Maybe you recall an earlier post - Maggie comes to Town.

Some stayed !!

Magpie Melody.

A melody of magpies just greeted me,

whilst taking a rest, also a beaut cup of tea.

It may have been thank you for  the freshened bird bath.

No sound from a kooka, so it wasn’t just a laugh.

They chortled and carolled , perched on fence and gum tree,

I’m sure it was composed - by them - just  for me.

Some young, a few old; and more is the pity

the young have been reared here; in my smoky city.

Their joyous musicallity is heard every morn

from down by the river just after new dawn.

As the sun rises further, when they know I’m about

they give me their marvellous melody shout.

Will they one day, return to the old town of Bourke

where fossicking for food is much harder work,

competing with kestrels and hawks with their might

or  watching for eagles , perhaps even a kite.

Well, that will be my loss.

No nearby refrain.

It will be swallowed by the thunder

of  a hurtling cattle train.

©. Rimeriter. 9/2012.

Marketing Audit.

If you are in the business of selling your work ?

These are three important questions you must answer.

I hope you find the answers suitable.

Jim.

Why should I buy from you?

Great marketing at its heart is the development of a clear position, a clear understanding of why should people buy from us? The answer to this question is where we start each and every conversation – Why should people buy from you?

What's unique about you business?

An effective USP is not merely a ‘tagline’ – it is an idea that stands alone and defines your business – allowing you to clearly stand head and shoulders above any competition.

Making marketing work for your small business

Small businesses typically have a limited marketing budget if any at all. Does that mean you can't run with the big dogs? Absolutely not. It just means you have to think a little more creatively.

Icon Visual Marketing is offering a Free Marketing Audit to companies looking to understand more about their own brand and how they can build their brand.

Contact us today for your FREE Marketing Audit.

Sincerely,

Sheree Gover

Lazily -

A languid linguistic lampoon,

slowly written to a different tune.

© Rimeriter. 3/3/12

Grandmothers Homecoming.

Home sweet Home

it sure is sweet,

p'raps you must curb

your wanderin' feet.

But take your time

to smell the air

there is plenty more

for you out there.

But little lovelies

call is strong,

wend your way

don't take too long.

© Rimeriter 7/2012.

Ebook Publishing.

Why it Pays to Self-Publish a Professional Ebook
by Deanne Katz, Esq.
shared from a recent post on Reuters.com

Publishing a professional ebook can be a great marketing step and with the variety of tools to self-publish it's never been easier for a new author. An ebook can also be a marketing tool since it shows the author's expertise and can bring in new business.

The benefits of self-publishing are numerous but there are also pitfalls that are best avoided. Knowing your topic is one thing but knowing how best to get it into the hands of interested readers is a whole other issue.

If you're considering writing an ebook, check out our five helpful tips for self-publishers.

Self-publishing an ebook is relatively simple but making one that will actually sell and increase your market share is more difficult. Make it easy on yourself by following these tips.

1. Pick a niche market. There are a lot of self-published books out there and it's hard for consumers to find the right one. Narrowing your topic helps to decrease competition and steer potential clients to your book. Picking a relatively narrow topic also provides more space to really go into detail and show readers the value of your expertise.

2. Self-publish, don't self-edit. You are the expert on the topic you picked but most new authors don't have experience as editors as well. A good editor knows what will grab readers and what stuff needs to be cut. Hiring a copy editor can also ensure that you don't miss embarrassing spelling and grammar errors that can decrease reader's opinions of your expertise.

3. Design an engaging cover. Despite the tired idiom, people do judge books by their covers and ebooks are no exception. If you aren't the creative or artistic type, get someone else to make a visually exciting cover for your book. Make sure your book stands out (in a good way) when potential readers see it on a small scale - like in an amazon.com list of results.

4. Price it below market value. This part may seem counterintuitive but people are more likely to buy the book if it's cheaper. That may mean fewer book profits in the beginning but it also means wider circulation. That leads to more business which is often the point of writing a professional ebook in the first place.

5. Market the book. Once you've written the book, it's not going to sell itself. Make sure the online sale page looks good and has appropriate tags and images so potentially readers can find it. It may also be a good idea to create a webpage for the book or promote it using social media; even make business cards to direct interested people to it.

Butcherin’ in the Bush.

