A to Z on a Plate - Z

AmaZing!!!!
I can't believe April is over! No more A to Z Challenge.  National Month of poetry concludes.  What will we do with our time?
Z is the final letter embrace that graces our plates for 2016.  And the month is done.  But let's not finish without a bit of ZEAL!

Here are two zealous acrostic poems - forward and backwards each....for A "to Z" Finale....
(And after that, there is the Progressive Poem... so if you are here only for that... keep scrolling down!)

Zip and
Energy in
All of
Life, with
Laughter
Abundant and
Especially
Zestful.

Zest or zeal to
End this ordeal
A to Z- no
Letters to go. None
Left in the
Alphabet - the
Eventual outcome -
Zero!

The plates were full.  The plates have been licked clean.  They are parked just as they were found, so we can start over next year!

Zero left!!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

But now there is one LAST piece of "poetic business" to attend to....

This is the final line of the Progressive Poem.  Thank you Irene Latham, for beginning this wonderful group poem idea, nurturing it and coaxing it's growth!
It was begun on the first day in April with a single line.  Then line by line, poet by poet, it has grown into a living, breathing poem that has never been here before - a new creation birthed in and of the minds of 30 writers in one month's time.
I've checked in on the poem's progress a number of times over the month, checking its pulse, height, weight, motions and timing. I looked into its eyes, listened to it breathe, mulled over the sounds it made. Yes, it was alive. Yes, it was growing. And, yes, it had something to say.
It was/is amazing!

I hope my line can fill the need for summary,
for enlightenment,
for more wonder....
I felt the need to change the title and a few of the areas with quotes.  I also took out the stanza breaks and added indents where there were quotes.

So here it is:

Thoughts Take Flight

A squall of hawk wings stirs the sky.                               Laura at Writing the World for Kids
A hummingbird holds and then hies.                                Joy at Joy Acey
     “If I could fly, I’d choose to be                                  Doraine at Dori Reads
      Sailing through a forest of poet-trees.”                      Diane at Random Noodling
A cast of crabs engraves the sand                                   Penny at A Penny and Her Jots
Delighting a child’s outstretched hand.                             Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink
     "If I could breathe under the sea,                               Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass
      I’d dive, I’d dip, I’d dance with glee."                        Janet F. at Live Your Poem
A clump of crocuses craves the sun.                               Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
Kites soar while joyful dogs run.                                     Pat at Writer on a Horse
     "I sing to spring, to budding green,                             Buffy at Buffy's Blog
     to all of life – seen and unseen."                                 Michelle at Today's Little Ditty
Wee whispers drift from cloud to ear                              Linda at TeacherDance
and finally reach one divining seer                                   Jone at Deo Writer
who looks up from her perch and beams —                   Matt at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme
     "West Wind is dreaming May, it seems."                    Violet at Violet Nesdoly
Golden wings open and gleam                                        Kim at Flukeprints
as I greet the prancing team.                                           Irene at Live Your Poem
     "Gliding aside with lyrical speed,                                Charles at Poetry Time
     I'd ride Pegasus to Ganymede."                                 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as
To a pied pocket, the zephyr returns.                              Jan at Bookseedstudio
Blowing soft words the seer discerns                              Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
     "from earthbound voyage to dreamy night,                 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
     The time is now.  I give you flight!"                            Amy at The Poem Farm
Yet I fear I am no kite or bird –                                      Mark at Jackett Writes
I lift!  The world below me blurred                                 Renee at No Water River
by tears of joy.  I spiral high,                                          Mary Lee at Poetrepository
     "I hum, I dive, I dip, I hive!"                                      Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe
     "Behold, Spring is but a dance away!"                       Sheila at Sheila Renfro
I grasp my pen, then capture this day.                             Donna at Mainely Write

As you can see by the ending, this was all a writer's observations, interpretations and emotions; some seen, some spoken.  It seemed that the poem embodied all the things a writer would see and say... and so a writer it was.  I only came to see this after the line "Yet I fear I am no kite or bird"... which we can even fear as we are writing, as we try to become that kite or bird for just a little while as we write "blowing soft words", and even have some "tears of joy"!
I took the liberty of illustrating the poem.  I started to put everything in the picture that was mentioned in the poem, but then decided against that.  The words paint their own picture!  I painted the hands and cut them out to superimpose on the large sheet, adding a real pen before photographing it.
I offer it again here with its illustration:

I don't think I will do this, but anyone who wants to print out a copy is free to do so.  No problem with me...it isn't copyrighted, nor is it worth a million bucks!  So print it as you see fit.  I would have the names of all the contributors on the back.

