Precipice: A Poem

When you’re standing on the precipice

Lids squeezed tightly shut

And your arms hang empty at sides

 

When your heart is as dull

As a shitty cow pond

And your lips repel like barbed wire

 

When your breath is as jagged

As a broken glass cut

And your nipples meet only air

 

Open those eyes

Search for a fathomless river

And leap into the abyss.

 

(Photo by David Stroup)

The author of The Pharaoh’s Cry,  Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky from the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles,  as well as the middle-grade Forest Secrets. Laurie Woodward  co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet,  and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net

 

Burning Solstice: A Poem

With Winter Solstice looming near

And summer a long gone mariner

He finds power in the darkening malcontent

That traps a gaze this autumn

 

Above an umbrage of blazing ice clouds

Lucifer burns in the frozen star

Grinning as he weaves the death shrouds

For men’s hibernal coffins

 

Oh for a voyage ever southward

To a kindred hemisphere

Where azurean waves

Reflect the waxing moon

And ice surrounds no heart.

 

But setting sail is no easy task

In hoary waters

And dimmer skies

Where even the breath

Of mermaids’song

Hangs suspended

Like frozen desires.

 

For smoldering long

In the soul of man

Lingers the cryogenic star

Waiting for a time

When glaciation reigns

And the Arctic Age returns.

 

These celestial collisions

Bear fireballs

To illuminate and warm

A mortal sea

Eroding ice floes

That bar the way

 

For the long journey

Homeward.

 

(Photo by David Stroup)

 

The author of The Pharaoh’s Cry,  Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky from the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles,  as well as the middle-grade Forest Secrets. Laurie Woodward  co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet,  and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net

Blind Falcon: A Poem

I am a blind falcon

Soaring through darkness

Seeking the warmth of a sun

Whose light I long ago

Forgot.

I am a sightless aviator

Navigating by sound

And touch

And scent.

The mist is cool on my

Retracting and extending

Wings.

So I flap ever harder.

In these black skies.

 

The author of The Pharaoh’s Cry,  Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky from the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles,  as well as the middle-grade Forest Secrets. Laurie Woodward  co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet,  and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net

 

Giveaway: Artania The Pharaoh’s Cry

Looking for an adventure like no other? A place where all art is alive and creation a superpower? Right now my publisher is offering Pharaohs’ Cry for free. But act fast. This offer disappears on December 18th.  Get your free book here  

Enjoy!

The author of The Pharaoh’s Cry,  Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky from the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles,  as well as the middle-grade Forest Secrets. Laurie Woodward  co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet,  and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net

 

Battlefield Sword: A Poem

Spinning

I am strength and beauty in my ancient armor.

Battling each lord and knight

Hiding behind my faceplate

 

Yet I wonder

Is there any sword that can pierce this steel?

Or lance that can stay this spinning?

Might a mace expose the bone of a hidden mind?

 

Or will I forever remain covered?

 

Ever encased.

 

Ever turning.

Without pause

Or rest

From the battlefield

 

 

A Hungering Muse

When the words are stilted, like a stubbed toe limp or a stunted tree seeking sky on a windswept cliff,  quotes  help me summon the muse.

Piers Anthony said: “Keep writing, because not only does practice improve skill, it gives you more chances to score on the market.”

William Shakespeare: “O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.”

Ray Bradbury’s advice is this. “To feed your Muse, then, you should always have been hungry about life since you were a child. If not, it is a little late to start.”

“Finish what you’re writing.  Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.” -Neil Gaiman

What do you do when the muse is silent? Comment and let me know!

The author of The Pharaoh’s Cry,  Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky from the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles,  as well as the middle-grade Forest Secrets. Laurie Woodward  co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet,  and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net

 

Art Can Bring Peace: 10 Ways

I believe children have the power to create profound change in our world. If there is ever to be true peace, it must transcend the generations. But first they must dream of the changes they want creatively. Here are ten ideas to begin the change.

1. Make Peace Cards.

2. Make an anti-bully poster.

3. Draw cartoons dealing with a bully.

4. Paint a peace sign on a paper plate.

5. Create a Love the Earth card.

6. Make a dream board.

7. Photograph someone doing a kind act.

8. Create a dance high-fiving and smiling with your buds.

9. Film a video of yourself singing a peace song.

Peace Song

10. Paint a self-portrait.

Any more ideas? Share  and we’ll turn 10 to 10,000!