Sunday's Found Poem

Sunday's Found Poem from the KJV Bible:

Deuteronomy 31: 6-13
 
Fear not,
       God
       will not fail thee.
Be of good courage,
       The Lord
       will be with thee
As long as ye live.

     by Donna JT Smith

Metaphor for My Life

In November I will be going to a writing workshop given by the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.  It is over an hour away, but (or should that be "and"?) I think it will be fun.
The workshop is called "The Magic of Metaphor" and is being given by Rachel Contreni Flynn.

For the workshop, each participant must submit one poem for critique, a week before the class.  So here's mine.  Started yesterday, tweaked and expanded this morning.  I think I'm done.  I hope so.  I'm at least finished.

Caught in Cotton

My life, a quilt,
With coffee spilt,
Hand stitched, it holds,
Pieced new and old
Some thinning parts
And softer spots
A mix of hues
And scattered knots.
Most threads are taut
Though some uncaught.
Uneven seams
That capture dreams.
And over there
A little tear.
Or was that a tear?
A tear or tear; it isn’t clear
Unless you hear.
True blue, blood red,
In layers spread.
I wrap myself in
Undone frays,
But shed
Each thread
When comes the day.
Then handed down
In measured folds
Caught in cotton -
Memories told
Pieced together
Daughters to sons
Embellishments
In new quilts spun
But all the while
My fabric’s there;
My life, a quilt,
Had much to share.

Donna JT Smith, October 26, 2017

Enjoy more Poetry Friday with our hostess, Brenda, at Friendly Fairy Tales today.

Genesis1:9-16

It's Sunday 2 of my "Found Poems" in the Bible - a bit of experimental poetry from verses of the KJV - snippets in order as found in those verses.

Genesis 1: 9-16

God made
Heaven
Land, Seas;
Grass, herb,
And tree
Day and night
Signs for seasons,
Two great lights
And
    stars
        also.

By Donna JT Smith

Oh, Pumpkin!

Last week we drove through Damariscotta, where they were having their annual pumpkin fest...

There was a huge crane hoisting a giant pumpkin for a weigh-in and a huge crowd was gathered - well, huge for Maine anyway.  There were a few hundred people there and more roaming the main road to view decorated pumpkins on the sidewalk.

These are not your run of the mill giant Jack-o-Lanterns - these are huge, unglobal fruits that take on personalities.  And the grower of each pumpkin goes with whatever the pumpkin is calling out to them as they decorate it and turn it into the something grand it was yearning to be!
Here are a few examples:

We usually see the Regatta, where they have carved out the inside of the pumpkin to make a boat.  Then they attach a motor and try to ride around the bay with it.  Some work quite well.  We missed that this year, unfortunately.  But if you ever get a chance to see it, I highly recommend this Fest and Regatta!

Oh, Pumpkin!

Oh pumpkin, oh, pumpkin

you're such a fine fellow

a whole lot of orange 

a little bit yellow

sometimes with some green

and tinges of brown

and all will make way

when you roll into town! 

you may be a mermaid

an owl or otter

a tooth with a brush

just ready to totter,

but inside you're all pulp

with some seeds and some goop

and I want to have you

perched out on my stoop

for you are a pumpkin -

finest gourd of the fall

and I like you bestest of 

any and all.

Donna JT Smith

Time for more poetry at A Day in the Life, with Leigh Ann who is hosting Poetry Friday today!

Friday Phew!

Yesterday I got part of a thought with Laura's 15 Words or Less, but didn't get back to share there.  So I'm posting today to go with her awesome image of a rescued owl.

Whooo's

Night mapping,
Mouse trapping,
Feather wrapping,
Talon tapping,
Beak snapping,
Wing flapping,
Day napping?

Owl.

by Donna JT Smith

Yesterday they installed my countertop in the house we are in now. 

I love them!

 With the new steps we built and installed ourselves, 

 the redone driveway,

and the new countertop - it has green, white and touches of garnet -

I don't want to move now! 

Things are coming together here!  I know I'll feel better once the kitchen in Friendship starts to come together, too...another story, another day... it is a long story.

Back to Poetry Friday at Irene's place!

Good Morning, Sunshine!

When I wrote the title, it suddenly came to me that my mother used to say that to me in the morning when I awoke.  I could almost hear her happy voice saying, "Good morning, Sunshine!" to me.  I wonder if I was "sunshine" in the morning, or if she was just trying to "make it so"!  Ah, we'll never know. At any rate, I'm sitting here in the dark of morning, having just brewed some coffee atop our billowing painter's wrap countertop.  And I am going to go have me some...

Note paper cup...I don't have a sink in the kitchen, so we're minimizing the inconvenience of washing dishes when and where we can!

Okay, I had to change to a real cup...I'll go to the trouble of washing it.  Coffee is more welcoming this way!

Welcome, Fall Morning

The dark
Is so much
Later in the morning;
My coffee stares up at me
With its large unblinking brown eye
Wondering why
I would wake it up
Before the sun;
And I have No Answer,
Except that I want
To be there to greet the
New day
As it inches its way
Through the parting leaves of maples,
When it sends shafts of light
Between the birches,
To set their skin aglow;
And finally lifts the
Blackness to reveal the green
Of spruce and hemlock;
I will be there to feel it cut through the cold
Drafts of air to arrive at my
Doorstep
As I stand
With my
Warm welcome home
In my hands.


by Donna JT Smith

Though I don't think we will see much sun today, I'm up and waiting anyway!
Have a wonderful day!

