Author: carolyncordon

Wife, mother, Poet, Writer, Art Installationist, Stand Up Comedian, Dog Enthusiast. Spending most of my time being creative in a variety of sometimes quirky ways! I have suffered in my life, I have had wonderful things occur in my life. Concentrating on the wonderful things makes it easier for me to live a great life.
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Good At Writing Poetry, Rubbish At Other Things …

carolyncordon

Being good at writing poetry is something I can proudly claim for myself, so I do. Being able to write both rhyming and non rhyming poems, that other people have enjoyed reading, or hearing me read is a fine talent to have, in my opinion.

My abilities at keeping track on what I’m supposed to do regarding monies that come in, because of my writing, in keeping with what the government would want me to do about it – I’m absolute rubbish at that. It seems to my mind, that I make next to nothing really, from my writing, and if you balance out my earnings over a year, the figures are tiny, and not worth mentioning.

I’m not sure ‘they’ would agree with me, and to be honest, putting these words down her feel a bit dangerous – what if ‘they’ are keeping track on what I write here? I actually doubt many people actually read what I write on my blogs, apart from just a few people, and they’re not the ‘them’ I need to worry about, regarding my income.

Having this disability Support Payment is a welcome thing for sure, there is no doubt about that, but the rules are difficult to follow, often, and getting things wrong can be scary! I’m hoping things may change, with this change in government we have in Australia now, but who knows? I suppose time will tell …

I did vote for the winners for the recent Federal election for a change, so I was good at picking the winner there! If only I could do the same thing picking the winners at the harness racing! Haha, the winners there are the people who don’t gamble! And that’s me, so Yay to me for that one!

What else am I good at? Listening, I’m good at that, listening, to others talking, but also talking in an engaging and friendly way, that brings other people into my talk, so they don’t feel excluded. This is a good talent, because some people are happy to just listen, it’s more restful not having to come up with things the others with them will like to hear …

And of course, chatting with a range of people, and enticing them to talk can lead to some fascinating insights in life, that I may never have realised if I hadn’t begun the conversation …

So creative writing, and useful conversation, tick, tick, is that enough? Yeah, it is, and family and friends I love, and who love me. Trees, birds, beautiful skies to gaze up at, Life, yeah I’m good at enjoying life, for sure.

I love living in the country, and seeing sights like this, when I go somewhere!

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Creative People Have Ideas, This Is One of Mine – A New Competition!

carolyncordon

So this creative idea of mine, it was prompted by my wandering around the Internet, with little idea of why I was doing it, or what I was going to find.

I saw something, which prompted thoughts about writing some kind of short fiction, which them morphed into a bigger idea, the one I’m going to take further below. There may be a monetary prize, for something written and submitted, so keep reading!

The thing that was the main catalyst for this idea, was a website, http://fiftywordstories.com/ which led me to thinking about the possibility of doing something similar, possibly without a cash prize, but who knows it may happen, I’ll decide on that part later …

Anyway, what I’m deciding, (thinking as I type here), is that I will ask, in fact I am asking, for some kind of creative writing, using the image above, and a random number hmm, lets see, 28.

So further to that, I want a piece of creative writing that is twenty-eight words onlynot more or less, but exactly 28, not including the title. And don’t get clever with the title, by making it a long one, the title must be of 5 words or fewer. It can be poetry or prose.

Feel free to take that image any place, pick one thing and use your imagination, or write about all of it. Or anything in between those things. I will do the same, and post my own prompts, two of them, one poetry, one prose.

What I would like to receive, as a comment below, is your response, one only of either poetry or prose, in only 28 words, (title not included, but limited to 5 words of fewer).

The Chase!
Race day today,
best day of all!
Leash on, muzzle on
into car
on our way.
The track,
the others,
all muzzled,
into our boxes
wait,
and ………
GO!

I don’t know this aspect of Greyhounds, but I can imagine, and I have experience of Harness Racing with horses, as the daughter of a horse trainer when I was young.




Oh Jennifer, My Trainer
She haunts my dreams, remembering what could been, if only. Injury-related retirement earlier than wanted …
We both cried, but for different reasons – pets don’t race, or need testicles …


This little prose piece (flash fiction) is related in a fictionalised version of the life of the Greyhound in the photo, our Greyhound Lenny. I’ve imagined Lenny with a female trainer, rather his actual one, and obviously thought my way into his head (or tried to!), which could be nothing like the truth. And Lenny’s racing life wasn’t cut short by injury, the idea just suited my purpose

**********
So I’ve used the dog in the photograph as my writing prompt, but could easily have written about anything in there, the toys, the bed, the room. I could have written about what the dog was dreaming about, other things than I actually did, or I could have written about the various toys, one or all of them, the shark could be musing about the indignity of being used as a mere pillow for a dog, for instance!

The possibilities are only limited by your imagination! So think about it, and when you have your very best, send it in. I’m accepting only one piece either of poetry, or of prose, based on that image of Lenny lying down with his toys around (or under) him. On the 28th of this month, I will choose the best piece of poetry, and best of prose, and the winners of each will receive $28 Australian dollars.

I don’t want to see any pieces too similar to mine, in the content used – take it somewhere else entirely, surprise me!




