MILY THE MILLENNIAL - Shameless self-promo for my Book In-Progress
Hi Y'all -
My name is Kailey. I've been writing the best book of my life (so far), and I am nearing the end of my final draft as I type this. I would love this story to reach some readers ahead of time, and any/all thoughts are more than welcome.
Mily the Millennial is a #ClimateFiction / #Metafiction novel inspired by the Crossroads - Otherwise known as the state of Indiana. I grew up there, and it shows. As a place most people know only by driving or flying through, I wanted to write something that shows off the best parts of it. Here's what I say about the novel:
Mily the Millennial is a tall-tale. Facts should be taken at face-value, and Fiction must be taken seriously. Readers who experience confusion should try their hand at Euchre and return to the start of the story after.
Link to the First Chapter, I. ROOTS AND FACTORS:
https://theprose.com/post/422312/i-roots-and-factors
Follow me @bykaileyann on Instagram & Twitter for frequent updates!
Best,
@bykaileyann / @DANdeLION_Page
“Old English” - Flash Fiction
I have to teach the Standards, but, the standards are such an imposition. This must be the upteenth time I’ve thought that, but, before this Pandemic, kids were more tight-lipped. Am I terrible for missing the way they used to just stare at me?
Wait, come’on now. You don’t feel that way, not really. Truth is, these kids learned engagement on-screen. I mean, everything seems clearer in HD, with LED. I keep saying to myself that TikTok’s to blame, but that’s insane, because I had a MySpace back in the day. It’s all the same really.
Exactly four kids in class read last night like I asked. Twenty-percent isn’t good enough; it’s not what’s being asked of Me. I wish I could just snap my fingers and make them see our standards of learning aren’t meeting kids’ needs.
Could I just start with that? Snap-snap.
Oh, woops - the kids are staring. I should have planned what I was going to say before tasking their attentions.
“I’d like to know what you all think of Beowulf so far,” I decided on after a few moments’ pause to collect my thoughts.
At least half the class exchanged scrunched-up looks; the other half set their faces into the walls, windows, and tops of their desks.
“I don’t get it,” one kid who’d read said.
“It’s... boring,” said another who hadn’t - but their tone expressed they had sincerely tried.
“Tedium is the worst pain,” I offered. Grendel. If Dark Age heroism doesn’t grip them, maybe John Gardner’s antihero will.
“So why are you making us do this?” demanded a student who was almost always on the edge of having had enough.
I thought carefully before responding. Why was I making them do this? The quick answer is that it’s on the required reading list, but kids don’t/won’t care about that. Besides, I have a degree in English and love reading, and I couldn’t be swayed to like Math at their age, either.
“Wyrd oft nered unfaegne, eorl, ponne his ellen deah,” I answered in a deep, practiced voice.
Giggles. Exchanges. Raised hands. Outburst of, “WHAT?”
Grinning, I rephrased: “If you’ve got the guts, you’re not doomed.”
* * * * *
@bykaileyann
#flashfiction #fiction #prose
“Trade” Haiku
Barter when you can
It saves more than you would think
The gains are good too
* * * * *
@DANdeLION_Page \ @bykaileyann
#haiku #poetry #prose
Alchemy
Go Gold
A Mold
Which Stays
And Shapes
Things Molten
Not Grown
Hard Enough
To Touch
Or Claim
Idle Name
By Design
Or Trade
After Being
Solid Made
Cold As
Idol Stones
* * * * *
/ n o t a r e
#freeverse #poetry #prose
“Fast Fact Madness Equated to the Answer to Life, 42”
Me, racing the clock in class, doing fast-facts when I was eight ~
Six times six is thirty-six
Six times nine is fifty-four
Six times ten is sixty -
easy!
Six times seven is
Six times seven... is
Six-times-seven-is-six-times-seven-is...
Six. Times. Seven. Is.
Forty-six!
Missed two half-points for not finishing, and one whole point for answering six-times-seven wrong, as I recall.
* * * * *
/ n o t a r e
#poetry #freeverse #prose
Reminder: Self-Imposed Deadlines Are Impending — Please mark as read to confirm receipt of ‘author’s terms’
Waxing gibbous moon
Lunacy wanes at half-past
Full strawberry noon
* * * * *
/ n o t a r e
MILY THE MILLENNIAL
https://theprose.com/book/3224/mily-the-millennial
#haiku #prose #poetry #metafiction #magicalrealism #fantasy
almost but still not clear ~
Skyfalls beckon black
where once sail’d the weepers,
those which first left the leaves
byway of space breath;
hail’d air the sum
of toss’d seed upon that breeze,
Immaculate
Wayward parachutes
surpass’d the bygones
when rain’d a tale-spun
worldwind
beyond the reach
of wordly depiction -
Ado to ‘Indescribable’
a stoker of fear in matters
and rather timid inof
unfolding therein the crease,
Indefiniton:
Call’d forth
for all its syntaxes,
lest quantom leagues
of Most High
and gallant galaxies
abide.
