N is for NTHSTAR #AtoZ Challenge

It is day 16 of National Poetry Month. I am writing poems every day in April.
It is also the month of the AtoZ Challenge, and my 8th year in participating.
Combining the two, I am writing poems based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.
The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will post a non-vanity plate or extra vanity plate poem on that day.
Today is day 14 of the AtoZ, and we are on the letter N.
N is for...both of these!

And N is for Nonet.  The Nonet is a 9-line poem having 9 syllables in the first line, 8 syllables in the second line, 7 syllables in the third line, and continues to count down to one syllable in the final (ninth) line.

North Star

Look deep up into night’s clear, dark sky
Into the depths of sky’s ocean
Where the glittering fish swim
And the dippers tip hats
Merak and Dubhe
Point the way to
Polaris,
The North
Star

By Donna JT Smith ©2019

With just a little bit of tweaking, I turned this Nonet into an Acrostic-Nonet - which I THINK I just invented...I shall dub it the Acro-Donet!  Lol!

North Star


Night of clear, dark sky, I look upward;
Ocean’s depths overhead twinkle,
Radiant glitter fish swim,
Tipping dippers align.
Haste, Merak, Dubhe -
Seek Polaris.
The North Star
Anchor
Rocks!

By Donna JT Smith, 2019

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Extra N vanity plates:

Find more AtoZ Challenge participants here.

M is for ME AUTO #AtoZ Challenge

It is day 15 of National Poetry Month. I am writing poems every day in April.
It is also the month of the AtoZ Challenge, and my 8th year participating.
Combining the two, I am writing poems based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.
The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will post a non-vanity plate or extra vanity plate poem on that day. Yesterday I did REJOICE.

Welcome back AtoZers for the letter M - the 13th letter.
It's for...ME AUTO:

Maine Autos

A parade of autos on 95

Are cruising at high speeds;

Other cars travel dirt roads -

from lanes and lines are freed.

Some jalopies rust encrusted,

abandoned in the weeds,

happily take lawn space

minimizing mowing needs.

When vehicles need license plates

some sport the standard feeds,

but others state their messages

in fancy letter reads -

like MCKYMSE and MYTHICL

to show their loves and creeds;

or in vanity they think we must

know something of their deeds.

I wish that crusty, rusty lawn car

amid the tangled weeds

would have a plate to commemorate

such a faithful, trusty steed,

so everyone would know at least

he's "R3TIR3D" not "GN 2 S33D"

by Donna JT Smith ©2019

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My extra plates:

Click here to visit more AtoZ Challenge participants.

Sunday - Rejoice

A to Z resumes tomorrow with M.
This is for National Poetry Month...
a Sunday poem...

I decided to try a Rondine for the poem today. Maybe I'll try another Rondine on the day for R.  It wasn't that easy, but it worked itself out.

Rondine Poem:
12 lines - 8 or 10 syllables per line, except in the 7th and 12th lines
2 stanzas - 7 lines in the first stanza; 5 lines in the second
7th and 12th lines are a refrain
The refrain comes from the opening word or phrase of the poem
Rhyme pattern: abbaabR/abbaR

This is a plate from my collection this year that works for a Sunday.  It almost doesn't need a poem.  The word is a poem all on it's own. 

Rejoice

Rejoice with them, as trial’s embraced
For patience sprouts from those base seeds

Growing knowledge of truer needs
And happiness that’s been erased
with greater joy will be replaced
though still unknown just where it leads
Rejoice with them

Weep with them but decline to waste
A breath on unrequited deeds
For surely goodness all proceeds
From each test to be grace replaced
Rejoice with them.

by Donna JT Smith ©2019

~OR~

Joy

When joy returns again and again
When joy pours onto paper from pen
When you tell the world your heart's content
Though the road you're on has twists and bends
It’s the joy that you were meant to live
The joy that's given meant to give
And others see there's some unknown
More than the bit your life has shown
When joy pours out and freely spills
To where it overflows and fills
the space in other hearts and souls
both quenching thirst and flaming coals.
My greatest hope is in the voicing
Others know my heart’s rejoicing.

And they will also see that life

is not devoid of joy in strife.

by Donna JT Smith ©2019

I began the second one, JOY, first.  Got interrupted, and lost my momentum.  Began again and gave myself a challenge with the Rondine, and wrote REJOICE. Then I went back to my original poem and picked up from where I left off.  So which do you like better, or neither one?

