Flights of Fancy: A Book of Poetry, Prose, and Imaginative Short Stories

By Bernadette Bland

Life is filled with emotional highs and lows. Riding the wave of this experience is part of living, but for poet Bernadette Bland, dreaming was even more important. No matter the attitude, mood, or circumstance, Ms. Bland has always believed in the beauty of life. Never to be deterred from her hearts desire, she has ridden her own life wave with an eye to her dreams and an eye to the beauty of nature.

In her new poetry collection, Flights of Fancy, Ms. Bland shares her imagery with the outside world. She delves into the lavish splendor of nature in Drifting Grace: Gods Art Show. She peers behind the protective mask of a weeping clown in Behind the Mask. She recalls watching her mother slowly grow old in the poignant Mama. In all her words, she reveals her deepest yearnings and fears with selfless honesty.

Flights of Fancy is an example of an imagination set free. Ms. Bland fills her poetry with wonder and will leave you longing to step out into the sun. She is not afraid to depict the sometimes traumatic rollercoaster of life; yet she encourages us to move on, move up, and not look back. Within every word, she calls to the reader, challenging each one of us to never stop dreaming!

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 24, 2011
• ISBN: 9781450284530

Bernadette Bland

Bernadette Bland was born in Westerly, Rhode Island. A news reporter and photographer for many years, her poetry has been published by the National Library of Poetry, the Amherst Society, and the Iliad Press, among others. Ms. Bland lives with her husband in the Capital District of upstate New York.

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Copyright © 2011 Bernadette Bland

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ISBN: 978-1-4502-8452-3 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-8453-0 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 2/17/2011

No matter the attitude, mood, or circumstance, keep on dreaming. Do not be deterred from your heart’s desire.

—Bernadette Bland

For my parents,

James P. and A. Jessie (Hughes) Smith,

and my sister, Miriam Whewell,

for all their love and encouragement to write

and my son Patrick for his renderings of the young Indian Warrior and the eagle.

Contents

Introduction

Drifting Grace: God’s Art Show

The Sea

Sound Reflections

Mama

Memories

Forever Cherished

Wind Speak

God’s Handwriting

Princess Maddy Grace

I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff

God’s Glory

Behind the Mask

Intrusions: Seeking Solace

Pals

Ancestry

Spirits Rising

Rejuvenation: A Point of View from an Old House

Friendships Rare

My Coworker Family

Patty’s House

Rebecca

Lovin’ Folk

Ok’tober Nights

Christmas Is Love

Reflections

Jewels of the Night

The Road to Nowhere

The Ordeal

Western Wonder

This One Night

Anger: An Irrational Mind

As Time Has Gone

My Lisa, My Daughter

A New Home for Rose

The Valley

Introduction

Flights of Fancy is a book of poetry in which I tried to express the imagery, beauty, and emotional rollercoaster we all experience in this world of which we are such an integral part. I hope to share this rhythmical creation with readers everywhere.

Drifting Grace: God’s Art Show

The delicate bits of