Fluffy Towels



What is life if not fluffy towels?

Big enough to wrap you twice

A night looking up at the sky

Counting stars in the Milky Way



What finer sight than a coastline

Windswept and soaked in rain

In the dryness of the cabin

Playing cards and drinking tea



No greater pleasure than friends

Dropping in totally unannounced

A slap up meal and drinks all ‘round

Sleeping bags and pull out beds



What is life if not fluffy towels?

Big enough to wrap you twice

And Sundays in bed ‘til brunch

In the arms of the one you love.



© Bernard J Rossi
Author & Poet

BIO
Bernard J. Rossi has been writing in one form or another for almost 30 years and over that time his writing experiences have been in many diverse areas including technical, short stories, poems and a number of books.
His first short story published was Michael’s Birthday (1991).
Bernard has poems published in many anthologies, most notably “The International Who’s Who in Poetry” and another international publication, “The Best Poems and Poets of 2007.”
His most recent achievements in writing longer works have been the publication of Room 22 in late 2007 and Arlington Reef in early 2008 and Bernard has two completed manuscripts awaiting publication, The Bloodline and The Spiral, which is the sequel to Room 22.
Bernard’s latest work is different from all his previous works and is an exciting move into an intriguing direction.

Bernard J Rossi
Room 22
Arlington Reef

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Wilderness (for Joy)


Ancient trees reach majestically for untouchable deep blue skies

Casting their shadows over crowded, isolated jungles

Powerful cobalt oceans surge in search of wondrous lands

And the crystal sands of deserted islands accept their sweeping tides

All manner of majestic beasts strive for continued existence

Every example an amazing achievement in itself

A rarity each one in its own unique environment

Polished a million times by their own remote wilderness,

Through which the only true beauty of nature can exist

A million stars that forever remain out of reach

Come together to set the perfect wilderness backdrop

Yet one body outshines the combined beauty of them all

She is my wilderness, you are my wilderness


© Bernard J Rossi
Author & Poet

BIO
Bernard J. Rossi has been writing in one form or another for almost 30 years and over that time his writing experiences have been in many diverse areas including technical, short stories, poems and a number of books.
His first short story published was Michael’s Birthday (1991).
Bernard has poems published in many anthologies, most notably “The International Who’s Who in Poetry” and another international publication, “The Best Poems and Poets of 2007.”
His most recent achievements in writing longer works have been the publication of Room 22 in late 2007 and Arlington Reef in early 2008 and Bernard has two completed manuscripts awaiting publication, The Bloodline and The Spiral, which is the sequel to Room 22.
Bernard’s latest work is different from all his previous works and is an exciting move into an intriguing direction.

Bernard J Rossi
Room 22
Arlington Reef

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Escaping

The upper pond is frozen, the waterfall has ceased

Goldfish swim nervously in the lower catchment

Magpies rip at the ground searching for worms

Numbed by the frost and unable to escape

Naked trees shiver, waiting for a warmer sun

New buds form on optimistic branches

Ready for a show in the spring


One week too late, we head to the tropics

Where the only ice is floating in our drinks

And the effortless warmth fills our bones.

Yesterday’s layers of heavy clothes

Have become figments of our imagination

The biting cold of home

Is a distant memory unrecalled


Flimsy swimwear is the costume of choice

Tourists swarm poolside like European wasps

Dipping into water for their next drink

This is the land where love is encouraged

Where the sun encourages new romance

Between old lovers who still hold the flame

And need no encouragement whatsoever


© Bernard J Rossi
Author & Poet

BIO
Bernard J. Rossi has been writing in one form or another for almost 30 years and over that time his writing experiences have been in many diverse areas including technical, short stories, poems and a number of books.
His first short story published was Michael’s Birthday (1991).
Bernard has poems published in many anthologies, most notably “The International Who’s Who in Poetry” and another international publication, “The Best Poems and Poets of 2007.”
His most recent achievements in writing longer works have been the publication of Room 22 in late 2007 and Arlington Reef in early 2008 and Bernard has two completed manuscripts awaiting publication, The Bloodline and The Spiral, which is the sequel to Room 22.
Bernard’s latest work is different from all his previous works and is an exciting move into an intriguing direction.

