em with pen ๐Ÿ–‹

a little blog of books & writings

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First Lines Friday #3

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted byย Wandering Words. Today’s book was a gift to me that I’m very much looking forward to reading.

My Writings – see more here

Poetry

Dandelion

Sitting for the first time alone,  having bid goodbye to your weeping mother  at the cusp of college term,  dusk lifts your dandelion hair against the orange stone,  and you are caught […]

Poetry

In Memory

There was no single moment of goodbye Just a tapdance of last times Each blissfully, beautifully unaware That they were the last of their kind. I did not want you to end […]

Poetry

The Songs Remain

Communications are getting Scrambled. Once knew three languages, complete with traditional songs. Transcribed politics with my typewriter, Romanced my love with the same, Poems tapped on round, chapped keys – The rubbed […]

Short Fiction

The River’s Lament

How can I convince you, Iโ€™m a river not a sewer?! I wasn’t always caged in Victorian walls, raging in the dark of an underground vein, sunlight dust-diluted, broken by gratings. My […]

Short Fiction

The Magic Mooring

Geshel tied the mooring ropes tight and sat cradling his tea. This mooring had never been free before. It was popular. A comfortable dayโ€™s journey from Cabrin, only a few hours from Bow market, […]

Poetry

Forest

Sunshine cracks through the canopy. Mushrooms, like white blood cells, tranquilise time. There is no ending of things. When the light goes, only badgers and deer will know we are here.  In […]

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I was really moved by 'These Great Athenians' by Valentine Carter. It is poetry, imagery, beauty, humour, and a sad yet hopeful message, all wrapped up in the weave of myth. My thanks to Nobrow Press for my copy in exchange for an honest review. You can read fuller thoughts on emwithpen.com ๐ŸŒผ ๐ŸŒฑ ๐Ÿ‘— Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef is a witty and informative read about a project between friends, which became a successful business, which became a cultural institution. โญโญโญโญโญ A little trip to Shakespeare and Co bookshop - the one in Vienna rather than the Paris one! A beautiful shop that made me really feel the limits of my jam-packed rucksack ๐Ÿ“š "๐˜ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜Œ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ." ๐ŸŒผ๐ŸŒฟ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€ - ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ ๐˜Œ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ, ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ, ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต, ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด. '๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ซ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ข ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜น๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ; ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด.'
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