Title Mr. Sagittarius Poetry & Prose
Author M J Mallon
Genre Mystical Poetry/Flash Fiction and Photography
Publisher Kyrosmagica Publishing
Book Blurb
Twin brothers Harold and William love the magic of the natural world. When Harold dies, he leaves a simple memorial request. Will his brother William and his sister Annette honour it? Or, will the garden work its magic to ensure that they do. Mr. Sagittarius is a magical collection of poetry, prose and photographic images inspired by the botanical gardens in Cambridge.
Photography is in the genes! Both my uncle and grandfather were photographers. My grandfather A.G. Ingram was originally with the photography company Ingram, Gordon & Co in Haddington up until the mid-thirties. Then he ventured on his own to form the Scottish Pictorial Press in Edinburgh supplying photos to the press. When war broke out Scottish Pictorial Press became defunct. After the war he started AG Ingram Ltd, Commercial Photographers, at 3 successive locations in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Mr. Sagittarius features a variety of photographs and poems including ones of: trees, a robin and a dragonfly! As well as this there are several stories, and some Halloween poetry.
Excerpt
William walked through the snow-laden bamboo archway towards the icy water. He knew where he was going and that thought alone brought an enormous lump to his throat. The lump grew into a bulb that threatened to burst. He willed it down, he couldn’t cry, not here in public.
The bench was situated where he and his brother Harold had often sat under the golden weeping willow tree, right by the water’s edge. The branches and leaves of the tree created a lengthy curtain which twinkled with filaments of spell-binding snow.
Inscribed on the bench were the words:
For Harold, who loved the garden’s seasons, the rainbows, and the distant twinkling lights. The trees, the birds, and flowers and most of all the beautiful dragonflies who bring an aura of magic with their short lives.
Dragonfly
Red, devil’s needle,
Or luck bringer with kind eyes?
Ancient, sweet fellow,
Sacred magic bestower,
Change tumbling on fragile wings.
William sat down on the bench, the lump in his throat burst and a dam of tears flowed from the well of his soul. The weeping willow tree bent its snow encrusted branches towards him, and little jewels of snow fell upon him. He glanced to his left and saw a dragonfly sitting next to him. How extraordinary to see a dragonfly in winter! He remembered he’d seen a dragonfly the last time that Harold had been here with him. It had hovered above a kahili ginger lily. The weather had been sunny that day.
Today’s dragonfly was red with two black dots on its tail. Its crystalline wings were delicate, and each had brown frosty markings highlighting it. The dragonfly didn’t move, so William put his hand just above it. It didn’t flutter away. It stayed motionless, as if the freezing temperatures were exhausting the creature. William put his hand next to it and again the dragonfly remained.
William was alone, so he chatted to the dragonfly. It wasn’t something he would normally do, but this wasn’t a normal day. He had heard that dragonflies were lucky, and some people even believed they denoted the potential for change. Surely that had to be promising?
“Hi, Mr. dragonfly,” he whispered. “I guess you’re a Mr.? It’s good to see you. I’m glad you’re here. It gets cold in winter for us old ones, don’t feel bad for resting a while.”
The dragonfly lifted off the bench for a second and landed near William’s shoulder. It stared at him with its perceptive eyes as if it was listening.
“I’m glad to see you’re not too worn out, or frozen to fly. You, and your insect friends the butterflies have such a short but sweet life. Ah, life is too short. I miss my twin brother Harold so much. It’s like I’ve lost myself and I can’t get back to being me without him by my side.”
The dragonfly flew up and floated above William’s head and whizzed about as if trying to say something… (the story continues…)
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Author Biography
M J Mallon was born in Lion city Singapore, a passionate Scorpio with the Chinese Zodiac sign of a lucky rabbit. She spent her early childhood in Hong Kong. During her teen years, she returned to her father’s childhood home, Edinburgh where she spent many happy years, entertained and enthralled by her parents’ vivid stories of living and working abroad. Perhaps it was during these formative years that her love of storytelling began bolstered by these vivid raconteurs. She counts herself lucky to have travelled to many far-flung destinations and this early wanderlust has fuelled her present desire to emigrate abroad. Until that wondrous moment, it’s rumoured that she lives in the UK, in the Venice of Cambridge with her six-foot hunk of a rock god husband. Her two enchanting daughters have flown the nest but often return with a cheery smile.
Her motto is to always do what you love, stay true to your heart's desires, and inspire others to do so too, even it if appears that the odds are stacked against you like black hearted shadows.
Favourite genres to write: Fantasy/magical realism because life should be sprinkled with a liberal dash of extraordinarily imaginative magic!
YA fantasy series:
Bloodstone - The Curse of Time Book 1
And the 2nd in the series…
Golden Healer - The Curse of Time Book 2
Her writing credits also include a multi-genre approach: paranormal, best-selling horror, supernatural short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She has worked with some amazing authors and bloggers compiling an anthology/compilation set during the early stages of COVID-19 entitled This Is Lockdown and has also written a spin off poetry collection entitled Lockdown Innit.
M J has been blogging for many moons at her blog home Kyrosmagica, (which means Crystal Magic,) where she continues to celebrate the spiritual realm, her love of nature, crystals and all things magical, mystical, and mysterious.
M J’s eclectic blog shares details and information about her new releases, author interviews, character profiles and her love of reading, reviewing, writing, and photography: https://mjmallon.com/
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