I hope you will like it and watch this space for more possible exciting news regarding an illustrated version of the poem.

I hope you will have a wonderful Christmas and thank you so much for reading my words.

Thank you for reading

Have a wonderful Christmas

And a great New Year

My figure was once beautiful,

My name whispered by mortal men.

Now my name is foreign to their lips.

They stumble over it

As if it were made of stone.

As I if I were some old lover from a past,

Replaced by another. Remembered

In vague memories,

But with nothing there worth dwelling on. 

I hope you had a nice weekend. I certainly did, with most of the fun being on Saturday.

What happened on Saturday? I imagine you asking.

I’m so glad you asked. On Saturday, I went into Glasgow and was part of an Instagram meetup. For those of you who don’t know what instagram is, let me tell you. It is an iPhone camera app. It’s kind of like twitter with pics instead of tweets but also like facebook with the likes and comments.

If I am clever and remember, I will put a link HERE. (Unfortunately, you need to view the instagram pics through the app but check out flickr and twitter

The Event was organised by @igersscotland (aka @nannyf) other members of our merry band were; @ladrumbot @lupsv @mmosoca @r2builder @shazzerini  @socobloke @socobird @t_baws and pics were tagged #scotwalk1

They all took amazing pics and unbelievably for Scotland in November, there were blue skies and sunshine….and no rain.

We met up in George Square. As it was the first time we had met, it was wise to look out for people playing with their iPhones.

Their prayers fall upon deaf ears.

There are no gods left and

Even if there were, we would not help.

I have been blind now for many years,

The smog from the city burns my eyes,

But I doubt much has changed.

They that wander below go no where.

They replaced us for another god

And now he feels our pain.

He is second to a god

That gives them their heart’s desire.

How long before he is carved

Into this sandstone,

Like a gargoyle?

We walked along George Street and up to the gardens where the maternity hospital once stood. The sun continued to shine and we went onwards, past the High Kirk of Glasgow and up to the Necropolis. There we wandered round the graves as the sun set.

My figure is scratched away

Layer by layer until I cannot feel a thing.

But hell hath no fury than

A woman scorned,

Or forgotten. So I wait

With those who hide against the sandstone,

Where human eyes glaze over us,

As we forgotten gods hold their arches

And their proud buildings tall.

Then we headed back into Glasgow, where I had to bid farewell.

Why?

I had to return to Falkirk and then onto Linlithgow so that I could hear my friend perform at an open mic event that was part of the Linlithgow Book Festival.

I enjoyed the performances of the other speakers but I really enjoyed the poem that you my have noticed in this post. The poem is called Aphrodite and my friend’s name is Karyn Dougan (@missnovocaine on twitter, next time you’re there, please tell her how amazing her poem is). Karyn also recited a short story, but that will be for another time…

On Mondays (not necessarily every Monday), I shall post Dave the Zombie or other zombie stuff (zombiehaiku may appear randomly so keep a look out)

I will also be continuing on my Doctor Who quest (to watch/listen to all the episodes in order) and I will post other Doctor Who related stuff from time to time. I think I shall post these on Tuesdays.

Wednesdays will be a day for poems and pixels, as the name suggests, a poem and a picture.

I have also stated a new blog called Simon’s Stanzas which will be where my haikus and short stories may find a home. I have posted (and lost track of) so many haiku on twitter that I thought that I should create a home for them, especially after some previous haiku had been reintroduced to me. I would also like to have some guest spots on here for the awesome writers/poets that I have encountered on twitter. If these people will agree to be guests, I shall post on Thursdays.

Which leaves Fridays, where I will post here at Simon’s (a)musing. I may use this to ramble on about something or just an update of my week or if I have any guests at the above blogs, I shall mention it here.

I also have a neglected baseball blog that time has prevented me from expanding but I may add the occasional baseball book review or some such.

Congratulations to Jenny. The book will be winging its way to you sometime this week.

Many thanks to all who entered.

One such author is Falkirk born Alan Bissett and he has just released his fourth novel, Pack Men, this week.

And I have a signed copy to give away.

If you would like to be in with a chance of winning this very good book, simply leave a comment below.

The closing date for this will be 30th September, after which I will put your names in a hat and draw the lucky winner.

Good luck…

A glorious Sunday, early evening. Time for a walk…

The weather was beautiful and the views stunning…

Time to enter the forest…

But first, I look at the blue sky above…

There are so many decisions to make…

But what is this I spy through the trees…?

It is an aquaduct ~ The Union canal is contained there…

I pause to snap a flower…

While this fellow watches on…

If you wish to see where I walked, please click here

Thank you for joining me on my walk.

I began my walk by walking along the Union canal, but it was once I walked into the woods that I got the camera out…

Woodland path

Trees

Alas, I didn’t see any squirrels in the treetops but if I had, I would have been able to get a better pic…

Further along the path

This path leads up to the Falkirk monument…

Remembering the second battle of Falkirk

Here is a picture of the plaque…

The second battle of Falkirk - 1746 (not as famous as Culloden)

As I was taking these pics, I had the feeling that I was being watched…

What are you looking at?

This stretch of the walk is next to a road and some of the plantlife here allowed me to test the macro ability of the camera…

Macro Shot

I also saw a treat for the birds…

Fresh Raspberries

It’s not just trees that are in this forest…

A wired forest

Even when walking in the depths of the forest, you can see the light ahead…

Walking towards the light

Some trees have been removed over the past few years in order to make the paths easier to walk on…

Textured stump

Open spaces allow me to try a panoramic shot…

The path is not curved

and another…

The view from the gate

and finally…

View from the viewpoint

There are so many decisions to make when walking…

Decisions, decisions

And it’s important to put your best foot forward…

My left foot

Summer is a time for swooping swallows but these guys were taking a break…

Swallows on a fence

These fellows were looking at the swallows but weren’t as impressed…

Cows and calves

I had the chance to capture some more wildlife, this time in macro mode…

Macro Bee

I finally arrived at the Falkirk wheel…

The Wheel in motion

Insert barge in here

A closer look at the mechanisms that turn the wheel

How the wheel keeps the water level

Almost at the top

The red barge reaches the top

There were rain clouds above and it started raining just before I returned home but there wasn’t enough wind to spin these…

Distant windmills

That concludes my journey. I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and if you have, THANK YOU…

Now, I wonder what else this camera can do…

A palace with an unusual spire

I treated myself to a new camera and went for a walk in the woods [watch this space] but before I had a full day to play with my new camera, I gave it a test run at Linlithgow.

A welcome sight

I was welcomed by the sight of this swan swimming on the lake along with some other feathered friends which allowed me to play with the panoramic setting on the camera…

An experiment with the panoramic setting

I also saw a duck having a drink…

A thirsty duck

A swan having a preen…

Elegant swan

A cygnet having a swim…

A fluffy youngster

A proud parent and cygnet spending some time together…

Swimming at twilight

And a last view of the Palace spire…

Spire

Have you had a quandary about whether to carry on and edit or rewrite from scratch?

What did you do?

Did it work?

My face still remains numb but feeling should return in time.

Thank you so much for your support, it really means a lot.