Verses on the topic of rejoicing:
Luke 10:20 - Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
Isaiah 65:18 - But be ye glad and rejoice for ever [in that] which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
Romans 12:15 - Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Romans 5:3 - And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

L is for LV2RID3 #AtoZ Challenge

It is day 13 of National Poetry Month. I am writing poems every day in April.
It is also the month of the AtoZ Challenge, and my 8th year in participating.
Combining the two, I am writing poems based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.
The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will post a non-vanity plate or extra vanity plate poem on that day.

L is for LV2RID3

Live to ride or Love to ride?

I Love to Ride

It started with a hassock,
a cowgirl hat,
a vest;
I giddy-upped and rode all day
till sun set
in the west!
And then came my bike, Daisy,
I stabled
in the shed;
I rode her on the driveway
until I
went to bed.
When I grew up I got a horse -
a real one, then
some more;
I loved to ride across the fields,
down lanes and
on the shore.
Nowadays I live to ride
and go where
I would like,
With motorcycle as my steed -
I love to
ride my bike!

by Donna JT Smith ©2019

Find more AtoZ Challenge participants here.

K is for KRILLER #AtoZ Challenge

It is day 12 of National Poetry Month. I am writing poems every day in April.
It is also the month of the AtoZ Challenge, and my 8th year in participating.
Combining the two, I am writing poems based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.
The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will post a non-vanity plate or extra vanity plate poem on that day.

Today is also Poetry Friday, so there are poems gathering - lots and lots of links to follow to great poetry at Irene Latham's place today.  Check out the links at Live Your Poem, today.

Irene is also hosting the Progressive Poem for April.  If you go to Reflections on the Teche later today, you will see Margaret Simon's line she's added.  Today is the 12th so we are on line 12...follow along with us!  I'll be adding the 30th line on the last day.

On this 11th day of the Challenge, we are on the letter K.  I couldn't find a K plate before we moved, so I made this one up on the licensemaker site.  Sorry!!! But this seemed like a plate you might find in Maine!


K is for...

License Plate Generator

Krill Killer

I'm a Right Whale

Big, not bad;

No sharp teeth,

But I'm not sad.

Baleen strains

my food just right

My prey is small

and out of sight!

Sucking down mini

Crustacean dudes,

Those bigger prey

are not my foods.

Can't sip a seal

or slurp a shark

down in the deep,

down in the dark.

The ocean's tiny

glittery fish

Are what my lips

sip, slurp and swish!


by Donna JT Smith ©2019

Right whales got their name because whalers thought they were the "right" ones to hunt, as they float when dead and often swim within sight of the shore.
Their habitat is off the coast of New England. 

 Find more AtoZ Challenge participants here.

J is for JEEPAHZ #AtoZ Challenge

It is day 11 of National Poetry Month. Thus, I am writing poems every day in April.
It is also the month of the AtoZ Challenge, and my 8th year in participating.
Combining the two, I am writing poems based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.
The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will post a non-vanity plate or extra vanity plate poem on that day.

On this 10th day of the Challenge, we are on the letter J.

J is for...

Jeep Love

Oh, there's nothing quite like

a ride in a Jeep

Where nothing's too wet

and nothing's too deep,

At least that's what hubby would say...

But give me some shine

and I will be fine

with hills that don't climb 

very steep.

I like me some plush,

Not mountainous glush,

I want AC and heating

and frills;

No slack canvas top

No potholes to hop

a ride that will comfort

not kill.

Cars stay on the road

or so I was told

But hubby says try it

You'll see

That the off-roading life

is exciting and rife

with dangers and mud

to your knee.

"No, thanks", says my back.

"I'll pass", say my teeth.

I think I'll wait here on my own

And when you've returned

I hope you'll have learned

That a Jeep can be fun 

all alone.

by Donna JT Smith ©2019

Find more AtoZ Challenge participants here.

I is for INSECTS #AtoZ Challenge

It is day 10 of National Poetry Month. Thus, I am writing poems every day in April.
It is also the month of the AtoZ Challenge, and my 8th year in participating.
Combining the two, I am writing poems based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.
The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will post a non-vanity plate or extra vanity plate poem on that day.

On this 9th day of the Challenge, we are on the letter I.

I is for...

Into Insects

When I was but a little girl,

and even when I grew some,

butterflies and grasshoppers

would sit upon my small thumb.

As I grew tall and older, too,

bugs weren't so much a friend;

I kind of had an inkling that

our friendship soon would end.