Reflecting on a cup of coffee.

A Kitchen, a Driveway, Some Steps and a Poem

I have been so time aware lately.  Aware that the time for working on the house is drawing to a close - or at least to a time when it is not as convenient to do so.

We are NOT in our new house yet.  You may remember that I said we'd had a hiccup with the first kitchen installation, and they ordered us all new cabinets with redesign in areas that needed tidying up some. Here's a photo from the first set that was returned:

So the next set of cabinets arrived in 8 weeks.  The workmanship on them was horrid this time - like they were in a huge hurry to get them here, so they skipped a few steps like: looking for cracks, making sure the cabinet sides were the same size, making sure they had all the coats of paint on, making the surface smooth, making sure no glue made huge drips at the edges, butting the mitered joints together tightly... I could continue, but you get the picture.  My contractor tried installing a few, but they weren't going together well.  I saw them and immediately cried, of course, because that's what you do when you are at the end of your rope.

We are on our third try for a kitchen.  We are not having a big box store do it this time.  We have a custom cabinet guy who is really excited about the possibilities of this house even though it is a tiny kitchen.  The very fortunate thing is that we ARE getting all our money back on the returned kitchen.  We have been waiting to see if we were going to have to take the matter to arbitration to try to get a refund, but it looks as if we won't now!

Then at the house we are in, we decided to upgrade the kitchen and take the formica countertop out and put in granite and a new sink.  So in order to template for the new granite, my husband and son took out the formica and we are going with a new look until it is installed.

The plastic is because - I think I've mentioned a long time ago that we had a house fire of sorts where a tv burned up in our basement, sending slimy, plastic soot throughout the house, coating everything.  It even came up between the showerstalls and walls, necessitating the removal of the showers.  We also had to refinish all the walls to seal in the soot.  All for me.  I got these uncontrollable coughing jags whenever I went in the house.

So..
The plastic is because the formica countertop's under surface and the plywood on the now exposed ends of the cabinets all have soot on them.  We discovered that when I went into coughing fits again.  I couldn't believe it!  But I ran a wet paper towel across the newly exposed surfaces, and it came up with the familiar gray, black, non-particulate crud that was in the house when I couldn't live there.

The plastic seems to be working.  I'm back in the kitchen for the second time in three days.  I've been either out of the house or holed up in the bedroom with the air purifier on.
I can hardly wait for the countertop to arrive!

Meanwhile...
We took our front steps off to replace them.  That means we don't have a set of steps to get out of our house.  We never did get back steps or a deck for this house (though it was supposed to be in the works years ago - the crew never arrived to do it, and we never pursued it again).

Because it started raining on and off yesterday, we couldn't finish the job.  Ginger had to be lifted off the porch to get out...oh, so confusing to a young and very solid Yellow Lab.  She isn't used to being picked up, let alone carried off high places...we tried making a ramp for her so she could get back up on her own, but nope.   So this morning our goal is to get the steps finished very early so she can use them before breakfast!  We were able to stain them and get the stringers leveled last night, and stain the tops of the steps.  I'm going to stain the bottom sides this morning and we'll attach them still wet.

Did it!  I know, it's a mess out there still...old steps, rock pile, saw... but we're getting there!

I forgot to mention that we got in and out of the house via a ladder and crawling through a space in our railing.  Steps are still damp, so I guess Ginger gets to be carried again.  This stain is supposed to dry in 2 hours, but it seems like it's going to be more like 4 days. Good thing our railing isn't quite legal in most areas - there is just enough space to crawl through!

Oh, and then there's the driveway here.  Trying to get that all squared away before winter to ward off the mudseason that follows winter, and to get ready to sell this place.

And finally, the awareness of time left to ride is setting in.  It is almost time to park the bikes for the winter.  It has been a glorious summer for riding.  I've even been able to ride in for some of my Teacher Mentoring and Certification work this fall.  But each morning it takes longer and longer for the day to heat up enough, and it's earlier and earlier for setting sun to end the day.  
I want more days for this:

Ok, time to finish the steps!  The dog wants out!

A found poem from the above:

so 

time aware -

aware that the time

is drawing to a close 

each morning it takes

longer for the day to heat up

it's earlier for setting sun 

to end the day

I want more

time  

 by Donna JT Smith, 10/7/2017

15 Words and a Dozen More

These were written for Laura Purdie Salas' 15 Words or Less prompt yesterday.
I took this image posted here, but check out Laura's, too!

 ✂✂✂✂✂ 

How many pairs of scissors do you see?

✂✂✂✂✂

Wash Day

I strung my scissors
out to dry;
To breeze’s song they
clipped the sky.

By Donna JT Smith

✂✂✂✂✂

Feather Flurry

Feathers will fly -

When mom’s manic,
Hens panic,
Or scissors go awry.

By Donna JT Smith

Happy Poetry Friday, all!  Our hostess today is Violet Nesdoly!
Find more poetry by checking the links on her site here.

✂✂✂✂✂
 Tomorrow...updates on why I've been scarce and sparsely writing...
Don't read it if you are as busy as I am.  It won't help.

One more poem even though I've had 5 commenters - they will miss this one so I'll repost next Friday.  Don't the scissors seem to be cutting the leaves from the trees?

Scissors

Falling leaves
today;
Scissors shear
the way;
Happily they
spray
A colorfall
display.

by Donna JT Smith

This one's for Carol Varsalona's fall collection, I think.