Red sky in the morning

 10/01/2011 Red sky in the morning, Lewes, England.

This was the view out of my window yesterday morning – oh no, I thought. we all know what they say about sailors and shepherds first thing in the morning. No, not that matron, I am referring to the weather:
“Red sky at night the sailor’s (shepherd’s) delight;
red sky in the morning sailors’ (shepherds’) warning”.
This is one of the many wise saying of that anonymous old wife who was so good at pouring cold water over our fun. She must have known that I would look out of my window yesterday morning and think: wow! 
Her well-known catch-phrase was there just to spoil my pleasure. Well, she failed. I am not and have never been a shepherd or a sailor and I can only guess at what delights them but, for me, that red sky was inspiring. 
I do know, so don’t bother writing in to tell me, that the red sky in the morning thing is all about weather systems and that most of them move from the West to the East so if there is trouble ahead, as in dark clouds, they get all lit up in the morning but in the evening they are going away. 
I am sure it must be right because not only did that old wife say so so did these notable guys too:

“Like a red morn that ever yet betokened,

Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field,

Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds,

Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.”

William Shakespeare: Venus and Adonis (1593)

“When in evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: For the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather today; for the sky is red and lowering.”

Jesus Christ (Bible, Matthew XVI: 2-3)


Well, for me and any odd sailor or shepherd hanging around in these parts, it was all a lot of fuss about nothing. We had no storms or foul flaws or gusts….not even a slight breeze. I suppose the sky is a big space so people a long way away may have had whatever the sky was warning us about. 
All I had was a very pleasant day which began very prettily and, yes, I guess I have to admit it, there was a bit of rain last night, not a lot and, hey, I didn’t need that big a warning but thanks all the same. It looked beautiful.






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STEPHEN DEARSLEY’S SUMMER OF LOVE BY COLIN BELL
My novel, Stephen Dearsley’s Summer Of Love, was published  on 31 October 2013. It is the story of a young fogey living in Brighton in 1967 who has a lot to learn when the flowering hippie counter culture changes him and the world around him.

It is now available as a paperback or on Kindle (go to your region’s Amazon site for Kindle orders)

You can order the book from the publishers, Ward Wood Publishing:
…or from Book Depository:

…or from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Stephen%20Dearsley’s%20Summer%20Of%20love

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COLIN BELL’S PUBLICATIONS:

Stephen Dearsley’s Summer Of Love
Ward Wood Publishing
October 30, 2013

http://www.wardwoodpublishing.co.uk/titles-fiction-colin-bell-stephen-dearsleys-summer-of-love.htm

Genius Floored: Uncurtained Window
Soaring Penguin Press
June 15, 2013
Poetry anthology

http://www.soaringpenguinpress.com/publications/poetry/genius-floored-whispers-in-smoke/

Genius Floored: Whispers in Smoke
Soaring Penguin Press
June 6, 2014
Poetry anthology

http://www.soaringpenguinpress.com/publications/poetry/genius-floored-whispers-in-smoke/

Reaching Out
Cinnamon Press
December 2012
Poetry and short story anthology

http://www.cinnamonpress.com/product-item/reaching-out/

Tic Toc
A Kind Of A Hurricane Press
June 2014
Poetry anthology

http://www.kindofahurricanepress.com/2014/06/tic-toc-is-now-available.html

The Blotter
The Blotter Magazine Inc.
November 2009
Three pages of poetry in the American South’s unique, free, international literature and arts magazine.

http://www.blotterrag.com/back-issues/2009-11.pdf


The Fib Review
Musepie Press
My Fibonacci poetry has appeared in this journal from 2009 until the present

http://www.musepiepress.com/fibreview/writers.html

Shot Glass Journal
Muse Pie Press
My poetry has appeared in various issues of this short form poetry journal

http://www.musepiepress.com/shotglass/writers.html


Every Day Poets Magazine
Every Day Poets
I have various poems of the day published in this 365 days a year poetry magazine.

http://www.everydaypoets.com/?s=Colin+Bell

In The Night Count The Stars
Bittersweet Editions
March 1, 2014
An “uncommon anthology” of images, fragments, stories and poetry.

http://www.bittersweeteditions.com/in-the-night-count-the-stars.html#%2EU8ZFXY1dXoo

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