Wednesday, February 21, 2018

All the Sweet and Beautiful Boys



I'm so proud to have my story "All the Sweet and Beautiful Boys" published in Terrain.org. A story of love and war and peace and siblings, this one means so much to me. My deepest gratitude to the editors for this reprint.

To read the story, click https://www.terrain.org/2018/fiction/all-the-sweet-and-beautiful-boys/.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Everyday Celebrations



Whether you love or hate Valentine's Day, here's a poem about holidays by Portland writer and teacher, Susan Donnelly.


Holidays
by Susan Donnelly



There are days proclaimed

to be holier than others,



as if somehow they are princesses

born of royal blood,

wrapped in soft purple velvet,

and entrusted with Divine Rights.

Days held in awe, holier

like the Portuguese virgins

who shuffle miles on their knees

to light sacred candles at Fatima.



It is as if the first February glimpse

of the Rufous Hummingbird’s green feathers

were somehow not worthy of celebration,

and the sweet scent of lilacs didn’t intoxicate;

as if basking in the unexpected warmth

of fragile October sun wasn’t

the perfect gift.



All days

are holy enough.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Love Parade


As a kid growing up in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, I loved going to the Portland Rose Festival Parade in June. My oldest brother was a trumpeter in the high school's band, so besides enjoying the parade floats that glided by, I had the thrill of seeing my sibling marching with the late spring light gleaming on his brass Doc Severinson horn.

Today, my idea of a good parade would be even more joyful. Using the writer Kahlil Gibran's phrase, it would be "a procession of love"    a celebration of people and creatures and all the natural world.

Many thanks to the New Verse News for publishing my vision for a parade in their post today. You can find my new poem at https://newversenews.blogspot.com/search/label/Linda%20Ferguson