Well, this is to be my final post here at Pond Ripples. I hope you have enjoyed the content as much as I have. Thank you. Thank you! Thank you!! to my wonderful and giving contributors and fabulous readers.

My Next Project

As I mentioned here, I will now be focusing my online attention over at my blog, Communicate Creativity. This site is still very much in transition, but regardless of the remaining “to-do” list will relaunch as a blog on August first. The focus will be celebrating life as a Writing Mama. You can check out possible guest posting opportunities here. I would love to feature some of your voices! If you want to continue following my adventures, please do go ahead and subscribe to weekly updates in your inbox. Email subscribers also get a great freebie!

Speaking of that Freebie

I decided rather than trying to sell my Christian writer’s planner, Ponder Thy Paths, I would rather just give it away. But! You can only get it by being an email subscriber to Communicate Creativity. If you subscribe now, you won’t miss a single post once the blog relaunches!

For My Contributors

Did I mention how much I appreciate your contributions over this time that Pond Ripples has existed? Please do continue pursuing publication. Your voices must be shared with the world! Duotrope’s Digest is a great place to start searching for markets. Also, anything that has been previously published on this site will remain published and available so you can use it for clips UNLESS you would like your work taken down for any reason. Just shoot me an email to let me know!

Commenting

Oh, how I have appreciated those of you who have taken the time to comment! I know my contributors also enjoy hearing your thoughts on their works. Thank you so much for giving of yourself in that way. However, commenting is now closed on most of the posts, and will be closed on everything by the end of this month. This is simply so I do not have to spend my time controlling spammers. You can share your thoughts directly with the creator if they have a website and contact information posted, or you can send thoughts to my email. I would love to hear from all of you.

Prayers Still Needed

Please continue praying diligently for Bennett. Pray for his health, his mental well-being, and pray, pray, pray that a family finds him soon.

My family also appreciates your prayers. Ladybug will be born any day now. Pray that she is born healthy, and that my whole family does well with the transition of adding another little blessing to our lives. We are so excited for her arrival!

This Final Farewell Need Not Be Final

I do hope you stay in touch whether through email, facebook, twitter, or by following me and commenting on my blog. Wherever life takes you, I am praying for you, and I am thankful for the time I have known you!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Burgener

Mother * Writer * Teacher

Psalm 27:1

*

The sound would go on outside as I sat and

devoured the beauty of her innocent face and svelte body.

The best time ever was always after the rain,

with our garden roses as if reanimated with new watercolor.

*

We could both sense the ecstasy of the tall trees, with

their usually dusty leaves relishing solemnly

another life and splendor after the sparkling rain.

*

We loved the harmonious chirping of the cacophonic birds,

the busy snails moving here and there in our yard

with impunity and the thick smell of the wet ground.

*

After the rain we would always admire the nearby river,

playing in the wet grass, oblivious to the fishes

reassembling their kids and kinds in the agitated waters.

*

Tup. Tup. Tup. Tup.

*

That’s the sound she would childishly make while

returning home, talking of how the road had obtained

a new skin, ready to be whipped by new agony.

*

Now, whenever it rains, I relive those sweet moments

by the bleeding rickety window, like an ambivalent toad,

all alone during and after the colorless rain.

____________________

Aged 28, Amit Parmessur hails from the gorgeous island of Mauritius. Despite limited opportunities in his country he has worked hard to polish his poetry. He has been published in over 40 magazines since starting to submit his poems late 2010. Burnt Bridge, Calliope Nerve, Carcinogenic Poetry, Clutching at Straws, Damazine, Dead Poets, Heavy Hands Ink, Leaf Garden Press, LITSNACK, Puffin Circus, Shot Glass Journal, The Camel Saloon, The Houston Literary Review, The Literary Burlesque and The Scrambler are some of the places in which he has appeared. He currently edits The Rainbow Rose.

____________________

Editor’s Note: Please continue praying for Bennett.

nudged awake by a new sun . . .

call in the clouds

____________________

Salvatore Buttaci is an obsessive-compulsive writer who plies his craft many hours a day. His poems, stories, articles, and letters have appeared widely in publications that include New York Times, U. S. A. Today, The Writer, Writer’s Digest, Cats Magazine, The National Enquirer, Christian Science Monitor, Thinking Ten, Pen 10, and Six Sentences. He was the recipient of the $500 Cyber-wit Poetry Award in 2007.

