Mainely Write

I can't believe there is Zilch to go! Zero.  Nada! We are done! Before l finish,  I just want to say thankfully "we are not done"!  Yesterday was a special day for us. And so was the day before that. On Monday, we were almost not here for the last two letters of the alphabet.  My husband and I were in a car accident on the Interstate that involved being rear-ended by a person who was distracted and driving way, way, WAY too fast.  My husband saw her coming and tried to get us out of the center lane and to the right lane to avoid being hit, but she was still too fast and hit us on the back left with her right front.  We spun around a few times in the middle of the highway, missing cement dividers and the overhead pass wall, and thankfully no semis or other cars hit us, though it was a busy highway and we covered most of it!  I remember wondering how far the car would cave in, and could I avoid the door crushing in by leaning to the center.  We did not hit

My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April. The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration!   Welcome to Y! Y is for Yellow Dog by Gary Lawless Yellow Dog floppy eared puppies popping hopping stopping on their chins stepping on and over no telling which one wins like warm buttered popcorn they spill down the hill until they reach the bottom where I am. They wrestle and wriggle around me I think no puppy sees that I am waiting quietly on my knees until one little puppy comes to me joyfully and she begins to pounce and bounce and say to me that I should pick her for she’s picked me - and that is how yellow dog and I came to be family. ©Donna JT Smith, 2014 "Yellow Dog" seems to be a "brochure*", as it is listed as such for sale privately.  So I don't know if it qualifies as a book or not.  Ok.  All the votes

My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April.  The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration!   There was no book that began with an X or EX, so I went with a word that ended in X. Here is my double Haiku for foX . Welcome to X!  X is for Fox by Kate Banks Fox fiery-tailed red fox sunset prowler, night hunter - beware, slight tailed mouse wary, bright-eyed mouse field dweller, harvest nibbler red fox waits for you ©Donna JT Smith Katherine Anne (Kate) Banks was born in and grew up in Maine.  She graduate from Brewer High School. Kate Banks' website In Fox , a little fox, guided by his parents, learns to hunt, bury his food, cover his trail and run fast, until he is ready at last to go out on his own. More about "Fox" Macmillan's review of Fox and some illustrations Brought to you by the letter X! Y is next.  Ye

Precious girl, you are almost here, I know just how you'll cry; I already see your curled up fists And feel the mother's tie. Treasured girl, you've already caught Our hearts, our minds, our souls; I want to wrap you, keep you safe From rocky life's hard shoals. I know you'll press to be on your own With ways you'll want to try, And you will give us fits and starts That make us want to cry. First take the hand that's given you And let's both cross the street; I know the little girl you'll be And I think you two should meet. She's making castles in the sand, Eating broccoli , Swirling angels in the snow, Sitting on my knee. She's holding bugs and reading books, Standing in the rain, Collecting shells and bits of glass, Waving to a train. She's riding on a grown up bike, Listening to owls, Rolling out some cookie dough, Making thinking scowls. This little girl is not alone To do all the hard stuff, Someo

My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April. The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration! Welcome to W!   W is for  The Weather Sky by Bruce McMillan   The Weather Sky I look above and my eyes are greeted with blue clouds skim the sky clouds with stories to tell like where they have been how cold they are how old they are how high and how fast they are moving where they are going if a storm is coming whether there will be thunder and lightning whether the weather will be snow or will it blow in rain or rattle down sleet will the day be humid, hazy and lazy or will it be a day to dry the clothes the weather sky will tell you look it in the eye watch and learn it has a lot to say if you will use discerning eyes if you will listen to what you see the sky will tell you what the weather will be but not whether you will like it for the weathe

My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April. The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration!     Welcome to V!  V is for  the giVer riVer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To help make up for the lack of V titles, in addition to using two titles in one poem, I will use a V poetry form: the Villanelle - a nineteen-line poem with a rhyming scheme of: a b a ab a ab a ab a ab a ab a a .

 The first and the third lines in the first stanza are repeated in alternating order throughout the poem, and both are in the last two lines of the couplet at the end. River by Debby Atwell The Giver by Lois Lowry The giVer riVer I’d like to be a river, winding round the bend - a rolling life giver whose cold spray sends a shiver as over rocks I wend. I’d like to be a river I’d start out as a sliver - a wide bay at ocean end. a rolling life giver who’s able to

 My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April. The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration! Scoot to the bottom if you are here for Poetry Jam !  You'll find the Desert there!   Welcome to U! U is for: Up the Mountain written and illustrated by Charlotte Agell Up the Mountain Haystack Mountain, Castle Hill, Maine, taken by me Up the Mountain I set out to go up the mountain it wasn’t very high mountains in Maine do not grow much before they touch the sky the path was easy to follow though roots and rocks were rife much like the path we follow as we wander throughout life squirrels ahead took refuge in trees as I passed by chipmunks scampered into holes both creatures “stranger shy” I wondered how it seemed to birds to be soaring free and high and suddenly in their endless view see a point of land in sky an island peak to stop a while

My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April. The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration!   Welcome to T! T is for: Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord Touch Blue "I will touch blue," She says, and grasps her crayon to furiously color the sky leaving white spaces as clouds. "I will touch blue," She declares, sweeping her brush across the page to paint the waves crashing against the rocks. "I will touch blue!" She shouts, picking berries and tossing them into her pail,  bending low by the stone wall. "Touching blue," She whispers, closing her eyes, while indigo berries, cerulean seas, and cobalt skies drift and sift through her dreams;  and she reaches to gather forget-me-nots. ©Donna JT Smith, 2014 I just added this one below at 9 am.  I just keep revising the poem.  I now have put this one up, too. 

