Monday 29 November 2010

Dark Winter's Tales

I read 'White Crow' by Marcus Sedgewick yesterday, by the fire, in the dark evening. It is gripping and unusual and I loved it! On the way to meet my friend on Friday, I read 'Crow' by Frances Horovitz. Beautiful.

Crow

hieroglyph between hills
inheritor of high trees
sudden wreckage of silence
cry alien among birds

ragged wing flap
startling the calm air
deceitful dalliance
black spy in the land

guardian on post and wall
watchful each in his own field
in beady surveillance
cottage and dark wood


I have two other dark, but funny things to share. The first is this quote from eBay-I was in the vintage book section of eBay, idly browsing, when I came across this book-
Vintage 1948 Spiritualism book called "Voices of the Passed" by Major J.H. Webster.
'The book is in good condition, although cover seems to have a few tiny pain splashes on it.'
I thought that splashes of pain were most appropriate for a book all about summoning the dead!
The second is a joke I heard on the radio on the way home. it was on a programme about numbers, and the final part was the guests talking about their favourite number. The one I liked was this-'664, the neighbour of the beast'.

P.S. Look-white crows!




10 comments:

Linda Sue said...

HAHA Enjoyed that!
I hope all is well with you- you have been on my mind re:work and children and such...
LOVE your handsome header! BEAUTY!

Leenie said...

Fascinating poetry with a lot of depth. Am going back to re-re-read. Love those Freudian typos. Haha. And it is good to know The Beast has a neighbor. Wonder if he has a yard and a garden too?

Stay warm.

Unknown said...

Great post, well done.

Janine said...

My husband just bought me a Kindle because for years now I haven't been able to read a book because of my eyes. Anyway, the Kindle has helped me and reading is fun again! I went to see about the book you mentioned and unfortunatley it is not available in the States! At least not on Kindle. Oh well, maybe eventually!

rebecca said...

love the ghostly pages...
especially under the eyes of your gigantic cat.

Diane Rooney said...

Love your photo... very haunting and perfect for the post. Enjoy the snow if you can ;)

Kat Mortensen said...

I can't imagine what "pain splashes" are, but I'm not sure I want to know!

I love the crow poem.

Kat

Anonymous said...

I love the 'neighbour of the beast'!! Glad you finally got some snow - we now have far too much!!

Shell said...

That sounds like a deliciously dark book: White Crow. I have to check it out.

Lynne said...

I like crows. I like the poem.