No longer did I capture bugs

to study, pet and feed;

I only liked them for the way

they filled a robin's need.

For baby birds and snakes and frogs

eat hundreds in the spring -

But I can't think of a worse treat

Than a squirmy, leggy thing -

I will not help the birds catch bugs

They'll have to hunt alone

And snakes and frogs will have to find

sweet insects on their own.
But as I sit and watch my kids
enthralled with little creatures

I've come to rediscover awe

of creepy-crawly features.

by Donna JT Smith ©2019

Here are more AtoZ participants to visit if you've a mind to!

H is for H2OCULR #AtoZ Challenge

It is my 8th year in participating in the AtoZ Challenge, and it is day 9 of National Poetry Month. Thus, I am writing poems from A to Z based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.  The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will post a non-vanity plate or extra vanity plate poem on that day.
On this 8th day of the Challenge, we are on the letter H.

H is for...

 H2OCULR

Watercolor

Purple Lake,
Rose Madder Hue,
Emerald, Mauve,
Cerulean Blue,
Viridain, Sap,
Ultra Marine
Sienna, Turquoise,
Hooker’s Green,
Cadmium Red,
Lemon Yellow
Gamboge Hue,
Crimson, Phthalo;
No colors on
my brush
imbrue
this paper such
as is
my view.

By Donna JT Smith ©2019

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

And here are the extra vanity plates:

Water-dog

Click here to visit more AtoZ Challenge participants.

G is for GMEABRK #AtoZChallenge

Day 7 is G. Welcome to Day 7 of the AtoZ Challenge!

It is my 8th year in participating in the AtoZ Challenge, and it is also day 8 of National Poetry Month, so I am writing poems from A to Z based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.  The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will probably post a non-vanity plate poem on that day.
7th day of the Challenge, we are on the letter G.
G is for...

GMEABRK

Give me a break;

I have nothing to write -

Nothing to rhyme!

Nothing in sight!

I think I used all

that I had yesterday,

and now I have nothing,

nope, no more to say!

Give me a break

On to the next letter -

Maybe tomorrow

I can do better.

by Donna JT Smith ©2019 

I used this vanity plate "GOFISH" yesterday for Sunday of National Poetry Month. Click here if you want to go there!  AtoZ Challenge doesn't post on Sundays.

Go here for more links to other AtoZ Challenge 2019 posts:

Sunday: Go Fish

There is no AtoZ Challenge letter for Sundays, but I still need to post a poem for National Poetry month.  So here it is - a spare G Vanity License plate from Maine for a Sunday:

Go Fish

"Go fish," said the Man

who stood on the shore.

Be fishermen,

take to the sea;

and while you are there

seek out the men,

the men who are

looking for me.

Tell them the way

to follow me home.

Tell them their feet

needn't roam,

for I am right here -

if they listen it's clear

the straight path 

they're seeking is shown.

What's narrow right now

in time becomes wide,

unfettered,

a glorious ride;

no burdens to bear,

but you'll need to take care

of the Spirit you

harbor inside

feeding it well,

as the good news you tell

Is food for the fisher

as well. 

by Donna JT Smith ©2019

F is for FEMALE #AtoZ Challenge

Welcome! Today is day 6 of the AtoZ Challenge, and we are on the letter F.

It is my 8th year in participating in the AtoZ Challenge, and it is also National Poetry Month, so I am writing poems from A to Z based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.  The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will still post poem on that day because it is National Poetry Month -  every day needs a poem!

F is for...

Here's my poem for today - a limerick/acrostic for FEMALE:

Feisty, fabulous and fascinating;
Exuberance elegantly emanating;
Mild mannered or mischievous,
Alluring, adventurous, she
Lives her life large and
Exhilarating.

by Donna JT Smith  ©2019

For a bit of extra fun, here are the runner-ups for F:

Come back tomorrow, for a special Sunday G poem, and then the AtoZ G poem on Monday!
And click here to go to the link up list of other AtoZ Participants. 

E is for EAGULL #AtoZ Challenge

Welcome to Day 5 of the AtoZ Challenge AND it is Poetry Friday, so you can also go to visit some other poets today by heading over to Karen Edmisten*

It is my 8th year in participating in the AtoZ Challenge, and it is also National Poetry Month, so I am writing poems from A to Z based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.  The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will probably post a non-vanity plate poem on that day.

