Nine years ago, I buried my father in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.  He was 86 and an Army veteran of WWII; part of ‘the greatest generation.’  As we drove to the burial site we passed row after row after row of white tombstones perfectly aligned in all directions.  The tombstones reached out over rolling hills like fields of wild flowers.  As I absorbed this vista, the tombstones seemed to speak out, in ever so soft voices, offering untold stories of service to our Country.  Is anybody listening?  Will you remember me?  Do you care?

On subsequent visits I have noticed that many of the graves are of young men and women who never got the chance to grow up and age with their families.  Lives cut short, standing their watch, so the rest of us could enjoy the freedom provided by this great Country.

In the vastness of this…

Let me drink from the look in your eyes
eyes that have me wildly mesmerized
mesmerized under their piercing blue spell
spell that only you hold powers to cast over me
me, with a heart out-of-control in love
love, a whirlwind of euphoric emotions so true
true in not only our hearts, but in our minds
minds, fully aware of their endless thoughts
thoughts so amorous of us entwined
entwined in each other’s arms forever,
forever, still too few seconds for our time together

Lauren Scott © 2018

For the dverse prompt, a couple of stanzas in the style of the Rubaiyat.

What did I dream before the words took hold

Before the sun, the moon, the stars grew old?

I squandered time, knew little of its worth,

Beneath soft nights of silver, days of gold.

The hand, the heart that guide the words to birth

Have grown in strength, an oak tree’s mighty girth,

Your face before me lighting day and night,

I learn to write the beauty of our earth.

Step 1: Read a book!

Step 2: Decide to Write a Review.

How often do you pick up a book without a recommendation or perusing reviews online? I still occasionally judge books by their cover at the local library but mostly I rely on recommendations from friends or via reviews online, and I bet you do too.
All of us readers love reviews!
Love a book, want to support an author? The best way is to write an honest review. Reviews are hugely important to us (largely because, like I mentioned, nobody picks up books without looking at reviews).
Love a book and want to support an illustrator? Ditto!
So, if you love readers, authors, illustrators or anyone else in the book industry, support them all and write a review!

Step 3: Don’t Panic!

Maybe you’ve never written a review before, maybe you don’t know where to start.
It’s okay…

National Poetry Month is coming to a close and spring has finally arrived here at The Farmstead in central Maine. After three consecutive days of sunshine with temperatures in the 50s—followed by two days of rain—blossoms are sending out official invitations. Needless to say, we’re dressed for the occasion and heading outdoors to attend the reception.

These glorious daffodils (photo) in our front garden inspired me to write “Springtime Reception” and we’re more than ready to join the party.

Happy Spring!

~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author

Springtime Reception

Haiku by Bette A. Stevens

Beguiling blossoms
Address the  invitations
“Springtime Reception”

[Explore Bette’s Blog]

Are you frustrated with Facebook?

Irritated every time you click the share button and Facebook chooses the wrong picture to post?

Me too!

What’s this all about? Apparently, from what I’ve been able to find out, Facebook controls this in an effort to stop people from changing legit articles by adding fake pictures.

Huh?

I don’t know about you but I’m tired of the same picture posting every time I click share. So, I’ve discovered a workaround. Well, works most of the time.

Instead of clicking on the share button, try this.

• First copy your post address. (  https://      )
• Open your Facebook page.
• Paste the post address in Facebook.

The link should show default picture with arrows so you can select a different image.

If this doesn’t work, you may need to SCRAPE/DEBUG your Facebook. 

Click on this link – FACEBOOK DEBUG

After you click the…