Spiritual Journey Thursday - Selah

For the next month or so on Thursdays, a group of bloggers will be posting about the spiritual connections to their 2016 OLW.  This week's word, "Selah", is Michelle Haseltine's at One Grateful Teacher.

Interested in other bloggers' take on this word?  Stop in at Holly Mueller's site, Read, Write, Think and check out the Linky!

Psalm 62: 7-8

Selah.

"All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee;
they shall sing to thy name. Selah."  
Psalm 66:4

My first thought was “Sure, I know what Selah means - pause, be still, meditate on that.”  I’ve heard it and read it.  But then I decided to look it up.  And to my surprise, the origin and meaning of the word “Selah” has never quite been established.
I found:

• It could be the Hebrew word calah, meaning to measure or weigh, or valued.
• It could be derived from two Hebrew words, s-lah and s-lal meaning to praise and to lift up.
• Its third derivation could be from salah, meaning to pause, as in music.
• Given the unknowns, it is perhaps good to combine the three meanings.  Stop/pause, weigh the meaning of what you have just read or heard in God’s Word, and then lift up praises to the Lord.*

There are many times when I feel the need to “Selah”.  Not the word spoken, but the word as a verb, an action, a “what I am doing”.  Amen is an agreement word.  Selah is an action or a directive.  I best understand it when I think of it as the words in parenthesis that are stage directions in a play.  They aren't to be so much said as done.

John: Good evening! (bow to the audience, turn, then laugh)

Psalms: "...they shall sing to thy name" (Selah = pause, weigh and give praises)

In the Psalms, we are directed to take a moment and weigh the import of what we have just read: measure it, compare it, note its value; then praise Him.  Not just say “Praise God”.  Praise Him with words; thank Him for your understanding, the words, the life, the salvation - whatever you have thought about after that pause and consideration of the words.

Selah is so much more than a word.  It is a to-do list, a bit of nudging, a way of responding.  A way of being present in the Word and the World.

I often have to take a moment and think about the magnitude, the beauty and the meaning of things in daily life.  These moments can so easily slip away.  Writing helps me do that.  Writing MAKES me do that.

I have to be reminded to selah when things are not going well - are worrisome, painful, or hurtful.  In our lowest times we especially need to take that breath, wait and remember the faith that sustains us.

"Selah" reminds me of how we teach young children to think about what they've just done wrong.  When they have gone awry, when they are throwing a fit, when they just need some "time out"... after a "time out", the calming down, what do we ask them?
"What problem were you trying to solve?"
"Did that (worry, crying, stomping, fighting) help?
"What might you do next time instead?"
or the old "Count to ten next time." (or higher, if needed!)

Perhaps "time out" or "counting to ten" should be renamed "Selah"!  I think I like that!
I may mention that to my daughter.  Wouldn't it be great to hear my 4 year old grandson say, "I need to selah."!

Selah

What have you just been given -

A word, a thought, a song?

Has He just made your heart light,

Has he forgiven a wrong?

(Selah.)

Have God’s Words made a difference?

Pause, hold them in your heart;

Weigh all the mercies granted,

And then let His praises start.

(Selah.)

Praise him daily for blessings,

Sing out His Holy name;

Bring to Him gifts of obedience

Accept His cleansing of shame.

(Selah.)

Thank Him for patience and guidance

For giving you wisdom and sight;

Know that our Lord up in Glory

Awaits your sweet “Selah” tonight.

Amen.

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits,
even the God of our salvation. Selah."  
Psalm 68:19

*http://www.gotquestions.org/selah.html

Present and Accounted For

Margaret mentioned to me that I might enjoy Thursdays here.  I am poking around and I think I just might!

So here I am.  Present and accounted for.

That phrase just popped into my head as started to write the title of my post.  Most times the title is the last thing I do.  Who knows where I'll end up when I start?  And if I do put the title in first, it often has to change.  But in this case I'm pretty sure it will not.

When I think of being present, as in present in the moment, I am reminded of times that we took pictures or video of events in our lives - to the extent that we missed the real action!  The event was viewed through a small viewfinder or little screen on the back of a camera, not in full, real life.  I remember there came a time when neither my husband nor I wanted to be the one recording the events.  We didn't want to miss it in real life!

Or it's like the photographer at a wedding with "posed pictures" of bride and groom, and wedding party.  The photographer is there, but isn't really present at the wedding, not a family or friend -   The photographer doesn't have to be present at the wedding to enjoy it - that's why we hire them!  Everyone else wants to be present to enjoy the event.

And as an aside, in the shots the photographer takes, no one really seems present!  Oh, yes, they are there.  But are they doing anything?  What are they thinking about?  Are they noticing their surroundings or the happiness of the occasion or are they just trying to stand where they are told and look happy?  Are they hoping this will hurry along so they can get to the next phase - food and dancing?
Posed and through a viewfinder... I guess you could call those photo shoots "present tense" (lol!).  The people may be physically present, but it's not where their minds are.

Present means being there in the moment.  Present means the gift you give yourself when you are present.  Viewing the recording later is not being present at the event.  We realized that after shooting video of dance recitals and birthday parties, that we'd really missed the "whole".  Yes, you are focused, but you missed out on the surroundings outside of the viewfinder, the noises, the air, the whole "taste" of the experience.  Oh, and another aside, but kind of important... all our videos were destroyed with time, flooded basement and fire... so now what do we have?  Small images in our minds - images through a viewfinder, not the grand stage.

Being present with God is akin to setting the camera aside.  It's not just reading the Bible.  It's not just singing a hymn.  It's not just saying "Praise the Lord."  BTW what in the world does that mean?  Well, are you going to praise him or not?  That's like saying "Say something to the Lord."  But you never say it.   What was the praise going to be about?  So, SAY something to the Lord.  Be present with Him.

