IGWRT's - Hallow's Edge "432 Calhoun Street, & Friday Flash 55

432 Calhoun, Savannah, GA:  Creepy even during the daylight

432 Calhoun Street

Built upon its dead

is Savannah's prestigious

Calhoun Square,

where, four feet below,

1,000 slave bodies overlap.

432 Calhoun,

built in 1868, a little girl sat

behind windowpane,

tied, punished for playing

with Maussie's "lower-class".

General Wilson, unforgiving,

for days remained angry;

100 degrees, she died.

Her wishes for freedom, heard,

understood by those below.

by Margaret Bednar, 10-31-2012

During a Ghost Walk at Night

This is a retelling of a horrible story that was told to me while I was on a ghost walk in Savannah, GA.  Seriously, I go to these for "fun", but 432 Calhoun Street.... well, I have never been able to forget it.

Savannah had a number of epidemics, and they would put the dead from these and dead slaves on the outskirts of town in mass burials.  The slaves in Calhoun Square are not necessarily under this house, but in the square... probably under the whole area.

Maussie (or Massey? - I've seen both spellings) was a public school built in 1856.  It is open today as a museum for local history and architecture.

What I like about the first video is you get a glimpse of the square (the green park) across the road where the school children would play.  Forward to the end of the video bar if you are interested in that.  The second video is much shorter and does an OK job showcasing the exterior of the mansion.



(neither video was shot by me or anyone I know).



This is linked to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads "Hallow's Edge" AND will be linked with Friday Flash 55 (after 8pm Thursday).  My story is 55 words if you conisider the hyphenated word to be one, not two words :)

HERE is another link to some photos and interesting information about the house.

The very window behind which the little girl died.

432 Calhoun Street -  a bit of the square is visible where the children played.

Do you see a man's face and torso below in the window on the right? (Benjamin Wilson was a General in the Civil War) & perhaps a golden image of a little girl partially turned towards him in the left window (the girls is a stretch of the imagination, for sure)?

I can imagine he stood there, telling his daughter how she should not play with the school children in the square's park as she was from a superior white family...  and then left her to the heat of the Savannah sun beating through the windowpane and a horrible death as she watched her friends playing across the street.  This photo of mine always creeps me out....  Of course, I'm sure it is a reflection... ?  I was also told he hung himself on the floor above when he found out she died.  (His wife had died years earlier from Yellow Fever)

All photos in this post are mine

IGWRT's - Open Link Monday, "Void"

Void
by William Bednar

Snip, Snap, Clippity Clap
He hides beneath your bed.
Snip, Snap, Clippity Clap
And gets inside your head.

Shreek, Shrack, Click and a Clack
He knows you're all alone.
Shreek, Shrack,  Click and a Clack
He chills you to the bone.

This beast that's made of emptiness
And eats away your dreams,
He'll chip away your friendliness
And muffle all your screams.

Tip, Tap, Mouse in a Trap
He comes when you're alone
Tip, Tap, Mouse in a Trap
And feeds on the unknown.

Snick, Snack, Clickity Clack
He gets inside your head.
Snick, Snack, Clickity Clack
His breath fills you with dread.

This beast that's made of emptiness
And eats away your dreams,
He'll chip away your friendliness
And muffle all your screams.

Snip, Snap, Mouse in a Trap
He feeds on words unsaid.
Snip, Snap, Mouse in a Trap
He'll stop when you are dead.

Shrick, Shrack, Click and a Clack
Trip, Trap, Clippity Clap
Snip, Snap, Mouse in a Trap
Snip, Snap, Mouse in a Trap


I am sharing this poem written by my son with Imaginary Garden With Real Toads "Open Link Monday".  I've had a nightmare of my own lately, with two sick (and I mean sick) kids for five days... I hope no more catch the "bug".  And they are only worried they won't be better by Halloween night!  :)

Also shared at the AWESOME "dVerse Poet's Pub - Open Link Night"

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!

The Mag #141, "Mindless"

Mindless

To  live without
is easier said than done,
for thirst is a raging beast.

Deny not my tempest kiss!

Quench this tumultuous lust,
which insists I get my fill
mindless of fury's aftermath.

by Margaret Bednar, 10-3-2012

This is for The Mag #141.   Also linked with dVerse "Open Link Night"

IGWRT's - Sunday Mini Challenge "1901: A Lady's Craft"

1901: A Lady's Craft

Gleaming white upon ol' Blue Ridge,
sits a time of grace and ease.
Whisp'ring trees
recall ladies displayed
like fragrant lilies,
laughter, charm, and eloquence;
artful innocence.

by Margaret Bednar, 10-30-2012

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, "Sunday Mini Challenge", trochaic meter and the structure is as follows:

(a)   8 syllables

(b)   7 syllables 

(b)   3 syllables

(Internal rhyme c / c) 6 syllables

(b)   5 syllables

(d)   7 syllables

(d)   5 syllables

I did not mean to make the last line so "jaded", but it was really hard to find a rhyme for eloquence.  Upon further thought, I think it does work.  I mean, women haven't changed that much, have they? ;P

The photos I took while hiking and exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway two weekends ago.  I must say, I believe it is all covered in snow right now!   The Moses Cone Mansion/Estate is now owned by the state of North Carolina and is open to everyone.  I hope to horseback ride there next spring and enjoy the over 25 miles of carriage road that is still meticulously maintained.  

