Wolf
I still strain to hear
the voice of starless, sleepless
night, flood me with hope;
but, though the blackness seems soft,
its teeth are obsidian.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2025
After I participated in the creative writing contest that @MichaelWhelan started, I thought of writing a series of poems based on Michael’s art.
Here’s the first one:
Gazing Beyond
by Fahim Farook
Gazing beyond the bounds of what I could see,
To dream of grasslands wider than a great blue sea.
This is what I’ve done all my life,
To see beyond life’s general strife.
I dreamt of starships piercing the black of space,
Of conversing in tongues with those of an alien race.
I dreamt of lands that human eyes had never seen,
Of being in places where man nor woman had ever been.
And now here I stand on this rickety scaffolding,
Not letting go of the breath that I’ve been holding.
Gazing again at what I’ve been barred from seeing,
Been here for hours, have to stop myself peeing.
I thought I’d see the next step in humanity’s journey,
To the stars, and not breathing its last on a gurney.
But all I saw beyond that tall imposing fence,
Was not something hidden by the Ministry of Defense.
I did not see rocket ships aimed at the stars,
Nor did I see voyagers going to Mars.
Instead I saw a sunset, all golds, oranges, and red,
As the sun headed tiredly for its rest in bed.
And that’s good enough for me right now,
A vision of a rocket can be beaten by a grazing cow.
Dreams of ships, and stars can wait for the ‘morrow,
I’m content with beauty that none can steal or borrow.
Some background about the poem, and the beautiful artwork which inspired it, can be found on my blog: https://write.farook.org/gazing-beyond/
Or you can find the artwork on Michael’s site: https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/terminus/
Hey friends, my partner has put together a course to help people with the mental side of landing a tech job. Confidence in interviews, finding stuff that aligns with your values, salary negotiation; that sort of thing.
She’s been a programmer for 15 years and a therapist and coach for a few years now.
She is looking for feedback on the course in exchange for some free coaching on the topic.
If you’re interested, let me know! And boost or forward if you like.
I know this is a long shot, but does anyone have an original cartridge or an original rom of the game "Harald Hardtand" aka "Harald Hardtooth" for the #Commodore #C64?
(Not looking for the csdb Easyflash version).
Please boost/share.
#RetroGaming