The Foreign

Across our land from East to west,
We built a great walled defense,
From the foreign who live beyond divide,
Of whom we do not speak their kind.
With thirst of blood and human flesh,
We stay behind our safety fence.
But when we cross, to our back it looms,
The wall becomes our grave and tomb.

This is my F poem for the A to Z challenge.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

My A-Z is based on Northumberland, and the myths and monsters that lurk within. You may want to read a couple other poems in my challenge to get the gist.

This one comes from the story of Hadrian’s wall, and the fear of those that lurked beyond it. It’s hugely inspired by The wall in the game of thrones series and books, but it’s our wall and we had one first!!!

The Broth

The Broth, the deadly winds that howl,
And reaps a many thing so foul,
Misty, thick and foggy Breeze,
Seasoned with the salt of seas,
Carries with it snow and sleet,
And blows and beats the north of East.
So bitter wind it sting the bones,
Stealing breathes and nipping nose,
The broth is not a hearty meal,
But a wind so cold and hard as steel.

This is my B poem for the A to Z challenge.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

My A-Z is based on Northumberland, and the myths and monsters that lurk within.

A broth is a kind of soup, made up of peas barley and lentils with a whole load of veg in it. Often ate on New Years Eve, and on cold days. The weather up in Northumberland has been so bad lately, this is where the idea of the Broth wind has come from. A wind so thick and foggy, almost like a soup.

My poems kind of lead onto one another so I do suggest you read the poem before it to get the gist.

The Braves

Standing just at one foot tall,
Guarding keeps and castle walls,
The tribe of which the moat is hold,
Are littles like the garden gnome.
With spears in hand, align in rows,
Await to stab intruders toes.
These tiny brave, soldiered men,
As old as which what they defend,
The wars have gone a battle ghost,
But still the braves defend their post.
Their joints they’ve seized and turned t’ stone,
Til a day may come to fight for home.

This is my B poem for the A to Z challenge.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

My A-Z is based on Northumberland, and the myths and monsters that lurk within.
The idea of The Braves came to me when I was writing The Untold Stories of Scotland and it never came to anything until now. The idea is a small army so old they have turned to stone, or gnomes. We have alot of castles up in Northumberland, and even more Braves.

My poems kind of lead onto one another so I do suggest you read the poem before it to get the gist.

A Storm of Swords – George R. R. Martin

***No Spoiling Ahead***

The third book from the ‘A song of Ice and fire’ series By George R. R. Martin, A Storm of Swords carries on from where A Clash of Kings left us hanging.

With Series 3 of A Game of Thrones upon us, I couldn’t wait to finish the book. And it took some finishing. A book so vast that it can be bought in 2 halves and the series itself will also be split. It’s took me a few months to finish and my, my has it been emotional.

Book 1, A Game of Thrones, like the Series, sets the scene in Westeros, it introduces you to families and the houses. We learn of the Lannisters, The Baratheons who hold the Iron throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms, The Starks of Winterfell in the North, and the Targereons who ruled before being usurped. You are given first impressions of the characters, taking an instant dislike to the Lannisters and rooting for the Starks, but how this will all change in the books ahead.

Book 2, A Clash of Kings, introduces new characters and families, we learn more of the lesser houses and their alliances. We find the 7 Kingdoms separated by the death of King Robert Baratheon, with 4 possibly 5 people feeling they have rights to the throne, you expect this to be something that isn’t settled amicably, and of course the book ends with a battle of the Black Water, where 2 kings clash in a fight for Kings Landing.

With the first 2 books, merely a build up, people moving about and preparing for war, building their armies and defending. You expect book 3, A Storm of Swords to be a big one, with battles, beheading and more betrayal. But this book is more than you could ever even take a stab at. You develop a love for characters you were hoping would take a good bloody beating in the first 2, the chapters in the first 2 which were slightly a little boring (I’m talking about Catelyn and Sansa) are some of the best, with every chapter leaving you in suspense, by ending with a shocker.

In true George R R Martin Style there are deaths (a-plenty) that are sudden and you just won’t see you coming, so expect many twists and turns in the upcoming series.

If you are a fan of the TV series, the books are not going to disappoint. They are everything the series is and more. I feel they are a tad more fantasy than the series, and one thing I love is you hear more stories, told as tales about aurochs and giants and dragons. The book plays with your emotions and I have high hopes for book 4; A Feast for Crows.

The only negative thing about A Storm if Swords was the amount of people in the book, for this I am glad I watched series 1 and 2 before reading, as I already had an understanding of the characters and had an image of what they look like. There is also a section in the back of the book explaining who people are and I do have to refer to this often.

In summary, Im now a game of thrones geek, I even follow them on twitter and this book is by far the best thing I’ve read, I’d give it 10 out of 10 and I recommend you to read A Song of Ice and Fire series.

The Fears

I recently read a post where the blogger decided to share their fears. I liked this, because my brain decides that I have loads.

Since being little I have suffered from night terrors, In other words I scream in my sleep. At what? Well anything, the thing is when I wake up in fits of panic I have no or very little idea of what I am scared of. But of those I do remember, I have been frightened of a Polaroid camera that was sat on a shelf, a boat, spiders and Dracula. In fact usually they are totally irrational.

But like everyone I have some fears in ‘real life’ too…

Heights – Been trying to conquer this for a while now, by trying things like abseiling the Tyne Bridge and climbing York Minster. Climbing to the top of York minster led to a mild panic attack whilst on all fours, refusing to stand up. I was talked through it by a guy with a very strong german accent. He pointed to a rickety wooden ladder up the side of the building and said “at least you don’t have to climb that ladder”, helping me up and onto the next lot of stairs, to an amazing view…. Wouldn’t do it again.
It hasn’t done me any favours, my boyfriend recently went up to the Skydeck in Melbourne, Australia, and I got the willies from even the photos. He is certain he’ll get me to go up there, but I’m rather certain I won’t.

Masks – Ok I admit, this one is irrational. I blame horror movies, proving that anyone in a mask is going to murder you and chop you up with a butchers knife. Kabuki masks are by far the worst, it’s the whole emotionless or blank expression that unnerves me. Even opening the door to five year olds on Halloween is a challenge.

Woodlice – yea those horrible grey scuttling creatures. Spiders, although not being their biggest fan, I can do the whole pop a glass over and throw them outside, but Woodlice are a different story. I have once been confined to the bathroom for an hour and a half till my brother searched the whole of the house to get rid of it!

Am I dramatic? Absolutely. But I blame my mother, and the almighty freak-outs when a butterfly comes near her.

So do you have any fears?

Alphabet Zoo – The Jazz Bee

Exhibit 2, we call ‘The Jive’
Is of course the Jazz bee Hive.
Jazz bees named because of that,
They dance and sing and bop and scat.
Music made by the sound of wings,
The band they named themselves the stings,
There’s bee bop and bee bop skeet,
They’re on rhythm bass and beat,
On vocal we have the Honey pack,
And Bugabee sings and plays the sax.
And after a few nectar brews,
The jazz bees bop in ones and twos.

Harris Tweed is on a Roll

Harris Tweed is on a Roll.

Poem for a Pastie

Oh sausage rolly,
all sad and lonely,
On a tray all by itself.
No pasties or pies,
Stand by it’s side,
On this baron shelf.

These pastie shops,
Don’t have a lot,
By the end of day,
The fillings cold,
The pastry’s old,
And there’s the vat to pay.

Living in the north of England, I find there is a greggs on every street corner! On a cold rainy day there is nothing more inviting than the warm orange glow of the pastie shop, only to find at 5:30pm all that’s left is a wilted steak bake and half a corned beef slice. It’s tragic!