Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Am I Impressive?


Sebastian sees "her" ... and tries to impress!  It is as if he is saying, I'm not just a horse...



I'm a Friesian!  Click "Just Like a Woman" to see the "rest of the story".


This is my "baby".  Sebastian is not yet four and he is in training with James Cooler for about the next six months.  In the photo above he is being asked to back up and that is why his stance is a bit funny.  But I always think he looks gorgeous... even if his head should be lowered quite a bit here.  But he is learning.  

I'm linking the above up with "Creative Exchange" because I love the freedom and energy of my big black horse in this photo!  

Monday, November 28, 2011

In Tandem - "Possibilites"

My daughter's silk painting (before it was "ironed")

Possibilites

At her fingertips
a rainbow exits,

youthful exuberance
sprinkled like fairy dust
upon pristine avenues
yet untried and 

still aglow 

as her imagination
conquers all

unaware 

she might fail;

her world
still magical.


by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 28, 2011

This is for "In Tandem".  Click on the link to see the creativity of others... and consider writing something yourself!

Also linked this up to dVerse Poets Pub:  Open Link Night Week 20 - it IS the place to be if you like poetry!  Check it out and even better, participate!  

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Magpie Tales #93 - "A Time Existed"

Photo courtesy of Christine Donnier-Valentin.  Used for Magpie Tales

A Time Existed

A time existed
of endearments murmured,
wrapped within my arms.

Beloved hands caressed,
enjoyed
my dress of velvet, red.

Legs trembled,
uncomplaining,
passion
overwhelmed me,
plush cushions flattened.

Discarded.
Abandoned.
Forsaken for another.

Beside the road I stand
showing a bit of leg,
hoping to be cherished,

needed.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 27, 2011

* * * * *

This is for Magpie Tales #93.   Join the fun and write a poem or short bit of prose! 

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Blog Friends!


I wonder if this fellow knows how lucky he is to be enjoying this beautiful day in November?  Do we all know how lucky we are? 

Monday, November 21, 2011

Poetry Jam - "A Tired Beauty"



Tired Beauty

A tired beauty in black and white
freeze framed for eternity.
Deeply etched her worries, 
a map of misfortune
for all to see.  Thin lips silent, 
despair tightly clenched 
and denied.

An American symbol
she became.  Of failure?
Of hope?

Her gaze shies away,
unwilling to confront, to beg.
Instead, off into the distance she looks
as if a bit of hope existed.

Formidable, her mother's backbone
coped with hunger, filth, weariness.

Is this the American dream?

Her children recall her 
determination, her perseverance.  
When she drew them close, 
she gave them all she had, her love.  

They responded with hope and thanksgiving.

How do we respond?

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 21, 2011



For a short audio excerpt of Florence Thompson, the "Migrant Mother" being interviewed click HERE

This is written for Poetry Jam.  You are all invited to write to the above photo prompt.  Each week a different challenge is presented.

Also linked it to dVerse "Open Link Night".  Already over 100 poems - it's the place to be on Tuesday nights!  

Magpie Tales #92 "He Kissed Me"

Image used for Magpie Tales #92

He Kissed Me

He kissed me

and I forgot 
we were different
as night and day.

He wasn't "safe",
wasn't "perfect".

His future?
An enthusiastic dream.

I could have gone on and on
about his faults,

but those baby blues
left me speechless

and then

he kissed me.

Well, perfect and safe
never made me feel

like that.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 21, 2011

* * * * *

This is linked to Magpie Tales #92.   Tess found this awesome photo of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.  Join in the fun or just go see what others came up with by clicking on the link.

I also linked this up to Friday Flash 55 - A story in 55 words, no less, no more!  Try it - it is fun. 

Friday, November 18, 2011

Friday Fences #8


I found a real fun photo prompt that will utilize many I have in my archives!  It is "Firday's Fences".   I linked up to the November 17th post, Friday's Fences #8.  I am not sure if the subject must be behind the fence or if a fence just needs to be somewhere in the photo.  I hope to find out by next week.  To see the photo I linked to this challenge, please click on this link to my horse blog, "Just Horses".

