Wheel, a sonnet

 Wheel

Oblivious, uncaring stars above,
wheel ever on and on through darkened skies;
wheel never noting how man falls in love,
not seeing that he lives and that he dies.
Should not your silent riddles be enough?
Yet to you, yearning, now I raise my eyes,
with all my longings given wings to rise,
each poised to soar to heaven as a dove.

Should I strive to be as seem you, serene,
forever stately stepping your ballets,
to follow you in silent timeless ways
across the heavens? Let this course between
eternity and earth remain unseen;
your dim light fades before that of my days.

Stephen Brooke ©2023

Yep, a sonnet. More a matter of playing with words than anything particularly meaningful.

Rainbow Snake

This is a poem written for and included in Stephen Brooke's novel, The Ways Between the Worlds. Based loosely on Australian myth. We may do shirts etc with that image at the Peanut Road Emporium, but haven't quite decided the best approach. Text or no text? What angle for the snake? That kind of thing.

Caslon Thoughts

Caslon is one of the classic typefaces. However there are a great many fonts out there wearing the Caslon name that range from reasonably accurate versions to ones with little actual resemblance to the original. Add to this a number of Caslon-esque typefaces found under other names.

One of my favorites—indeed, my frequent go-to—is Imprint. Many will recognize the name from the inline Imprint Shadow version long bundled with Windows. Ignoring that over-used variant, Imprint is a quite nice choice for text, an early Twentieth Century take on the Caslon concept. I’ve used clones (Bitstream’s Dutch 766, SoftMaker’s Indiana) in books and been satisfied with the result.

Not that there aren’t other decent Caslons available, both commercial and free. Adobe’s is nice, if maybe a bit too regularized (one can say the same of Imprint, perhaps). Some are just a little overly ornate or optimized for display purposes. QTCaslan is not a bad free alternative, though a bit lacking in features. One could certainly create a credible book design with it. I do like Caslon for a more ‘serious’ feel to book text. So do others, which is why it has often appeared in nonfiction and textbooks. I might tend to use something in the Caslon vein for historical fiction.

The only typeface named Caslon you will find free in Google Fonts is Libre Caslon. The display version looks good and I would feel confident using it in titling. The text version, not so much—it seems more suited for on-screen use than print. However, I might suggest Lora as a substitute. The Roman style is decidedly in the Caslon mold and does look good in print. The italic strays further from the original model but stands quite well as a design on its own merits.

 

Stories

Long before books, there were story tellers. For thousands upon thousands—perhaps hundreds of thousands—of years, tales were told, in caves, around camp fires, in secluded villages, in the first great cities. Men told stories, and women too. Some were family, recalling old words, and passing them on to another generation. Some were bards, professionals carrying words from one place to another. There were old familiar stories and newly crafted ones.

And, in time, some ended up in books. But tales being told are as old as mankind.

Forget, a poem

Forget

I have found it easy to forget,
to lose you in the shadows, gathering
at the edges of my life. I might
have loved you, or no more than wished I did.
   Wished I could.
Our picture is too dark with time now. Other
shadows have been cast across what was
and what was not and I know neither can
be trusted. I’ve found it is easier
   to forget.

Stephen Brooke ©2023

Work, a poem

WORK 

 

Long ago, work was invented

to keep us all at home,

when we’d much rather be hunting

and through the wild hills roam

in search of mammoth and aurochs—

not that we’d scorn a rabbit—

as did our fathers’ fathers;

oh, work is a nasty habit!

For now we are civilized,

some of us plow and reap;

others gather things up

and take them somewhere to keep.

Forgetting the past, we toil

through each and every day—

long ago work was invented

and at home we stay.

Stephen Brooke ©2023

 

In the first draft of this bit of light verse I blamed work's invention on women...but thought better of it!