August is the month of The Sealey Challenge. Started by poet Nicole Sealey in 2017, the challenge is to read a book of poetry every day for the month of August. In the past, I have used this time to read poetry books that were sitting unread on my bookshelf. While I know I can’t read a book a day as I have other things going on, I am still going to try to read more than usual this month. Want to join me?
If you join the challenge and need an idea, I would love it if you wanted to add one of my books to your list. Here is a link to all four books. https://www.luannecastle.com/bookstore/ Additionally, if you are interested in a copy of my first collection Doll God, for this month I am offering you a copy for $5 that includes shipping if you have it delivered in the United States. If you are not in the U.S. contact me and let’s see if we can figure it out. Think of it in honor of the Barbie movie. Email me at luanne.castle which is at gmail.com.
Two of my Doll God poems have been republished this month in Verse-Virtual. You can find them here: https://www.verse-virtual.org/2023/August/castle-luanne-2023-august.html
Colleen Chesebro’s #TankaTuesday poetry prompt for this week is to use synonyms for the words flow and wave. I used runs and beckons and wrote an American cinquain.
Follow Me
The doe
in the pasture
sees me and runs away,
slips between trees, white tail, a sail,
beckons.
The turn is found in line five because while the deer runs from me, it seems as though she also beckons me to follow her with her communicative tail.
Love the poem and it’s a perfect picture too.
Thank you! The pic is from my visit to Michigan this spring to see mom.
Nicely done.
Thank you, Anneli!
Great idea, Luanne
Great idea Luanne
Thank you, John!!!
😊
Luanne, I love this cinquain and your turn is perfect. The doe looks like she’s asking you to follow her! What a magical adventure!
Thank you, Colleen. That is a Kalamazoo deer. I followed your book instructions for the cinquain!
Thank you! I thought that might be in Michigan. The ominious forest is a dead giveaway. How are you all surving the heat?
We are not!
Oh, Luanne. I’m so sorry. That’s why we left. I couldn’t deal with the heat. 😔
This is the worst its ever been. Can’t wait for fall!
Yeah, I worry about you. It’s just too hot. We’re only 76 today.
Oh nice!
Loved this poem about the deer, Luanne! Your Tanka Tuesdays have been inspiring! Doll God a must read – and with Barbie, well, ooo la la!
Thank you!!! Haha, I saw the movie with my daughter, and it was fun. Really suited our sensibilities; it was very ironic laced with sweetness. The audience was about 95% adult women.
Such a lovely cinquain Luanne and a beautiful photograph to match 💕
Thank you so much! I took the photo when I visited my mom this spring.
Love the poem, and, yes, doesn’t it seem like the deer is giving mixed messages when it runs away but then stops and looks back? Not often enough, we see deer when we’re out at the refuge. The young ones are often curious about us but then they bounce away 😉
Bounce away! Yes, that’s it. And I love that. They kind of swing and bounce! This deer was one of several at my mom’s retirement community in April.
It does beckon… Oh how it beckons. Well done.
Sassy, thank you so much! It would be fun if we could turn into mist (temporarily) and follow the deer into the woods!
Nicely done tanka, Luanne. Enjoy reading your poetry books this month!
Thank you, Eilene! I actually finished reading a new poetry book right before the month began and am now on another.
You’ve captured a white-tail deer encounter perfectly! (That white-tail flag flash does send a message.) Your poetry challenge has prompted me to order Kin Types, which I’ve been meaning t do for months. I look forward to reading it. For the rest of the challenge, I’ll write a review of George Franklin’s Remote Cities, which I read recently. I’ll also read, and hopefully review, DeWitt Henry’s Restless for Words, which I bought after hearing him read several poems that ended up in the book.
Oh that’s a great idea about George and DeWitt’s books! And thank you re Kin Types, which I am hoping you will like! It’s much more prosy than my other books (prose poems, CNF flash, as well as free verse).
I love your American cinquain poem, Luanne! It tells a perfect tale of the image. Where did you take that photo? It doesn’t look like Arizona. The poetry challenge month is interesting. I’m sure some will read a poetry book a day.
Thank you, Miriam! You are so right about the deer! I took the photo when I visited my mom in Michigan in April. There are deer that live in the woods adjacent to her retirement community!
That explains, Luanne! Some bloggers live in places where there are deer.
There are deer in Oregon, but they are reindeer type. My daughter and her husband hit a deer on a road with great impact. The deer barely walked across to reach the other one side. They turned around to go home and their car barely made it home also.
Oh, that’s so sad. So glad your daughter and her husband are ok though!
Yes, they were on the way going to somewhere in distance. I’m glad they turned around. Probably they had a sense that the car wouldn’t make it.
Yes, what a relief that they turned around!
The car was beyond repair!
Oh no! My sister-in-law used to be a staff member for a Michigan congressman. She was driving him, and a deer ran out. She was in her early 20s and he was this mature congressperson, but she had to handle it all–totaled car, etc. LOL
I haven’t seen a deer in a while. That one does seem to be beckoning.
This was in April in Michigan. They have deer that live in the woods next to my mother’s retirement community.
I saw in the other comments that it was Michigan. I didn’t think it looked like where you live now! 🙂
Hahah. There are supposed to be deer in Arizona, but I sure have never seen them.
I just looked it up–mule deer. They move to higher elevations in the summer.
Interesting. I doubt Phoenix has them. Probably more rural. At least that is what I am guessing.
Probably.
I see it, clearly I see it. It is lovely. blessings. xoxo
Thank you, Selma! XO
They do seem to dash and then pause and look, don’t they? Lol! Great poem, Luanne! I loved your other poems on the site you provided. I noticed you don’t have ebooks for your poetry books. Why is that? Just curious.
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Yes, they do! Thank you so much. Ugh re kindle. These small poetry presses don’t do kindle. I asked my last publisher, the one for Our Wolves, and he said it was in resistance to Amazon’s return policy. At some point i hope to get rights back to my books and offer them on kindle. But it might be a couple years.
Such a lovely post and lovely photo too 💜💜
Oh thank you, Willow!!!
So lovely! When we lived in Branson, deer crossed through our yard every day. They are so beautiful. 😊
Gwen, you were so lucky! We don’t have any here in Arizona, at least where we live. But this one was near my mother’s in Michigan!
I love the concept of the deer beckoning you as it runs away. (Do folks really read a book of poetry a day? That seems like it would make it hard to savor each poem….)
LOL, I actually kept up with it one year. You really have to make it your primary focus that month. Put your own writing aside for that time period, for one thing. You can savor a poetry book in a day if you spend 2-3 hours, I think. Well, some books you can’t. And I did start slipping in some chapbooks so there weren’t as many poems haha.
Playful and intriguing, Luanne, leaves me wondering what will I find when I follow.
In the magical forest? Probably one of Andrea’s blog posts!!!
Ommigosh… This is so lovely; you left a vivid image in my mind, Luann! <3
Much love,
David
A beautiful Poem, Luanne. I love the image of the doe.
Thank you, Robbie! They are so beautiful, aren’t they?