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Magpie Tales # 91 and dVerse - Red Chair in the Corner

Courtesy Google Images - Selected by Tess Kincaid for Magpie Tales
His Red Chair in the Corner

It taunts me still, falsely beckoning.  "Free"
is a word I hardly remember.  Plea
I do.  I do scream for release.
I do beg for clarity and peace
from the past abuse, from his hurtful words.
I do try to forget, to move onwards

but the nightmare taunts me, suffocating
me with despair that haunts.  Yes, altering
my mind.  My mind once filled with love.
My mind still desires a world of
youthful hopes.  His red chair still reproaches
my mind.  I swear to burn it to ashes.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 17, 2011

* * * * *

This poem is for dVerse "Form for All" and it was a hard one!  The form is "staccato"and it has two stanzas of six lines with the rhyming pattern a, a, b, b, c, c.  Not so bad, but then there are internal line rhymes and syllable repeats... egads.  Just click on the link to read further.

I attempted to link this poem with the "Magpie Tales" photo prompt.  If you read my poem, I give you a pat on the back!   This has NO bearing on me or my past... just a reaction to the photo and the restrictions of the "staccato".  So no need to worry.  

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

In Tandem & Friday Flash 55 - "The Challenge"


The Challenge

Gaze intense,
he plucks the strings
intending to shock,
excite, start a rebellion

forcing his hometown 
to see him as a young man
filled with ideas, life, and passion!

Hendrix fills the air.
The young girls scream.
Women sigh, remembering.
Men narrow greying eyes
remembering, too,

vowing
to keep a close eye
on their daughters.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 16, 2011

* * * * *


My son LOVES Hendrix and I have to say I appreciate his amazing talent on the guitar... but he should have never tried to sing!  (sorry)

This is for this week's "In Tandem".  Jinksy was kind enough to once again use two of my watercolors.  Click on the link to see the other one and read the other poems for the prompts.

This is actually the second version of this poem.  I reduced it to 55 words and I think it reads a bit better this way AND it also can now be linked to "Friday Flash 55" ... a story in 55 words!  

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Barn Charm #59 - Tobacco Barns - A slice of the South's history


As a Northerner moving to North Carolina a few years ago, I was puzzled as to what these strange looking barns were dotting the countryside.  Quite tall and narrow, with few to no windows and sometimes sporting a lean-to or covered/shaded area.  Of course, I realize now I live in what had been the heart of the tobacco industry.  I was in Virginia this past weekend and wish I had stopped to take a few photos of this style of barn.  I guess that means a rode trip!  The tobacco barn photographed for today's post resides in Summerfield, NC.

I've linked this post to Bluff Area Daily's "Barn Charm #59.  Do yourself a favor and click to enjoy amazing beauty!


I am not a proponent of smoking, but this is a slice of the south's history and something about these funny looking barns draws me to photograph them.  Some have been restored and reside next to residential properties in small towns, but many sit dejectedly atop fields of weeds.


This is the first of a series of photos I plan to expand upon.   I might be incorrect in labeling any barn a "tobacco" barn, and please let me know if you think I am in error.  At fist I didn't think the metal barn was such as I thought they had to be made of wood.   But a quick google search leads me to believe this is not so.  Or maybe, this barn had been entirely made of wood at one time and it has been "repaired" inexpensively.  I don't know.  

Monday, November 14, 2011

Poetry Jam - A Bit of Bubbly


A Bit of Bubbly?

A bit of bubbly to "celebrate"
another number pulled by
the Keeper of Time.  I hesitate
to question what lately I've pondered.  Why
is it the older I become
the less concerned I am with counting?

I quote this with tongue
in cheek, while more bubbly I am pouring:

"Youth is wasted on the young!"


by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 14, 2011

* * * * *

This is my attempt to remain light-hearted about my birthday tomorrow.  I now must round up to 50 (as I still rounded down at 45 :)  The quote is from George Bernard Shaw.

I have linked this to "Poetry Jam" (subject:  Still Life) and I will also link up this Friday to "Friday Flash 55" ... a story told in 55 words.  

Chatham Hall Horses


Horses at Chatham Hall.  This is an all girl's boarding school in Chatham, Virginia, which has an equestrian program.  I was there with my girls for a "Colt Staring" competition over the weekend. 


