A brown hare with its ears pointing in two different directions is seated on its hindlegs and tufted tail playing a pipe organ with its forelegs while manipulating the pedals with its long back feet. A grey dog with an irritated expression is manipulating the bellows with its forelegs on the other side of the pipe organ while seated on its hindlegs. The animals are seated on a red and blue decorated swirl on a manuscript page below some gothic text and multi-coloured striped decoration. Image from Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 1-2005 [Macclesfield Psalter], folio 15r.

A surprising number of medieval hares are shown with dogs in this image of a hare playing a pipe organ with a dog helping by blowing the organ's bellows. The image is from the Macclesfield Psalter, 1330-1340. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #hare #hares

Staring at Dahlias on Sunday [an epiphany] by David James If there is a God, she must be in this flower and this cool wind blowing in my face, the massive clouds drifting overhead against a blue I can’t name. There’s the seventeen yellow beans I picked fo…

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A very brown hare with exaggeratedly long upright pointed ears is seated on its hindleg holding a black pipe instrument in its forelegs which is appears to be playing. It has a very short slightly upwardly curved tail. It is sitting on what looks like a green hill beneath red and blue decoration on the manuscript page. Image from British Library, Additional MS 62925 [The Rutland Psalter], folio 100r.

Many medieval manuscripts focused on psalms or music are illustrated with hares playing instruments as in this image of a hare playing a pipe. It is from the Rutland Psalter, c1260. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #hare #hares

The Cure for Grief by Dean Abbott What cure for grief presents itself but to notice the brittle rust of onion skin opening beneath the silent knife, the hum the air makes, the taste of bitter juices? What balm can we reach for but …

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Beneath a red letter and a gothic "hare", a brown hare is drawn in a leaping pose. It has a small tufted tail, long whiskers and a white underside. Its ears are long and pointed and its forelegs and backlegs are extended. Image from Yale Center for British Art, Folio C 2014 4 (Helmingham Herbal and Bestiary), folio 18r.

Our medieval beast this week is the hare which is described as a timid beast which runs fast and has the ability to change sex. This lovely hare is from the Helmingham Herbal and Bestiary, c1500. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #hare #hares

Perfect Questions by Kaveri Patel What if I never wrote another poem, never saw another patient, or meditated ever again? Would I still be respected? Why is the President more valuable then a prisoner on death row? Why is your chil…

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A dark painting of a woman with her hair wrapped in a white scarf/cap pressing down with both clasped hands as she irons what looks like a white shirt. She is wearing a white short-sleeved blouse and a dark skirt. A white shirt is draped carefully behind her on the left and a blanket seems to be hanging from the board on which she is ironing. Image by François Bonvin (1817–1887) from Wikimedia Commons.

A painting by François Bonvin (1817–1887) for today's writing prompt. Is your story going to focus on the woman or her task? #writingprompts #writinglife #writingtips #françoisbonvin #artworks

Do Well the Little Things of Life by Beth Paulson Do well the little things of life—David of Wales This week the tops of the peaks have turned white with first snow. Most leaves from the aspens have fallen and scattered in wind. A few, still green…

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Book cover showing a large trident with a background of blue tentacles and fish tails with grey stylised waves about to crash over all of them.

"Year of the Mer" by L D Lewis is a sequel to "The Little Mermaid" and follows Arielle's granddaughter as she makes a deal with the Sea Witch who is out for revenge. #bookrecommendations #tbrlist #yearofthemer #ldlewis #fantasy

Mr. Anonymous by Darrell Lindsey He changes a flat tire for a stranger on a desert highway, leaves a fifty dollar tip for a waitress with four kids and an unemployed husband, listens to a veteran in a convenience store parking lot…

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A woman in a poofy gold-coloured robe over something white is seated at a table covered with brown velvet writing on a block of paper with a feather quill. She has an elaborate white cloth cap completely covering her hair with a white band over her forehead. There is a man with stringy hair in the background watching her write and a sleeping spaniel on a green cushion in the foreground. There is a round-bodied stringed instrument resting on its strings in front of the woman's writing block on the table. The woman and the man are uncannily alike. Image by Frans van Mieris the Elder (1635-1681) from Wikimedia Commons.

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Winter Poem in the Fan Palm Oasis by Charlene Langfur Before first light I imagine how people lived here once, wrapped in blankets in their thatched palm huts. I listen to the rustle of the palm leaves in the soft wind and I think it has a human touch…

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A very green five-branched tree with each branch topped by a three-leaved shamrock on a manuscript page. Three of the branches have bird heads emerging from egg-like bulges and two other branches have brown-striped and tailed geese hanging from their by their tails (although they don't seem to be attached to the branches in any way). Two mature brown-striped and tailed geese, with blue wash over their bodies, are floating on the water below the tree. The geese also have brown necks and their beaks are very rounded, seeming to smile. Image from British Library, Royal MS 13 B VIII [Topographia Hibernica / Expugnatio Hibernica / Itinerarium Kambriae], folio 8v.

These particular barnacle geese are from the third version of "Topographia Hibernica" created under the supervision of the author, Gerald of Wales (c1146-c1223). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #barnaclegoose #barnaclegeese

Wasp by Dottie Joslyn Her iridescent wings unfold, and she glides toward me, eyeing me with her green eyes, then floats away, then back, never far away. I lean in and look her in the eye, and my world shrinks to the gre…

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A dead white/pale grey bird on its back on a rock beside a lopsided tree with one full branch and one missing branch. There is a red background and a gilt frame on three sides. There is gothic text above the image and the manuscript page is very dark and appears to have been creased/folded. Image from Lippische Landesbibliothek, Ms. 70 [Der Naturen Bloeme], folio 54r.