A to Z on a Plate - Y

Y - We are nearing the end of the plates!  There's only one plate left in the set of 26!
If you get a chance, check out Violet Nesdolay's "found poem" using some of my vanity plates in the challenge! Way cool!

It is day 25 in the A to Z Challenge, and it is Poetry Friday over at Buffy Silverman at Buffy’s Blog.

Michelle H. Barnes has rounded up the collection of poems written on the theme of "echo" today, on Today's Little Ditty.

So here's The Poem on a Plate for Y.
I talked to the woman who had this plate to ask her permission to photograph it.  Then I asked her why she had this plate.  She told me that she wants to give people the message to slow down... stop rushing around and speeding.  I'm with her!

Why you rushing?

Why You Rushing?

Don't ask me that question,
I don't know just why
But when I am driving
I tend to just fly;
I'm not really rushing,
I just can't drive slow,
And if you don't like it
You know where you should go ->
There's a lane to the right
Where traffic is crawling,
And you could go there -
Though I find it appalling;
So either speed up,
Or get out of my lane
For I'm right on your tail
Like cars on a train
Why am I rushing?
I could ask this of you -
Why AREN'T you rushing?
Have you nothing to do?
Nowhere to go,
and nowhere to be?
No one to meet?
and no one to see?
Well, I am important,
and I have some friends
I need to be somewhere
and my life depends
on getting to someplace
and going real fast
Because I just hate to
Get anywhere last.

©Donna JT Smith, 2016, all rights reserved

See you tomorrow for the final course: a plate of Z!!!

#atozchallenge 

Please leave a comment and put your url or link in your comment, so I can jog on over to your site!  Here's how - insert this with your info at the end of your comment:

[Your name or Twitter handle] from

Name of Your Blog

 Here's what I write to make my blog link for you:

Donna Smith

Mainely Write

A to Z on a Plate - X

Here it is, Day 24 of the Alphabet on a Plate in the AtoZ Challenge! We are nearing the finish line.  According to my calculations we have approximately two more days to go.

X marks the spot on a plate...
 

YEAH!  WAHOO! 

X-cellent!

I found a good one on March 28th....

Expressing Yourself

When you know what you want to say,

And then you really say it;

When people hear just want you mean

And wince when you convey it;

When you, my dear, articulate

Expressing honest feelings,

Then you, alone, are subject to 

The harshest of their dealings.

So think before you speak too much,

And temper what you're saying,

Or consequently, from your words

The piper you'll be paying.

©Donna JT Smith, 2016, all rights reserved

#atozchallenge
Please leave a comment and put your url or link in your comment, so I can jog on over to your site!

See you tomorrow for a plate of Y!

A to Z on a Plate - W

I am posting "on the road" with my iPad today, so bear withe me if there's a glitch.  Sometimes my iPad won't let me do as much as easily as I want!  For some reason, after using the touch screen for a while, it doesn't recognize my fingers anymore. Then it skips letters I thought I'd typed and auto-corrects into gibberish.  It hasn't as much to do with the iPad as it does the temperature or "electro-something" of my fingers, because a stylus okay and so are other fingers that I've "borrowed" to test it out!

I had not started a poem for W yet, and thought some about it last night before going to sleep.  I tried a couple, but Wolf 7 kept popping up and ruining all the other poetic attempts   So I succumbed to the Wolf poem.  I wrote it this morning without a lot of edits. So I guess this is supposed to be " the one".

