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LUMINESCENT AQUAMARINE

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SATURDAY 10th APRIL 2021 ~ POETRY

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘The Last Post on WordPress’

Prompt ~ LUMINESCENT

Photo credit by Kris Williams

BIOLUMINESCENCE 

by John Yeo

Photographers and nature lovers have been watching bioluminescent plankton glowing off the Welsh coast.

Bioluminescence describes the light that some living creatures, such as fireflies and jellyfish, emit from their cells.

Photographer Kris Williams captured the above sighting in  Beaumaris, Anglesey in Wales.

  To discover vivid natural bioluminescent plankton, one of the best places is in the Indian Ocean.

Travellers to  the exotic waters, surrounding the islands of the Maldives, may be treated to a dazzling natural phenomenon that turns the night-time ocean into a field of glowing stars.

As waves break on the sandy shore, or bare feet step into wet sand, a bright blue glow appears. This magical effect is caused by the bioluminescent plankton that often appears in warm coastal waters. 

A trip to the Maldives could be on our bucket list when we are finally allowed to travel again.

LUMINESCENT AQUAMARINE

By John Yeo

Aqua, a description of water,

Marine, a perfectly placid sea.

Blue, a reflection of heaven

The watery world we inhabit.

Aquamarine is the colour of our orb.

Bioluminescence is caused by

disturbed plankton at the seashore 

Vividly flashing a pale blue light.

~

Earth is blue in the black of space,

Water, our lifeblood, the key.

All life washed ashore from the blue sea

Covering the land with our family.

Aquamarine is the colour of life.

Bioluminescence is created by

disturbed plankton at the seashore 

Emitting a pale blue aura.

~

Translucent depths of a metal hue,

A moon at night of a deep dark blue.

Reflecting a seascape of luminescence

Thoughtful deep dreams in the blue half-light

Aquamarine is the colour of night.

Bioluminescence is created by

disturbed plankton at the seashore 

Shining with a pale blue aura.

©~ Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

INCUBATE

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FRIDAY 9th APRIL 2021 ~ POETRY

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘The Last Post on WordPress’

Prompt ~Incubate

INCUBATE

by John Yeo

Bird lays eggs

in her nest

provides warmth

~

from soft down

incubates.

Chicks soon hatch.

~

Hunt for food

nestlings grow 

and soon fledge.

~

This is a Tricubes poetry form.

Each line contains three syllables.

Each stanza contains three lines.