Medieval barnacle geese that missed the water when they fell from their originating tree died as in this image from a c1287 version of "Der Naturen Bloeme". #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #barnaclegoose #barnaclegeese

The Smiling Man by Russel G. Winick Though you always see him cheerful Spreading humor far and wide, From that vantage point may you conclude He has no other side? While the smiles are so ubiquitous The laughter unrestrained, Can you…

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A stylised tree with blue and red flowers has black birds hanging from it by their beaks. Some of the birds appear to be stuck in the flowers. The tree is on a knob of ground with its branches hanging over greenish waves. There is a gilt rectangular background in the centre of the image and then a red background decorated with white shamrock-style outlines. It is framed by a three-sided blue outline and then a white decorated red square. Image from Bodleian Library, MS. Bodley 764 [Bestiary (Second Family)], folio 58v.

Gerald of Wales (c1146-c1223) is said to have developed the idea of barnacle geese generation while on an 1185 tour of Ireland. His descriptions imply that the geese are formed from goose barnacles which were really seeds. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #barnaclegoose #barnaclegeese

Autumn by Nur Turkmani We stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the kitchen. Everything yellow. The trees, the music you chose. We laughed. We peeled garlic and baked potatoes. Some afternoons are soft this way. We miss them as …

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A pale gilt square frame with four red petals at each corner surrounds an image of a tree with five white birds hanging from it by their beaks. Two larger white birds are floating on the green wave beneath the tree. The image has a red background and the tree trunk is a darker red. The birds' feathers are drawn with black ink squiggles. Image from Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Ms-3516 [L'Image du monde / Bestiaire of Pierre de Beauvais], folio 205r.

In medieval thought, barnacle geese hatched from trees which grew over water. They would hang off the tree by their beaks until mature when they would fall down into the water as seen in this 13th century image. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #barnaclegoose #barnaclegeese

Blue Topography by Judith H. Montgomery Once a seamless landscape—dorsum, sweet-skinned reverse to my creased and callused palm. No more. Late sun lights, heightens the bulge of blue-starved roads as they rise above the frail map of my s…

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A woman with dark hair in a bun stands on a tall rock looking down into a rock-lined frothy and turbulent pool with a calmer sea beyond the rocks. The woman is wearing an orange/red windblown dress and has bare arms, calves and feet. Image by Laura Knight (1877-1970) from Art UK.

A painting by Laura Knight (1877-1970) for this week's writing prompt. What is this barefoot woman contemplating as she stands on that rock? #writingprompts #writinglife #writingtips #lauraknight #artworks

Relics by Rachel Hertzberg Sebastian, you are with me again, lodging in the cool warrens of my mind. I heard your voice in the mouth of a classmate who leaned over and whispered, Do you see them? Three deer, sapling legs fli…

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Book cover featuring an elaborate background of fossil and leaf silhouettes and a central cameo of a woman in profile.

"The Geomagician" by Jennifer Mandula is a fantasy featuring a woman fossil-hunter whose discovery of a baby pterodactyl (living) brings her the interest of a Royal Society and a scholar who once broke her heart. #fantasy #bookrecommendations #tbrlist #thegeomagician #jennifermandula

Rebel by Janet Blair this poem doesn’t want to teach you a lesson it doesn’t want to mimic Mary Oliver and the way she captured slivers of nature like a photographer catches light it doesn’t want to fossilize a m…

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An androgynous figure in a white garment is seated cross-legged on the floor holding a scroll against a desk with writing implements on the desk and a pen tucked behind their ear through its dark hair. The figure is sitting next to a decorated wall. The colours are very soft in creams and browns. Image by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) from Wikimedia Commons.

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Walking, Woman by Ananya Dutta Gupta When I’m walking, I am an automobile! Free To mark and measure The pace and pressure Of my gaze and gait, My toes and heels. As free as a Thoreau walking To Walden Pond From his log cabin. Yet when…

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A black and white image from a medieval manuscript page. A male archer is aiming at a large cat-like quadruped with prominent testicles which is supposed to be a beaver. The illustration is shown above text. The archer is dressed in puffy breeches, hose, pointed shoes and a tunic with slashed sleeves as well as a round hat with a feather. His head is tilted quizzically. The arrow on his bow almost touches the nose of the very fierce-looking quadruped. Image from Cambridge University Library, Gg.6.5, folio unknown.

There is only one "Fourth Family" bestiary. It dates from 1450-1475 and is unfinished. It includes "Etymologiae" as well as extracts from "De proprietatibus rerum" by Bartholomaeus Anglicus. It does not yet appear to have been digitised. #medievalmanuscripts #bestiary #fourthfamily

Sailing from France: Henrietta’s Romance in 1698 by Clare Crossman A Spanish sailor told us it would be safer to travel at night. He wore gold earrings that glimmered like the moon. We closed the house: Two pairs of shoes, a coat, a dress. The oars swept the black…

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A large grey elephant with tusks wearing a green harness with a castle on its back. A man in chainmail and a tunic holding what looks like a crowbar is kneeling on its head. Other male figures in chainmail and tunics are visible in the castle. Three are in the window of the castle on the first level, a single figure is above then in a window on a second level and a third figure, an archer, is shown in the turrets of the castle shooting down. There is gothic text in Latin below the image. Image from Westminster Abbey Library, MS 22, folio 26v.

"Third Family" bestiaries begin with fabulous races of humans from Isidore of Seville's "Etymologiae" and include works by Bernard Silvestris. They all date from the 13th century. This image is from the Westminster Abbey Bestiary (c1275-1300). #medievalmanuscripts #bestiary

Iron Lily by Stephen Bone A barrow boy’s spit from The Savoy, I found her on Carting Lane. A tall lean Victorian, last high priestess of Cloacina, Iron Lily she is named. Beneath her the vast tunnelled temple she serves, fi…

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