Poetry
Three space missions — one starting point to adventure
As I watched the SpaceX Dragon launch, little details caught my eye and made me smile. A few days later, the editor of “Starlight Emporium Magazine” contacted me and asked if I could send her a poem about the launch with a tight week deadline. This three part poem is what came to me.
APOLLO
At dawn, the monolith rises with
Brave men to ascend the heavens
We will journey to the moon
The nation holds its collected breath
As television cameras spy
At dawn, the monolith rises with
Brave men to ascend the heavens
On magnificent blossoms of fire…
His chapter would have to wait
Leaning back in his chair, he looked out over the stern of the sailboat. The sky was shifting into gold and pink as the sun touched the horizon. He could feel the waves gently rock the boat and the call of seagulls in the distance.
In his lap lay his trusty AlphaSmart typewriter. He bought it years ago on an online site. A tough machine, short of tossing it into the ocean, he didn’t think anything could put a dent in it. The Alphasmart had no connection to the grid. When he wrote, there were only his own thoughts and…
Every year, I create a new annual bullet Journal to help me plan out my writing schedule. There I set out my yearly goals and I keep a running todo list of tasks for each day. In the past, I would set up a simple monthly tracking section at the start of each calendar month and then write in my daily todo list each day, setting up the spacing and size on an on-going basis. I also set up outlined spaces at regular intervals in my bullet journal to practice zentangle sketching. I followed this format for five years. …
THE PLANETS: a scifaiku poetry collection
written and illustrated by Wendy Van Camp
The planets have fascinated humanity since the dawn of time. We’ve looked up into the heavens and wondered what these wandering stars are and why they are different from their more stationary cousins. In modern times, humans have sent probes to all the planets in our solar system, sending back tantalizing views from faraway worlds. The planets are woven into our culture and history. They are signposts of our journey ahead.
This collection of 108 science fiction haiku poems (scifaiku) will take…
Mysterious Pluto is a planetary body recently visited by our probes. The planet has undergone status changes in the last few decades. Is it a planet or not by definition? The world received its name via heated arguments in the International Astronomical Union. Plenty of inspiration for a set of scifaiku.
Charon and Pluto
two icy worldlets
ever facing his brother
in tidal embrace
Venetia’s Wish
grandpa calls from Oxford
a girl’s idea resonates
Pluto’s name bestowed
Status Change
heated debate ensues
once too small to make the grade
dwarf Pluto now planet
Planet Pluto in the Kuiper belt dwarfs…
Once in the realm of science fiction, 3D printing has taken on new meaning in the medical industry. One day, creating new organs to heal people might be only a digital recipe away. These poems center around the exciting possibilities of this technology.
Exoskeleton
mechanical actuators network
printed cradle supports my form
dawn on hypergravity world
Printed Bones
ceramic bonds to chemicals
implant dissolves as bone grows
scaffold heals astronaut
Heart Valve
dual-syringe prints hope
alginate, muscle, interstitial cells
valve motivates morning blood
Synthetic Skin
planetary war burns
soldier wounded in darkness
printer replaces layers
Social Media is the place to ask questions and make connections. As a writer, many of the magazines I publish in or authors/editors I meet are via connections on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. One platform that I also visit for this purpose is Reddit. It is a huge platform of over 520 monthly readers and has a million or more active “subreddits” to choose from. How I like to use the platform is to choose among the subreddits and subscribe so that they appear on my front page dashboard. This is the default page you see when you first…
Gwendolyn tiptoed down a castle hallway, her flowing blue dress sweeping the floor. Strange white doors were set in the stone walls. Each wore a symbol: letters, numbers, or images.
She touched a glowing symbol.”Twenty-Three.” The door opened. She stepped into a blue light. Was this the answer to her forgotten mystery?
The world disintegrated in a shattering of shards.
Gwendolyn woke in a hospital bed. Her nurse detached the electrodes on her skullcap. “That is not it. We will try again in the morning.”
Would she ever find what they wanted? …
Venus Rising
It is said that the clouds of Venus may one day be a new home for humans with little modification. Living in the clouds above the toxic, crushing pressure below there is a sweet spot of comfortable pressure, gravity, and temperature. These science fiction haiku poems are inspired by this concept of the future.
Orbiting Secrets
In stationary orbit
city in the clouds
learning secrets
Venus Ascending
airship city floats
above toxic clouds
mysterious Venus
Crush
Spaceship seeks
floating city in Purgatory
finds crushing darkness
What is SciFaiku?
SciFaiku is a child of contemporary international haiku. A poem is 3 lines and contains about 17…
The author platform is an important part of being a modern author. Your platform is how new readers find you and become intrigued by your writing. It is the way returning readers keep track of your events and your new books, stories, and poems. It is how your readers discover your book signings and other promotional events.
Your website and newsletter are the first tiers of your author platform. But social media can supplement these two powerful tools on the internet. The main social media outlets you should consider are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. I also recommend Medium. …
Wendy Van Camp
I love to read books, sketch, and drink coffee. I'm an author and poet. #sciencefiction #fantasy #memoir #poetry #scifaiku
