#thedesertandthewhitecloud
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cieloceano.bsky.social
#poetry
#promptcombo
#home
#thedesertandthewhitecloud
@rfsmith.bsky.social
May 19, 2026 at 9:30 AM
cieloceano.bsky.social
#poetry
#thedesertandthewhitecloud
June 17, 2026 at 1:05 PM
cieloceano.bsky.social
#promptcombo
#maidenvoyage
#poetry
With thanks to @janpsolivagant.bsky.social
This is from a novel I’m writing now #thedesertandthewhitecloud
June 2, 2026 at 12:49 PM
cieloceano.bsky.social
#poetry
#TheDesertAndTheWhiteCloud

Keira Knightley’s portrayal of #AnnaKarenina was in my mind while writing this.

We do not conquer the ocean of the heart; we walk upon its surface for a little while.

#promptcombo
#defined
@rfsmith.bsky.social
June 15, 2026 at 3:27 PM
cieloceano.bsky.social
#haiku
#haikufeels
#prompt
#thedesertandthewhitecloud

nights unfold beneath
the sea of clouds and thunders
lining in the deep
annemorrigan.bsky.social anne @annemorrigan.bsky.social · Jun 4
it's the write time, feelsfam!

today's #haikufeels #prompt is 



elevate
June 4, 2026 at 11:33 AM
cieloceano.bsky.social
Published today: The Desert and the White Cloud. From sixteenth-century Zeila to modern New Zealand, two women—five centuries apart—refuse to give up who they are. #VisionaryFiction #HistoricalFiction #BookSky
#Writers #WriteSky #thedesertandthewhitecloud

www.lulu.com/shop/stefano...
The Desert and the White Cloud
From sixteenth-century Zeila to modern New Zealand, two women confront radically different forms of power. Their stories are joined by the same courage: the refusal to surrender who they are and the p...
www.lulu.com
July 15, 2026 at 1:34 PM
cieloceano.bsky.social
Working on a new novel—on freedom, resilience, and the unbreakable bravery of a woman.

#thedesertandthewhitecloud
#Africa

When morning flies away with the years
my heart is clenched by claws of rage,
while the entire river is my tears
and unbearable the ocean of this age.
May 12, 2026 at 9:18 AM
cieloceano.bsky.social
Coming soon: #TheDesertAndTheWhiteCloud
A #sestina for Ayaan, my favourite character.
#Poetry #HistoricalFiction #AmWriting #WriteSky #Writers
Ayaan White alabaster corridors, facing the sea— She crossed that day, though forged through fire. Betrayal sealed chains; the nights carved a sear. Yet the power of pain unleashed her hair. The princes of light she then came to fight, until a dawn bright across the desert rose in waves. Her eyes were full open, a judgement in waves. Barefoot she killed lions, foe’s fear vast as sea. Her soul undefeated, the dead rules to fight: when clouds became flames, the rain turned to fire, the shining deep rose in flames through her hair; while the flesh she loved had borne her own sear. She walked alone through her blossoming sear: the desert was water, the dunes became waves. In her dreams a hand caressed her hair: his words were unknown, in his eyes the sea. By day she returned to war and its fire, while telling herself that her life was a fight. The war did not end, with drought you can’t fight; when famine signed their skins with invisible sear, to never surrender she crossed through fire, where even the flames shook the nights in waves. But then, one morning, her love came from the sea caressing again the flame of her hair. She sailed the death waters, the sun on her hair. Their flames were immortal, and endless her fight. She crossed the night through the dark sea. Her enemies’ pride turned into their own sear. The wings of her wrath then brightened in waves, and chains of the soul were melted through fire. The lords of the worlds are scared of her fire: no one of them touches, nor binds her free hair. The swords of her world are blossoming waves. The enemy inside is the deepest, true fight. No matter how many of these lives bore sear— We all are returning as rivers to the sea. Her soul is the fire, her fire is fight. Her hair burns untamed, though flesh bears its sear. Yet even the night waves return to her sea.
July 11, 2026 at 11:51 AM