Since it's the 5th day of the Challenge, we are on the letter E. E was one of the plates I could not find before we moved.  But I did find a great website that allowed me to make a plate.  I put the link in under the plate in case you wanted to try one.


E is for...

License Plate Maker

A Tanka for this plate today:

sea eagle's outpost
intricately primitive
nest of tangled limbs

pines tenaciously grasping
granite ledges they call home

by Donna JT Smith ©4/1/2019

The osprey should be back now, or in a few days in Maine.  Love to see them returning one at a time, waiting for their life partner to return. Then they picked up where they left off in fall...back in the old nest, "sprucing" it up (so to speak), adding height to it in preparation for their new offspring.
Click here and you can watch an oprey nest in Maine live.

*Just added this reply to a comment here to the post:  Osprey fly south for the winter months. Females usually go fairly far, like Florida, and males further south. The are partners for life and they meet up again at their nest up north usually within a day or two of each other. One of the mysteries of this world! You are not to touch or disturb an osprey's nest, and there are even high poles with platforms at the top put up near water so that osprey will have more nesting spots. The nests are huge piles of sticks that they add to every year. One year our bridge needed repainting but there was a nest at the top. The state had to get special permissions to paint it. They carefully removed the nest, setting it up on a platformed pole close by over the winter months while they were south. When the osprey returned they shunned the repositioned nest and began another on the bridge in the same spot.

*Update:  Yesterday, the first osprey was spotted in Damariscotta, not far away from Hog Island! They are getting closer. 

Still shot of the osprey nest on Hog Island.

Meet Rachel and Steve (if they've returned - as of Wednesday there was snow in their nest and they hadn't returned yet) the osprey couple that have built their nest on Hog Island, Maine.

Click here to visit the links to other participants this year.

D is for DA BLUES #AtoZ Challenge

Welcome!  If you are here for Spiritual First Thursday, it is HERE!  This is the AtoZ Challenge for letter D.  You are welcome here, also!

It is my 8th year in participating in the AtoZ Challenge, and it is also National Poetry Month, so I am writing poems from A to Z based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year. 

Since it's the 4th day of the Challenge, we are on the letter D.

D is for...

Da Blues

Ain't got no coffee;

Can't have me caffeine.

Ain't got no muffin;

Wheat spoils my routine.

Doughnuts is right out;

Can't do da sweet!

Can't go for a walk;

Bunions killing my feet!

Things are too high up,

Can't open da jar,

Neck won't turn 'round

To help back up da car.

Can't read da fine print;

Eyes won't refocus.

Da way life is going -

I expect to see locusts!

Can't heft much more
Than da fork and da spoon;

At least I have that,

But I might not real soon!

What else can malfunction?

There's not much more left.

If I were a singer

I'd croon, "I'm bereft!"

So all da world hears

of my bodily woes -

da numerous aches from

my head to my toes.

I could tell of da things

 that have lately befallen -

Misadventures and more

so sadly appallin',

But I needn't fret,

Though all of it's true.

Ain't got no reason

for singing da blues.

No woebegone tale

of life's falling apart;

For I still have a lap

And there's beats in my heart.

My dog's still beside me,
She loves me a lot.
I still have a bed,
da roof and a pot.

Da sun ups and downs
Tide leaves and comes back,
And I'm still a'breathin' -
Ain't nothing I lack.

by Donna JT Smith ©2019
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

PS: I don't have bunions...this is a poem not a biography...though I do have trouble turning my head to see out the back window of the car...that's what mirrors and cameras are for...and I really can't have gluten and I DO have a dog who seems to really like me.

An extra "D" plate

Click the image to visit other participants this year.

Have a DDD-lightful day (that's triple delightful)!

First Spiritual Thursday - Renewal

If you are here looking for my AtoZ Challenge...go HERE for the letter D post.  This is not the post you are looking for...but you can read it anyway!

Today is Spiritual First Thursday for April, and the topic is Renewal.
My first thought for renewal was the book I just renewed at the library this week.  A book renewal.  I hadn't had time to read, but wanted to.   It was new to me when I first checked it out, and I made it new to me again.  Hmmm.  Is that what this means?  There may be an analogy there, but I can't do it.  Lol!  I'll think some more!

And the obvious "renewal" is Spring!  All the green and growing, coming back to life, Easter...

