Psychological Suspense, Travel, Romance, Erotica, Paranormal - Stories, Poetry, and Excerpts
Read never before published stories and excerpts from J. Sharland’s novels including the fact-based-fiction suspense travel thriller Under the Umbrella of Paradise, the paranormal psychological suspense novel Shadows of the Ripples, and the suspense travel horror novel The RV Park.
Follow J. Sharland’s blogs at medium.com/jsharlandday or substack.com/@jsharlandday to stay up-to-date on her newest writing and publications.
I Found a Brown Paper Sack Left Behind in a Public Restroom (What To Do?)
While I stood all alone to wash my hands
I noticed a lone paper sack.
It had no identifying brands,
And the top was neatly folded back.
Mmmmm! I hummed, as I wondered what to do.
Do I take a peek out of curiosity?
I still wouldn’t know who it belonged to,
But would that be important to me?
What’s with Mother Nature?
Mother Nature has many forms of paybacks,
It's not just twisters or hurricanes.
There're volcanos, earthquakes, and big damned cracks,
Does she want no one to remain?
The Over-Fifty Class Reunion (And the Lessons That I Learned)
As we grew older, school friends scattered,
Promises to stay close no longer mattered,
‘Cause, I was the first one to move.
With that distance we grew apart and changed,
Our thoughts, perceptions, directions that ranged,
From marriage, college with career, or both.
Classmates and Fates (I Am Going to a Class Reunion Soon)
This poem is about class reunions.
The first one, which everyone expects to be fun ones,
Often will come across as being dum-ones,
When some try too hard to impress.
The second one is sometimes sparsely attended,
‘Cause of how the last one ended,
When many used pills for impressions intended
While showing off thrills and frills.
If I Were A Whirl of Wind (A Poem Told From A Humble Tornado’s Perspective)
I was spawned, one stormy day,
When my mother decided to play
Somewhere along Tornado Alley.
She bumped into my dad,
Spawned me, and I was glad,
And they gave me the name of Sally.
The Beauty and the Bleakness of Early Spring
We left the tropics at the end of March,
Lush greenness embedded in our minds.
The swaying palms and the flowering shrubs
Showing colors of all kinds.
As we traveled north the colors changed,
From Kelly Green to Forest.
Higher elevations brought changes as we drove,
We began seeing branches at their barest.
My Fascination with the Howler Monkey
The Howler Monkey, how they cry!
With their screaming growls racing through the sky,
Like a charge from the light brigade.
The sound is very loud,
And they seem pretty proud,
Of the fact that they can be heard for miles.
Ode to Friends Who Help Friends Just Because (And Who Do It Tirelessly)
We have two friends who are always ready to help,
Whenever they are needed.
Knowledgeable and direction oriented,
Their advice is always heeded.
They work tirelessly and endlessly,
Until the work is done.
And my trying to keep up with their amazing pace,
Is a battle I have not won.
Chasin’ Popcorn in the Wind (On a Sandy Beach)
We hopped in our golf cart and went for a ride.
Decided to see the sea since it was high tide.
When we arrived, it was windy as heck,
Which did keep the skeeters from nibbling my neck.
We brought cocktails for our beachside happy hour,
And a bowl of popcorn that we could devour.
But when we started eating our buttery delights
Before getting to our mouths, the corn took off in flight.
The Saga of a Spider’s Web
Some friends walked by our garden gate and stopped to exclaim,
“Come look at this spider’s web!” Their tone had no disdain.
A fascinating spectacle, of that, there was no doubt.
The spider had made a great big edge and began to fill it out.
An Ode to the Morning Songbirds (And the joy that they bring)
Ah, the chirrups, tweets, whistles, and trills,
Which come from such tiny little bills,
That I hear each morn when I arise
The musical conversations I apprize,
And value each, and every note.
What Are New Year’s Resolutions?
I saw a man running, early New Year’s Day.
I grinned at his determination,
to start his goals with intention,
But wondered if they would continue ‘til May.
The problems with resolutions are not the intent.
It’s when we let life get in the way
to slow down our resolve to pay
For those sins we fall back on to vent.
The Pouring Rain
Rain, rain won’t go away,
And will be back another day.
Our roof has large leaks galore,
Especially when the heavens pour.
Its great big heart out
To give us more
Moisture,
The soil a drink,
The lakes to restore,
Levels of their normal reserves.
A Hot Tub Morning
My favorite time is early morn,
In the hot tub before starlight fades.
The half-moon is shining bright,
As I lay back to gaze.
I see a satellite pass by the moon,
And soon the brightness showed,
A meteor shooting past,
Its long tail and embers glowed.
Forever Blowing Bubbles (A Hope for Our World)
What is it we seek,
When the world looks so bleak,
With all the hatred, chaos and strife?
I seek to be like a bubble we blow,
That can put on a great show,
As it meanders and changes...like life.
If Only (I Had Practiced My Guitar and Singing)
If only I had practiced my beloved guitar,
After learning the cords, I coulda been a big star.
But I would only strum,
Making up songs with a hum.
When the mood hit every now and then.
I Love to Touch You
Touch. Such a simple yet powerful action.
Not a poke or prod. Those have negative connotations and effects. They are to get attention and are harder. Who wants to be poked?
A touch is softer. It can say, “Hello, dear friend. It’s so good to see you!”
Or it can say, “Hi, my love!”
Or it can say, “You are so special!”
Life and the Pitfalls of the Dreaded Saturation Point
When does a traveler get tired of traveling?
When does a writer get tired of writing?
When does a doer of anything get tired of doing anything
they love?
A Silly Poem about the Massive Flock of Grus Grus
A big damn bird flew in front of our car,
As we drove down the road to Seville (Sayveea).
It landed in a field but was too far
To see what it might be-a.
Was it a giant bird or small plane?
I chuckled to myself.
That thought was silly and quite inane
Yet I knew it was no elf.
What Is That Painted All Over the Buildings? (Street Art, Folk Art, or Graffiti?) - A Poem
Graffiti all over the buildings, Oh my!
How can they let this go on?
The colors covering spaces we walked by,
Miss-matched browns would have covered each one,
If we were in the States, that is,
For graffiti is not condoned.
But in España it’s encouraged, it ‘tis,
Because it was there wherever we roamed.