               

Goldilocks and the 7 Wolves

Goldie came to live one day
Beside a flowing stream
In a house amid the woods -
A setting like a dream!
One day a wolf came knocking
And wanted letting in;
He said his name was Harry
And created quite a din.
"I'm sorry you may not come in,
For I am not a fool!"
The lone wolf went away before
She really lost her cool.
Wolf 2 arrived within an hour
and said, "Hey, open up!
"Surely I could borrow sugar
I only need one cup."
"Go away, you tricky wolf,
I have no sugar, dear;
You and your brother, Wolfie 1,
Should stay away from here!"
He went away but number 3
Soon on her step was found
With pizza to deliver there
But Goldie only frowned,
"Away with you, you sneaky wolf,
You pizza-toting phony!
This is not mine - I ordered cheese -
Not ham and pepperoni!"
3 went away but soon enough
Wolf number 4 arrived;
He had a dozen roses
For a birthday he'd contrived.
"Leave them on the doorstep
Then run along, my friend;
I won't be out to get them
Until you're 'round the bend."
With a sigh 4 went away
And gave the job to 5
Who knew they needed to be fed
If they were to survive.
He pounded on her door so loud
She wondered who it was;
She peeked out of the window
To see what was the buzz.
"Oh, just another wolfie
Who's wanting me to eat
This really is quite troublesome
That I'm such a wolfie treat."
She ran upstairs with water
To dump upon his head
Then Wolfie 5 ran down the drive
And put himself to bed.
The sixth wolf had some mops and brooms
He was selling door to door
But Goldie told him she was set
Her vacuum did the chore.
Now number seven was the last
And wouldn't take a "No".
He rattled on the doorknob
When Goldie said to go.
He climbed up to the chimney
But there was too much smoke
He climbed back down and turned around
Cleared his throat and spoke,
"Oh, Goldie dear you need not fear
We're done wanting to eat you
If you will just give in to us
Whenever we entreat you.
We're only hungry for some meat
Some food you have, one dish!"
"I'll tell you what I'll do," she said,
"I'll teach you all to fish.
Then you can keep on eating
Even when I'm gone away
For though I may be tasty once
I won't be there next day!"
The wolves agreed and kept the deal:
They learned to fish for trout;
And that is how this story ends -
A happy one, no doubt!

By Donna JT Smith, 2016, all rights reserved

Now it's time to check out more A to Z Challenge posts. Time is running short!
Then the Progressive Poem is nearing its end!  Both links are on the side navigation.
See you tomorrow for X: A Poem on a Plate!

 

See you tomorrow for a plate of X!

Please leave a comment and put your url or link in your comment, so I can jog on over to your site!

A to Z on a Plate - V

It is the 26th of April, and we are getting near the close of the month!  A to Z Challenge will conclude on the last day of April with the letter Z.  National Poetry Month will end.  NaPoWriMo will be at a close.  The Progressive Poem will be relegated to the archives with the past poem creations.  What will May hold in store?  I'm sure it will be glorious.  But it seems like it will be a sadder month without the fun of reading and writing blog posts daily.  I guess it is time for another challenge.  Maybe just a personal challenge of writing and reading blogs daily for the month of May.  Or maybe it really is time for a break from the daily blogging and add more to my personal unpublished works.  I will have to see what seems right for me.   Plenty of time to ponder that...there are 5 more days, after all!

Now for V on a Plate.  There were not a lot of V's.  And this one is technically an O.  However, the person who owned the car with this plate was in the car reading when I spied it for O.  When I asked whether the o's were zeros, or was it the word "oodoo", he said that actually he was using the red Veteran's V for a part of the plate's word, and it was really VOODOO.  So, out of respect for his interpretation of his plate, I am including it in the V plates.  I do have other V plates, so it isn't like this is cheating.  I really tried "vollie" but it just wasn't cutting it.

 

A bit of magic in the air

A bit of charming golden hair

A pair of little silver clippers

A bit of hair cut by the snippers

The curls all fall down to the floor

Shortened by the clipper chore

Locks are swept in to the pan

Thrown away as best they can

Such transformation, no boo-hoo

As hairstylist does her voodoo.

by Donna JT Smith, 2016, all rights reserved

So your turn!  Anyone for a Poem and a Plate?  Put your submissions in the comments or on your site and point me in that direction to capture it for Sunday, May 1, when I will post the poems submitted this week.

See you tomorrow for a plate of W!

Please leave a comment and put your url or link in your comment, so I can jog on over to your site!

