Posts

A Squiggle and a Poem

Image
For much of the month of April I have been doing a Squiggle and a Poem...

The process involves very little time.  I simply get my iPhone, go to Notes, get the Markup open and make sure I'm on black marker.  Then I close my eyes and make a squiggle on the screen.  I give myself about a minute to make some sort of sense to the squiggle and then begin using other colors to fill in the image I came up with.  When it is done, a poem emerges and I write that, often on my iPhone in the notes, sometimes on the computer or paper.  The poem is usually in one quick burst, though somedays I have to get up and get more coffee!  Or, as with this one, I got interrupted by who knows what, and it never got finished.  I finished it mostly last night, with just the last few lines of the poem eluding me until this morning.

Slick Kicks

I got new slippers, they’re the best,
Not beat up, torn up like the rest!
They keep my tootsies fireplace toasty,
Wrap my toes all cozy, roasty.
Don’t know why they cal…
1 comment
Read more

Progressive Poem is Here - Jessica Bigi

Image
Having started this poem on April 1 with a two line dilemma and deciding to free myself up of the choice, Irene, our second poet and originator of the Progressive Poem back in 2012, got to select the first line.
Then she offered her two lines to the next poet.  And on and on it's gone.  The poem has come a long way, and has a nice flow.  It meanders with sights, sounds, smells, animals and now people...
Each poet has offered two of their lines for the next poet, so it's a Progressive Poem with a choose-your-own-adventure flavor.


It is Jessica Bigi's turn to select a line offered by Robyn Hood Black.  Here are the two enticing lines choices:

OPTION 1: I free up my banjo, quicken my pace
OPTION 2: I offer a wave but keep to my plan
Drum roll....
Jessica picked Option 1, so the poem reads so far...

Sweet violets shimmy, daffodils sway
along the wiregrass path to the lake.
I carry a rucksack of tasty cakes
and a banjo passed down from my gram.

I follow the tracks of deer and r…
10 comments
Read more

Hello, My Name is Violet!

Image
Have a happy Poetry Friday everyone.  Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is hosting Poetry Friday today.  Lift your eyes to the sky and look down by your feet.
You are sure to see something to catch your eye,
and help to remind you that we will be okay.
That is all. Stay safe and smile at someone.


 Hello, My Name is Violet!

Hello, purple butterfly
Are you looking for a flower?
It’s quite early in the spring
We might just have a shower.

Hey! You are not a wing borne zipper,
But a violet sunlight sipper

You looked for all the world to me,
As you hovered over there,
To be a lovely butterfly
Just flitting in the air;

Spring’s gentle breezes fluttered you
And made your petals flounce
You may not be a butterfly
But you’re as pretty ounce for ounce.

By Donna JT Smith, 4/5/2020
10 comments
Read more

Joyful Stuff in Trying Times

I am sharing my post here today, because every time I go back to edit something on that page today it loses one of my embedded things, and this last time it looked like it was going to delete the MrLinky again...so I'm staying put right here. Ha! In isolation!

One of the greatest joys of this time in self-quarantine has been the time to reconnect to God. And I count the self-quarantine time as starting Jan. 9  My "isolation" felt like it started the day I fell down the stairs and broke things that needed putting back together. It's the day I began regaining my joy. Life slowed down. It was painful and lonely. At rehab I'd kept asking to go outside even for a minute, but no one was available to help me get there and they kept telling me it was too cold. "yes, I know you are from Maine, but this is cold even for you." I'm sorry, how do they know that??? Me who stood outside at bus duty at 0 degrees and lower in Wisconsin winters?? And I woul…
7 comments
Read more

Spiritual Thursday: Joyful Stuff in Trying Times

Image
Okay, a very bizarre thing just happened, and I will try to recreate my post in the morning.  I had this written and scheduled to post.  Then it absolutely disappeared.  The whole post. Lots of words. Wrote a haiku (which I will try to remember...)

All I can remember are the first and last lines now...  I'll think some more...

Blue sky buoys notes ????? Overwhelming joy
I had found this on YouTube and was coming back to link to this when it all disappeared.  I came back to a blank page.  The title had changed and the words were all gone, and it was no longer scheduled to publish.  I scanned through my tabs to make sure I was on the right page and there was no other page open.  None.  I have no idea, but I will try to come back and write it again.


Here's what I was linking when I lost it all....oh, and this just disappeared and I retrieved it again!


So here's the Linky, and hopefully tomorrow morning early I can gather the thoughts together again.  I'm too tired now to…
11 comments
Read more

Progressive Poem Starts Here

Image
I can't believe it is April 1 already!  And that means it is the first day of the Progressive Poem.  Irene Latham who began this poem project back in 2012, has handed it over to Margaret Simon to organize.  I am so grateful to both Irene and Margaret for this wonderful April collaboration to kick of National Poetry Month.
Each day in April a different poet will add a line to this poem begun here today.  No one knows where it will go or how it will get there, but it always gets there beautifully!

I wanted senses or movement in my line to begin this journey.  So I scribbled down a number of potential lines to start us off.

And then I came up with an idea for getting the ball rolling…

I selected TWO of my lines.  We will only USE ONE of them, but let’s let the SECOND PERSON DECIDE which of my two lines they will use.  That second person just happens to be Irene Latham!  
So Irene will have the opportunity to decide which line speaks to her more, and then write the next line of the …
26 comments
Read more

Madness is

* Edited to update: All schools are closed for the next 2 weeks in PA.  So after cleaning up the kids and getting their school clothes in the wash, I came down to visit them. My daughter works at a school, so she is off, too.  I can come and go to see them these two weeks, but I'll still mostly be upstairs.

I've hobbled upstairs to the in-law apartment for staying a bit more "germ safe" until I get more mobile.  No one's been here since my fall Jan. 9, so it's kind of a safe haven for me.  I'm canceling my PT.  Most things are really buttoning up and only essential travel, etc.  The libraries in the next county - a couple of miles away - are closed for the next 2 or more weeks.  So, being in the more "at risk" groups, I'm sequestered away for a bit.  Everyone just cover your coughs and wash your hands till we get on the other side of this Madness...

Today is the last day for voting on Round 1 of Madness! Poetry... Matt, who is hosting Poetry…
14 comments
Read more