Don't just take pictures and video.  Put the camera down.  Notice His world.  Listen to Him.  Breathe.  Talk to Him - don't just talk ABOUT talking to Him.

If you think I am talking to you, you are wrong.  I am talking to me.

The word present - and the accompanying "accounted for" in my title, directly implies my relationship with God, with the church, and life.  I want to be present and accounted for when that roll is called.  I am present and accounted for.  What a wonderful thing!

And when we know that, we can be oh, so much more present and accounted for in the rest of our lives.  I am so much more free to live joyfully and notice the world around me.  It won't be mine forever.  I don't want to look through a viewfinder or watch the recording of life.  I want to live it to its fullest, because I am in the presence of God, as He is present with me always.  God is omnipresent.

Thank you for sharing your OLW, Margaret, and sending me this way to be present and accounted for this week!

A quick poem...

Present

The present is the present
The future is not here
The present is the time that's now
Not what was yesteryear.

The present is the sights and sounds
The present - touch and taste
The present is where life abounds
Not time that's laid to waste.

Though being present may be hard
With hurts and groans of grief
Remember there is still our God
Who brings our souls relief

Don't try to run back to the past
You can't overtake the future
Look around and be content
And God will make you richer

Take care of what God wants you to
And He will do the rest
Be watchful and attentive
And He'll be sure you're blessed

Only when you heed the now
Keep watch for little things
Can you know the joyfulness
That God's present, Heaven, brings.

By Donna JT Smith

My OLW

It's Tuesday.  Time to link up with Two Writing Teachers for Tuesday's Slice of Life.  I am a retired teacher, who pops in to share periodically there.  Pretty soon it will be March!  And then it will be a post a day there!

I have been struggling with if I want to try another OLW this year.  I've tried before, and gotten distracted early on - totally forgetting about my word.  But -

I'm going for it again.

I reread recent posts and thought about my life as I thought about the word possibilities. It became clearer to me what I have been doing lately; I found that I have been trying to live my life a little more boldly.

BOLD is what I want to be, how I want to act, how I want to do things, how I want to approach (of course with an LY then) things.  So maybe the word is actually BOLDLY.

I am going to eek push a little poem out and sneak deposit it in my pocket.
Scratch those meek words.  I need more flourish to nourish my soul!  (There's a line I can use somewhere else someday.)

BOLDLY

(There.  Let's see where this takes me.)

Boldly go,

Boldly speak,

Boldly light,

Boldly seek;

Fear is not

To be my plight,

Just be bold, focused of sight;

Boldly lost,

Boldly won,

Boldly planned,

Boldly done.

Stay the course,

To self be true;

Boldly smile when race is through.

by Donna JT Smith, January 25, 2016

I am not accustomed to being bold most of the time.  I say that, but some would say that isn't true.  I act bold sometimes, but it doesn't come naturally to me in most situations.  I can muster bold when I need to.  It's not very comfortable though.  My boldness can be crushed easily.

But I am going to work on bold boldly this year.  I want to make some bold strides toward what I'd like to accomplish - and hopefully (do bold people say that?) not get crushed.

Here are a few:

- get a poem in a written anthology.  I have no idea how to.

- illustrate a poem and publish it as a children's book.  I have no idea how to do that either.

- continue to lose weight.  I have an idea how to do that.  I just need to stay on this path.

- paint another picture that I wouldn't mind signing.  I'm not feeling bold about this.

- write all manner of meaningful things.  Scary for me.

- be the best me I can.  Can that ever really be done? (No, that wasn't bold...I can see that.)

Are you bold?  Do you travel life's road boldly?

How's this for being bold...oh-so-not-so-bold...

I am tempted to just delete this post.   

djfkljfklajdklfja;lfjf  That is me having a mini-melt.  I am okay.  I'm just not sure what I will do with this word (BOLD, not djfkljfklajdklfja;lfjf).  Not sure if I can live up to it, or hold myself to it.

But I haven't deleted it.

Who's up for getting a post card? (See how I cleverly distracted myself?)

I don't mean to be kind of self-promoting on SOL time, but...

Small print - not really an SOL unless you count it as BOLD, so you can skip this if you like:
Let me remind anyone who would like to take the "How To..." poem challenge, to send it in.  I will post the poems and your blog link this Friday.  (This was a BOLD move - to have an actual challenge posed by me, and that is a BOLD hint.

I am doing a postcard exchange with a small group this month, and have made some postcards - photos I've recently taken, with a haiku written for each.  Would you like an original, hand made (well, iPhone, and computer, and printer made) postcard - photos and poems by me?* 
If you would, I will mail one to you by the end of January**.  Please just email me your mailing address.  There are going to be plenty to go around!  If I find out your address, you may just get one even if you don't want it!  It's just my OLW taking over here! 
Here's my clever email address code so I won't get spam in my "important people" email box: 

d-j-t--sm-ith- -"a-t"--g--ma--il-"d-o-t"--c-o-m  Take out ALL the -dashes-, and use the signs for the "quoted words".  I hate that the computer bots are getting smarter all the time.  I shouldn't have to hide my email to protect it.  But this is one area I won't be bold in.

 

*I am actually having quite a few postcards printed through VistaPrint - they have a half off sale today.  It does mean they will be a little delayed in getting sent out. 
**You should have it by Valentine's Day at the latest.  Most likely earlier though!  It will still be winter!

What Is My Life?

As I was listing my poetry on the links page I'm creating, I came across a poem I had written, copying the process that Margaret Simon had told about doing with her group of children. I went to Margaret's site, Reflections on the Teche, to read the description of the process again. I had been meaning to try another one, so what better time than now?