 I wish I could say that was me on that Buckskin!

25 miles of carriage roads still grace the Moses Cone Estate

The Carriage House

Fifth Annual Willow Manor Ball

This is the fifth annual Willow Manor Ball and we are all invited!  Just peak through your closet and find something comfortable.  I did!

Oh... and it IS a masked ball.  So what happens in Willow Manor, stays in Willow Manor.  

The elegant evening is an event that leaves us all breathless as we dance the night away or settle into a corner and listen to poetry from the Bard himself!  It is all possible.   Feet will never ache and one can eat all the wonderful food and never get full ... really do swing by.  HERE  There is a linky which enables one to visit all of those in attendance!  The comments at the bottom of the post tell all the juicy tidbits and gossip...

Benjamin Adams

I just put a few bobbie pins in my hair and grabbed the jeweled shoes and ear-bobs from the family safe 

and grabbed my date's delicious arm.  My date?  

As I am sure many of the women will be bringing many poetic and brilliant minds to this affair, I thought I would bring the fun!  

Matthew Morrison doesn't need the girl

as I am going with him, but I'm willing to share.

(the first half of the video is of Matthew singing "All I need is the girl")

All we have to do is say "Darling, I'm yours" and he will take us for a whirl ...

IGWRTR's - Pet Peeves, "Survival"

Survival

A hard head,
a harder hand;

a youth's mind
shaped by blinders
of an older generation.

Breath slowly, keep quiet,
retreat inside,
find the light within
and don't let go.

Sometimes it's the only way
to survive.


by Margaret Bednar, 10-27-2012


This is linked with "Imaginary Garden With Real Toad's - Pet Peeves".  This is probably way more than a pet peeve, but it is what came to mind.  I don't like parents who insist their children must think the way they do on all issues.  I hate when I see prejudices carried on because they were taught at a young age ... I guess that is the nature of many families, but I have tried to raise my children to share their point of view in a respectful way (bring examples, facts, experiences),  and I am supposed to remain the same... which is not always easy...

  

IGWRT's "Kenia's Wednesday Challenge "One Day"

One day

It's not every day one sees

a girl with butterfly wings,
clouds dance upon hill with little webbed feet,
alphabet letters with paws, tails, ears,
firetrucks painted purple,
turkeys shaped like chubby hands,
smiling sun in the right hand of the sky.

One day packed away in a box, tucked away,
like a child's imagination.


by Margaret Bednar, 10-24-2012


This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's - Kenia's Wednesday Challenge, which is to borrow a line from a friend's poem and use it as inspiration for a surrealist poem.  Well, surreal is very hard for me to do and this really isn't one... but I do think young children grasp it quite easily - all one has to do is look at their art work where elephants can fly and kittens are bigger than a house.

This is also for Friday "Slash" 55

The line I borrowed was from my son's poem below.   He is a sophomore in college and I adore his poetry.  (He is highlighted on the side of my blog and has a tiny fraction of his poems on tumbler - he hasn't kept up with it)  He has hundreds of poems and I hope he gets them organized someday.


Tink

It's not every day you see a girl with butterfly wings

Just standing on the sidewalk.

It's funny how mundane things

Like ten dollar wings, street lamps, and kindergarten chalk

Can conjour such a pondrous fey,

Who waits by starlight for her Pan,

Hair undone, forgotten bangs, astray.

It's not every girl, reminds the boy inside the man.


by William Bednar

Poetry Jam - Shadows "Longing"

Photo by Peggy Goetz, altered into b&w by me.

Longing

Darkness and Light
struggle for a hold.

Surrender, I do,
as toward salvation I reach,

slapped back
as evil isn't prepared to let go

'til deepest midnight,
leaving me no choice

to howl at the moon
in longing.

by Margaret Bednar, 10-23-2012

This is a poem quickly written for "Poetry Jam - Shadows".  The image I altered slightly by making it a b&w image. I hope you don't mind, Peggy.  I missed the linky deadline, but don't let that stop you from reading the other poems.  

