Awake 4am to feed my baby girl
Head all awhirl
Thinking of things learnt
And things yet to be learnt
Never leaving excitement
To wonder into boredom
Leaving bedroom sleepyheads
To dream instead of do
As dawn splits the sky
To tell the day
I am indigo
Now blue
A shade of which
Has no name
I am a palette
Mixed to hi-light
The possibilities
Of etched relief
Named.
©shelltidings
4 STARS
Review – Little Miss Diagnosis by Andrew Perkins
I have to admit my first thought on reading the title Little Miss Diagnosis was “copyright issue”, due to the existence of the Little Mr and Miss books by Roger Hargreaves that are well known here in the UK. That said, my curiosity was piqued by the humorous word play on misdiagnosis. The young girl of the title takes doctors and nurses to new levels by creatively diagnosing and prescribing for everyone’s ailments, real or imagined. She prescribes in a forthright manner, a trait not at all appreciated by her parents. The rhythmic use of rhyme drew me in, as I am sure it will adults and children alike. Whilst I would have liked to have seen a few more adjectives, the lyrical tone enhanced the humour inherent in this intelligently told tale. The effective use of alliteration of “big belly bubble” and the extremely well documented use of the “out of the mouths of babes” concept had me sniggering away. I was also impressed by the determination to rhyme orange with… “door hinge”. Who says nothing rhymes with orange! The drawings are also a great addition with the faces of dismayed characters (including teddy) only serving to highlight the embarrassment of the situation. However it is the young girl who finally ends up embarrassed when she is firmly put in her place by an elderly friend of the family. The extreme imagination of the girl in the story is something to be celebrated and if parents can read this book and impress this idea upon their children, the book will be extremely beneficial. Aimed at 7 year olds and upwards, I consider this book to be for children who are mature and confident enough in their abilities to be able to laugh at their own mistakes.
@ShellTidings (on Twitter)
The Kindle Book Review
Hi All!f
I am very happy to announce that I am the new Poetry Reviewer @kindlebookreview 🙂 Please see http://www.thekindlebookreview.net. I will go live next month so keep an eye on the site for my bio. I am so excited about this! To be able to review and help aspiring poets is a long treasured dream of mine… soon to be a reality! Its a free service too. Do come and say hi or you can check out my musings on Twitter @shelltidings. Look forward to it!
A purer sea
Pours into porosity
Seeping and carousing
Awakening the remains
Of the living once dead
Transporting transmuting
Layered ages mutating
Strata deepening
Levels levitating
Waters subsuming
Digging insistently
Into Past’s sediment
Compressing histories
Altering washes of eras
Untwisting revived lives
Only to hide
Amongst ravages
Stagings and climbs
Abrading points and edges
Turning beings into Earth
Organics into indents
In the clinks and chinks
Of a moment’s present
To loosen Spirit’s binds.
shelltidings's Blog 