This poem was a surprise to me as I again tried the exercise.  The writing that I did in the center part ended up not coming out a poem, as it did the first time.  This time I posed questions!  Question after question came to my mind.  I wanted to write something else, but that just wasn't happening!  What would I do with questions???  I circled some key words I'd written, and then began to write on a new sheet.
In under 15 minutes, this was the result - as you can see from the photo, the first part just fell onto the paper, with a bit more work revising and arranging the ending.  I'm posting this on Sunday.  Seems appropriate.

What Is My Life?

What is my life
If not to give
Any gift so
Others live
A life more full
Of fulfilled need,
A life that’s good,
That plants more seed?

What is my life
But duty bound,
To help the lost
Find what I’ve found:
The Gift of Gifts,
The Love of Life,
The Good of God,
Our Rest from strife?

What is my life,
If not to show
The powerful Grace
One saved can know,
And that it’s all
A heavy load,
Unless with God
You tread the road?

What is my life?
It isn’t mine;
It’s loaned to me
A given time,
With voice and hands
As gifts to bring
The dying ones
To God our King.

©Donna JT Smith, January 21, 2016

I must try this again someday - maybe the next time I clean the Poem Hoem.
Thank you for reading today.

How to Write a Poem Challenge

Poetry Friday is at Tara's today.  She's looking at snow from a serene point of view and has lots of links to some fine poetry!  Head on over to A Teaching Life and enjoy poems as you sip hot chocolate and watch the snow fall (at least if you are on east coast south of Maine!).

*Special FB Message* from our Bangor Police Department especially for those in the Snowstorm Areas - read if you are getting snow and like to visit Maine in the summer:

https://m.facebook.com/ajs1980/posts/1135362313148303?src=email_notif&mds=%2Fsharer-dialog.php%3Ffs%3D8%26sid%3D10153904589291079%26internal_preview_image_id&mdf=1 

Today is a repost of a two poems from a Wednesday back in November of 2014.  I came across this when I was making a page of links to all the poems I've written since I began blogging... There are more than I thought there would be....

When Tabatha asked me if I had a place to access all the poems I'd written, I thought - Good Idea!  Now I'm thinking I need to edit my list!   I am up to (at the moment this is hitting the presses anyway) 142!  And I've just begun to count down into 2014...I have 2013, 2012, and 2011 to do!  I know there are lots in there that could be culled, but I guess that is for another season.

Maybe I should go back and write just a short phrase to help sort them out into what the poem is actually about or if it is a haiku or acrostic, etc., just to be helpful.  But I'm afraid that would take a long time.  Should have thought of this sooner!

The page of poem names linked to their location is accessed by the tab "Links to My Poems" below the title "Mainely Write".  Not sure how helpful it is yet, but I'm working on it!

But back to today.

I came across this post written for a Wednesday a while back, so I figured it would be like new poems.  It's my own special brand of "found poem"!  I found it while I was organizing my "Poem Hoem".

How to Write

How to Write a Poem

first write down a bunch of things
all the zany little zings
that just wing
into your
brain
your fenced in frame
of mind.
when your fingers stop and linger
on a gritty, grainy zinger
let it sing
out of your
brain
unfettered frame
of mind.

©Donna JT Smith, 2014, all rights reserved


How to Be Six

take away your many years
put aside your grown up fears
look for silly where you are
make a vroom sound for a car
grin and make a funny face
start a rousing game of chase
put an olive on your finger
when its bedtime whine and linger
throw a rock that goes too far
almost hitting someone’s car;
lick your finger, rub your shoe
till it looks as good as new;
put your backpack on your belly,
stick your finger in the jelly;
put on shoes, left on right -
try to tie the laces tight;
put your toys and clothes away,
toss them where the monsters play;
ride a bike, swing on swings,
think of scary, funny things;
ask one question, then another,
when you’re finished, hit your brother;
use a sheet to build a tent
ask just what “inquis'tive” meant;
find a tree to climb real high,
sitting there, become a spy;
watch for strangers and for danger,
then become a forest ranger;
ride your bike so fast you crash,
dig to find a pirate’s stash;
see how deep a puddle is
shake a soda, watch it fizz;
muddy feet and dirty clothes,
clean them off with garden hose;
then
when
you’ve become your best at six
another number has some tricks;
time to see how you will handle
another year, another candle;
grab the next list of “How to...”
seven’s here to challenge you.

©Donna JT Smith, 2014, all rights reserved

Want to try one?
Send me your "How to" link and/or your poem and I'll put it up your poem up here for next Friday!  Fun!  This will be my first challenge offering!  I'm excited!
Watch how I cleverly disguise my -e-mail-ad-dress-!
-djts-mith-
-at-
-gma- -il-
-do-t-
-co-m-
Take all the -s out! and change the "at" and "dot" to "what they say"...
(this is so my "good" account is not public, in case of botification publication and I start getting offers for toenail enhancements in the account I want to keep serious).  If that was too much like Pig Latin to you and you need me to translate, send me an email. (heh-heh, that's funny...) Or just put your link in the comments when you have it. (not funny)

******************************************
Some ideas for "How to poems"....

How to be a daisy
How to be a floor
how to clean the refrigerator
how to stuff a turkey
how to make coffee
how to climb a hill
how to try on shoes
how to comb your hair
how to brush a cat/dog
how to open/close a door
how to calm fears
how to drive
how to crack an egg
how to watch a deer
how to talk to a cat/dog
how to be fifteen
how to lick an ice cream cone

Friday's Poetica Miscellanea

My poem, "In Mountains", is on Silver Birch Press.  I hope you can stop by!   The poem is written for the theme "Me in Fiction".  I chose Heidi as my character.  You MUST remember her!  I'd bet most of you have read "Heidi".  Oh, I so loved that book - well, those books, really!  I also read the next two: "Heidi Grows Up" and "Heidi's Children", when I was young.  Most people are probably not familiar with those two books.  They were written by Spyri's French translator, Charles Tritten.  I felt like I had discovered a secret world in the mountains, and then to top it off, discovered secret books.  Until doing a search on Amazon, I had never, since childhood, heard of those two books about Heidi's older years.

