All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
Spellbound by Reading
Tag Archives: war
My Dearest
(Poem 249 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
(At the beginning of the series.) https://images.app.goo.gl/TBVDoMZHe5YgNMwK7 https://images.app.goo.gl/dUFyreACvk9uV5Qo7
She’s selfish and high maintenance,
flirtatious, rude, and self-centered.
Her vanity is unmatched, and her
intentions immature and materialistic.
He is a womanizer, intent on remaining
unmarried and able to sow his wild oats.
His loyalty is only to himself and wealth,
and never becoming burdened by love.
With time and travail, the realities of
war, loss, separation, and the ordeal
of survival, she grows into a woman
of substance, and he, an honorable man.
@Home Studio – 249th poem of the year (After watching the Korean drama My Dearest.)
Kim Seong-yong, My Dearest. Namkoong Min, Ahn Eun-jin, MBC, 9ato Entertainment, 4 Aug–-18 Nov 2023.
(At the end of the series.) https://images.app.goo.gl/bdmUkA2SMwYtvapu7 https://images.app.goo.gl/NsNfnaKYvrEqAzJs5
Turtle House
(Poem 212 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/BsWO3A https://gencraft.ai/p/FYxwx0
Auspicious stone turtles
stand guard, gargoyles of
destiny, good fortune baked
into their shells, assuring the
dwelling longstanding fortune.
The turtles in the pond
fight for bits of mushy carrot,
stale bread, and greens,
unaware of the larger battle
being fought in the sky pond
by Grummans and Warhawks.
The people swim and love,
dream and hope, serve an
emperor or a president who
demands unwavering loyalty,
and wonder when peace will
fill the turtle house again.
@Home Studio – 212th poem of the year (After reading The Turtle House by Amanda Churchill.)
Churchill, Amanda. The Turtle House. Harper Collins, 2024.
Runner ups for the Turtle House photos to accompany my poem:
Dragon War House of the Dragon
(Poem 204 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
“…no war so bloody as a war between dragons.” -Rhaneys Targaryen
Brother betrays brother
in airborne battle astride
gods in the form of dragons.
Perhaps a wiser head could
tame the madness and set
things straight with the rash
youth whose lust for power
outpaces both decency and
justice, but alas, even she
cannot withstand death by
fire when both dragon and
warrior’s time has come.
Peace to Meleys and Sunfyre.
@Home Studio – 204th poem of the year (after watching House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4.)
Condal, Ryan and George R. R. Martin, creators. House of the Dragon. HBO Entertainment and Warner Bros., 2024.
Runner ups for the Dragon War photos to accompany my poem:
The Women
(Poem 199 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/hls2hj https://gencraft.ai/p/DO4ZyC
10,000 American military women
served in Vietnam and risked their
lives right alongside the boys sent
to die in the boonies and crash in
the Hueys and swelter in country.
Doctors, nurses, air traffic control,
intelligence, not to mention the
civilian women who were news
correspondents, or worked for the
USO, Red Cross, Special Services,
Donut Dollies, the list goes on…
witnessed the atrocities of war,
the wounds that have yet to heal,
the loss of limb, life, sanity, and
humanity that stole the future of
so many who perished there in the
jungles or continued their descent
to despair for years to come thanks
to Agent Orange, depression, Hep-C,
cancer, and a big giant dose of PTSD.
And then they were welcomed home
by jeers, protests, being spit on and
insulted, reviled for their sacrifices,
and despised for their acts of service.
They were lied to and lied about, but
mostly they lied to themselves to
survive each day; how else could
they believe that all would be well,
and unfortunate sons and daughters
would get together and be alright?
@Home Studio – 199th poem of the year (After reading The Women by Kristin Hannah.)
Hannah, Kristin. The Women. St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2024.
Runner ups for the Vietnam photos to accompany my poem:
Impossible Peace House of the Dragon
(Poem 197 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
The Hatfields and McCoys-like family feud
that was the Brackens and Blackwoods
paled in comparison to the bodies used
for fodder by those fighting for the throne.
The Dance of Dragons has begun in earnest,
despite the unspoken awareness by all that
bloodshed of kin by kin is a most appalling
form of violence to the gods of their ancestors.
While the men gnash their teeth, and their
dragons chomp at the bit, the women kneel
before alters of stone lighting candles and
whisper of impossible peace, the intent of
kings, and the wishes for undoing wrongs.
@Home Studio – 197th poem of the year (after watching House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3.)
Condal, Ryan and George R. R. Martin, creators. House of the Dragon. HBO Entertainment and Warner Bros., 2024.
Runner ups for the Queen Prayers photos to accompany my poem:
War
(Poem 130 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
“Vengeance is mine,” sayeth Ceasar, until his
apemanity kicks in and he is able to be better
than human and allow mercy to unfold naturally.
Who gets to determine the value of a life on
this rock hurtling through space we call home?
Does intellect trump simple existence or one
form of communication imply worth over another?
Is birdsong less a language than human speech
or an elephant’s rumble less valid than words?
Someone I know once said their life would not
be affected by animals going extinct and it
made me sad because I believe the tiny pieces
of our humanity that perish with each species
we forget to save hasten our own souls’ decay.
@Home Studio (after watching War for the Planet of the Apes at Greg’s house with Greg and his family, Debbie, and Celinda on 5/18/24) – 130th poem of the year
Matt Reeves et al., War for the Planet of the Apes. Los Angeles, CA, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2017.
Runner ups for the War of Apes photos to accompany my poem:
Planet of the Apes
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
Cheetah and Dahlia
(Poem 74 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)
The epic battle between
cheetah and dahlia
lasted more than two moons.
No one knew who fate would
favor, though all took sides.
Spider and owl both fought
valiantly on the side of dahlia.
Scorpion and crow stood with
cheetah, as they do to this day.
Allegiances were forged,
lifelong friendships shattered;
the forest was never the same.
Some say dahlia attacked first,
jealous that cheetah was not
faithful, others say cheetah
was the original aggressor,
retaliation for a lost cub.
Whoever initiated matters not,
for the havoc and destruction
was total, the bloodshed dire.
Had serpent and beetle not
teamed up, all would have
been lost in the bloody mire.
As cheetah lay dying from
serpent’s bite, dahlia fell,
devastated by beetle’s hunger.
And to this day, there is
animosity among the animals,
where once there was union.
Such are the ways of love
and war; there are no victors.
@Home Studio – 74th poem of the year
Runner ups for the cheetah flower photos to accompany my poem:
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