Home Articles posted by Erin Zarro (Page 5)

More Poems!

For our April freebie, I was in a poetry mood again. Here are more poems! Hope you enjoy! ~Erin Before Poetry We are made of star-stuff, Carl Sagan said But before poetry I was not a starEmpty, useless, aimlessstitched together crookedcobbled together with dust and boneand a muttered prayer over me I was not a vibrating pulsating thingmy heart lay deadgray and rottedmy silver strands of meaning severedparting gifts no light of creationcradled within But nowPoetry is lifeblood, red-hot and flowing through my veinsfire and tears, leaving echoes where they touched,It is the burning energy and the searing of passion,shining with silver gossamer light It is the infinitesimal spark of creation,lighting me up like a spirit in the darknessfilling me with purpose and meaningstitching me back togetherto myself Watch as my heart beats again, strong and surealive again Can you see it? It is meStar stuff. Secrets You tuck a strand of hair behind my earand your eyes meet minein them I see a perfect mirror image of myselfOn your bed, caught in repose, aftersweet communion.When I prayed the tide of years wouldn’tdrown usand our love was as vast as the ocean I pulled the Lenormand Fish card todayand it speaks of deep, deep connections Looking into your eyes, I can believe thatour souls have spent lifetimes intertwined We start a slow back-and-forth movement ofswings, our hands joined, our feet drawinginvisible pictures in the grass. I want to trace your fate lineand see if it matches mine— “We’ve much too…

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Life…One Year After Lockdown

So today is the one-year anniversary of our lockdown in Michigan. My husband was laid off from his job for two months. I was still able to work, as I work from home and in publishing, and publishing keeps going on, which is a good thing. I had a unique perspective on this entire thing because there was literally no break for me. I’ve worked this entire time, and there was no worry about when I’m going back, what would happen when I did, if my co-workers would be sick, if there’d be new protocols in place, etc. That stress did not happen for me, thankfully. It did happen for hubby, and it was pretty rough. Everything was rough. Him being home, while nice, was a bit different and required some adjustment to my routine. Having to do the unemployment thing — he couldn’t even register for weeks and weeks because too many people were filing in Michigan. Did your state have this issue, too? Once he did, he had to do the online certification thing, which was new to him. Thankfully, I knew how, being that I’d been laid off just three years prior. So I was able to guide him. And of course there were the changes to life in general. No more going out to eat. No takeout either in those early days. He couldn’t fish, which was one of his favorite things to do. It was too dangerous to be out there. We got all of…

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Why Lenormand is Like Esperanto

Hi, guys. I’m a day late, and I am so sorry. Yesterday I felt something gnawing on the back of my brain, something I was forgetting, but I was so busy, and I just couldn’t remember…I’ve been so incredibly busy with work that I literally haven’t done anything else. I mean, literally. Oh, I wrote 181 words one Wednesday in January only because my fellow Turtleduckers forced me to. (And it was GLORIOUS). But that’s it. Anyway, I was washing dishes today when it hit me like a lightning strike: I’d forgotten to blog here. AGAIN. <facepalm> So…life has changed a bit since we last “talked.” I’ve started learning Lenormand, which is similar to Tarot, and it’s been really interesting. And challenging. And frankly a bit frustrating. I guess it stems from knowing Tarot so well, and it being like an extension of myself that I literally don’t remember my struggles with it — it’s been years, folks. I mean, I started learning when I was sixteen, almost thirty years ago. And then in my twenties I continued on several non-standard decks, a big no-no, as there are no pictures to help make associations with the meanings, and I honestly don’t know how I managed that, as there weren’t the zillion Tarot groups or Facebook groups there are now, or websites that teach you meanings. It’s actually quite amazing. Anyway, Lenormand’s imagery is very simple, but its method of reading is more complex because you’re combining cards and meanings to…

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Christmas Looks A Lot Different This Year