Each poem contains three stanzas

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

~~~~~~

FREEDOM


by John Yeo


We survived the unruly protection of the nest,
There were two of us left on the final day
Pushing and fighting for survival of the fittest
The others died slowly and wasted away.
One day we were forced to fend for each other.
Pushed into flight by our parents insisting
Our shining iridescent plumage glistened over
As our feathers formed and became powerful wings.
~
Gliding, soaring gracefully, a bird on the move,
A fully fledged miracle flying in heaven’s high.
Soaring close to the clouds floating above.
Survival in the folds of an unpredictable sky.
Calling loudly with a natural melody
Revelling in a new found freedom of spirit.
A powerful instinctive natural urge to belong
To the freedom of the life we were now to inherit.

© ~ Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

EASTERN AUSTRALIA

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FRIDAY 9th APRIL 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘The Last Post on WordPress’

PROMPT DO-OVER

Go back to a blog post you always thought could be better, or were unsatisfied with – now, fix it.

( Blog post resurrected from Wednesday 6th March 2018)

  This post was deficient in that there was no indication that it took place in Eastern Australia and it was lacking any photographs. I hope this has fixed those unsatisfactory problems.

I had a habit of getting up early and walking along in the local nature reserve. I went for my first walk through the natural woodland in the park with the camera, the weather was cloudy and threatening to rain, I had decided to risk a soaking. There were not many birds around to photograph, although I was aware of the usual cacophony of sound from the trees and scrub in the woods. 

  The first bird I came across was my old friend the brush turkey who was in the process of building a nest in exactly the same spot as he did fourteen months ago when we were here last. I shot some photographs of him hard at work and wandered along the track which was quite muddy from the incredible rainfall here of late and I was forced to turn back and retrace my steps. 

On the way I was met by my friend the dog walker, a man who I had met in the same place walking his dog when we were here last. Then the rain suddenly came and I was soaked to the skin, within minutes I sheltered under some enormous Palm tree leaves and waited for it to stop. I heard a rustle behind me and I was just in time to  photograph another brush turkey. 

The rain stopped and I was able to continue on my way.   As I was nearing home I noticed some movement in a beautiful Golden Penda tree which was in full bloom and covered with lovely yellow flowers. These trees are everywhere in this area, and they are all covered with pretty yellow blossom at this time of the year. To my surprise and delight there were several rainbow lorikeets feeding on the nectar produced by these wonderful flowers, and I quickly snapped a photograph of the lorikeets feeding, until I was noticed by the birds and they flew off.

© ~ Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

TURN, TURN, TURN

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THURSDAY 8th APRIL 2021 ~ FLASH FICTION ~ POETRY

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘The Last Post on WordPress’  

Prompt ~ TURN, TURN, TURN

For many of us, winter is blooming into spring, or fall hardening into winter. Which season do you most look forward to?

I

TURN, TURN, TURN

by John Yeo

February dark is merging with March birdsong

Our tender baby plants protected from the weather

A forecast with ice and snow on the horizon.

~

Our plants fed, watered, nurtured and growing strong.

Spring is not very far, yet winter days last forever,

February dark is merging with March birdsong.

~

Wind howls from the north the season seems to prolong.

Harsh hardship for growers who have to be clever

A forecast with ice and frost on the horizon.

~

April brings welcome showers as flowers begin to throng

A carpet of colour spreads far outwards wherever

February is merging with March and April birdsong.

~

The farmer has learnt to always weather the storm,

Never afraid to stand his ground whatever, whenever.

A forecast with rain and floods is on the horizon.

~

Never taking shelter from the storms of life,

Ever ready to spread warmth with a smile.

A forecast with sun and warm rain on the horizon.

Merging February, March, April with a May Spring song.

~

~

This prompt was another relatively easy prompt for me to respond to. As gardeners  and confirmed allotment holders, Margaret and I follow the seasons closely. 

 I’m certain spring is the season we look forward to most, as this is the month when most of our hard work is done. We need to sow most of our vegetable seeds in the spring. We grow a surprising amount of our brassica seeds in large tubs, before transplanting the baby plants into their final resting place in the allotment beds.

We are always at the mercy of weather fluctuations, as a late spring frost could easily wipe everything out, sending us straight back to square one. 

 Spring is for me, the favourite time of the year, for the beauty of birdlife, their wonderful tuneful breeding season when the dawn chorus reaches the heights.

~

~

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

CONFUSION 

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  WEDNESDAY 7th APRIL 2021 ~ FLASH FICTION ~ POETRY

This prompt is from the ‘Story a Day’ site. Wednesday writing prompts. Hosted by Julie Duffy

The Prompt ~ Your character is searching for something…and time is running out.

CONFUSION 

by John Yeo

There is something I desperately need to know,

I must find out where I am! My location!

I lie here soul-searching for a solution,

My mind slips in and out of the flow.

My thoughts are the centre of my meditation.

Where am I? How did I get in this situation?

The answers are there and they come and they go,

I must find out where I am! My location!

I search hard to get control of the motion.

Of the patterns of thought fast and slow.

Where am I? How did I get in this situation?

I am paralyzed with mental frustration,

The clues are there and I know as I follow

I must find out where I am! My location!

My memory was good, many years ago,

Instant recollection, free from sorrow.

Where am I? How did I get in this situation?

My character of the moment is a solitary man who is recovering  consciousness from a massive car collision. He crawled away into a nearby thick, woody, copse, at the side of the road, where he became unconscious. Slowly, as he recovers his sense of awareness, he realises he is losing blood fast, drifting in and out of reality, he begins to search for himself with the slow realisation that his time is running out.

©  Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

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RETREAT

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TUESDAY 6th APRIL 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘The Last Post on WordPress’  

Prompt…. Head to your favourite Blog, scroll down to the third post on the list. Take the third sentence on the post, and work it into a new post of your own.

‘Since soon out there into the wide unknown world’

With thanks to gunroswell and her ‘Rantings of a third kind’ blog.

RETREAT

by John Yeo

We live in our personal space in England,

The lawn slopes to the edge of some trees,

Our house sits in front of our woody garden

With shrubs in floral borders sure to please.

There is a secret path within those trees

Leading to a comfortable place of total seclusion.

Since soon out there into the wide unknown world

A wave of death and disease is approaching.

~

Thick bushes and shrubs screen this secret place

Shielding a hidden glade with a secure, secret studio,

A rustic gate opens into a walled garden space.

A sheltered arbor within, has a comfortable seat

In front of a pond with water lilies a tinkling fountain.

A place where safety and good health can be had.

Since soon out there into the wide unknown world

A wave of death and disease is approaching.

~

A peaceful electronic haven where we can retreat

To think private thoughts and muse now and again.

Numerous birds make their homes here in Spring

Sharing our privacy with their woodland melody.

Life’s mountainous problems are suddenly clear.

Bad news of an approaching viral pandemic

Soon out there into the wide unknown world

A wave of death and disease is approaching.

~

A peace seeps into every pore of our being.

We share our lockdown life freely on social media

Through posts that reveal many random Tweets.

Or adorning the face of any smart-media

From that exclusive, secluded, private retreat.

We lock ourselves away in complete seclusion 

Since soon out there into the wide unknown world

A wave of death and disease is approaching.

~

©  Written by John Yeo. All rights reserved.

THE POWER OF WORDS

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MONDAY 5th APRIL 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘The Daily Post on WordPress’  

Prompt ~Share the Love

Tell us about another blogger who has influenced your own online journey.

Crows roosting by Patrick White – 15/09/1948 – 01/03/2014.

THE POWER OF WORDS

by John Yeo

  It was ten years ago when I first came into contact with a man who had a big influence on my writing. 

  I followed his writing on a daily basis, overwhelmed with his poetry. He would write a long powerful poem on a daily basis and publish it on his Facebook page. It was to become a joy for me to wake in the morning and to start my day by reading his latest overnight post. I began commenting daily on his published poem and receiving a response. We became good online friends, to the point of him signing off by always sending. ‘Love to Margaret,’ my wife.  

He was also a brilliant and accomplished artist, often displaying and selling his work online.

Sadly he passed away on the first of March, 2014.

PATRICK WHITE R.I.P.

by John Yeo

Tragedy; a situation that can be woven into verse?

Not a difficult question for the power of the pen.

Read the question closely, memorise every word.

Take whatever comes into mind and spin it.

I remember a friend I made on the internet once,

A creative poet with a magical mind.

I would wake every day and devour his work

Then we would take time to greet each other.

~

The poetic spells he had woven overnight

Were gems of wisdom and poetic thought.

With the communication of his imagination 

He became a friend, a guide and an inspiration.

Slowly his verse became darker and darker;

My friend was living on borrowed time.

A terminal evil began to darken his verse

As he described in poetry his fight for life.

~

One deep, black moment before the dawn,

I looked for my friend but his magic was gone.

Gone to new horizons to record infinity,

A comet travelling through the universe

Swamped in the starmud of eternal time.

As dawn suffocated the starlight completely

I knew my friend had breathed his last.

Leaving a brilliant legacy of poetic tragedy.

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