Me dad, ‘e was a butcher in the bush before the war

jist after the depression, before market’n was the score,

before red meat was packaged in a film of clear clingwrap,

before a bloke jist ‘ad to cook in a microwave - poor chap !

I remembers at the sale yards almost each and every week

where I jist ‘ad to look and learn, ‘ardly allowed to speak,

where dad would do the bidd’n while mum served at the shop

and ‘iffen I was lucky, might get a lollipop.

When the sale was over, that’s when the work begun

because after killin’ cattle each one ‘ad ter be ‘ung

then skinned and sliced, sawed and ‘acked

to shoulders, legs and sides,

then put in to the coolroom after stretchin’ out the ‘ides.

Flies were mostly friendly, they’d ‘ang around all day,

we did’n ‘ave the aerosol to send ‘em on their way,

we’d put up sticky, curly strips ‘angin’ everywhere,

poor ol’ mum would be relieved, not surrender to despair

for steaks and chops and sausages ‘angin’ from steel ‘ooks

or plucked and dressed white leghorns, known to all as ‘chooks’.

Course, as I got older I usta ‘elp me dad

servin’ in the butcher shop, becomin’ a - ‘bit of a lad’

weighin’ up the prime mince, jokin’ the local bum,

lookin’ after Mrs Jones but never weighin’ me thumb.

That’s on account,

they all would say,

I’ll hafta pay another day

what could a poor ol’ butcher do

to keep ‘is wolves at bay.

(c). Rimeriter. 11/2/03.

      Revised 25/7/12.

Writing the Perfect Poem

Extracted from Writers Digest - 24/8/12.

1. Make sure that what you have to say is original – unless, of course, you are writing entirely for therapeutic reasons. The birth of a baby, your favourite pet, war and famine, the beauty of nature, unrequited/lost love are all themes that people write about…again and again and again. So, try to think of something different – or at least look for an original approach.

2. Use all the tools at your disposal: a wide vocabulary, similes, metaphors and alliteration – but try to make your imagery fresh and unusual. Avoid clichéd expressions such as ‘white as snow’, ‘green with envy’, ‘hands as cold as ice’, ‘a heart of stone’ and the many others that you must be familiar with.

3. If you are using a rhyming scheme (abab or aabb) make sure that the words you use actually do rhyme. For example the words ‘box’ and ‘flocks’ rhyme but if you used ‘box’ and ‘flock’ you lose this.

4. Don’t torture the natural word order to get a rhyme. The following has a very odd feel to it:

You wanted some new books, and so you said, ‘Now to the library go’.

Instead you could re-write it more naturally as:

You wanted some new books, 
and said ‘Go to the library’. Off I sped

5. If your poem is supposed to be in a particular form (ie a limerick or a sonnet) make sure that you not only use the correct rhyming scheme but that you also use the correct metre. In simplified terms this is the number of ‘beats’ in each line. For example, a limerick has five lines and has the following rhyming scheme: 
Lines one, two and five have three beats each while lines three and four have two beats each. If you tap out the metre with your hand you’ll soon see what we mean:

A lady who hoped to find fame 
Made poetry writing her aim. 
She wrote day after day 
Till they took her away – 
But nobody’s heard of her name.

6. Always give your poem a title – it focuses your reader’s attention.

7. Make sure you punctuate your poems. Some free verse poems make a point of not using punctuation but the majority of both rhyming works and free verse need punctuation. And your punctuation should do exactly the same job as in a piece of prose – it should help your reader with the meaning and show when a pause is necessary.

8. Avoid archaic or overtly ‘poetic’ language. Use ‘you’ not ‘thee’, ‘over’ not ‘o’er’ and stay clear of ‘sylvan glades’ or ‘hosts of golden daffodils’!

9. Make sure your free verse is just that – not just a slab of prose broken into shorter lines. Even if your work does not rhyme, it must still have rhythm and metre.

10. Once the initial outpouring has finished, put your work to one side and let it stand for a few days. Then go back to it and read it again in the cold light of day. Alter any words that don’t sound right, check your punctuation, the rhythm and the rhyme (if it is not free verse). Also stand back and see if it still gives you the same pleasure that it did when you were writing it. Finally, read it aloud to yourself – that’s the best way of telling if it really works as a poem.

