Hope y'all are having a Very Good Friday. For the first time in 6 years, I submitted a short story for publication. Fingers crossed. 🤞🩷

The best ideas grow in your subconscious, fertilized by time, space, neglect.

The best ideas are delicate flowers: you'll rot the roots, wilt the blooms if you overtend them.

#Writing #WritingCommunity

Three brick buildings in Amsterdam. The left-most building, Savin's Italian restaurant, is a brown brick building. The other two buildings are brick and painted black. The right-most building is the Van Speyk Brasserie. Parked on a brick pathway in front of the buildings are dozens of bicycles to the right and a small red car on the left. The sky is cloudy.

feel slightly slanted,
like a dancing house on an
amsterdam canal

#Haiku #Poetry #Poem #PoetryDaily #MelliferaMuses #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Yes.

Will this be shared / published digitally anywhere? If so, censoring the word will actually cause your piece to *show up* for folks who have the full word muted on their socials. So could have the opposite effect.

I'm also biased toward calling a thing what it is, especially in literature.

looking for haikus
everywhere — and finding them
all over the place

#Haiku #PoetryDaily #Poetry #Poem #MelliferaMuses #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

writing poems in
the backseat of the car and
counting syllables

#Haiku #Poetry #Poem #PoetryDaily #MelliferaMuses #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

This is a lovely poem, and a beautiful portrait. ❤️ Really resonates with me as I also lost my father last month. Sending hugs and light to you and yours.

grief isn't something
you defeat or emerge from—
you just gotta swim.

#Haiku #Poetry #Poem #PoetryDaily #MelliferaMuses #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Mel Lee-Smith's Bookings Bookings Open! Click to see Mel Lee-Smith's booking menu.

Did you know you can commission me for poetry, short stories, obituaries, and more? 💛🐝

Prices start from just €3.

Backed by:
- 25+ years' personal writing experience
- 10+ years' freelancing experience
- 2 writing degrees

Book here: ko-fi.com/melleesmith

#AmWriting #Commissions #WritingCommunity

"La Alegria"

toledo is my
all-time favorite sandwich—
pairs so well with soup.

🍲

#Haiku #PoetryDaily #Poetry #Poem #MelliferaMuses #WritingCommunity #AmWriting

Screenshot of the Commissions page of the Mellifera Muses website. The main color scheme is honey yellow. The top section shows 3 cards with some text summarizing Mellifera Muses poetry, flash fiction, and short story commissions, including starting prices and requirements. Following the commissions cards are two cards with links to past commissioned pieces, including a poem and a short story.

My (writing) commissions are officially open! ✨🍯🐝

Finally got the commissions page up on the website. Check it out!

melliferamuses.com/commissions

Dad hit his head
climbing up the dresser,
just like me and my sister did
when we were little:
an excruciating parallel.

#Poem #Poetry #AmWriting #Dementia #DoHashtagsEvenWorkOnHere #OrAmIJustOld

"Three lifetimes later, you wake to an ache in your left hip."

Mellifera Muses' first commissioned short story — "Quest Started: A Man and His Cat" — is now live!

A Fallout-inspired short story / side quest for my pal Keith:

#AmWriting #WIP #WritingCommunity #ShortStory

"Living so far away, and knowing Mama couldn’t care less about receiving a bouquet, I decided the best birthday gift I can give her is this story, this not-so-random love letter on a Sunday, just because."

Flowers for Mama is up now. #AmWriting #MelliferaMuses

melliferamuses.com/flowers-for-...

The @melliferamuses.com newsletter is coming along! 🐝

My first newsletter will publish later this month.

Will share the subscribe form soon!

What else can I do,
under the weight of all this grief?
Just become a creature of the earth again,
I guess.

—

#Poetry #AmWriting #ShortVerses #MelliferaMuses

Some days, the heartache hurts worse than others.

Like a bum knee on a rainy day.

Sometimes, your climate just irritates your old wounds, and you can't really put a finger on why.

#Writing #AmWriting #MelliferaMuses

Bend your life
into whatever shape you like,
and know that sorrow
will thread through every part.

Even when your suffering
makes no sense, it is unavoidable.

#Poetry #AmWriting #MelliferaMuses

I’m so sorry to hear about your mum 😢 I remember us taking about her back on Twitter.

All the best books start out as just-for-fun projects 😄 how many beta readers have you worked with on it in that time?

Shut UP, Gary, you’re gonna make me cry 😭

Yes, please do send over a couple chapters! Especially for the one you wanna query. I know you've been working so hard for (how many?) years now, and I can't wait to see you take that next step!

Wait, did I not tell you?! Wish on a Red Bird got published! 😍

deepsouthmag.com/2020/03/09/w...

This is actually so on brand for you lol

You already know it, my friend! 😊

Replying bc no edit button — I'm allowed to say that, because I'm from there 🤣

Keep it classy, South Carolina... 🤦🏻‍♀️

Comment "FIRE" to STEAL my playbook!

Ah man, it's nice not to see any of that shit here, lol.

They're constantly screaming, "If you don't like it, then leave!"

And then when you do leave, they follow you. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Aww thank you so much 😭 You got the first comment!

I'm so sorry to hear about your uncle. And thank you for sharing that photo — the love y'all have for him really shines through 🥰 Thank goodness for happy memories. I don't know how anyone who has to go through this could cope without them.

It’s only a matter of time

before

the LinkedIn broetry style

makes its way

to Bluesky

😂