After reading Heidi, I wanted to eat goat cheese and hardy home-baked breads, and drink goat milk and look up at the night sky through an open window above my hay stuffed mattress.  It sounded wonderful and wild!

I'd love some comments there...just to show them that someone does, in fact, read the poems on their site!

And now, I just have to share this picture and poem:
Last year, for Christmas, I got my husband a yellow lab pup, Ginger.  And this year, I painted her portrait.  I hadn't expected it to come out, so I hadn't put it on a standard sized piece of paper.  It was supposed to be practice.  My first picture was awful and overworked.  This one I tried to do quickly and without much preamble - grab a piece of watercolor paper, a brush, three colors and water.  Don't draw.  Just paint.  Don't think.  Just do.
I was kinda floored when I did it.  Is it a Rembrandt?  No.  But I'm okay with that. I was still pretty pleased with my watercolor - it's the first one that I've actually signed.  Hopefully I will improve with age and practice.  But for now, I do like how Ginger's portrait came out.

The finishing touch to my husband's gift was having it framed.  I ordered the frame custom made by Art to Frame on line!  It's looks so "finished" now.  You pick the frame material, the matte color, or colors if you do a double mat.  Tell them the inside dimensions you need for the mat, and they do the rest.  It comes all sized just right for your picture to be placed inside.  Oh, and you pick plain glass, non-glare finish, or plexiglass.  Another offering they have is for you to send them an image or images digitally to be framed or put on canvas.  Lots of options for art online nowadays!

Here's a "happy haiku with a reverso ending" poem for Ginger... like maybe we could call it a Semi-reversoku...

Ginger

Warm, brown eyes watch you,

Studying body language,

Waiting for your smile;

Her tongue smile-licks back,

Tail perpetual motion,

Her body electrified -

Wanting to please you,

But the happy always wins!

Joyous is a dog

 Waiting for your smile.

Studying body language,

Warm, brown eyes watch you.

Donna JT Smith, Jan 13, 2016

So I DID finally put a poem up here.  And now for more poetry, it would behoove (or is that "beehive"?) you to head on over to visit Keri's at Keri Recommends for the Poetry Friday Roundup!

It is ALL Good

A few weeks ago, the doctor found a lump, and with confirmation from a second doctor, it was determined that I needed a mammogram asap.
I gathered my relatives and a few close friends - all prayerful, supportive people - to let them know of the situation.  And for two/three weeks we prayed.  I think my husband may have even prayed more than I... prayed earnestly for the lump to be taken away.

Over Christmas, my grandson - 4 years old - visited.  On the day of their departure, he and I were sitting at breakfast together when he asked me, "Nannie, are you going to miss me?"  I told him I would miss him.  He jumped up and said "I'm going to get you something."  He went into his sleeping area and came back with the lamb he plays with while he's here.  "Here, this will help you."
"So I won't miss you?"
"Yeah."  A pause then..."Do you know who loves you?"
"Um...who?" I asked, wondering what he was about to say.
"God.  God loves you.   And you should never give up."
Where in the world did this come from?  Why would he suddenly decide I needed something like a lamb?  Why would he think I needed reminding that God loves me, and that I should never give up?
Why...when I needed to hear those words?  From a four year old at breakfast?  Really?

This morning, I went for my mammogram and ultrasound.  I brought my Lamb.  My husband took the day off in case I would need him, and accompanied me for the testing.  My son joined him in the waiting room, as he just "happened by" after a meeting at the hospital affiliated with the offices.

Mammogram results - normal.  There was nothing there now.
Ultrasound followup results - normal.  There was nothing there.  All test results were normal.

Let me again say, thank you, family and friends.  Thank you, God.  I am amazed.  I am grateful. I am humbled.

Sea Treasures Winter Swap

Sea Treasures

This is only my second year doing the Winter Swap, but it is so much fun!  For me it's a time to be able to share a little bit of ME and me - an opportunity to get to feel the "real" of our virtual worlds.  Isn't it great to know that there are actual human beings out there in the rest of the world that we know even though we have never met face to face?  This is a great tangible way to reach out and know in our digital, virtual age that breathing, living souls are on the other side of that glowing monitor, and that the typed words we are reading, first emanated from a thoughtful mind via fingers with unique swirls and whorls.  It's a mind boggling thought for me today.  I am going to stop there before I come to tears.  Thank you everyone out there for reading!  Thank you for commenting! Know that I consider YOU to be my friend!

Sea Treasures

                 
                                                                                                                           Back
                                                                                                                   and forth,
                                                                                                                      Back
                                                                                                           and forth,

Like the warp through the weft of a weaving;

As a dog who lives for retrieving,

                                                                                                               Back
                                                                                                    and forth,
                                                                                                        Back
                                                                                             and forth,

Glass pieces give up their rough edges

And stones are rolled smooth from their ledges.

                                                                                                Back
                                                                                     and forth,
                                                                                         Back
                                                                              and forth,

As a reader’s eyes scanning the pages;

Or as pendulums counting the ages,

                                                                                  Back
                                                                       and forth,
                                                                           Back
                                                                and forth,

Like the peace of a cradle in motion

Is the water inside the great ocean.

                                                                     Back
                                                          and forth,
                                                              Back
                                                   and forth,

Those shards rounded smooth from the ride

Stranded on shore cannot hide.

                                                    Back
                                         and forth,
                                             Back
                                  and forth,

As a beachcomber scanning a beach

For treasures brought forth within reach.

                                   Back
                        and forth,
                            Back
                 and forth,

Sea trinkets now swing on a crook

To show where you paused in a book.

by Donna JT Smith, 12/2015

The rest of Poetry Friday is being Rounded Up at Mary Lee's place, A Year of Reading.  Go there for more poetic goodies!