Remember, you’re writing for you but it should be a matter of pride to make every poem you compose original and worthwhile so that, hopefully, it will give others as much pleasure when they read it as you got from writing it.

***

Narrator Australia: Two Lovers - Rimeriter

Narrator Australia: Two Lovers - Rimeriter

BIGGEST sports arena in the world

These details extracted from -

ABC Australia Rural News.

It's got to be the – biggest sports arena in the worldt it's a long way from London.

More than 50 students from cattle stations and remote communities across Central Australia are currently competing in the final rounds of the Alice Springs School of the Air Bush Olympics.

The students log in from computers in their schoolrooms hundreds of kilometres apart, to participate in warm-up activities via web cam.

They then head outside, into the dustiest of playgrounds to complete half an hour of whatever Olympic sport is on the London schedule that morning.

So far that's included weightlifting, equestrian events (featuring real hobby horses at some stations), athletics, and hockey.

Their trainer, Jo Black from the YMCA says there's some real talent among the School of the Air’s students, who live in an area covering 1.3 million square kilometres.

Principal Belinda Pearson says the school decided to use the Olympics to motivate their students to work on their fitness.

But it's not all about exercise: Mrs Pearson says the highlight of the Bush Olympics was the opening ceremony."Student and parents logged in from 62 sites across Central Australia.

"It was important for us to light the Olympic flame here in the studio."A flickering flame is made from red and yellow and orange, so we had lots of helium balloons, concealed under a veil and when our student William Weir lit the cauldren, the veil was pulled off and the balloons reached skywards.

"Also, every team from each station or community made their own flag [and] mascot.”

One even had a team chant, written by seven-year old Todd Fogarty of the “Lucy Creek Larakeet” about 350 kilometres north east of Alice Springs.

Here's Todd's chant, inspired by his team mascot Larry the lorikeet:

"Lucy Creek Larakeets!

"We are going to beat all the others in the heats!

"Squark squaaarrrk!

"L-U-C-Y C-R-E-E-K L-A-R-A-K-E-E-T-S!

"Go Lucy Creek Larakeets!"

"I've got my fingers crossed, arms crossed, legs crossed and toes crossed!"

"ONYA"  Team.

Jim.

Narrator Australia: Two Lovers - Rimeriter

Narrator Australia: Two Lovers - Rimeriter

Google - Rimeriter
for more details.
Jim.

Ten Top Tips.

Ten Top Tips for Entering Poetry Competitions.

Author unknown.

NOTE : these details are extracted from the internet.

1. Wherever you are and whatever the time of day, always keep a notebook handy. You never know when the inspiration for a new poem will come to you. It’s so easy to forget your ideas when you’ve lots of other things on your mind – and you might just be losing a winner.

2. Avoid hackneyed themes. You might have just had a painful love affair and want to write about it – but so will many other poets. Unless you can bring something new and original to your theme the judges will pass it by. The same goes for natural disasters, wars and abuse. They tug at your heart strings, but they also inspire many other poets.

3. Most competitions are open – so they will accept both free verse or rhyming work. But don’t mistake free verse for a slab of prose. There is a distinct difference between the two and poetry must have structure and rhythm. It must also be properly punctuated. Punctuation in poetry can be more fluid and imaginative but it must still do its intended job – to indicate pauses and breathing spaces.

4. If you do chose to use a specific form – such as a sonnet or a limerick – make sure that you follow the necessary metre and rhyming scheme. And don’t invert phrases unnaturally to get appropriate rhymes at the end of lines – this is a real ‘no-no’ for judges.

5. Never use ‘antique’ phrases such ‘thus’, ‘poesy’ and ‘doest’. Also, check your similes and metaphors carefully to make sure that they are fresh and original.

6. Always follow the rules – so watch your line limit. If the organisers say 40 lines you’ll be throwing away your money if your poem runs to 45.

7. Don’t get unhealthily attached to a particular poem. If it’s not been placed in a couple of competitions try to look at it objectively. You might be able to use the same theme but how about starting again and re-working it?

8. Polish, polish and polish again. Make sure your work is perfect. When competition is fierce only the best will win.

9. When entering a competition give yourself plenty of time. We all know that you can dash off a poem and then send it by email the day before the deadline. But, you need to be able to put your work aside after you have written it and then come back to it with a fresh mind so that you can spot any flaws. 

And don’t forget Tip 8, above.