Bernard J Rossi
Room 22
Arlington Reef

Read full post >>

Animal magic



After 22 years as an illustrator, Helen Ward admits that it's a lonely job. "Although I reckoned on the poverty, I didn't anticipate the isolation," she says with a rueful smile. But you can't help feeling that she thrives on that solitude.
"I'm not a joiner-in, never have been. I avoid book 'events', and talking about myself is an ordeal." But surely, as an award-winning illustrator with more than 20 books to her name, she has to do these things sometimes? "Yes of course. I'm not a mean-spirited curmudgeon. Just shy. And given the choice I'd much rather spend the day working, or walking the dog."
Ward lives in Gloucestershire, not far from where she grew up. Her parents, who live nearby, are artists, and she says she had a good old-fashioned "leftwing, atheist upbringing". She always drew and painted, and from an early age had the freedom of the library at the college where her father taught. "I grew up with a respect for books, and I knew that I would be an illustrator."
Hidden away up an alley, in the damp shadow of a nonconformist chapel, her tiny cottage is fortified and insulated with books, paintings and more books. A narrow staircase leads up to her attic studio, where she pulls illustrations from a plan chest, until we're almost knee-deep in them - early works, pictures from unpublished books such as a ravishing lemur from an abandoned ABC, a tenderly observed dormouse, leafy jungle scenes that recall Rousseau, and exquisite plant drawings that call to mind those intrepid lady explorers of the 19th century. There are birds of every description, from African bee-eaters to harlequin ducks and a fabulous cavalcade of animals, but although there are one or two centaurs and some elegant fashion drawings, human beings are largely absent.
Ward studied at Brighton Art School in the 1980s, hoping to go on to the Royal College of Art to study natural history illustration. But on graduating, although she had won the Walker prize for children's illustration, she didn't get the first-class degree she had hoped for, or a place at the Royal College - "That was a real kick up the bum." But luckily, someone from Templar Publishing had seen her degree show and snapped her up - and she's been with them ever since, developing and perfecting her distinctive style that combines a meticulous attention to detail with a gentle informality. Recalling that late, lamented era, when children, as a matter of course, pressed flowers, identified butterflies and rescued fledglings, Ward, who is 45, approaches the natural world with vision and integrity in a way that's neither dutifully pedantic nor patronisingly simplistic. [Read More]

---

Joanna Carey
The Guardian, Saturday 29 March 2008

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When I am Old

---

When I am old will I be remembered

For who I was

Who they thought I was

Or who I wished I could be


Will my words have had such power

To make people smile

Or will they not have been

What I always wanted them to be


Will they recall that I loved life dearly

For what it is, and

That I knew it was continuous

And always there to challenge me


Will my words reflect the depth of my heart

The love I held

For my family and friends

And all the things that touched me


When I am old will they remember I tried

To always be fair

In all that I said and did

And to let life roam around free


Will my words be known to share my thoughts

On life’s richness

And it’s many great joys

That allows us all to stay free


Will I go down as one who made an effort

To enrich the lives

Of those around me

And to live life like it was meant to be


When I am old will I be remembered

For who I was

Who they thought I was

Or who I wished I could be



© Bernard J Rossi
Author & Poet


BIO
Bernard J. Rossi has been writing in one form or another for almost 30 years and over that time his writing experiences have been in many diverse areas including technical, short stories, poems and a number of books.
His first short story published was Michael’s Birthday (1991).
Bernard has poems published in many anthologies, most notably “The International Who’s Who in Poetry” and another international publication, “The Best Poems and Poets of 2007.”
His most recent achievements in writing longer works have been the publication of Room 22 in late 2007 and Arlington Reef in early 2008 and Bernard has two completed manuscripts awaiting publication, The Bloodline and The Spiral, which is the sequel to Room 22.
Bernard’s latest work is different from all his previous works and is an exciting move into an intriguing direction.

Bernard J Rossi
Room 22
Arlington Reef

Read full post >>