The Mag #140, "A Secret Whispered"

A

mystery

whispered

"freedom" is born,

as an oath takes flight

and Fathers' words become

law, the Eye of Horus, from his

capstone guards a secret, unblinking.

by Margaret Bednar, 10-23-2012

This is for "Magpie Tales #140".  The controversy behind the meaning of this symbol is rather intriguing and all sides present an interesting perspective.  I don't doubt there is significant meaning behind this image, I just am not sure we will ever know the truth.  

IGWRT's Sunday Mini-Challenge - Jueju

Boldly you approach, swallow me

whole, nudge my quivering knees

as I give way, float

upon riverbed of spent passion.

by Margaret Bednar, 10-22-2012

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "Sunday Mini-Challenge:  Jueju"  This is one of the oldest of Chinese poetry patterns and was very popular in the 3rd century.  It often carried "suggestively erotic themes".  It does not tell a story but attempts to create a mood.   The English version has the following guidelines:  5 words per line, 4 lines per stanza, theme suggestive of erotic love, couplets or rhymes.

Also linked with IGWRT's "Open Link Monday".

The photos I took this weekend as my youngest daughter and I hiked the Linville Gorge and Waterfall located in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Parkway.   It was a long, tiring day, and possible one of the most difficult hikes I have ever experienced.  The second path to the bottom of the falls is root, rock and bolder filled and very steep in places.   I didn't read a brochure until AFTER we completed the hike, but it is recommended to only partake of the hike if you are in reasonably good shape as it is very difficult.

IGWRT's - A Word with Laurie "Zen"

Zen

Crisp
morning air,

cascading light,
a sole song bird...


Can one
breath in Zen?


Yes, one can.
It's called coffee.

by Margaret Bednar, 10-20-2012

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "A Word with Laurie: ZEN (Meditation) 

IGWRT's - Out of Standard with Izy "Laundry Days'

Eero Jarnefelt (1863-1937) Finnish realist painter

(Friday Flash 55 Version at bottom of post)

Laundry Days

1920

Back in the day my siblings and I
risked many a plunge as we draped
upon willow branches above
river's rapid coolness,

while Momma and Rosa Lee,
distracted by fire 'neath the black wash pot,
waited for water to boil, to roll, to add
shavings of lye (cooking grease and ahes),
homemade hand-me-downs to be swirled
& stirred 'round & 'round her wooden paddle,
removing stains, restoring white.

Us young in's helped wring and drape
worn bedsheets and garments upon
nearby barb wire fence and bush,
clothes line up-the-hill seldom used,
as in a hurry we were to return
above spring's swift current

while Elsie May soothed swollen,
red hands at river's edge, and
Momma enjoyed a few minute's
respite in afternoon's shade.

2010

I sit and ponder my daughter's
lamentations of pushing a button,
as grandchildren "safely"
vegetate in front of t.v. screen.

by Margaret Bednar,  October 18, 2012

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "Out of Standard: Whirly-gig the Bounty".  We were to ponder the mechanical nature of the modern harvest.  Well, I stretched these rules a bit as I kind of did the reverse...  (Sorry, Izzy!)  My inspiration is from the book I am reading "Last Ride On Chamberlain's Ferry".  The paragraphs I read truly made me stop and think as I had just gotten done with a TON of laundry (and yes, I complained...)

Laundry Days, 1920

Nestled within the willow tree
beside river's rapid coolness, we played,

Momma stirred worn bedsheets, garments,
and lye* with wooden paddle, heavy
in steaming black wash pot,
removing stains, restoring white.

Our turn to wring and drape
nearby barbwire fence and bush
with our few possessions;

Momma at water's edge,
soothed her red, swollen hands.

by Margaret Bednar, October 18, 2012


This is a shortened version of the above, for Friday Flash 55.

*cooking grease and ashes 

IGWRT's Sunday Mini Challenge & Open Link Monday "A Ferryman, Remembered"

A Ferryman, Remembered

A ferryman once strong and bold
did pole across Savannah's width
upon a flatbed, back and forth,
a life, an age, forgotten not.

A son, his quest to find his past,
did walk a path to water's edge
and sailed a boat below the dam
where once his grandpa's house did rest.

Ten children raised; livestock and crops
did nourish them.  The bottom-land
they hunted, trapped, and life prevailed.
Not mean, just tough; not rich, but poor.

A time well lived, of family,
of grit, tenacity, and love.
America's proud history,
of men and women working hard.


by Margaret Bednar,  October 15, 2012


This is for IGWRT's Sunday Mini-Challenge - a quatrain, focusing on "In Memoriam".  This was quite a juggle for me as rhythm and rhyme are things that do not come easy... and YES... I forgot the rhyme. (Sorry Kerry!)  Please give me a break, and read "livestock" with emphasis on stock :)

I DID write three other poems with rhyme and they were boring and just BAD.

