycle.

Soft light
diffused by leaves,
summer sun dazzles me –
crazy, hazy days upon us
for too short a season.
Enjoy before
it’s gone.

Solstice
is upon us.
Strawberry Moon rises . . .
they appear under its clear light,
faeries, come gather to
drink down the moon
and dance.