10. Finally, and probably most importantly, write with integrity. Make every entry your best, irrespective of how large or how small the prize money.

TARTS in TOWNS.

‘ Tarts  In  TownS ’

As we travel this country   -   Australia

and visit some cities and towns

we will seek out ‘Tarts’ in regalia.

They may not necessarily  -  be wearing gowns.

So far  -  those that we’ve met have been sweet ones

and have had a heart that is dark.

So just for your personal guidance

and also ;  for a bit of a lark.

We intend to record the findings, of all the’ Tarts ’ that we meet

But we do not expect to find one

that is not curvaciously complete.

Tradition dictates they be tiny

Petite  -  Well Rounded and Full

But if we find many that are not.  This rhyme may be sorrowful.

We will specialise in ‘ Tarts ‘ of Australia,

but originally from distant shores.

So the word that ends this rhyme line , should definitely give you pause,

to consider these dainty damsels

other than naming them whores.

Petite and Well Rounded we have said,

in an earlier section of verse.

Most are ; not very easily fondled, others are more perverse.

Smooth and soft in appearance.

Garbed in different hues.

Most combine very plain colours. Not yet have we seen matching blues.

Pink and white is quite common, but certainly not first preference

Brown and white is a standard

that should be treated with deference

In around Goulburn, Yass and Albury

they seemed to be in disorder.

On then into Wodonga, which is just across the border.

The standard was not a high one

and let this be a lesson,

when you finally cross state boundaries, do not expect ‘Tarts’ to be in procession.

They do not reach a higher standard, of purity poise and elegance.

Because a government dictated boundary line

simply does not have any relevance.

‘ Tarts ’ will be ‘Tarts’ wherever they lay

in Victoria or New South Wales,

it seems most to matter, is the origin ; the country from which she hails.

We travelled on through Cobram and villages in between,

crissing and crossing the Murray,

until Moama and Echuca were seen.

Headed down south to Bendigo, and on to Ballarat.

Visited many  venues, where ‘ Tarts ‘ in their finery sat.

Along the great Southern Ocean Road

to a tiny town  --  Killarney.

Where ‘ Tarts ‘ were garbed in green and green and  ‘ oorish ‘ folk

spoke the “ blarney “.

Then North until we reached Swan Hill,

whilst we looked thither and yon,

and nary a titillating ‘ Tart ‘ was found,

suitable to fill the bill.

As we have yet to establish the origin,

where ‘Neenish’ were first prepared,

by a country cook or an hotel chef, or indeed in the house of a Laird.

But what we can say that up to this day

the best has been Oberon.

(c).Rimeriter. 4/98. Revised and

Translated from Writenow 22/10/07.

“Flag of Stars”

Emotions surely can be stirred when our flag is hoisted high

as a tear begins to trickle from a true-blue ‘Aussie’s’ eye.

Anzacs stormed the beaches under our Australian Flag

at times a tattered piece of cloth, a blood stained, dirty rag.

Symbolic of true courage away from ‘Aussie’ shores

at battle fronts and beaches in others far flung wars.

The Union Jack reminds us of our initial history,

Southern Cross is rampant, signifying our place for all to see,

a large and brightly shining star stands for all Australian States

heraldry important to most ‘Aussies’ and their mates.

Emotions surely can be stirred when our flag is hoisted high,

a tear begins to trickle from every true-blue ‘Aussie’s’ eye.

At Commonwealth and Olympic, sporting battles regularly,

contested from within our shores or far across the sea

our athletes strive to be the best, to hold aloft the ‘Gold’

courage is symbolic for others to behold.

The Union Jack reminds us of our initial history,

the Southern Cross is rampant, our place for all to see,

a large and brightly shining star stands for all Australian States

comradeship important to all ‘Aussies’ and their mates.

Emotions surely can be stirred when our flag is hoisted high

and tears begin to trickle from every true-blue ‘Aussie’s’ eye.

(c). Rimeriter. 23/8/02.

Flag + Colour added 26/11/11

Poetry Principles.

Very valuable information.  Posted by Jim Spain 5/8/12.

Poetry Principles  - courtesy Australian Bush Poets Association,

Manfred Vijars.

Metre comes from the word meaning, "measure," and when I think of a measure in the poetic context, I think of sound and music - and not the keeping track by metronomes.

