#YA #YALIT #SFF www.amazon.com/Snow-Queen-S...

#EarlyReaders www.amazon.com/Snugs-Snow-B...

#Middlegrade www.amazon.com/Girl-Red-Cap...

wine bottle with cut flowers emptiness grows #haiku #poetry

In the first grade, I asked Danny Pickle if he was sweet or dill. He didn’t understand my wit. He tattled to his parents, and I was asked to write an apology letter. The apology read as follows, I am sorry for asking you a question. 😏 #RandomChildhoodMemories

Oh the sleight of word The trickery the deception Tossed salad served With an indurate heart and a callous hand The oppressive taste Not bitter but bland #vss365 #trickery #poetry

The investiture of the sun In robes of purple and red The day is done And the hero has Gone to bed #vss365 #investiture #poetry #photography

Spring has sprung #photography #flowers

seafoam tickles my toes the stock market isn't God sitting here I know #vss365 #seafoam #poetry #haiku

dime on a stone a brief memory gone lost in the seafoam #vss365 #seafoam #poetry #haiku

It’s April 16, 2026, and today’s mythology-inspired #vss365 #prompt is #hammer! As in hammer of the gods. The prompt feels appropriate for today, because it's Thursday; a day of the week named after the Norse god Thor!

During the storm the waves crash like a hammer on the shore and those things with little wings can fly no more cold and wet to the core After the storm in a moment of calm the displaced driftwood cries what are we here for #vss365 #hammer #poetry

The last word leaves another mute Leaves progression meek A wall against humanity A future left incomplete That's what it means when the last man speaks #vss365 #word #poetry

Once again we've looped around the moon out into the darkness And once again returned to our cocoon To try again with better wings When evolution and desire coalesce #vss365 #loop #poetry

As you already know, @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social will be your #vss365 host from April 16-30. Before I wrap up my stint, I must warn her: You guys write FAST. I've hardly pressed "Post" on the prompts, and the stories and poems come flooding in! You're all kind! Hosting is totally addictive!

In case you're sick of cognates, healing's on the way! 😄 The lovely @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social is going to be your #vss365 host from 16 - 30 April. We've heard whispers of mythology and folklore that'll inspire you and spark your imaginations. Let's follow her down her hosting path! 😊

- the lushness of your scent - i taste your proximity an unseen trail of apricot and almond i'm reminded of oleander under a shadowed tower the sea breeze binds its ache to me, but the words delay only letters remain - malformed and failing to describe love - #vss365 #poetry

In English, it's a retro way of corresponding. In English and Afrikaans, it's a cognate word for the characters, symbols or script in which we read and write. There are about 150 to 300 such systems globally, some no longer used. The #vss365 #prompt for April 13, 2026 is #letters

There were letters on the walls Long before the differentiations Concern for the future man Lost on his way I was here but now I'm gone I left this here that you might carry on #vss365 #letters #poetry

Spring rain: In hard bursts it falls The water puddles pitted, covering the flaws and then slower a trickle, a tickle the surface quivers Then smooth as the heavens recoil #vss365 #water #poetry

When you want to play but you're still too tired #dogs #pets #borderaussie #tilley #photography

A slumbering state where new colours of paint trickle in changing the hue by one shade or two We try to sink back into sleep to alter the tinge and the tint but seldom we do #vss365 #sink #poetry

Some of us who can't, love to do it anyway. Loudly, much to the dismay of those within earshot. But alas, since I'm utterly tone deaf, I would like to have this talent in my next life. It's a cognate word in English and Afrikaans. The #vss365 #prompt for April 10, 2026 is #sing

Even by the tiniest streams The birds are singing There is a silence Before the wind and rain But they always return Beaks open again #vss365 #sing #poetry

Good night #tilley #borderaussie #pets #dogs #photography

#Vss365 #poem Captured in the still of night A grain of my soul still hangs Where it gasped to grasp That spirit of yours A piece of you Flown away Out of Reach Somersaults & acrobatic Twists & turns My heart holds on In the dark precariously #Blind & stupid love, be maybe

- memory is a cruel master – and visions of the mind remain unreliable the cost - a penance for the purgation of my sins i hear a goddess bathing know only shame i touch a father’s blood and feel deceived forever blind - i crave that wet of your lips once more - #poetry #vss365

The daisy with its yellow eye In fixation as I walk on by Staring up into the sky Head down I am blind It finds the sun That I can't find #vss365 #blind #poetry