~~~~~

Advice from a talented well-respected poet and artist

Patrick White (15/09/1948 – 01/03/2014)

‘I Often employ a Sufi practice in my poems, called scattering. You seed the wind with so many flowers, stars, images, the border guards of front door consciousness are overwhelmed by them to the extent that they start coming in the undefended… back door of the subconscious that listens to and hears everything without missing a thing. The point is to get in first, and then let the conscious mind find a place for them to settle. As for the form, its dynamic, not static and runs like a northern river back to its source, with all the inflections of water, whitewater, still water, falling water etc. reflecting the various moods and intensities of the poet along the way.’ Patrick White

THE TRANSPORTER

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SUNDAY 4th APRIL 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘The Daily Post on WordPress’  

Prompt ~THE TRANSPORTER

Tell us about a sensation – a taster, a smell, a piece of music, that takes you back to childhood.

The boyhood of Raleigh by John Everett Millais 1870

THE TRANSPORTER

by John Yeo

   The sensation that is the strongest transporter back to my childhood will always be a strong smell of ronuk fXxurniture and floor polish. Our school reception area was full of highly polished panelled wood, with a polished wooden floor. These wooden areas were kept highly polished by the school cleaners, using ronuk, floor and furniture polish. The powerful smell of this wax polish will live with me forever. 

  However, there was another sense at work in this area that will always stay with me and that is the sense of curiosity and wonder every time I gazed at a painting that was prominently displayed in the main entrance area. Every time I passed this work of art, I would spend ages just standing, soaking up this image, surrounded by a strong smell of ronuk floor and furniture polish.

   In the foreground of the painting was a bearded man

 wearing a distinctive hat, seated in front of a beached fishing boat.

 The fisherman was in conversation with two young boys 

pointing to a distant horizon with one hand, while holding a fishing net with the other hand. 

THE HORIZON 

 by John Yeo

 A distant horizon, where the clouds meet the sea 

 An unbroken line as far as the eye could see

Representing mystery and imagination to the schoolboy mind.

  A gateway to the unknown an escape route from reality,

The sailor, telling tales of wonder across the waves.