* Said I'd tell you when my poem was up on Silver Birch Press...
and now it is! #4 "In Mountains" was written for the topic "Me in Fiction".  As a child, after reading Heidi, I thought it would be wonderful to live like she did...
I will repost about this coming Friday, but if you see this now, (post edited Sunday night) you could read it earlier than that if you wanted.
"In Mountains", published on Silver Birch Press

A Christmas Card

Our little Christmas tree from our motel Christmas!

 Our inside and outside Christmas trees.  Good ole' Spiny Pine is finally big enough to wear Christmas lights!

Merry Christmas, all!

Were you able to see the full moon tonight?  It won't happen again for over 30 years.  It was so foggy and rainy today that I was sure we would not be able to see it, but just after midnight, when I turned out the lights, I noticed light streaming in my windows.  Sure enough, the fog had lifted and the moon was out big and bright!

I'm posting my Christmas card poem and watercolor today.  I made my cards this year.  I was late - very late - getting them out, but it was fun!

It's Poetry Friday, hosted by Irene Latham at Live Your Poem, where she has been posting The Twelve Days of Kindness!  Her recap is there today to enjoy!
Today for Poetry Friday, I post my Christmas card to you!

I also want to direct you to Silver Birch Press, where my poem "Christmas Storm" was published yesterday!  I hope you can go there and read it.  It really was a special night for our family.

I hope your Christmas day is filled with peace, love, family and friends!

He made the stars also
So many years ago;
One star would light the way
To where our Savior lay.

An angel said a Precious Child
Would be there in the night;
Shepherds trembled at the words
Then traveled by that light

To find the Son of God where He
Lay in the manger lowly,
With parents set in place for Him,
Though He himself was Holy.

Thus a Perfect Plan was born,
Though at a daunting cost;
As sacrificial, perfect lamb,
Christ came to save the lost.

©Donna JT Smith

Silver Birch Press - Christmas Storm

Silver Birch Express now has my poem "Christmas Storm" published on their site.  You can find it here.  It is a Christmas Eve poem, inspired by a trip back to Maine via Amtrak on Christmas in 1983.

As a young couple, we lived in Minnesota for a while, so had to make trips to Maine after our children were born to see grandparents in Maine. After our train trip at Christmas in 1983, we decided to move back East to make the trips less eventful. This was the longest trip ever with two little kids (an eight-month-old and a three-year-old old) on a train iced to a halt a few times and going in reverse at others. Had to inch along because frozen tracks can crack and it was frightfully cold out — well below zero. Bathrooms stopped working having frozen up. All trains were cancelled when we got to Chicago, so we ended up between homes not knowing when we would be continuing on the journey. But we had the best time in Union Station on Christmas Eve sharing Christmas cookies with strangers and listening as a man waiting for a train pulled out his French horn and played Christmas carols for hundreds of tired passengers. Instead of arriving the day before Christmas, we got there the day after! Thirty-six hours late. I can’t think of a better Christmas than that one, though.

I hope you enjoy it!  And, if it is in your plans to celebrate the birth of Christ... have a Merry Christmas! 
Well, and if it isn't... Merry Christmas, anyway!

Winter Swap and More Silver Birch Press News

It is Poetry Friday and I am pleased to be sharing a poem by Dori Bennett that she sent to me for this year's Winter Poetry Swap - thunk up and organized by the awesome Tabatha Yeatts.

Dori's gift of poem and star locket arrived on Wednesday morning, and worked to further boost my resolve and faith on a day-slash-week that needed girding.   How could she have known that the timing and words would be just right?  Perhaps she couldn't.  But I know that God did.

The poem was a combination of snippets from my known life through the blog, and projections or assumptions correctly and thoughtfully applied in words.  As I read it, I could recognize things that I'd written about, or was that thought about?  I could not remember having written about some things, but felt the familiarity of the words somehow in Dori's writing. The poem took my breath away...and brought a few tears!

And then there was the gift - though if the only thing in the envelope was the poem, it would have been more than enough of a gift to me!

The star locket took my breath away for a second time.  It looked like something my mother would have found and given to me for a birthday or Christmas - or I would have "lifted" from their store, years ago!  The star in its center will serve as a reminder to me to stay the course.  And besides, it is perfect for keeping two precious grandchildren photos close to my heart!

Thank you, Dori!

Guided Journey
by Doraine Bennett

Bring a book to keep you company.
Expect delays, but do not
be tempted to change trains.

Tune your inner song to the rhythm of the tracks.
Ponder the ever present whistle that fills the night.
Trust the words.

When the way seems long,
needle your memory,
recall the single leaf
whispering red,
the phoebe's feeble cry,
the unearthed treasure
etched in familiar scrawl.

If your bones are travel weary,
find your breath, that rauch breath,
and breathe into the pain.

Watch the transient images,
surrender to the mountain pass,
cross the deep ravine,
emerge onto the open plain.

Search the midday sky for shifting cloud.
Find the fiery star by night.
Follow.

When it seems you will never
reach your final destination,
unpack your shawl,
wrap its purple arms around you.
Journey on until you smell the scent of home.

***********************************

Sigh.  So many parts to love.

I also wanted to let you know that I will have two more poems on Silver Birch Press this month or next.  I am so pleased that they have been accepted and will keep you posted on when they will are published.

And now on to more poetry at Diane Mayr's "Random Noodling"!

Silver Birch Express

It is Poetry Friday, and this post COULD have been done LAST Friday, but I had turkeys on my brain.  I'm calling it a fowl.  And I promise I will be better at getting to more poetry posters.  Seems like lately I'm being pulled in so many directions that it would be easier and more relaxing to go back to work!

