Prompt for Poets

Recently the Poets Google+ Community invited me to be a Moderator. I gladly accepted the honor, and I am humbled by Martha Magenta's Pick of the Day.for the following as yet untitled poem. I will give a link to Skylark Hatee's prompt with picture.

https://plus.google.com/communities/115643641182595311608/stream/72be7bb2-e8af-4722-bc1e-627ce6ddac2d

Iron bars do not a prison make,
Lovelace, you were correct!
Nor can these gates restrain me
from the world displayed beyond them.
Bars can bend, locks can fail,
rust can cause even
the strongest gates to crumble,
obstacles will be overcome.
Destiny shall no longer tantalize.
Lift up your heads, o gates,
bend to my will,
allow me to pass through!

Arthur Turfa, © 2016

Anyone can read the site without having to contribute. But try anyway!

In lovely Aiken, South Carolina Next Saturday

https://www.facebook.com/events/1665804396994524/

This will be a fantastic and classy event! I am so excited, since Aiken is a very charming community. Places and Times will be available.

https://www.cityofaikensc.gov/

the official word on the community. I hope the peach orchards will be in blossom.

I always liked bagpipes

    I have no Scots blood in me, but maybe it;;s because as a young boy I saw a French and Indian War re-enactment or two.  One day when I was in high school I was walking around the woods (now sadly big homes are there). Hearing the sounds of the pipes, I followed themj chatted with the young woman, whom I knew slightly.

        

Kilt-clad, reed-playing pipers
In a circle arranged between-
The trees there- lightly played
The drummers, softly touching
The drum skins, stroking them
As they would a child’s silken hair.

Around them all, the trees’ tartans
Falling downward. Suddenly,
There between branch and ground,
Wrinkled leaf did meet\the highland tune
And for an instant- danced, gaily skipping=
Before falling down, ever down, until
Touching ever-increasing piles.

A charmed moment appeared to me.
Once again I am three feet tll.
The wooden palisades, the oak and maple
Hills are glowing in October.

The melody-laden air cuts sword-like
Emory’s thread and I clutch my book
And depart.
Arthur Turfa, copyright 1974, 2016

Tha' was nae the lassie!

I broke down and....

....ordered one of thos PayPal swipers for my phone. https://squareup.com/get-a-reader?gclid=Cj0KEQjw3Le4BRDxx5bk4aDn9t4BEiQAfmxQGXH2mHbTrbs76b5cesKQ_yGbtjReSNti_r4QdO9DtW8aAgC58P8HAQ&pcrid=48975732217&pdv=c&pkw=phone+credit+card+swipe&pmt=b

I will be using this in Aiken South Carolina, soon.

http://www.diannshaddoxfoundation.org/aiken-wine--sign-event.html

Did Led Zeppelin "Borrow" for their Iconic Hit?

     When I read the story in the Guardian, I thought I heard a "Oh wow, man!" emanating from legions of aging hippies and Led Zeppelin followers.  "Stairway to Heaven" NOT a Page-Plant composition?

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/12/stairway-to-heavens-opening-chords-may-have-been-stolen-judge-says

     I always liked the band, and realized that they were more than heavy metal, C-F-G chords struck and over-amplified ad nauseum. The lat Yardbirds LP, "Little Games" shows a pronounced acoustic, mellow side to the band. for the first few appearances, what we know as Led Zeppelin was billed as the New Yardbirds.

    If you go back far enough, there was a flap about Page "borrowing" Bert Jansch's arrangment of "Blackwaterside".  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_by_Blackwaterside

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Gcu0Sv6lk  - Jansch


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M10dZwdtw4s&nohtml5=False - Page, who does not sing ever.

My guitar expertise does not suffice to comment on the musical part of this, but I know what I hear and what I read sounds plausible.

    Certainly this sort of thing went on for centuries, and only now we can track it. But a "thank you" would not have hurt.

    Earlier in my life I wanted to be a lawyer. Now I wish I had done so, if only to have gotten a piece of the action from the lawsuits that will come.

Wonderful Review from Lady Sara for "Places and Times"

http://the-drunken-druid.blogspot.ie/2016/04/places-and-time.html

Many thanks! I like how she saw things in the book that I hoped I had put into it. These reviews are honest, and I am touched to hear such nice things. Thanks again, Lady Sara!

Wine & Sign in Aiken, SC Saturday, 23 April

http://www.diannshaddoxfoundation.org/aiken-wine--sign-event.html

    The link has it all. I am excited to be part of this event, and am glad to go back to this lovely community in the peach country, halfway between Columbia, SC and Augusta, GA. Places and Times will be among the works from nearly two dozen authors.