Sisters in spirit not blood
Holding space for each other
Insights previously unspoken shared
Engaging in rite and ritual
Love overarching all
Dancing and singing as one
Making friends for life
Always supportive
Instantaneous hugs offered
Dreams and secrets shared
Ethereal connections formed
No expectations, just love
Sisters in spirit not blood
Happy International Women’s Day
(top image sourced via Google – credits to the owner)
(bottom image – credit to the owner CMC Photography)
I remember vividly being introduced to Haiku in my English class in high school. We were in the midst of a project to write our autobiographies (how much does a 12-year-old have to put in an autobiography? – I still have it by the way) and the teacher, Mr Coton, taught us how to write Japanese Haiku poetry. The strict structure of the poem fascinated me.
For those who are going “what’s a Haiku?”, it’s a short poem that captures the moment, invariably linked to nature, in three lines split in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.
To me they are often wistful little moments of magic captured in those few syllables. Like the flash fiction I share occasionally on here, I like the challenge of capturing the moment in so few words/syllables. Writing exercises like that hone the skills (at least that’s the theory).
Between Christmas and New Year, I took part in an online Winter Writing Sanctuary hosted by the wonderful Beth Kempton. As part of one of the daily assignments, I wrote some Haiku and I thought I’d share them with you.
Stars sparkle and shine
Blue hour passed and night descended
Make a wish and smile
Frosty winter moon
Moon goddess smiles down on me
Waxing and waning
Mama bear asleep
Hibernation beckons her
The alarm rings shrill
Jack rabbit alert
Tail twitches among the sand dunes
With one bound he’s gone
Warm sand under foot
Solace wraps up round my ankle
Soul at peace at last
Soulmate love runs deep
Unspoken declaration
Longing to be held
Image source via Google – credits to the owner
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged #BethKempton, #coralmccallun, #haiku, #IndieAuthor, #poet, #poetryblog, #poetrylover, #supportindieauthors
Today marks the 11th anniversary of creating this blog. It doesn’t feel like a year since I was celebrating 10 years of blogging!
To those of you who have stuck with me over the past 11 years, thank you. I couldn’t keep travelling this creative path without your love and support.
To those of you who have stumbled across the blog by chance, welcome, I hope you stick around.
This past year has been challenging on levels that I naively didn’t expect. I mentioned last year that the Big Green Gummi Bear (my husband) had passed away in October 2023. What I grossly underestimated was the overall emotional toll that the previous three years had taken on me. This was something I recognised and acknowledged quite early in 2024. Without getting too personal here, what suffered most was my creativity and my partly written book baby, Book Baby 8. (It had been largely neglected for part of the previous year.)
Throughout 2024 I have continued to write but my focus has been more on journaling. I have journaled extensively over the last few years. It’s been one of my key coping mechanisms and I found myself turning to it again this year as I started to find my feet in my new world. These journals are personal, and the contents will remain between me and the page.
I have continued to grow this blog though and its sister blog the525toglasgow Yes, I’m now a .co.uk and a .com!
2024 was of course a Leap Year and brought with it the tantalising potential publication date of 29th February. I have published twice on this date before and had originally pencilled it in as a target date for Book Baby 8. There was no way that Book Baby 8 was going to be ready for it though, so I turned my attention in a different direction and on 29th February, self-published my first poetry anthology, Beginnings. The date wasn’t wasted, and Book Baby 8 became a poetry book instead of a novel. If you’ve not checked it out, I’ll share the links below. Poetry is something I’ve written for a very long time and was in fact published as a poet before I was published as a novelist/author. Don’t panic- my poems aren’t like the stuffy ones that you might remember from your English class in school.
In late June 2024, I honoured a promise to myself. Throughout the Big Green Gummi Bear’s illness, I would watch the webcam from Rehoboth Beach, DE, USA, the tiny town where my Silver Lake series is set, and watch the sunrise online. I promised myself when everything was over that I would return to Rehoboth Beach and sit on the sand and watch that sunrise and I did! As I walked along the sand with the ocean waves washing in over my bare feet and as I walked along the boardwalk and through the town, I felt as if I was walking through the pages of my own books…and some future ideas began to germinate. These are tiny seeds of an idea, but I am nurturing them for future projects involving the Silver Lake characters.