I was so excited LAST Friday: I had THREE pieces on other sites.  Two were on Spark27.  I responded to two pieces supplied by other people.  One piece was a photo to which I responded with a poem, and the other was a written biographical piece to which I responded using my new watercolor skills.
The third was a poem accepted by Silver Birch Press, my second poem accepted for online publication with them!

1. Get Sparked - Percolated Date - photo was taken by Alisa Laska and was my "inspiration piece" for my poem. Go there to see her photo.
2. Get Sparked - Pankha-wala - written by Urmilla Khanna was my inspiration piece for my watercolor of their servant boy in the 1940's.  I used only black and browns to try for a sepia look.  This is not poetry, but I am thinking about using more watercolor to illustrate my poems and other written pieces.  Go there to read her story.

"Bahadur, the Servant Boy"

3. Silver Birch Press - "This Girl" -  This was an ekphrastic poem - the one I sent.  Remember the girl picking radishes?  I didn't send that one.   When I saw this painting (oh, not the one above...that's a boy), I was drawn to the hat and the grown up little girl look in her eyes. I was the quiet and responsible one that literally and figuratively wore a grown up hat.
In reading about this portrait, I found that this is actually the artist’s daughter who is wearing a hat that some of his older models had worn. So she is really a little girl in a grown up hat.
I threw off my “grown up” hat as I got older. My “lover’ for life – my forever husband – not only endures, but joins me in my second childhood!

“Jeune fille au chapeau fleuri”  by Kees van Dongen (1907-09

I hope that you can briefly visit to see what these are all about, and check out other poems offered on these two sites, but if you can't...
My Spark27 watercolor response to Urmilla's story is above, and here is "Percolated Date", below, my Spark27 written response to Alisa's photograph.
It would be so awesome if you would leave a comment over at "This Girl", "Percolated Date", "Bahadur, the Servant Boy" or here!

Percolated Date

When we first met
Routine was set
Our late night splurging
For pocket purging
Drive into town,
Was DD where it was
“Time to make the donuts” –
Their sweet
Misspelling –
Our donut baker/coffee maker
Who always remembered
Would counter slide
As we came inside
A coffee,
one milk
and two doughnuts.

Ah, coffee!
Grounds for
Percolating
A cuppa
For life!

A lifetime later,
Still coffee daters,
Our mid day jaunting
With cash for flaunting
Drive into town
Is SB, where it is
“Time to brew the coffee” –
Our sweet
“Spell” missing –
Our lattes done by barista son
Who always remembers
Before bidden
Counter ridden
A decaf,
one latte,
and no donuts –

Ah, coffee!
Grounds for
Brewing
Two mugs
For life!

by Donna JT Smith, for Spark 27

Now, please join other poetry fanatics at the Roundup at Tara's "A Teaching Life" where there's always great stuff all the time anyway!  I'm heading over later this morning!

Set the Table, the Turkey is Here

Noah sees the turkeys.  Noah would like me to bring one inside.

Last Friday, I wrote about the coyotes, owls and moon because I finally remembered what my idea was.  Oddly enough, that was the day after Thanksgiving, and I saw a whole herd of terkies lerking on my lawn...(spell check isn't liking that!) and could have written about that.
I was messing about with the turkey idea, and the old jump rope jingle came to mind...
so I wrote - a turkey poem called Turkey Ramblings.

Hard to see the turkeys when the camera wants to focus on the screen!

The turkeys are always fun to watch.  They just eat their way across the lawn.  Occasionally a tom will stop to ruffle his feathers and look huge in case some cute young hen is looking his way.   On this day it was raining, so feathers were getting pretty damp. They all took turns ruffling to get the raindrops off.

They are all on guard, and will stop to take a look around while they are eating, to see if any danger is eminent.  When they are sure no one is around or looking at them (except me), they resume meandering and eating.

I wonder if sometimes they might count to see if they are all present and accounted for. 

I can just imagine the head turkey counting turkey heads:

"Um... one.  Another one.  Um...wait.  What number was I on?  I'm going to have to start again.  Ok.  One.  And another one.  One over there.  Wait - I counted that one.  Yup.  Counted that one.  So, there's one.  And that one.  And I know I didn't count that one by the house.  One.  Okay, that's it.  I think every one is here. Phew!  I don't think I could count one more turkey!"

Turkey Ramblings

Turkeys, turkeys, 

Meander this way.
Are we all here?
Did someone stray?
Oh, no, don't say!
Mabel, Mabel’s
   on the table!

So sad, too bad

Mabel stayed for lunch
She should have run;
I have a hunch
Oh, dear, steer clear!

Mabel, the guest,
   is dressed and blessed!  

Wishbone in hand

Winner's dinner wish
For more turkey
On empty dish!
Oh, me, oh, my!
Mabel’s ramble -
   a losing gambol!

Not one of our turkeys...

Can you believe it is December? The first December Poetry Friday Roundup is at Buffy's Blog today.  Join Buffy at the Roundup.  It's fixing to be lots of fun!

A Poem is Like a Vacation

The route to a poem is always intriguing to me.  I hate to lose the process.  The interesting thing with composing on a computer, is that you can save iterations of a poem.  I often copy and paste a whole poem as a copy before editing it - just in case I want to revert or just in case it gets to be so far removed from the beginnings that I want to see.  It's kind of like looking out the car window to see where you are going.  Or better yet, taking snapshots along your route.  The trip is always a part of the adventure for me...if you can call a poem an adventure.  Hey, maybe that's another post!

