National Poetry Day

Water

Image from etftrends.com

   Despite the fact that I'm American, I'm all about celebrating the written word. So, though October 3rd is National Poetry Day for the United Kingdom, I choose to help celebrate it. After all, some of my ancestors were from that relative area of the world - I have a bit of Scottish blood in me. I also have a decent amount of Native American blood in me, but that is beside the point. I'm part English. So I can participate in the UK's National Poetry Day, right? 

   Any way, I'm posting one of my own poems today. It'll be included in my short works collection I am due to release before the year's out. 

   This year's theme for National Poetry Day is Water and I have the perfect poem to share. I wrote it in July of last year and hereby share it with my readers.

Eternal Life

a coffin for a shower, who would’ve ever thought

that eternal life could be found in simple water

it runs to catch itself with gravity’s help, like a bus picking up passengers

it has to go a little out of its way for love

it just wants to be closer to atoms just like itself

so simple yet so complex, this love of self

Image from smscs.com

they’ll say, oh how she loved her baths

but oh they’ll never know what I found in this coffin

their highfalutin ways blind them, they’ll never see

highfalutin, someone angry made up that word: highfalutin

the water is so warm surrounding my frame

I listen to its blurred message

so silent one can only hear when submersed

blood is the answer for Christians, blood and water

blood and water for eternal life in Christ

water is the answer to Heaven, the accumulation is Paradise – so simple and so common a thing

and He put it right in front of our face

water runs through my veins, mixes with my blood

it races to catch itself

to join close with its friends and wait for the end

surface tension

broken by more coming to join in to wait for the end

a crowd of an uncountable number of lives in this coffin

just waiting

just swirling down the drain, waiting for the end

Faye Hollidaye, July 2012

   I hope you enjoyed! Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think, or leave me one of your poems - I'd love to read them. I'd also like to know what your favorite poem of all time is, so feel free to share!

Challenged Books

Banned Book Week

Image from alasu.libguides.com.

   It's incredibly surprising how many great books are on the 100 Most Challenged Books list. I'm currently unacquainted with the first two titles on this list, but there are many there that my high school class was encouraged to read. First, what are "banned" or "challenged" books and why are they treated so by some?

   I personally learned about Banned Book Week from Cabin Goddess' blog. I didn't know there was such a thing as a week to raise awareness about censorship concerning books until this week when I got the weekly email about Ms. Morton's blog and her new posts. When learning, I was inspired to create this special post to help raise awareness. 

   There is a lot of information regarding this topic out there: I encourage you to learn what a banned or challenged book is at this link. Also at that link, you can find the following quote from John Stuart Mill, as he wrote in On Liberty, and additional information. 

If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

Image from hellogiggles.com.

For the Love of Books
    Now, do not take this the wrong way. I am NOT saying that children ages ten and under should be allowed to read erotica. There's no reason anything like erotica should be within the grasp of an 8-year-old child -- I'm sure everyone reading this agrees -- unless that child is a 40-year-old man trapped in a child's body, which is highly unlikely.
   What I AM saying with this post is: Phillip Pullman's books should not

Short and Sweet Post

About a Graphic Design Giveaway

   If you're a writer looking for someone to do your next book cover, or if you're a blogger looking to get your own catchy-looking banner, or if you'd just like a really cool Facebook cover photo designed just for you, this giveaway is for you! Check it out at this link and leave me a comment below to let me know if you like this kind of post. Good luck to all those who enter!