A to Z on a Plate - U

It's Day 21 in the A to Z Challenge!  Almost done with our alphabet!  Check out the A to Z Challenge link on the side navigation bar to meet more bloggers writing about R today.
Then also check out the list on the side bar to check in on the Progressive Poem today!  The poem is coming along beautifully and will be finished on April 30, when I add the final line...which I could be very nervous about, but am trying not to be.

U is next on the plate!  U plates are not as readily found as other letters, but there are a few.

I want you to hear

You are loved;

That my words will echo in your mind -

Speaking softly or seriously,

Grandly or tickly,

Tearfully or giggly.

 

I want you to know

You are cherished;

That it matters what happens to you -

Whether epic or simple,

Joyous or sad,

Winning or losing.

 

I want you to feel

You are adored;

That a hand is there to hold always -

In darkness or day,

Stumbling or sure,

Praying or playing.

I want you to love

Being loved;

But if you don't,

It won't change a thing;

I will still

 Love you.

 

by Donna JT Smith, 2016, all rights reserved

 And now more of U on a Plate.  See anything here that strike's your fancy?  Feel free to write a poem in the comments and I will post it this Sunday, May 1.  

WHAT??? Sunday is May Day????  The month will be OVER at the end of the week???  Surely there must be some time warping phenomenon going on here.  April can't be drawing to a close.  I am not mentally prepared for this.  Months are streaming away from me.  Eeesh.

See you tomorrow for a plate of V!

Please leave a comment and put your url in your comment, so I can jog on over to your site!

Extra Plate Sunday

Today there is the customary break in the AtoZ Challenge, so I am featuring poems that were submitted to go with a plate.  Brenda Harsham submitted one - or two - for each day and even submitted a vanity plate from Virginia.
Margaret Simon added her poem on a plate for OK.
This has been lots of fun.  Not much time remains.  Our alphabet and April grow shorter as the days grow longer!

First here's my poem - not a plate poem, but a poem written in response to a picture my daughter sent me last week of my two grandchildren, ages 4 and 2 (next week), as they were helping with the yard work and discovered a worm.

On Being a Worm

Be brown and
Carry crumbly dirt
When you emerge,
But don't assert -
For you are soft,
Can't hold your ground
If any robins
Are around;
But underground's
A different thing

A place where 

There's no beak or wing.
So you are safe
from all such beasts
Who might make you
Their squirmy feast.
In the soil is your domain
It's dark as dirt and buggy damp
But there's no need
For towel or lamp;
But still watch out
For things that probe,

For things that dig
In earthen globe;
Those things with fingers
Who spy your wiggle
in that clump
Of earth and giggle

To cradle you in

Chubby palm,
Inspecting you;

Meaning no harm.

They'll return you to

The earth once more
Those gritty grounds of
Ceiling and floor
Pressed on all sides
And you are home,

Returned to safety

Of Loam, Sweet Loam.

by Donna JT Smith, 2016, all rights reserved

OPQRSTOPQRSTOPQRSTOPQRSTOPQRST

Here are the poems from those who stepped up to the Plate!

It's OK

you have plenty to say

it's another day

hip, hip hooray!

by Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

long vacation drive

uneasy sleep in guest house

opal dawn

by Brenda Harsham, all rights reserved

glass slipper lost

dress still shines & glows

pumpkin smashed

by Brenda Harsham, all rights reserved

sweepers, brooms

danger looms

quidditch zooms

by Brenda Harsham, all rights reserved

And with a contribution to the plate collection, Brenda sent and wrote to:

marathon joy 

blood-pumping self-mastery 

run for kids’ joy

by Brenda Harsham, all rights reserved

pale crescent moon

gleams through bare branches

snowy owl glides

by Brenda Harsham, all rights reserved

silken tabby Sass

exhausted from rolling in catnip

grooms her paws

by Brenda Harsham, all rights reserved

fly a kite indoors
juggle cupcakes and teapots
oh, to be Thing Two!

by Brenda Harsham, all rights reserved

OPQRSTOPQRSTOPQRSTOPQRSTOPQRST

And don't forget to stop by the Progressive Poem today for line 24. 