Researching where you are going
Jotting notes about what you want to do when you get there
Sitting back and enjoying the time
Take out stuff you thought would be fun, when you discover something funner to do with your time and efforts

*Special Note:  The above post was not intended to be a final copy!  I was taking notes so that I'd have something to go on for today...
Then I got so busy with other writings that I forgot all about the fact that I'd scheduled this to publish today!
I was sound asleep this morning (a little before 8 am which doesn't seem early, but when you haven't been sleeping well for a few days, you thoroughly enjoy!) when I got a phone call telling me my Windows machine was in peril - which quickly changed to "your Apple computer is...".  I was not very nice to the foreigner on the other end who was obviously in the middle of his workday.
But then I turned on my iPad to see what time it was, and...since I was now awake...check my email.  Seeing that I had a comment from Linda, I was curious as to which post this was.  And that is why I have added this "*Special Note"!  I'm not going to take it down.  Enjoy the backstage workings for this one!  This is not the norm for writing a blog post for me.  I don't jot down notes, but this one was on the heels of forgetting my post for last Friday!   And idea came to me, I was riding in the car...

Coyote Moon

It's Poetry Friday!  Hooray!

Last week I had this idea for a poem to go with a picture.  Actually, I had taken the dog out, and heard a band of coyotes across the road, down in the river flats just below our house.  They sounded very close and were probably on our neighbors property just across the road.  There are lots of trees out here, and lots of dark with no street lighting in our village (if we were even in fact in the village).  The sound of coyotes when you are out by yourself in nowhere is beautiful but eerie.  I brought the dog in.  Later in the evening when the moon came into view of my big windows, I got this picture with my iPhone.

Later I put the two events together, along with a third event that occurs regularly here: the sightings and sounds of owls.

I immediately thought "gotta write something about this".  And it was so clear in my mind that I knew I'd be doing that for Friday last week.  And then Thursday night and Friday morning do you think I could remember what the great idea was?  Of course I couldn't.  I should ALWAYS be unsurprised and expecting that of myself by now.  But somehow I always think "I couldn't possibly forget this - not this time, heh-heh!" and take myself seriously.  Seriously, how could I do this more than twice before I'd remember the kind of person I am?

Anyway, I finally DID remember when I was scanning my pictures and came across the one I've posted below.  What a relief!  The poem did not come as easily as it probably would have if I'd written it right away.  But still, I enjoyed the journey.  It started out simply, got extended with garbage, and continued with some potential parts.  I cut out the garbage and the simple beginning and worked on and reworked the potential parts, until a reflective, reverso poem emerged.  It was a bit tricky in some parts and had to be tweaked quite a bit.  That included zapping some lines I thought should be there, but really only because I liked them.  The poem didn't.  Once I got rid of them, the flow was much better, and it made sense and said things in an uncontrived fashion forward and backward - the most difficult thing about a reverso or mirror poem.

Reflections of a Coyote Moon

With the night


in tune 


to the moon, 

coyotes croon -


echoing


as


owls


go gliding


on a hunt.


Smallish creature,


one of tasty feature,


snatched -

taloned 

breath;


No

tomorrow!

No


breath.


Taloned,


snatched;

one of tasty feature,


smallish creature


on a hunt.


Go gliding,


owls,


as


echoing


coyotes croon


to the moon


in tune


with the night.

©Donna JT Smith, 2015

<<<<~~~~~~~~~~****************~~~~~~~~~~~>>>>

The unfortunate thing about this remembering of potential poem is that I saw turkeys - 16 of them - on my foresty lawn last Friday morning also, and I thought (and so did they) that surely I would write a Thanksgiving turkey poem in their honor today.
But then I remembered the idea about the moon and coyotes at a time when it seemed such an exercise in futility to remember it!   So it seemed only right to post the reverso poem now that I remembered what I was going to write about.
So now NEXT Friday, stay tuned for a turkey strut!

(Unless I don't because something else comes to mind.)
16 turkeys in the yard...
I think I overheard one turkey asking another "Are we eating as we meander or meandering as we eat?"
As they pecked around in the leaves and grass, Mr. Thomas Turkey (I'm sure that's what his ID tag said) saw some movement (probably from us in the window watching).  He, Old Big Tom (that's what his friends call him), stretched his neck up to look around.  Two more joined him.  Then a few more, until the whole flock had their heads in the air looking around.  We kept very still and one by one they resumed eating and meandering or vice versa.  Then the one who had first thought he discerned danger, decided he was wet to the down feathers, and shook like a dog.  After he had that great idea, they all took turns shaking the water off their feathers, some stretching their wings out, too.

And as suddenly as they had appeared, they disappeared, walking off into the woods...kind of like in "Field of Dreams"...gone without a trace, invisible in a matter of seconds as they blended into the browns, grays and blacks of the woods.  But I heard them exclaim as they meandered out of sight, "Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night!"

Head on over to Carol's Corner to read more poetry today...spend the weekend!

Incognito?

Here's my Slice of Santa Life today.  Join others over at Two Writing Teachers where others are sharing slices of their lives, too.

This week was the beginning of the Christmas season for my husband and me.  Kind of.  This has happened over the last couple of years.  I don't know why, but suddenly we have become the color, size and age to be the Claus Couple.
On Sunday, it happened again for the first time since last year probably almost to the day.
We were greeted at Cabela's as Mr. And Mrs. Claus!  Two years ago, we were stopped in a restaurant while eating breakfast, by a grandmother and her granddaughter who wanted to meet us.  The granddaughter was convinced she was meeting Mr. and Mrs. Claus - THE Mr. and Mrs. Claus.  And we had no reason to burst her bubble.  What a compliment!  Except maybe for the weight issue.
We are often greeted in a Starbucks, with "Hello!  It's Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus!"  Not that we go to many Starbucks, but... well, yes, we do... so it has happened a few times in Starbucks.
This year, as I said, we were in Cabela's, which we frequent.... frequently.  I like being redundant and saying things more than once.  Speaking of which, we were called the Clauses twice while we were there.
Even though we are never dressed in our formal red and furry white attire, traveling incognito, we seem to be recognized.  Sitting in Cabela's, in the camouflaged chairs, it almost seemed like we should be doing photo shoots and asking kids what they wanted for Christmas. 