His collection of 164 short-fiction stories, Flashing My Shorts, is available in book and Kindle editions from All Things That Matter Press here or from here.

Buttaci lives with his wife, Sharon, in West Virginia.

Visit his website.

____________________

Editor’s Note: Please continue praying for Bennett.

carrying its scent like the perfume of a lover

on the warm summer air.

____________________

M. Elaine Moore is a fiction writer and poet. She has written one novel and is at work on another. Her work can be seen at Foliate Oak Literary Journal, Four and Twenty Poetry, The Camel Saloon, Fifty-Word Stories, The Island Breeze, Three Line Poetry, and shortly at Apollo’s Lyre.

____________________

Editor’s Note: Please continue praying for Bennett.

even the bathroom’s

a place of no peace.

*

I huddle there Sundays

enthroned with whatever

they’ve left of the paper.

*

Off the door, the great blitz:

rubber balls, little fists,

soles of bare feet.

*

Unamused, still perusing,

I sit there refusing

to vacate my sanctum.

*

Blitz your bare feet!

____________________

Donal Mahoney has had poems published in a variety of print and online publications, including The Wisconsin Review, The Kansas Quarterly, The South Carolina Review, The Beloit Poetry Journal, Commonweal, Public Republic (Bulgaria), Revival (Ireland), The Istanbul Literary Review (Turkey) and A Golden Place. A native of Chicago, he lives now in St. Louis, Missouri, where he discovered, much to his doctor’s distress, biscuits and gravy.

____________________

Editor’s Note: Please continue praying for Bennett.

You had to knock and she’d put you off,

the time to vanish grandfather’s things

and pretend to be the happiest widow around.

*

Though my grandfather was three years dead

grandmother kept his slippers warm by the fire,

cleaned his bed and pillow every morning

and talked to him sweetly from the window.

*

She wouldn’t risk being discovered ever

though she was the very first to rush out

any time the rusty hinges of the old gate

squeaked as if grandfather was returning home.

*

O grandmother! Where are you now?

You still have the black mobile I once gave you?

Your room is empty and you don’t answer

when I call you sweetly by the window.

*

I’m so lonely now.

____________________

Aged 28, Amit Parmessur hails from the gorgeous island of Mauritius. Despite limited opportunities in his country he has worked hard to polish his poetry. He has been published in over 40 magazines since starting to submit his poems late 2010. Burnt Bridge, Calliope Nerve, Carcinogenic Poetry, Clutching at Straws, Damazine, Dead Poets, Heavy Hands Ink, Leaf Garden Press, LITSNACK, Puffin Circus, Shot Glass Journal, The Camel Saloon, The Houston Literary Review, The Literary Burlesque and The Scrambler are some of the places in which he has appeared. He currently edits The Rainbow Rose.

____________________

Editor’s Note: Please continue praying for Bennett.

and a lifetime evaporated.

His goodbye kiss

left like nectar on her lips.

____________________

M. Elaine Moore is a fiction writer and poet. She has written one novel and is at work on another. Her work can be seen at Foliate Oak Literary Journal, Four and Twenty Poetry, The Camel Saloon, Fifty-Word Stories, The Island Breeze, Three Line Poetry, and shortly at Apollo’s Lyre.

____________________

Editor’s Note: Please continue praying for Bennett.

of fluffy white animals . . .

God’s face in the clouds

____________________

Salvatore Buttaci is an obsessive-compulsive writer who plies his craft many hours a day. His poems, stories, articles, and letters have appeared widely in publications that include New York Times, U. S. A. Today, The Writer, Writer’s Digest, Cats Magazine, The National Enquirer, Christian Science Monitor, Thinking Ten, Pen 10, and Six Sentences. He was the recipient of the $500 Cyber-wit Poetry Award in 2007.

His collection of 164 short-fiction stories, Flashing My Shorts, is available in book and Kindle editions from All Things That Matter Press here or from here.

Buttaci lives with his wife, Sharon, in West Virginia.

Visit his website.

____________________

Editor’s Note: Please continue praying for Bennett.

of my soles and the edge of my heels

wear out too fast for a man with children.