~

  Waves as high as mountains and fish as big as a man.

Huge sea monsters  with many humps spouting spume

Swordfish, mermaids, sharks and pearls in shells

  I would stand and be transported to distant lands  

Journey to  places I was encountering in classes.

~

 Ivory and the slave trade, copra, with spices

Sandy islands with Palm trees and Robinson Crusoe, 

Cannibals and treasure with footprints in the sand.

Pirates and corsairs with cutlass and gunpowder.

Gold-filled galleons sailing the storm-tossed seas.

~

Hornpipe, sea shanties, shipwreck and disease.

Colourful birds flying high above the waves

Leading the traders to many distant lands,

Jungles, filled with lions, bears and monkeys, 

Elephants and tigers, and strange perfumed flowers.

~

Faraway lands filled with milk and honey

With many peoples of the world in traditional dress.

Contrasting strange lives of splendour, and sad distress.

Deserts with oasis and camel train routes from the east.

The mystical oriental thousand and one tales of wonder.

~

 Magic lamps with genies granting wishes galore.

The science of Arabia, the wisdom of China and more.

The perilous journey home across the seas braving storms

Carrying the cargo from ports and people round the world.

Unload a hold full of fish mend the nets whilst ashore.

~

A dream-filled reverie cut short with a caustic shout to implore.

‘You there! Stop daydreaming boy, and cut along to classes’.

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

ESCAPE

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SATURDAY 3rd APRIL 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘The Daily Post on WordPress’  

Prompt ~ ESCAPE

Describe your ultimate escape plan (and tell us what you’re escaping from.)

ESCAPE

by John Yeo

Life in lockdown has become a pleasant routine

Wear a mask, respect distance, stay safe at home.

Escape to the beaches of Australia is a distant dream.

~

Another update with frightening statistics between 

Dreaming of a future far beyond the present unknown 

Life in lockdown has become a pleasant routine.

~

Memories of past travels fill our days as we scheme

To visit distant shores flying above the ocean foam

Escape to the beaches of Thailand is a far distant dream.

~

Hope springs eternal with a successful jab of vaccine 

Fake news and rumour cloud the post-Covid syndrome

Life in lockdown has become a pleasant routine.

~

Sunshine, sandy beaches, rest, relaxation intervene 

We enjoy the present but look forward again to roam

A visit to the family in Australia is a distant dream.

~

The future begins to look clearer on the crystal screen 

Covid statistics show a pandemic in monochrome 

Escape to the beaches of Australia is a distant dream.

Life in lockdown has become a familiar routine.

~

 © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

Unsurprisingly this was always going to be an incredibly easy prompt to respond to, as everyone is currently embroiled in a worldwide pandemic. It is impossible to plan an escape from an ongoing, ever-changing situation. However the poem certainly answers the prompt.

PRIZED POSSESSION

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FRIDAY 5th APRIL 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘The Daily Post on WordPress’  

Prompt ~ PRIZED POSSESSION

Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a child. What became of it? 

 

PRIZED POSSESSION

by John Yeo

  High adventure, romance, and crime.

~

A uniform array of seats and students,

A desk, an inkwell and a blotter,

A dipping pen with a removable nib,

Blotting paper to soak up the blobs

Inky fingers from leaks and smudges

Nib scratching on an exercise book,

Nibs that got crossed from wearing them in

Tailored to the way you held the pen.

~

Train drivers, firemen and cowboys.

~

Then a competition for all the class,

The prize to win was a modern pen

Blue in colour with a silver nib

With a container made of rubber within

That was filled by a lever with blue black ink.

Write a story, an essay or a poem

Using inspiration and imagination.

I won that pen through determination.

~

Nature, gardens and current affairs.

~

I respected that pen for years to come

My writing improved and my comprehension

A prize with hidden value beyond measure

That allowed me to convey my inner thoughts. 

To all around it was just a cheap pen,

To me it represented a treasure fairly won

A gateway to expressing thought on paper

Writing many stories, essays and poems.

~

Experiences of life, love and growing up.

  ~

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

This prompt was quite easy for me to answer, as I had already answered something like it in a poetry group Margaret and I were both members of seven years ago. I wrote this poem which is based on an actual event that happened during my school days. The fountain pen I won did give me a lot of service over the years. Sadly, I can’t remember exactly what happened to the pen but the main section of this writing prompt is answered within this poem. I think I probably outgrew or lost this wonderful prize that was responsible for inspiring and enabling me to put my thoughts on paper over many years since.

The Germination of Significance from an Insignificant Seed