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New Book Launched, Now For The Next Steps!

carolyncordon


OK, so yesterday, as part of the monthly Gawler Poets at the Pub event, my new poetry collection, “Leonard Cohen Is Dead” was launched, in the presence of a keen group of friends and fellow poets! I sold some copies of this book, and probably made enough money to have paid for the cost of buying them from the publisher, Ginninderra Press, at the author rate.

I enjoyed the day, from the excellent workshop held (more about that later), to the lunch, and the book launch – not too long, not too short, but just right!, and then the poetry reading to follow, with me as the guest poet! How exciting!

Reading of the poem that this collection is named for went extremely well, and I could feel the strength and passion in my voice as I read the poem to those present. This poem is an excellent one, that shows how I feel about this great man, Leonard Cohen, sadly no longer with us.

Passion and poetry go together well, and the reading of a poem with no connection or care is a pallid version of the words, and should never be done, in my opinion. If you couldn’t care less about what you are reading out to others, why bother even reading it? Whether you like the words or not, the listener should be able to understand your feelings about it, by your presentation!

Anyway, back to that workshop … The “(Developing) A Sense of Place” workshop was attended by a keen group, and we all wrote notes, and then put together our words in poetic form. I certainly got right into this subject, and I feel got to what the presenter, Alex Robertson, was working to convey to those present.

In the end, I actually wrote three new poems during the day, such was the ‘creativity’ I was feeling there!
These are my brand new poems, three different styles, all inspired by the doings of a lovely day in a lovely hotel, in a lovely town. I love Gawler, and the Prince Albert Hotel, and I love my writing group members and others who are involved too!

Go Gawler!

Bordered on western side,
where two rivers join, then flow seaward
as Gawler’s built heritage merges
with new shopping centres
on three sides, with train line
connecting country cousin’s dormitory
of a laid back existence
compared to Adelaide’s brash
rush and hurry city-style.
Which identity wins, when
train line connects the two again,
in the confluence of commuter’s
different lives – home, to work
and back again, I wonder …


Those two rivers flow
Near where I play with words, then
join, & rush to sea.


(A five word challenge)
Gazing over plain’s horizons
Envious perhaps of hills’ cool,
And greener haunts,
But truth is, as a passenger
On this Earth,
These flatter places, where
Galahs swoop and squawk
Are my kind of place …
My three poems written on the day

This was an excellent day’s entertainment, for those who love words, writing, especially writing poetry! With the five word challenge, five words are chosen at random from the Guest Poets writing, then those present are involved to write something creative, using those five words, or versions of those words. They have ten minutes to write, then one by one, each has their chance to read their new piece of creative writing to others present. Then the winner is chosen by the Guest Poet, and the winner is given a bottle of wine, kindly donated by the lovely people at the Prince Albert Hotel!

So this event happens every month, and the good thing is, the guest presenter/poet is paid for the gig. It’s not a lot of money, but it’s an easy and stress-free gig, to a large extent, and is a great way to go for a newbie on this scene, with more of a being with friends feel to the whole thing. But we are all getting better and better at doing this, and so really, anyone there, may be the one who most attracts the attention of the guest, and wine that bottle of booze!

For the final part of the day, the Poetry Reading, poets are give a few minutes to read their own words, whether brought with them, or written in the workshop section earlier. And gosh, the quality of the words read just keeps on getting better and better! Because there is such a friendly ‘country’ feel to the day, most people enjoy themselves, and we hope will continue to join us.

This event was actually begun 27 years ago by the poet, Martin Johnson, who was in fact the person who launched my book for me. And not long after this event had begun, I first met Martin for my first ever public poetry reading, so it all felt perfect for me yesterday, like a joining up the ends to make a circle of my poetry life!

Poetry brings me joy in so many ways!

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My Exciting News: Tomorrow ‘Leonard Cohen Is Dead’ Is Being Launched!

carolyncordon

I love poetry launches, especially when the book being launched is my book! This particular new book is possibly my best one yet, a collection of poems about the strangest animal of them all, humans!

This book will be launched by well known local, Martin Johnson, at my favourite venue in Gawler, the Prince Albert Hotel, at 1.30pm. I will be reading the poem that gave this collection its name, and a few other poems.

Then the book will be launched, with words spoken, and then we will get on the ‘business’ side of things, before the Poetry reading goes on in earnest, with me there as the Guest Poet, and after that, the reading of poetry will continue, with readers paying a gold coin donation to read their own work.

It is shaping up to be a great afternoon, and I hope to catch up with lots of my friends! Happiness and poetic words, what could be better?

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My New Book Being Launched Soon!

carolyncordon

I am thrilled to announce my next, and possibly best, poetry collection ‘Leonard Cohen Is Dead’, will be launched on Sunday 29 May 2022.

This is event will be part of the Gawler Poets at the Pub event, which takes place on the final Sunday of every month, at the historic Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler, at 1.30pm. The actual launch will be done by Martin Johnson who is a well known Gawler local, and I’m happy he agreed to launch this new book for me!

I love book launches, whether those of other writers, but especially my own! A new book may mean new readers of my words, and what poet doesn’t like that, no matter what kind of book they write, poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction.

This event will begin with a writing workshop, then after lunch my new book, a poetry collection titled ‘Leonard Cohen Is Dead’ will be launched! And after that is done, I am going to be the Guest Poet for the Poetry Reading!

Fun Times!