For measuring length we use the millimetre, centimetre, the metre; for time - the second, minute, hour; and for verse, we use the foot, the line(verse), and sometimes the stanza.

In the normal process of language, in any sentence arrangement, with every word of more than one syllable, one syllable is accented or stressed. with words of even one syllable some are given more prominence than the rest. in prose, these accents happen more or less haphazardly, in poetry - the poet arranges them at chosen intervals.

In poetry, the basic metrical unit - the foot - normally consists of one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables - though on on occasion, there may be no unaccented syllables, and rarely three.

The foot

I will just name the basic kinds of feet and give an example beneath each one in parentheses:

*iamb (iambic metre)

(to-day)

unaccented/accented

*trochee (trochaic metre)

(dai-ly)

accented/unaccented

*anapest (anapestic metre)

(in-ter-vene)

unaccented/unaccented/accented

*dactyl (dactylic metre)

(yes-ter-day)

accented/unaccented/unaccented

spondee (spondaic)

(day-break)

accented/accented

monosyllabic foot

(day)

accented

[*these four are the important ones].

When the time is taken analyse metre, you can see how certain effects are achieved -- how rhythm (the wavelike recurrence of motion or sound-the natural rise & fall of language) is adapted to thought.

The Line(verse)

The second unit of measurement is the line(verse), and we measure this by naming the number of feet in it; again, some names follow, and it is important to note that poetry need not have every line(verse) the same length -- we are simply looking for patterns:

monometre (1 foot)

dimetre (2 feet)

trimetre (3 feet)

tetrametre (4 feet)

pentametre (5 feet)

hexametre (6 feet)

heptametre (7 feet)

octametre (8 feet)

The Stanza

The third unit, the stanza, consists of a group of lines whose metrical pattern is repeated throughout the poem. not all poetry is written in stanzas, and someone else can have the joy of discussing that topic. but when I say a pattern is repeated, that pattern does not have to be regular and fixed -- and often, it is not even "discernible" to the naked eye.

Metre is a complex topic, especially when we talk about the process of measuring verse, which is called scansion.

To scan, you simply do three things:

1. Identify the prevailing foot - the one that appears to dominate the line.

2. Name the number of feet in a line - if it follows any regular pattern. I personally count syllables to make it easier for myself and divide by 2. That works most of the time.

3. Describe the stanza pattern -- if there is one.

Firstly, read the poem through normally. Listen to where the accents fall. Keep time, keep the beat. Sometimes a line(verse) is highly irregular, so go on to the next when uncertain. Look for easier lines, then you can mark them. once you have the key, you can open the other more difficult doors you passed by before.

A good reader will not ordinarily stop to scan a poem. A good reader will not exaggerate or over-emphasize accented syllables. The occasional scansion does have some value, though at best it will grossly describe the rhythmical quality of a poem. There are degrees of accent. Accented and unaccented are relative terms. Scansion is not an exact science by any means. Within limits we may say it is right or wrong, but beyond those limits there is plenty of room for personal interpretation and disagreement among readers.

Finally, perfect regularity of metre is no criterion of merit. One, if in essence, all art consists of repetition and variation, then if a metre alternates too regularly between light and heavy beats, we effectively kill variation. it becomes mechanical, monotonous. Two, once a metre is established, then any deviations from it become highly significant, and are the means by which the poet can use metre to reinforce meaning.

The skillful use of metre will offer its greatest effectiveness by offering not one rhythm, but two. One will be an expected rhythm, the other is the heard rhythm. The latter will not necessarily confirm the former. this sets up counterpoint, and the appeal of a poem will hold the same appeal as melodies counterpointed in music or two swallows flying around each other in the same general course with individual eye-catching variations. Simple phrasing and variation in the degree of accent, different feet -- these things introduced into the poem will not make it seem as if it flies alone.

The rhythm in a poem works as an emotional stimulus and heightens our attention to what is going on in a poem. by choice of metre and variation within the framework, the poet can adapt the sound of the piece to the content and reinforce meaning. Metre works with all the elements of poetry to produce a total effect.

I maintain that within poetic structure, metre is the dna strand. However, for many it is just another resource, like alliteration or metaphor or irony -- even imagery -- but for a poet to do the job right, all those resources at hand must be used, taken advantage of, in order to best express the object or experience in mind.

***