Move over, Santa Claus, the Santa Smiths are in town for Chrismith!

Thanksgiving Sunday

Today is the culmination of our Puppets in Space Junior Church program, and the youngsters are having a Thanksgiving dinner served to them on real dishes...real turkey (I cooked one last night along with about 10 other women), real mashed potatoes fresh from a potato farmer in northern Maine, squash, cranberry sauce, gravy, and pies.  Oh, and milk in a real glass glass.
So many of the kids don't get to sit down with a real home-cooked meal on real plates nowadays.  We want it to be a real special day for them.  Love to see their eyes bug out when they see the heaping plate set before them!
Then they eat as much as they can hold and waddle out to the bus to take them home again.
I am hoping and praying that we will see some new faces gathered at our tables later today, as we have invited many from the community to join in our church service and then share a meal with us.
The only regret I have is that I have a wheat allergy, so cannot eat there.  Oh, and neither can my husband who is sensitive to some other foods that are included in the menu that give him gout.  Other than that, hey, it's a wonderful meal, wonderful time, and wonderful people!

Ready to cut up and take to Sunday's Thanksgiving meal.

Give Thanks

Give thanks to the Lord

For all He provides;

His blessings abound

Where e're He resides.

He shelters and keeps us

But when there is strife,

We rest in his arms;

He holds our new life.

No fears and no worries

Should darken our door,

For he is our refuge,

Our comfort, our cure. 

Give thanks to the Lord

In good times or grief

For evermore he is

Our source of relief.

©Donna JT Smith, 2015

In case I miss saying it to you before Thursday, have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  As the Pilgrims did years ago, we will be thanking God for all His blessings, and praying for blessings on others.

Reveille

I am posting this from my iPad from the coziness of my bed.  The weather is not pleasant.  I can hear that.  The sky is not shiny.  I can see that.  But it sure is warm and toasty and rosy here in bed!  Think I'll just stay here today.  Somehow I'm going to have to get coffee....

I finally got up!  I love my three ever changing panels of scenery each day.

Morning

Wind whistles, rain knocks -

November's dark reveille;

I snuggle deeper.

Poetry Friday awaits! I'm reading from bed....just a bit longer, please...now I'm sounding like that whiny old wind out there.
The dog is going to be crazy about all the new toys that have fallen from the trees. She's the "fetchingest" dog we've ever had!

Time for virtual visiting!  Meet you over at The Miss Rumphius Effect where poetry is being rounded up today!

Update for me...
I just remembered what I wanted to write about this week.  I had this idea...that I didn't write down...and I know better than to do that because it never works out.  
BUT  I JUST REMEMBERED IT!  
I'm going to write myself a note, or maybe just start writing it now.  I can't believe I remembered.  Without coffee.

Ah, just add milk!

Ekphrastically Speaking

Today is Poetry Friday and I am WAY late in posting for it!  But I was deciding.
I wrote a couple ekphrastic poems to submit to Silver Birch Press for their series "Looks Like Me", in which you pick a portrait by a famous artist and write to that picture including yourself, and perhaps including a photo of yourself that looks like the image somehow (though that is not necessary).  I am happy to say that the one I chose to send to them was accepted for inclusion on their web publication sometime later this month or in December.  I'll know later.

The following ekphrastic poem was written about Steve Henderson's painting called "Child of Eden".  (I liked the painting so much that I later purchased a copy of it on canvas.)

I am putting a picture of Steve Henderson's painting, the poem that I wrote to it, and a photo of myself (above) at about the same age as the girl in his painting - probably 4 years old.

So here is the painting, and the poem is below it.  Steve Henderson, graciously granted me permission to use his work with my poem.  Isn't it beautiful?  I smile whenever I look at it.
It reminds me of when I was a child and my mother had vegetable gardens.  She always had radishes, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, corn...and I'll think of a few more in a minute...but the best thing was, we could go out in the garden and pick anything we wanted to eat.  We'd brush it off the best we could with our hands and on our shirts, then crunch away!  What a sneaky way to get vegetables in us!

Child of Eden by S.Henderson
stevehendersonfineart.com

The Color of Radishes

Reddish

erupts from the earth;

my fingers fumbling

grasp its green tuft

pulling, wiggling,          

until

the red globe

with long

thready root

is revealed.

Shirt-rubbed to edible,

I laugh at its bitterish,

biting-back taste.

I uproot more.

With earthy fingers,

my roots-up arrangement

is lifted -

red,

white,

green.

Her hands reach down

to scoop up

this nosegay of

Rose Madder,

Davy’s Gray,

Terre Verte

with VanDyke highlights.

She smiles -

always

planting seeds

for me.

©2015, Donna JT Smith, all rights reserved

And by now you have probably already gone everywhere for Poetry Friday.  But in case you haven't....
Poems are being rounded up by Bridget Magee at Wee Words for Wee Ones!  She is such a brave soul today!  All looks to be going splendidly over at her Linky, so go visit and try  some delicious poetry today!

Wild!

Congratulations, Irene, on your tenth blogiversary!  Thanks for inviting me to this totally WILD celebration of ten years of blogging!

One of Irene's blog posts back in August this year she told of seeing the wild ponies of Chincoteague and Assateague at the annual Pony Penning Week.  As a young girl I'd read and seen a movie about this event and was fascinated with it.  I'd wanted a horse all my life and finally as an adult, I bought my first horse... but that's a blog post for another time.

With my new pencils just itching to be used, I decided to try a horse and a WILD haiku in honor of Irene's 10th blogiversary:

It's going to be quite a WILD day!  Enjoy every moment! Congratulations, Irene Latham!  And continue to live your poem!

Live Your Poem has more wildness going on with wild links galore!  Check 'em out!