Mainely Write

It's Poetry Friday!   I got a text from my daughter this morning. Her 4 year old son asked to wear these shoes today.  He's usually in flipflops or Crocs, but today he asked to wear his "stress shoes".  And he named them:  Bobo and Bernie.  Then he proceeded to "Time Out" when he couldn't wear them to go outside and do yard work.  There was a bit of a rough patch preceeding the "Time Out"... but we've all seen those, so I needn't describe the exchange that would lead to a need to calm down, right?  Speaking of "stress shoes"... It was handy timing because I didn't know what I would write about.  I had no poem, until then.  Thanks, Grandson!   Maybe next week I'll include his hand conversation at breakfast. "Come on, you stress shoes!" Stress Shoes I want to wear my stress shoes They're black and have real laces I think I'll call them Bobo And Bernie - with no faces.

Today, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes at Today's Little Ditty , has my ME poem, written in response to Lee Bennett Hopkins' Ditty of the Month Club challenge .  It is a poem that is about a pivotal moment in your childhood - something that changed the way you thought about something, something that changed you in some way. I have a few moments like that in my childhood, but the one that came to mind immediately was one that happened when I was probably somewhere between age 8 and 10.  It had a huge impact on my life, and I wish I could have spoken to that person in my future adult voice when it happened, and asked them what in the world they thought they were doing, and how did they think that would help me.  But I was just a kid, and if a grown up said something, it was probably true.  The remark was one they would today most likely have no memory of ever having said (if they were, in fact, still alive today).  I never ever saw this person again, but I didn't need to; the wo

Poetry abounds, and you can bound along, too, if you go and visit Michelle at Today's Little Ditty where there are a plethora of poetry links! (Isn't "plethora" a great word... love it's opposite, too - "dearth") I am posting Aquasphere today.  It was a "runner-up" in my brain, for posting on Spark as a Response Piece for the ocean picture by Tisha Carter.  You can see that image here . You could say this particular poem was taken by force!  I tried a different technique to create it.  One that I hadn't used before.  You may want to try it with a picture you would like to write to. Here's what I did:  Because the sky and sea blended so nicely in Tish's picture, making them almost one entity or fluidly joining, I wanted them to be joined in the poem somehow, too.   I brought Tish's image into Sherwin Williams Color Snap .  There the names of Sherwin William's paint colors were assigned to different areas on the

Happy Friday, happy poetry!  We are all attending the poetry party at Robyn Hood Black's place, so go and take a look at what else is being offered today - right after you finish here, of course! My last swap of the summer was with Margaret Simon...way down in Louisiana!  Quite a ways from Maine!  However, having frequently read Margaret's blog and swapping a poem last summer, has made me feel like I know her a little bit better than some of my face-to-face friends! Anyway, for the poetry swap, Margaret sent me a "Happy Day" journal (in which I have already written!) with a sweet poem written about a Maine author, Cynthia Lord, using a line I'd put in one of my poems recently "When the haze sweeps in" .  She paints a pretty authentic picture of living in Maine.  Margaret posted this poem last Friday and you may read more about her connection with Cynthia here .  With her permission, I have Margaret's poem written out here: Cynthia's Garden

It's Poetry Friday - somehow I missed posting last week.  It's been busy - traveled by train down to Maryland for my nephew's wedding on the ocean for the weekend and that threw off my writing, plus this:   For the past ten days I have been ruminating over an image sent to me by a Spark participant. Has anyone else out there done Spark?  This is my first time.  Amy Souza at Spark organizes this meeting of artists - pairing an artist with a writer.  I sent my partner a poem, to which she will give an image response, and she sent me an image, to which I respond with a written piece. The image she sent to me is of the ocean with just a bit of sand in the foreground, and the ocean goes on to blend with the gray cloudy sky.  It is hard to see where one stops and the next starts - a very intriguing picture by the sea.  (Fortunately for me, I love ocean scenes!) Later this morning I have to send a poem response to this image.  I have had ten days to write.  And I have 4