 My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April. I've focused mainly on children's books, with a few others sprinkled in.  Thus most poems are of more interest to children and the young at heart! The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration! Welcome to S! S is for  The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzeo The Sea Chest Upstairs in the attic From my cousins I hid They didn’t visit often, but when they did we’d play hide and seek in our house in the field. As in darkness I huddled, the shadows concealed, I heard their voices, as they looked about, but no one came; Too scary no doubt in the dark to look here. I reached for the string hand groping above pulling down to bring the dust-measured years and eyes squinting tight as wood floor and beams appeared in the night. There in the middle apart from the rest was some kind of box - a wooden sea chest

My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April. The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration!     Welcome to R! R is for: Rules by Cynthia Lord Rules Don’t wipe your feet; It’s not a big deal, When you are eating Let out a big squeal! Stomp when you’re angry! Hiss when you’re mad! Stare when you’re hungry! Groan when you’re bad! Don’t say your sorry For jumping on things; If you couldn't jump I think you’d have wings. Kersplash in the water! 
Climb a tall tree! Wallow in mud!
 Sting someone’s knee! Dig up the garden - Go right for the roots! Chomp on the newest, Most tasty-est boots! Scratch on the corners, Put hairs all around, Put paws in the fishtank - Oh, look, the fish drowned! "Wait... This isn’t about How you’d act at a zoo, This is supposed to be Rules made for you..." Don’t pick the flowers! Don’t ju

It's Easter Sunday - a scheduled post for this blessed, glorious day! ✟ Resurrection once dead now risen death stripped powerless to hold cleansed and ransomed souls ©Donna JT Smith, 2014 ✟ See you back at the R(anch) tomorrow!

My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April. The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration!  Welcome to Q! Q is for The Quilting Bee by Gail Gibbons I have two poems for this title!  I wrote this one first, but then I thought I'd like to have one with a classic form.  So I wrote a Quatern for the second one, which I will explain below.  Which do you prefer?  I also posted some pictures of some quilt blocks I sewed by hand (needle and thread, no machine) back 30 years ago!  I found them when I was looking for some photos (which I never found). The Quilting Bee Walk and bring all your squares Talk and sing all your cares Stitches fine in and out Squares of nine all about Layered quilt out and in Layered life stitched within Stitch, gossip tiny tales Gossip, stitch tiny trails Up and down in and out Down and up round about Quilts for bride h

My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April. The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration!   I wrote two separate poems for P - preposterous! It is also Poetry Friday ----which is also a P word! Head on over to Life on the Deckle Edge where Robyn Hood Black is hosting some good poetry today. Welcome to P!  P is for  Panda Whispers   by Mary Beth Owens Panda Whispers If a panda whispers, listen; He's telling you what he know s, Like how far it is from Spain to Maine, Or how an orange grows.  No, pandas do not often talk, Pay attention, though they're lispers; They're saying something vital When their voice creeps low to whispers. 2 times 2 is 4, you know, and c-a-t spells cat; Augusta is Maine's capital. Did you know all of that? Well, there you go , you've learned a lot! Now, off you go to bed - Panda has muc

My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April.  The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration!   Again today, I used both books in the poem.  They just seemed to go together.  They would be the start of a good spine poem! Welcome to O! O is for:  Only Cows Allowed by Lynn Plourde On the Hill by Lisa Jahn-Clough Only Cows Allowed On the Hill Only cows allowed on the hill To graze on the nimblewill; No quilled porucpine, Nor piggish big swine And no fowl with a beak or a bill. Only cows can be way up there; Not with horses nor moose will they share; "Go away, you old cat!" "Skeedaddle, muskrat!" This is a strictly "Cows Only" affair. If you're plucky and you are a cow - A bovine with the climbing know-how, Then you are in luck; All others are stuck At the foot of the hill, not the brow. If perhaps you are named

My theme: Book Titles A to Z written by Maine authors, and a poem for that title each day for the month of April. The poem is not about the book, but is written with the title as inspiration!     Welcome to N! N is for A Net of Stars  by Jennifer Jacobson A Net of Stars indigo night moon and stars surround my bed aloft, my boat afloat in oceans of midnight blue starry schools swarm about lighting shimmering gossamer lines filling my net with stars ©Donna JT Smith, 2014 This poem form is a Nonet, with nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, and each line decreases in its number of syllables until the last line, which has one syllable.  It can be about any subject and may or may not rhyme.  It seemed to work nicely for this poem - it can look like a fishing net in the water or like from the bottom you are looking up into the huge night sky. A Net of Stars is about a young girl conquering her fears. More about the book and Jennifer Richard Jacob