However, searching through some of my favorite verses, this one came to mind:

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?  I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:19

I like this verse.  It is a wonderful reminder to me at this point in our lives.  I feel like I am in gentle hands.  I feel as if my steps as being guided.  Each step in our new adventure seems easier now than it seems that it should be.  Somehow when a way or a problem seem impossible, the waves part, the brambles melt...the path we've taken becomes clearer in its purpose and we receive assurance that God has put us where we need to be.  And we are renewed in our spirits.  When you can't see the end of a journey, it is easy to wonder if you are on the right track.  But when the jungle leaves part and you see the clearing...and there's a Starbucks there...you are renewed!  It's kind of like that more than a library book renewal!

Seriously, the longer we travel this current path, the clearer it is that it was a plan all along.  Every so often we are treated with a "renewal" of spirit as we receive an unexpected blessing...on our way through the wilderness we are shown a sure way, when we are parched in a desert we are given a refreshing river to renew with fresh water to drink, bathe in, maybe even take a canoe for a bit to speed up the course.  Since our move, it has happened over and over again.
"Behold." - Watch this!
 "I will do a NEW thing"  This will be different from anything else
"now it shall spring forth"...Surprise!
"Shall ye not know it?"  Don't you see what I have done here?
"I will even make a way in the wilderness" - I am going to make it so that you can get through all the tough stuff
"and rivers in the desert" - and you will be refreshed and renewed.

Watch this!  I'm going to do something entirely different than what it will appear.  Surprise! See what I did? I made the rough traveling smooth, cleared boulders, melted brambles so you can get through, and just as you were getting hot and thirsty, I will provide refreshing water with which to renew yourself - drink, bathe, drink, use the river as a path even.  Renew yourself!

I'm sure there will be some more brambled paths and we will get tired of coming to the edge of them and beginning to whack away at them.  But when they start to melt away and the refreshing waters are exposed, we will be renewed and reassured that we are still on the right path.

May everyone have a renewal this spring.  May the sun shine on you, may you find yourself smiling at the green and growing and may even the rain be seen not as discouragement but an encouragement to feel the renewal and cleansing in the downpours.

Got to have a poem, of course.

Renewal

Renew my spirit
Lift my soul
Wash me cleaner
Make me whole
Give me water
From the well
Sit with me
and rest a spell
Make my brambled
ways be sure.
All my footsteps
reassure.
Let every day
give a new start.
Renew, restore
a joyful heart.

by Donna JT Smith, 2019

More renewal posts may be found at Dani's place Doing the Work that Matters. 

C is for CDB IC #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 3 of the AtoZ Challenge!

It is my 8th year in participating in the AtoZ Challenge, and it is also National Poetry Month, so I am writing poems from A to Z based on Maine vanity plates I've spied this past year.  The AtoZ does not have a letter for Sundays, but I will probably post a non-vanity plate poem on that day.
3rd day of the Challenge, we are on the letter C.
C is for...
I could not find a C plate in my shortened time in Maine.  Typically in early spring I pick up any letters I've missed.  But we moved in October-ish...through December-ish...
But I found this great website that will show you how a plate from any state would look with the selected letters or numerals on it.  I've included the link under the image in case you'd like to give it a try!

I remember long ago when I first started teaching there was a book called ICDB in our school's library...so I kind of went with that concept.

License Plate Maker

CDB? IC!

It's spring, so look around and see
Flowers and the bumble bee
See the blossoms, smell the breeze
Allerest will help that sneeze!

by Donna JT Smith ©2019

Visit more AtoZ contributors by heading to AtoZ Challenge List
 

B is for BOOHOO #AtoZChallenge

It is the second day of the AtoZ Challenge!  Welcome.  This year I am continuing to write a poem a day (except for Sundays - but I may have one non-A to Z poem) using the vanity plates I spied since last year.

B is for...

These were all pretty compelling, but I selected BOOHOO.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Boo.
Boo who?
What are you crying about?

Okay, that isn't the poem.  Been hanging around my grandchildren too much.

Boohoo

The tears of a child, the moan of a ghost

The cry as milk spills 

when you needed it most.

The eerie of owl, the chortle of loon,

the bay of a wolf 

as he howls at the moon.

The drama clad drear wronged six year olds make

The whoop after diving 

into a cold lake

Boo-hoo or whoo-hoo, or hoooty-hooot-hoo

It's hard to discern if one's singing
the blues
or which hoo we choose
Or what it construes
But no matter the who or the why of the call
A boohoo belongs to whomever and all.

by Donna JT Smith ©2019

Visit more AtoZ contributors by heading to AtoZ Challenge List
C U tomorrow!