Only a few more days and lines to go.  I'll be in for the last line.  Am I nervous?  Maybe.  Just a little bit... or more.  I wonder if I could just say "The End" when it's my turn.

A to Z on a Plate - T

Today is day 20 of the A to Z Challenge (see navigation on sidebar) - the letter T.  I've photographed and alphabetized vanity plates from our local area in Maine, and am writing poems to go with one for each letter of the alphabet - plus and extra on Sundays, since it is National Poetry Month and I'm committed to writing a poem a day for April.  I am also linking to Margaret Simon's challenge to write a poem in response to a picture each day.  Most pictures are a bit more "picturesque" than mine, but it is still a picture!
And again, if you have a poem inspired by one of these plates, please include it in your comment, or email it, or tell me where to find it on your site, and I will include it in the Sunday review here. 

#atozchallenge #NaPoWriMo #imagepoems

It is also the 2erd day and 23rd line for the Progressive Poem, the brainchild of Irene Latham. Check on the side navigation to go to today's new line.

T is for Two Maine Plates in the poem Today:

Put 'R Thayah

If you ah a Main-ah

Yud bettah talk right

Just put "ahs" where the Rs ah

Add em othuh spawts fuh spite

If you like drawrin' pich-ahs

Just put one ah right thayah

We've omitted enough,

So we have should have a spay-ah.

Don't mattah if yer a teach-ah

The rules ah the say-um

Sayin' ah's not just for doctahs

It's paht of ah fay-um.

©Donna JT Smith, 2016, all rights reserved

See you tomorrow for a plate of U!

#atozchallenge 

Please leave a comment and put your url or link in your comment, so I can jog on over to your site! 

A to Z on a Plate - S

Today is day 19 of the A to Z Challenge (see navigation on sidebar) - the letter S.  I've photographed and alphabetized vanity plates from our local area in Maine, and am writing poems to go with one for each letter of the alphabet - plus and extra on Sundays, since it is National Poetry Month and I'm committed to writing a poem a day for April.  I am also linking to Margaret Simon's challenge to write a poem in response to a picture each day.  Most pictures are a bit more "picturesque" than mine, but it is still a picture!
And again, if you have a poem inspired by one of these plates, please include it in your comment, or email it, or tell me where to find it on your site, and I will include it in the Sunday review here. 

#atozchallenge #NaPoWriMo #imagepoems

It is also the 22nd day and 22nd line for the Progressive Poem, the brainchild of Irene Latham. Check on the side navigation to go to today's new line.

Oh, my, and I forgot!!!! It's Poetry Friday!  Can't miss that!  Check out the poetry links at:
Jama's at Jama's Alphabet Soup

How High is the Sky?

How high

is the sky?

Where is its top?

How far can you go

Before there's a stop?

When does it change

from blue to a black?

And if you went there,

Would you ever get back?

How high

is the sky?

I think it's so far

I'd shoot past the moon,

Head to the north star.

Earth would look smaller

As I zoomed past the sun

And trailed tails of comets

For some extra fun.

How high

is the sky?

I'd like to go see -

If I could be back 

by quarter to three - 

For chores must be done:

The dog must be fed,

Then cleaning my room

Before off to bed;

How high 

is the sky?

I may never know,

There's not enough time

To get up and go.

by Donna JT Smith, 2016, all rights reserved

And then, suddenly, as I was posting my link on Mr. Linky over at Jama's, my eye fell on this link: Liz Steinglass (Things To Do If You're the Earth)
I haven't gone there yet to see what "To Do"s she has there, but this poem suddenly needed to be written, and now that I've done it... Hey, Liz!  I'll be right there!

Things to Do If You're the Sky

Hold the clouds
And bounce a bird;
Fill the space
Around the world;
Be dark at night
and light at day,
and when it rains
turn into gray;
Play with kites,
Give room for trees,
Fill with snow,
And push with breeze;
Glow with morning
Wakening rosy,
Gold-foil the sunset
Making cozy;
Urge me ponder
At your size;
Let me wander
Through you, Sky.

©Donna JT Smith, 2016, all rights reserved

See you tomorrow for a plate of T!

Please leave a comment and put your url or link in your comment, so I can jog on over to your site!