The photo below is for "The Creative Exchange".  I waited and waited for that third horse to show up, but I guess it was too interested in its food.


I have been "on the road" and didn't have much time to participate in this past weekend's poetry challenges, let alone visit my favorite blogs.  Sigh... how does life get SO busy!  And today I have to get my driver's license renewed as it expires tomorrow - let's hope I pass the written test that I haven't studied for.  How long do you imagine I will have to wait in line... I just hate how the government runs these places... understaffed and so slow...  Wish me luck and patience.

Friday, November 11, 2011

dVerse & Friday Flash 55 - "All Consuming"

Thomas Sabo Heart Shaped Feather Wings Pendant
This was QUITE the challenge.  For dVerse "Prose to Poetry" hosted this week by Zsa of Zumwalt Poems the task was to:

(1) pick a passage from a novel, essay or short story that qualifies as prose, but for you is particularly poetic.  

(2) without changing a word, reformat it so it looks like poetry.  (I changed it up a bit as I deleted the italicized words)

(3) rework it to form the standard of poetry we adhere to (free verse is mine)

I did not have that much time this weekend, so I also used this as my Friday Flash 55 challenge!  (a story in 55 words). 




My excerpt is from “The Secret Life of Bees”, by Sue Monk Kidd
Whatever it is that keeps widening your heart, that’s Mary, too, not only the power inside you but the love.  And when you get down to it, Lily, that’s the only purpose grand enough for a human life.  Not just to love, but to persist in love.
Whatever it is that keeps 
widening your heart,
that’s Mary, too, 
not only the power inside you
but the love.  
That’s the only purpose
grand enough
for a human life.   
Not just to love,
but to persist in love.
*  *  *

All Consuming
Endlessly stretching before me
an all-consuming power it is,
visited often by pain and woe.   
And yet, blessed I am
to call you mine, 
protecting, guiding, and 
the hardest: letting you go.  
My heart has sprouted 
mighty wings, it seems, 
persistently soaring 
not for myself, 
but for a far grander purpose:
you, my child.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 11, 2011

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Help Me Choose Which Winter Scene is Best!


(1) ^
I am entering a contest that is asking for a winter scene.  I can ONLY submit one.  Which one do you like best?  Thank you for commenting!

(2)^

(3)^

(4)^

(5)^

(6)^

(7)^

(8)^

(9)^

This last one (below) is NOT really one I am considering.  I just think it is funny.


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

A Carolina Anole



A Carolina Anole.  I have a few of my photos and artwork at FineArtsAmerica website.  HERE.   I will be adding a button on my sidebar.  Please, never feel any pressure and I am very low key about this, but I will post photos once a week or so that I put on my Fine Arts America webpage.   I hope you enjoy viewing the photos!

Monday, November 7, 2011

In Tandem - "A Parental Warning"

Artwork courtesy of Jinksy for "In Tandem"

A Parental Warning

Baby hold tightly this month of May
as Savanna's rivers run swiftly. 
Forget not, its death force
 can carry you far away!
Cling to me as we quench our thirst,
with its life-giving coolness.
Remember, my little baboon,
it's a jungle out there.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 7, 2011


It DOES look like a baboon with a baby, right?  Give it a try yourself.  Click HERE to be transported to "In Tandem #17", a weekly artistic prompt for you to write poetry or short prose to.  


Sunday, November 6, 2011

Magpie Tales "90 - "The Weeping Tree"


The Weeping Tree

Beneath the weeping tree
like lovers we sit;
cheek to cheek, a dance of sorts
chaperoned by Mother Earth.

Apart she tries to keep us,
but my lover's hands
hold my beating heart;
pulsing only for her, only for her.

We embrace, warmed by the sun,
but the hours desist
and evening's cold fingers
try to tear us apart.

Useless my pleas to remain.
Wind sets in and demands we part.
No!  I will not leave this quite spot
for my love holds my beating heart.

Beneath the weeping tree
tears of love I shed
as I plunge the knife in deep

for under living green my love does lie
now holding close my bleeding heart.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 6, 2011

This was written for and linked to "Magpie Tales #90".   The photo prompt is below, but since I went to Savannah GA and visited Bonaventure Cemetery not too long ago, I supplied my own photo.  On my side bar I have a link if you are interested in viewing photos of this Victorian era cemetery.