For(e)fathers
American President (1941) - FDR and the Four Freedoms
https://www.fdrlibrary.org/four-freedoms
-----
A measured reply by @DANdeLION_Page -->
1. Freedom of Speech
“The first is freedom
of expression everywhere...” -->
My dad made me wise
enough to say my piece when
words grow in my gut.
Wisdom lends freedom;
wield the tongue wisely and live
like words are water.
Creeks and rivers prize
the earth plains ground in passing
by and by again.
My dad always says
nothing’s harder to earn back
than trust once it’s lost.
Life and praise give rise
to thirsts that overcometh
like the rain washes.
-----
2. Freedom of Worship
“Second is freedom
of ev’ry person to [live
and praise their] own way...” -->
My mom’s husband once
said worst thing I got going
was preferring one
pew over another one;
“Make nature your church,”
he said then, smiling;
“Pray to the light of the moon,
for all I could care!”
He was daring me
to imagine where I might
find what I’s after.
-----
3. Freedom from Want
“The third is under
standings which will secure to
every [person] peace...” -->
My father-in-law
has green thumbs but never brags
about much at all;
self-prophessed gard’ner
and hobby ecologist;
met the man roadside
doing rounds on his guppies
in the popup trunk;
a way of life such
as shown by my then boyfriend’s
father was dashing;
I saw my life flash before
his son and I wed:
all we’d need was peace
enough to drive cross-country,
trunkful of guppies.
-----
4. Freedom from Fear
“Fourth is world-wide re
duction of armaments to
such a point and in
such a thorough fashion that
no[one] anywhere
will be in a position
to commit an act
of aggression against a
[nation or] neighbor.” -->
Why war when we know
it only leads to wanting
to turn the clock back?
We wished we would’ve
fixed the fight with words instead
of blowing stuff up.
What will guns do when
the might of climate change claims
the new horizons?
Ash to cash and dust
wrought shame unto our souls and
smithed our names in woe.
To such a time when
History justly reaches
so to beguile them:
Spare breath for more breath
for your lungs do the walking
as they did at dawn.
* * * * *
/ n o t a r e
#haiku #prose #poetry
An interesting challenge which finally prompted me to write the poems I wanted to give all my dad-persons for Father’s Day ~
-----
@DANdeLION_Page
“Freedom from Fear”
American President (1941) - FDR and the Four Freedoms
https://www.fdrlibrary.org/four-freedoms
-----
“For(e)fathers” part 4 of 4
4. Freedom from Fear
“Fourth is world-wide re
duction of armaments to
such a point and in
such a thorough fashion that
no[one] anywhere
will be in a position
to commit an act
of aggression against a
[nation or] neighbor.” -->
Why war when we know
it only leads to wanting
to turn the clock back?
We wished we would've
fixed the fight with words instead
of blowing stuff up.
What will guns do when
the might of climate change claims
the new horizons?
Ash to cash and dust
wrought shame unto our souls and
smithed our names in woe.
To such a time when
History justly reaches
so to beguile them:
Spare breath for more breath
for your lungs do the walking
as they did at dawn.
* * * * *
/ n o t a r e
#haiku #prose #poetry
Response 4 of 4 to linked Writing Challenge:
https://theprose.com/challenge/12315
-----
@DANdeLION_Page
“Freedom from Want”
American President (1941) - FDR and the Four Freedoms
https://www.fdrlibrary.org/four-freedoms
-----
“For(e)fathers” part 3 of 4
3. Freedom from Want
“The third is under
standings which will secure to
every [person] peace..." -->
My father-in-law
has green thumbs but never brags
about much at all;
self-prophessed gard'ner
and hobby ecologist;
met the man roadside
doing rounds on his guppies
in the popup trunk;
a way of life such
as shown by my then boyfriend's
father was dashing;
I saw my life flash before
his son and I wed:
all we'd need was peace
enough to drive cross-country,
trunkful of guppies.
* * * * *
/ n o t a r e
#haiku #prose #poetry
Response 3 of 4 to linked Writing Challenge:
https://theprose.com/challenge/12315
-----
@DANdeLION_Page