Mother goose climbed up the bank And there on her left flank a stream of six Yellow fur and flippers in the mix Like a tail on a grounded kite Then over the lip climbed number seven Appearing not as old But standing proud as all the rest And equally as bold #vss365 #bank #poetry

an exercise in using the marks synchronized blues forming restless on her curiosity while the mysterious shades stole a chance to shoot a brilliant arc revealing a time capsule the green ones went first such intrepid travelers, she giggled and he wondered why #WeirdMicro #writerslife

‘I think I need your help. I might’ve screwed up big time.’ ‘Oh, no. What did you do this time?’ ‘I drank a bottle of invisible #ink. I’m at the hospital.’ ‘Are they going to pump your stomach?’ ‘Maybe. Right now I’m still waiting to be seen.’ #vss365

If you're here, it's coursing through your veins. Some even flaunt it on the skin. We add it to paper in print or by hand. It stains and is more permanent than a line in the sand. It's another cognate shared by English and Afrikaans. The #vss365 #prompt for April 7, 2026 is #ink

Those words on paper Where the ink soaks through Layer upon layer In a bottomless pool #vss365 #ink #poetry

In English it also means to weaponise. In Afrikaans its other definition is to be poor. In both languages it's a cognate for a bodily limb. The #vss365 #prompt for April 6, 2026 is #arm

Time to cue the tiny violins: I know I'm only 6 days into this hosting stint, and I was SO nervous to take it on, but you've all been overwhelmingly kind, responsive to the prompts and patient with my late posting of it. Blown away by your talent!Sorry for the posts I'm missing!

Will you cherish me I am the green leaf that grows on the arms of spring I am the bud that lingers beneath the pink underneath the canopy #vss365 #arms #poetry

I’ve found who hijacked my X account

Books with beautiful illustrations encourage fussy and reluctant readers. www.amazon.ca/Girl-Red-Cap... #kidlitart #kidlit

Looking for a lighthearted read that helps kids understand basic facts about climate change and green issues? www.amazon.ca/Snugs-Snow-B... #greensky #greens #greenissues #climate #clifi #kidsclifi #educator #entertains #cute #baby #animals #kidlit 5-8 years (publisher)

I once knew the back of my hands Each bone and vein The way they pointed The way they flowed But what I didn't know Was what they could carry and how much they needed other hands to lighten the load #vss365 #hand #poetry

- since you left me i exist outside of time a dustmote dissolving in sunlight slowly losing mass i am a broken hourglass you left beside the board spilling its sand onto a surface without meaning yet the game persists and i am left awaiting the mercy of a dustbin - #poetry #vss365

However You Celebrate Spring~ May My Thanks & Love #Ring Out To You~ 🌷🌸🌷🌸 🌸🌷🌸🌷🌸 /ᐠ🌷🌸🌷🌸🌷 ( ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ🌷🌸🌷 \ つ \ / U U / 🎀 \ I love you, Aspen🩷 #BraveWrite #vss365 #Poetry #Poet #Poem #Bloom 🌷🌸🌷 🍃🌸🍃Be Back Soon🍃🌸🍃 🎼 {For Each Of You👇} youtu.be/bqZE4ZDnAkQ?si…

Life is the fingers the grains of #sand slip through The seconds of the hourglass Wood that rests for just a year before it's swept away again Life is the print on the sea shore That comes and goes with the wind A billion grains of shifting sand no two just the same #vss365

the surface breaks the rings undulating into stillness #ring #vss365 #haiku

It's mightier than the sword. When you need one, you never seem to find one! Like "man", today's word is just three letters long. It's a cognate too, with the same meaning and spelling in both English and Afrikaans, my mother tongue. The #vss365 #prompt for April 2, 2026 is #pen

A road less traveled now Where the ink flowed out behind the pen Another dip And then another bend In that curvy lane And across the page again #vss365 #pen #poetry

I am wholly a man But if I thought as a woman felt as a woman desired as a woman I would loathe to be constricted by my skin or the helix within If my design was only half complete I would be remiss to hide or suffer in deceit #vss365 #man #poetry

#exalt #vss365 #poetry I exalt love over hate The deed over the dollar The soft touch over the hard line And respect over fear So let's love one another Do what we can for each other Without greed and lust With the gentleness of respect and trust

A red bird on a black branch with no leaves conducting its ritual exposed for all to see #vss365 #conduct #poetry

How to conduct myself I never know A coat in the sun And shoes in the snow But the bird that hit my window Didn't know which way to go So perhaps it's not just me I'll just keep meandering and see #vss365 #conduct #poetry