Photo provided by Tess Kincaid for Magpie Tales

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Liquid Sunshine, dVerse Poetics - Play with Color



Liquid Sunshine 

Upon my window pane it splashed;
a liquid sunshine slowly danced
a cordial morning song "tap tap".
I gently stretched from head to toe
and hoped my garden would become
a vibrant painting like Van Gogh's
with restless blues and flowing golds.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, April 2011


This "oldie" is linked to dVerse "Poetics" - Theme "Play with Color" and hosted by Victoria of "liv2write2day".  Why don't you give it a try!  

I didn't have time to write anything new tonight... I gambled the evening away and I came up the BIG winner... (I LOVE LOVE the game craps) and then reality hit and my dreams were dashed...  it was all play money.  

Thank you for stopping by and I will sit and relax tomorrow evening and visit all your fabulous blogs.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Friday Flash 55 "Tail Wagging Adventurers"


Tail-Wagging Adventurers

Tails wagging, they happily greet
everyone who comes through the gate
perhaps looking for a tasty treat.

Cally willing to tolerate
my children running all about;
Dillon prefers to hibernate.

Both enjoy walks in the meadow
where once a skunk did saturate!
Rolling in deer dung head to toe

is the ULTIMATE end to daily adventures.

Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 3, 2011



This is for "Friday Flash 55"!   I tried to do a "structured" poem 8 syllables each line with end rhymes (I KNOW the rhythm is off)  Not my finest attempt as I much prefer free-verse.

... and now I notice I am off in the rhyming... nothing goes with about... oh well, it is what it is...

I was fortunate to do a series of photos that turned out quite well as yesterday we said "good-bye" to Dillon.  She passed away yesterday morning; she had tumors and was in a lot of pain. But what a wonderful life she lead on the farm running around during the day and sleeping on her soft dog bed at night in her owner's house.  Cally and Dillon greeted us daily at the horse barn (Cally still does).

RIP, Dillon.

"The Kiss Endured"

Image from  Google - Auguste Rodin "The Kiss"

The Kiss Endured

Pleasure fills my mind
to the point of pure madness
tickling, teasing me
Your delicate touch desired
my true thoughts hidden
as I endure my spouse's kiss

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 3, 2011

* * * * *

This is FICTION guys... (fyi :)  and also a response to a poetry challenge from "dVerse - Form For All"  Man'yoshu was explained and hosted by Jane Kohut-Bartels (Lady Nyo).  There are three basic divisions of this style of poetry and the one we were to focus on was "Somon", which is mutual exchanges of love or longing poetry.  I chose to do a "Choka" 5,7,5,7,5,7 which is one of the longer versions (six lines).

I'm not so sure how well I did, but click on the link to see everyone else's attempts!  And give it a try yourself - it is fun.   

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Poetry Jam "Through Frosted Pane"

Photo courtesy of Google Images 

Through Frosted Pane

Through frosted pane,
filtered laughter escapes,

its tickling fingers scamper
past my silvered head,

teasing snowflakes as they settle
upon my woolen shoulders.

Into my snowglobe world I peer,
coolness pressing against my cheek

as laughter returns upon frosty draught,
swirling about weary back and tired feet;

but tenderness warms me through as I spy
figures hustling, jumping, twirling about.

Silver clinks, chandelier winks,
cat sits expectantly upon my chair.

Wedgwood's Lichfield graces the table,
Fostoria Navarre awaits Malbec & Noir.

Beef Wellingtons and skewered delights
displayed temptingly upon linen buffet

stoically withstand an invading army
of fingers, persistent and sneaky.

A moment's perfection captured;
mother, daughters, wife and sons

preparing memories to be taken out
and gently shaken when times become quieter, slower;

but for now to be enjoyed!
An observer no more, I enter, door quickly closing.

Magnified laughter embraced, its arms thankfully warm
as outside frosted window, snowflakes continue to fall.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, November 2, 2011

* * * * *

This is for "Poetry Jam".  Theme this week is "windows" - looking in, looking out, or perhaps trapped within!    

Also linked with dVerse "Open Link Night".  Amazing talent every Tuesday - come check it out!