Mabh Savage
Words and the world passing by; how it sings to me; how I clamour back.
The Wedding
I married
The old stone wall
Hidden behind
The rhododendrons
I found it
When the snow
Angel coloured lead
Bowed the branches
White flakes
For my veil
We borrowed
The blue
Sky, old
And new
And stood in front
Of ourselves
No witnesses.
The Battle
And so begins NaPoWriMo 2018! Good luck to all who are participating.
Constant lies
Puppy dog eyes
Butter would melt
And why why whys
Driving me insane
This is my brain
Pouring out my ears
And down the drain.
Magpies
Photo by me, Magpie through a rainy window, copyright 2017.
One for Sorrow
Two for Joy
Three for a Girl
Four for a Boy
Five for Silver
Six for Gold
Seven for a Secret
Ne’er to be told.
Ok, most of us will know some version of that rhyme, a strange form of avian divination that relies upon there never being eight magpies or more. But have you also heard:
Once a Wish
Twice a Kiss
Thrice a Letter
Four, something better…
I was taught this as a little girl, but this was also interchangeable as a sneezing rhyme.
One website, nurseryrhymes.org, gives us a further verse to the original rhyme:
Eight for a Wish
Nine for a Kiss
Ten for a Bird
You must not miss.
But this seems to me to simply be a rough amalgamation of the two rhymes, with a filler line thrown in at the end to round it off neatly.
Terry Pratchett also gave this alternative version, in Carpe Jugulum:
One for Sorrow
Two for Mirth
Three for a Funeral
Four for a Birth
Five for Heaven
Six for Hell
Seven’s the De’il
His ane Sel.
Another well known magpie superstition is to salute the birds if you should happen to see them. Or to say ‘Hello’ and touch your forelock.
All these superstitions (except the sneeze rhyme) revolve around the idea that to see a lone magpie is bad luck, and by acknowledging the bird you are breaking the curse; dispelling the bad vibes, so to speak.
Countrylife.co.uk tells us that to see a crow immediately after a magpie cancels any bad luck, which just shows how much we revere corvids in the British Isles, and how much power we associate with them.
Pica pica lonesome is a portent of doom, but a group of magpies is a mischief. What magpie superstitions do you know, and what’s local to your area?
World Poetry Day 2018
For World Poetry Day today, I was obsessed with petrichor, the smell after the rain. Here are some of the poetic doodles I did today…
Rain hits soil hits nose
Knowing how it works doesn’t
Make it not magic.
Microbes multiply
Each rain drop
A mortar spreading them
Far and wide
Until they arrive
At the olfactory outpost
As the smell of
Spring
And the earth resting
After the storm.
And finally, a topical one I posted with the tag ‘crap haiku’:
Bee acupuncture
Is not the greatest idea
Just stop it now, please.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my poetic doodling! There was one more poem I wrote today, but it was a gift for my newest patron on Patreon. Please consider becoming a patron; every penny helps me create more poetry and writing, and all patrons receive exclusive rewards and unique gifts.
Until next time…
Image credit: Cymbidium by Brocken Inaglory, copyright 2011 via Wikipedia Commons.
Two Sides of the Wheel
It struck me today that for her entire life, there has been more darkness than light for my four-month-old. Born in November, weeks after the autumnal equinox, she has never known a time where the day outshone the night.
My first born was almost the opposite; born in May, between the vernal equinox and summer solstice, he only knew the lighter days for his first four months.
In fact, they are six months and five days apart in birthdays (plus seven years!); almost exactly at opposite sides of the wheel. I wonder if this will be apparent in their temperament as they grow older?
Despite their differences, and their different experiences with light and dark, they both enjoyed a spring equinox trip to the park. Winter’s chill has subsided for the day, and a pale but determined Sol shines upon us.
Happy Spring Equinox to you little girl, your first day where the night bows and retreats.
Feels like Spring
Sprig morning from last year.
Cabaret 30 2018
SavageWolf performing live.
I was honoured to be a part of this year’s Cabaret 30 event, part of the Headingley Literature Festival. The event celebrates young artists, writers, musicians, poets, comedians and more, and is a satisfyingly diverse night of entertainment.
Read more about the event here.
Microtransactions
I’ve been doing some work for a company that splits all its jobs into microtransactions. It’s a new way of working for me. You don’t focus on what went before, or what comes after; you just literally focus on the job that is in front of you, and have at it.
I’ve decided that this is how I need to live my life.
I’ve spent too long berating myself for failing. I didn’t get that finished. I started this but didn’t get time to complete it. I wrote 2000 words today, but I wish I’d written 5000. If only I hadn’t fallen asleep with exhaustion from being up all night with the baby, I could have finished that chapter. All of these statements are true, but they are also useless. What good is telling myself how crap I am? Especially when most of these ‘failures’ are somewhat outside my control?
Sadly, I’m a rather depressed person, and it’s unlikely I’m ever going to stop telling myself stupid things like this, unless I get a totally new perspective on how I work.
Microtransactions.
I’m going to start looking at everything I do as just tiny slices of whole jobs. If I only write 200 words because the baby wanted a mega feed and then the larger boy needed some help with his homework, well, that’s a tiny slice of that writing job that no longer needs to be done. Even if it’s 1%, that’s 1% complete. Brava! Also, I fed the baby and kept her alive and happy, and nurtured a small boy. Yay me! Tiny actions that contribute towards a larger whole and larger goal.
Everything I do will, from this point forward, be seen as an achievement, not a failure, as it will be tiny steps working their way towards something. Because I’ll be focusing on each tiny step, rather than the hazy, distant destination, hopefully, I can enjoy the journey a little more as well.
Artwork by Nathan, kind of how my mind feels right now.
Soteira
Mirror to my soul
Your twin lights guide me
When I can’t decide
Which path is right
Cosmic world soul
Heart of the universe
Voice of the Heavens
The Earth and the Sea.
The thought and the word
The void and the atom
The step and the leap
The tears and the joy.
The spark of the seeker inside my soul;
The spark of the seeker inside.
The web of the stars
Tiny lights in the dark
Pulling me onwards
Giving me hope
Compassion and kindness
Courage and strength
Mind, heart and mouth
Reaching in; reaching out
Touching lives, touching mine
Guiding hearts, guiding minds
You are the hand that reaches
You are the voice that teaches
The spark of the seeker inside my soul;
The spark of the seeker inside.
For Hekate as the Cosmic World Soul, February 2018 – a CoH devotional project- www.hekatecovenant.com . Image credit: Hecate’s Wheel by Nyo via Wikimedia Commons, copyright 2007.
This piece is to be set to music, and will be posted here once complete.
Mabh Savage 
