Thursday

Nickers and Ink Welcomes 2011

Nickers and Ink Welcomes 2011

Tuesday

Tanka Very Much


Tanka Very Much

A Thanksgiving Tanka poem.


Latitude for Gratitude


1621
Pilgrims folded hands to pray.
Have we forgotten?
Thanksgiving bids us return.
Now thank we all our Maker.
c2010 by Linda Ann Nickerson


Happy Thanksgiving!



Artwork:
Embarkation of the Pilgrims
By Robert W. Weir
(1844)


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Thanksgiving Alert

Thanksgiving Alert

Just for fun, I tried concocting a “Big Day Poem” to celebrate Thanksgiving.


Here is a Thanksgiving Senryu.

Instant Recall

I am so thankful,
Blessings greater than my woes
Let me not forget.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Want to write your own "Big Day Poem"? Check it out, and see what you can produce. CTRL-click on the title (above) to open that poetry site in a new internet window.

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Saturday

On Writing Copy-Wrongs

On Writing Copy-Wrongs

Web writers are cringing – all over the blogosphere. Last month, Monica Gaudio learned that an article she had copyrighted and published in 2005, titled “A Tale of Two Tarts,” had been copied and reposted (read: plagiarized) by an editor at Cook’s Source.

Confronted, Cook’s Source editor Judith Griggs apparently rebuked Monica Gaudio, claiming that anything published on the internet was public domain and fair game.

Here’s a quote, cited (and attributed to Cook’s Source editor Judith Grigg) on Monica’s own blog:


“But honestly Monica, the web is considered ‘public domain’ and you should be happy we just didn't ‘lift’ your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace.”

In addition, Judith Griggs supposedly told Monica Gaudio that her original article had required considerably editing, for which the writer ought to remunerate the errant editor.

Not so!

Finally, Cook’s Source issued an apology to Monica Gaudio and took down the pirated copy.

As a web writer (with several thousands of copyrighted and published titles and photographs online), I am personally frustrated and professionally alarmed to find my own material reprinted without my permission and sans licensing every week. Of course, legal measures may be taken after such infractions occur.

Still, we have to wonder … didn’t these copy pirates learn anything about sourcing in school? Aaaargh!

The Cook’s Outsource
(Limericked Signs on Plagiarized Lines)

As writers, by fits and by starts,
We publish our liberal arts.
Dear Monica G,
How could one foresee
The piracy cooked up by tarts?

Your history/recipe cute,
Reprinted as forbidden fruit –
Raised heckles and harm
To sound an alarm.
May reprinters bear disrepute.

Bad apples appear everywhere,
As web writers publish, beware.
Inside such dark souls
No conscience patrols.
They operate not fair and square.

Professionals publish to read
And copyright ethics must heed.
But hacks try to steal
What truth may reveal
And so we must banish their breed.

c2010 by Linda Ann Nickerson

Posted for these prompts:
Weekend Wordsmith (“inside”)

Artwork:
Girl Eating an Apple
By Godfried Schalcken (circa 1675)
Public Domain – copyright expired
  


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Sunday

Lonely at the Line

Lonely at the Line



First Lady
(Essentials Agreed on the One in the Lead)

She prances the paddock, her rivals to stun
And then supercedes them in struts, just for fun.
How curious zen could produce such a one,
Divine meditation, ablaze on the run.

A breathtaking street cry combined to excel
This April Fool’s bombshell, who weaves a strong spell.
Zenyatta’s sonata begins with the bell
And flies to the finish, with field gone pell-mell.

At seventeen-two, she’s a daunting display,
Yet somehow still rhythmic, evoking ballet.
High tail, like a flag, signals others away
To summon all eyes on the grand West Coast bay.

Perhaps it’s a game for the girl who can’t lose.
Could be that there’s magic adhered to her shoes.
And maybe she dances, herself to amuse.
Still wagerers wonder, whom else could they choose?

Two decades of triumphs in just a few years –
The queen will retire; her subjects shed tears.
She’ll beckon for Guinness on calmer frontiers,
While fans wait, enrapt, for her issues’ premieres.

c2010 by Linda Ann Nickerson 



Note:
Zenyatta (Street Cry x Vertigineux)
Vertigineux is French for “Breathtaking.”

Posted for a variety of prompts:
One Single Impression (“lonely”)
Sunday Scribblings (“essential”)
Theme Thursday (“game”)


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Tuesday

The Sire’s Misfire

The Sire’s Misfire

"No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell." (Jewish Proverb)

Last Resort -
A Limericked Sway at a Breaking Away

A numbly nonsensical dad
Lost sight of the blessings he had.
He booked his dream trip;
Well, more like a slip.
By then it was too late. Too bad.

He planned an excursion deluxe,
A chance to display his big bucks,
But left his kids home –
His wife all alone –
And now he has lost them. Aw, shucks.

Sojourning with clan from his ex,
He sought to redeem ills complex.
But souvenirs bought
Bring mercy to naught.
Forgiveness is far more complex.

The cycle continues, full tilt.
The carousel spins, adding guilt.
Thus, aiming for fun,
It’s all come undone.
He’ll live in the house that he built.
c2010 by Linda Ann Nickerson 

Image:
public domain art


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