…but that’s okay. I am actually feeling a bit relieved. Don’t get me wrong now. I love everything about Christmas — buying gifts, the food, spending time with my loved ones, making memories…but it can be stressful. And this year, with COVID happening and my health being wonky and work being crazy…it’s been really hard to get into the spirit. I am in the spirit, for the most part. I’m excited. 🙂 I’m going to be finishing up my wrapping tonight, and I am excited to see everyone open their gifts on Christmas morning. We’re having a FaceTime gift opening with our in-laws instead of seeing them. We will miss them, but this is for the best, especially with this new COVID variant on the loose and most likely here in the States. Scary stuff! But at least with FaceTime the unwrapping will be in real time and it’ll be close to being together. (That was my idea if you couldn’t tell!). Our dinner will be a bit scaled down, as was Thanksgiving, and that’s fine. Again, it’s just a lot of work, and there’s just three of us eating it this year, so we figured we’d make less. But the menu is no less amazing! It’ll be yummy! But less work which is great, as my mom and I are not spring chickens anymore and could use a break. It’ll be quieter and less crazy, but perhaps we needed that. Every year lately has felt like a rat race…

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No Fluff, Just Stuff.

I’ve been struggling with finding a subject for today’s post, and I still don’t have one. I didn’t want to wait too long, because given the way my brain has been lately, I’d probably forget to post. And I did that recently, and I didn’t notice until the following month, and I felt like a Bad Writer for forgetting to post her monthly blog. So. I could talk about COVID-19. We’re in the second wave here in Michigan, and our governor/health department just scaled us back again. We’re not on full lockdown yet, but that is coming if things don’t improve. Our case numbers are higher than they were in March when we had our first lockdown. People aren’t masking up or following protocols and it’s hurting everyone. Today when we went to the vet to get our cat fluids, we saw an older man approach the vet doors without a mask on. I approached, keeping my distance (because that’s what you’re supposed to do), and he took off. I think he felt my dirty look through my mask, or maybe my fury was coming off me in waves. Or maybe he had to leave. I dunno. But I was relieved because I didn’t want to be anywhere near him. And that sucks. We’ve been reduced to running away from our fellow man because he or she might be infected and we do not want to get sick. Never dreamed I’d ever be doing that in my lifetime. It feels…

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Three Love Poems

Hi, this is Erin. For this month’s Freebie, I am sharing three poems from my Bad Poetry Project. 🙂 Hope you enjoy. STARDUST AND SONG The scaffolding of my hope may never reachthe height of my prayersStill I climbStill I searchStill I listenfor the whisper, the echo, your voicelost in thundercloudsyour song,my foreveryour placea carving inside my heartetched with words I wrap around myselfwhen I cannot breatheYou breathe for me,sustenancewhen the loneliness punchesa hole in my heart,you hold me, rock me,bring me back to myself. You’re my center, my True North, my lightto guide me homeWe are stardust and song,we are eternal. IN THE EDGES OF DREAMS You stood on stage, an angelwrapped in hues of redWhen you sang, it forged a connection between usever brightpast to presentmemory to memoryaching soul to aching soul You touched my hand,a brush of fingers,but in that moment, I sawyou were the missing part of methe part that called to me in the edges of dreamsthe part that whispered to me in the nightthe part I lost in the shadow of time—Your voice soothed my tattered edges We weren’t alone anymorewrapped around each other in pure bliss,joined in this placemade of starlight and promises And then I awoke with the dawn— To think I’d never feel your lips on mineor taste the sweetness of your wordsto think I’d never seehow your eyes captured minehow our life together unfoldedyears falling into yearsTo think I’d never hear your voicewhisper perfect, loving wordsTo think I’d never hear…

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COVID: What does the Tarot say?

So, I’ve been doing a lot of Tarot reading lately. I used to read way back in my twenties, but went on a long hiatus, and then started back up again recently when I started collecting Tarot decks again. And naturally, I began reading again. And I am feeling rusty, so I’ve been doing a lot of practicing. And I wanted to incorporate a short, simple Tarot ritual into my every day life. So I’ve been doing Daily Draws — and that’s exactly what it sounds like. You draw one card for your day — in my case, for guidance or advice — and make a note. I have a planner that I make my notes in. I try not to look up the standard meanings and try to interpret the cards in my own way. You’re not really supposed to rely on the standard meanings, anyway, technically. But you totally can if you want — there’s no wrong way to read the Tarot. I’ve been pulling cards for other reasons as well, for advice on various things, for writing questions, etc. I did a reading with a brand new, very artsy deck to figure out the ending of The Vanishing, Reaper Girl Chronicles #3, which I am revising. As per my usual process, I didn’t actually write the ending because I did not know it. Which is why I did the reading. It was very, very insightful and quite awesome. The Tarot, at least for me, has been very…

