What does it mean today to be a lady?
Is it a question of being well-mannered and refined?
Sure, I suppose that politeness matters,
But for me, it’s a question of being genuinely kind.
Author: mariasjostrand
Author of Saving Hell, a comedic fantasy about optimism, the afterlife, and a surprisingly pleasant Hell.
Enjoy my many free short stories and poems, and check out my novel at amazon.co.uk!
Value
Ask the dying man the value of a year,
For he is the one who’ll know.
A year will buy him time to make amends,
To make friends of all his foes.
And for the value of an hour, you need only ask,
The boy who took a chance.
He went to the girl he loved and told her so,
Began their future romance.
The value of a second is easily seen,
When you watch the woman who barely missed,
The falling object that would have struck her dead,
She avoided her name on Death’s long list.
For the value of time is ever-changing indeed.
The time most valuable; is the time you need.
Greedy
Suzy is a greedy girl,
Who always wants some more.
Forever a new toy, never the old,
The old is such a bore.
Tommy is getting quite so big,
He never did say no.
Cake and sweets and apple pies,
In his mouth; they go.
Anna is a greedy kid,
Who always gets so cross.
When she isn’t the one in charge,
For Anna is the boss.
Mary has a thousand books,
All so pretty on her shelf.
And she has read every single one,
Even the ones she wrote herself.
And in the end, don’t we all?
Have wants we can’t ignore?
For we humans are a greedy bunch,
It makes us strive for more.
Sherlock Holmes
“It’s elementary, my dear Watson,” he says with a grin,
Though elementary it most certainly is not.
But I suppose that’s just how Sherlock Holmes, he is;
Brilliant beyond measure, and equally smug.
Minute
They say that a minute
In a lover’s embrace
Passes like a second
A heartbeat might outpace.
They say that a minute,
With your finger to the flame
Is like days and hours passing
As you’re only feeling pain.
I say now that a minute
Feels like many years combined
When on the phone you hear a voice
Saying you’re next in line.
Home and Away
If I’m home in my town, I’ll grow bored,
Seeing the same bloody thing every day.
So I go out in the world and I see what it offers,
And for a while, all is okay.
Then I’ll miss the things, the friends, I left behind,
And I’ll fly home again with the next plane.
And there I’ll be, so very content,
Till I grow bored and restless again.
It
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Here’s a short note as to what I thought of the novel It by Stephen King.
Stephen King has time and time again been crowned the unofficial King of Horror, and as It was my first introduction to his work, expectations were high.
King did not disappoint.
I am not usually a big fan of horror, but It was a fascinating read. It was truly intriguing to see how the actual monster of the novel paled in comparison to its influence on the cruelty occasionally found in humankind.
Bullying becomes torture, and abusive tendencies turn into murder. It was a frightening book full of interesting characters, with a well-developed plot, and a truly heinous monster.
A Haiku: Death
I look at bare trees.
I hope death is like winter.
A rest; not an end.
Sleepless
Sleepless.
Thinking about every bad thing you’ve done.
Every hurtful word you’ve said.
Sleepless.
Means that you’re not heartless.
Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly
Joyce Carol Oates. Dutton Books, 1994. Originally published 1994. 28 pages. Gothic tale.
★★
Few people will argue with me when I state that Joyce Carol Oates is a talented author, who has proved herself more than capable of writing stories that positively shines with originality.
Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly, however, is no such story, and neither was it designed to be.
Instead, it is a paraphrasing of the century-old The Turn of the Screw, and this is important to keep in mind as you first delve into the book.
Maria Sjöstrand 