*

So I tell Rocco, cobbler nonpareil,

“Tack on four steel cleats,

two in front, two in back”

*

so I can walk home between

two full shopping bags

and whatever pride I can summon.

*

All four blocks of concrete,

I’ll keep those cleats from clicking.

Decades ago I wore cleats

*

as big as doubloons;

I struck them so hard sparks

flew from the sidewalk.

*

You bet all the girls

in high school knew

a man was walking behind them.

____________________

Donal Mahoney has had poems published in a variety of print and online publications, including The Wisconsin Review, The Kansas Quarterly, The South Carolina Review, The Beloit Poetry Journal, Commonweal, Public Republic (Bulgaria), Revival (Ireland), The Istanbul Literary Review (Turkey) and A Golden Place. A native of Chicago, he lives now in St. Louis, Missouri, where he discovered, much to his doctor’s distress, biscuits and gravy.

____________________

Editor’s Note: Please continue praying for Bennett.

June has begun and with it comes Summer! I’m looking forward to water balloons, sprinklers, and trips to the water park. Of course, with Ladybug due at the beginning of July, I’m not sure how many outings we’ll actually manage, but we have a nice front yard perfect for getting-wet games.

Even with all the excitement and fun, many people are still dealing with terrible weather and storms. Please continue praying for and reaching out to your neighbors.

My children are doing well. We are winding down the school year, and I am beginning to plan next year’s coursework. I signed Stellaluna up as a reader for the library’s reading program this year, and she’s intimidated by the fifteen hours of reading requirement, but we’re breaking it down into fifteen minutes at a time. She can read around six Bob Books in a fifteen minute time period, and her brothers enjoy listening to her so they are getting their listening requirements done quickly. I also must have my turn reading to all the kids. I can’t not read to my children. It’s too much fun to make silly voices and sound effects.

Bennett Update

Bennett’s adoption fund is currently at $2180.30. It’s growing ever so slowly. Bennett’s most urgent need is a family. According to Reeces Rainbow, Bennett can be adopted by older parents, single moms, large families, and more. If you feel called to the ministry of adoption, please do consider Bennett as you pray about finding the children God has planned for you.

Regardless of how God calls you to get involved in this little boy’s life, from donating to adoption, please, please, continue praying for him. He turns five in October, and Christmas will be here in no time. How wonderful for him it would be to have a family to celebrate with!

This Month

Enjoy poetry by Donal Mahoney, Salvatore Buttaci, M. Elaine Moore, and Amit Parmessur. Please continue offering kind feedback to the contributors.

Ponder Thy Paths

I have completed the July-September 2011 edition of my Christian writer’s planner, Ponder Thy Paths. The cost is only five dollars, and it is full of great writing quotes, useful information, and planning tools. Also, if you run a blog or website for writers, or simply have a bunch of writing friends, I have set up an affiliate program. Whenever someone buys my planner through your affiliate link, you get $2.50 payable monthly through PayPal. That’s a fifty percent commission. Affiliates also receive one free quarter of Ponder Thy Paths.

A Sad Announcement

I have played the editor here at Pond Ripples for many moons, but the time has come that I feel my attentions need to go elsewhere. I have loved, loved, loved my work here with this e-zine, and I will miss doing it. But, after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided that June will be the last month for publishing here at Pond Ripples. I’m releasing any work that was scheduled for publication after June.

I will keep the Pond Ripples website up for those of you that are using your publications here as clips. However, if you need something taken down from my site for any reason do let me know.

Please, Contributors, submit your fabulous creative works elsewhere. Duotrope’s Digest is a fabulous place to look for places to submit. Several of you have actually found me through Duotrope’s Digest.

Do keep in touch! Find me on twitter or Facebook. Shoot me an email every once in a while. I would love to hear from you!

Starting August first, I also plan to resume blogging over at Communicate Creativity. That site is currently in transition, and I’ll be doing behind the scenes work as I am able between now and August. You are welcome to check in on me there.

Also, Communicate Creativity will be open to guest post submissions. The focus will be encouraging writing mamas. You may find a chance to write for me there. I’ll tell you more about that opportunity at the beginning of July.

In Closing

Have a wonderful June, fabulous summer, astounding year, and awesome life! Keep creating to the glory of the Creator.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Burgener

Mother * Writer * Teacher

Psalm 27:1