I think we can safely say, a ferryman poling across a river is a thing of the past, so this loosely ties into the theme.   I am reading a book written by a fellow co-worker of my husband, Last Ride on Chamberlain's Ferry, a story about his Grandfather - and a place flooded by a dam.  I believe it will eventually be available on Amazon in soft cover and e-reader format.  HERE is an article about the book and a few excerpts from Dr. Steve Luking.

I plan on writing a poem about this book once I am done reading it, and will most likely write it in free verse.  I hope to capture a way of life most of us can not imagine, but a time that isn't really all that long ago!  So, I hope you look forward to another version!

... but thanks, Kerry, as I do think exercises like this are very beneficial and I look forward to them.

I also linked this with IGWRT's Open Link Monday as I was late getting this challenge done.

Kim Klaussen's Texture Tuesday & IGWRT's Music w/ Marian "The Pick-up Line"

My iPhoto improved with Kim Klaussen's "Oh My" Texture

The Pick-up Line

A Gelding's Boast

Back in the day
when I ran with the colts,
I was an "Outlaw",
untamed vigor,
no cowboy could control...

A Mare's Thoughts

"They're all alike..."

by Margaret Bednar, October 12, 2012


This is linked with Kim Klaussen's "Texture Tuesday" & IGWRT's "Music with Marian" subject"  Outlaw/Crazy.    I don't think this is exactly what the prompt was looking for, but it is what I could do with the time I have available today.

This is a photo of the new stables my horse, Oberon, is boarding.  I sold my horse, Sebastian, to my instructor/trainer and they are now at a different barn as well.  I am really excited, though, as I may be trail riding with Sebastian & James this weekend.  

Magpie Tales #138, IGWRT's Wednesday Challenge, Friday Flash 55 "So,The Maiden says"

So, the Maiden says...

"He ravaged me sir!  I was
bathing in the pond,
stepped out to dry.  I had
no "designs", sir!  No knowledge
he would spy my private sanctuary.

Yes, his eyes ravaged me!  Left
me breathless, quivering, I fainted.

I remember nothing...

I'm sure you are wise, Father. He must 
marry me, for I've been violated."


by Margaret Bednar, October 11, 2012

This is for Magpie Tales #138 and IGWRT's "Kerry's Wednesday Challenge" - an unreliable story teller (credibility questionable) and Friday Flash 55.

IGWRTR's Open Link Monday & Poetry Jam "Pecan Caramel Apple"

MBednar iPhone

Pecan Caramel Apple

I inhale

caramel coating, pecan,
vanilla icing, sugar,
and chocolate drizzle.

Convince the young sales girl

an apple so crisp,
so plump, so round,

can be nothing but healthy.

Guiltily walk down the sidewalk,
glance over my shoulder
as I toss the uneaten apple,
licked clean,

my tongue busy
with the sweet taste of fall.


by Margaret Bednar, 10.8.2012

These beauties are from Kilwin's of Petoskey, Michigan.

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads "Open Link Monday".

Also linked with Poetry Jam - Love-Hate Relationships.    We all love what's bad for us (and often ignore the good :)   Don't we?

IGWRT's Sunday Mini Challenge "The Sea"

Photo courtesy of Jaime Clark

The Sea

Like incense, almost prayer-like, she surrounds, offers comfort.
I desire full emersion, chant my sins and float carefree,
look skyward into infinity and know I'm loved, forgiven.

by Margaret Bednar,  10.07.12



This was a challenge I found particularly hard for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads "Sunday Mini-Challenge:  Sijo (See-szo) which is the Korean cousin of Tanka or Haiku.  Click on the above link for a  detailed explanation of the form, but below is the "count":


3 - 4, 3 - 4  pause  14 syllables
3 - 4, 3 - 4  pause   14 syllables
3 - 6, 4 - 3                16 syllables  (44 - 46 syllables in all!)

I didn't give a "twist" to the ending as the structure and count were challenge enough for this evening!

I have had a bit of a blogger break due to having to find a new stable situation for my horse, Oberon.   The move has been made and Oberon and I have already enjoyed a wonderful few days at our new stable - I invite you to follow us at Just Horses.    My horse, Sebastian, I sold to my trainer/riding instructor and I will still be able to see Sebastian often as he is not far away.

Oberon inspecting his new home (Oct 5, 2012)

Last Day of Buck Brannaman's Clinic

THE Horse Whisperer, Buck Brannaman

This is the LAST day of the four day Buck Brannaman clinic.  The mornings were dedicated to colt starting, the afternoon to horsemanship 1.  I have a notebook full of notes and feel SO overwhelmed... I want to apply them all to myself and my horseback riding, but I must remember "baby steps".

I used Kim Klassen's texture "partings" and then played around with it in Photoshop.