So, what has become of the partly written “Book Baby 8”? I’ll be honest, it was abandoned for months. I felt that I just didn’t have the words to do the tale justice. I went as far as packing the notebooks away and putting them at the back of the cupboard under the stairs. I started a new project… then felt as if I was cheating on “Book Baby 8”. After a few weeks, I packed the new project away, put it in the cupboard under the stairs and brought “Book Baby 8” back out. I dusted it off, re-read it and re-named it “Book Baby 9” and slowly over the last few months I have been adding to the word count. I owe it to it and to myself to finish it so 2024’s goal has now become 2025’s goal.
So here I am at the start of my 12th blogging year. This year will be taken slowly and gently but there will be more short stories from the Measly Jar of Motivation, more poems and more of my Silently Watching series and who knows maybe a third instalment of my Miracle “Hallmark” Christmas stories too. Over the coming twelve months I hope to rekindle the passion I feel for writing and allow the words to flow freely once more. I know in my heart that they are still in there.
As I say, I plan to be gentle with myself (Anyone reading this who knows me personally- stop laughing. I know I’m never that gentle on myself, but I promise to try harder in 2025) but the primary creative goal is to publish Book Baby 9 formerly known as Book Baby 8 towards the end of the year.
None of this creative progress would be possible without the love and support of each and every one of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blogs, liking the content, buying and reading my books and for having faith in me.
All that’s left to say is to wish you a very Happy New Year when it comes. May 2025 be gentle with you.
Love n hugs
Coral
xx
Beginnings links-
Beginnings – a collection of poems eBook : McCallum, Coral: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
We each set out together
Choosing a different path through the trees.
At points our paths converged briefly
Then peeled away
Taking each of us a different route through the trees
Sunlight warmed us
The leaves provided shade
The trees themselves gave us warmth and wisdom
We each navigated our way through the forest
Hearing our own messages as we travelled
Before each arriving at the end of the trail
In our own time.
Mirroring a journey through grief and healing.
(image sourced via Google- credits to the owner)
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged #CoralMcCallum, #grief, #healing, #IndieAuthor, #poem, #poertyblog, #poet, #poetry
My first collection of poems, Beginnings, will be published on 29 February 2024. This is a collection of poems that I have written over many years. Many of them have appeared on my blog over the past ten years. Now felt like the right time to bring them all together in one small volume. (And of course, 29th February is too unique a date not to publish on – Yes, I’m weird about dates)
Beginnings is now available for pre-order worldwide for Kindle. Here’s the links
Beginnings – a collection of poems eBook : McCallum, Coral: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
There will be a paperback edition available from 29 February too.
As a little taster, here’s one of the poems, a haiku, that appears in the book.
Icy east wind blows.
Sun shines on the rutted path.
Spring lies just beyond.
The cover photograph is one of my own. (Local friends may well recognise this spot.) It’s a small stand of trees just to the west of Lunderston Bay, my favourite meandering spot. There’s a certain peace to be found among those trees. A beautiful spot to simply stop and connect with nature.
To me, this year is all about Beginnings in so many ways.
For those who are eagerly awaiting news of Book Baby 8, please bear with me a little longer. It’s coming.
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Tagged #29February2024, #anthology, #Beginnings, #CoralMcCallum, #ebook, #IndieAuthor, #KDP, #newrelease, #poet, #poetryanthology, #poetrycommunity
Loneliness
Ostracised
Captive
Killing time
Depressed
Oppressed
Withdrawn
Never ending…….
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged #2020, #acrosticpoem, #blogging, #Covid19, #feelings, #lockdown, #poet
I dug into my poetry archives for this week’s blog. Been a while since I shared any…..
I Wonder When
When did he last hold me
And really feel me?
When did he last kiss me
And really taste me?
When did he last say “I love you”
And truly mean it?
When did he last make love to me
And relish in me?
When did he last listen to me
And even hear me?
I wonder when it was……..
Written 5th February 2010
(Image sourced via Google – credits to the owner)
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged #blogging, #heartbreak, #IndieAuthor, #indieblogger, #poet, #poetryblog, #reflection, #selfdoubt, #worthlessness, fear, love, poem
Coral McCallum 