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Let’s Talk About Esperanto

I’d rather talk about Esperanto than the pandemic, wouldn’t you? Yeah, I thought so. I’m hesitant to call this fluff because I take languages and linguistics seriously, but sure, for the sake of continuity, we shall call it fluff.  So, if you’ve been around these parts awhile, you know that I’ve been learning Esperanto for quite some time. For a bit back in 2012-2013 through Memrise, and then more recently through Duolingo. And wow, I am actually able to converse — kinda sorta — now.  I’m nowhere near fluent, though, so let’s not get too excited. So I’m in a group on Facebook for Esperanto Duolingo learners, and an opportunity came up to take an actual class in it. A class, guys. I was ecstatic. I mean, there are Esperanto events and things happening — although I think they were either canceled or went virtual due to COVID — but this was the next step. One thing that was always suggested in the group was to supplement your Duolingo learning with other types of learning. And I’ve always been awesome at reading and writing and abysmal at pronunciation.  Same with French. Got all As, took Honors classes in high school, but could not pronounce it well. But damn could I write and understand it.  So I knew this was going to be quite the challenge. And a bit uncomfortable, as there were only five students in the class. Our instructor is a really nice guy, and funny, and easy to…

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More Fluff: Bad Poetry Project

To continue the “fluff posts” I’ve been writing for the past few months, I wanted to talk in further depth about the “bad poetry” I’ve been writing. Last time I mentioned it, I hadn’t actually started writing it yet. I’d been contemplating it, because I wanted to get back into writing poetry again without the pressure of writing perfect prose, the perfect turns of phrase, the perfect imagery. I was (and still am, to be honest) scared to write “wrong” that I wasn’t writing at all. But what is “wrong,” really? A poem is simply a feeling, imagery, an idea, put into some kind of verse (or non-verse), right? There’s really no wrong way to write it, technically. Sure, there’s rough poetry, and there’s awkward writing of beginners who need to hone their craft —like yours truly once did once upon a time—but usually it’s not “bad” per se. But calling my poetry now “bad poetry” gave me the freedom to play. I actually write at the top of every document “Bad poem” and the date. Really! Because that told me and my brain/muse that this was just pretend, I’m playing right now, it’s not a big deal, it doesn’t have to be pretty…and it set me free. Granted, these poems aren’t great literature. They probably wouldn’t win any awards. They might be publishable with some massaging. (Which I am considering). But it’s been fun, and it’s helping me keep my hand in creativity during this time when I am…

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First Soul

a short story in the Reaper Girl Universeby Erin Zarro                 I gazed down at the sleeping child in front of me. She lay in a bed surrounded by colorful pillows and covered by an equally colorful comforter that looked heavy and comfortable.                 She, however, looked anything but comfortable.                 She had one of those oxygen things poked up into her nostrils, an IV in one arm, and what looked like a catheter from the bag that hung down from the bedside.                 This child was sick.                 Her pale face and dull blond hair told me that she’d been in the hospital for a while.                 “She looks so peaceful, Ariana,” my mother, the infamous Grim Reaper and private investigator, Leliel Ashton, said softly.                 “But she’s dying,” I protested. “How can she be peaceful?”                 “There’s a kind of peace that comes with death. And with the reaping of the soul,” Mom said, glancing at me and holding my gaze. “This soul will need you when it’s time. You must be ready.”                 I frowned. “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready, Mom.”                 She’d hammered this death stuff on me for fifteen years. It felt like the world’s biggest burden and not my life’s work.                 I loved to paint. Maybe giving life to new creation offset the fact that I was basically a death angel. The beauty in creating something from nothing felt more like my life’s work than anything.                 Mom’s jaw dropped. “You…

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