Lightning Flashes

Lightning flashed.

I don't like thunderstorms and I especially don't like them in the convertible. Well, not the storm IN the convertible, but me in the convertible with the storm outside it. I'm riding to Rhode Island with my husband to meet up with our daughter who is driving up from PA today. My husband will go to work and I will drive back home with her and the baby, so she only has to drive halfway by herself. Her husband will come up in a couple of days..

Her cousin, my niece, is getting married this Saturday, so any last minute fixes and photos she will help with.

On a tight budget, my niece enlisted the help of her sister to do the wedding photography. All was wonderful until the sister realized she, being the maid of honor, was going to have to be in many of those photos she had to take.

So my daughter said if only she had a good camera, she could learn how to do the wedding photography.

Hmmm.

I said, "Guess what? I have one of those good cameras. I have a Canon Evolt with an extra lens. It's a digital SLR."
"What is wrong with our family?"
"What do you mean?"
"That we think we can do something that we've never tried before? And that we want to do it."

I don't know. But I know what she means. We all love trying new things and proving that we can, at least at some level, do them!

When My husband and I got married, I made my gown, my veil and my candles. I made our handwritten invitations. And my soon to be husband and I decorated our wedding cake. I had never done any of those things before, nor have I since. My brother took the photos. He was in the Coast Guard, he was not and is not a photographer. We all had a wonderful time and our pictures came out great!

My daughter has had my camera for 10 days. She's downloaded the manual, studied creative wedding photos online, saved lists of "required" photo poses, and has some artistic poses in mind She's a wedding photographer now.
I'm not sure it's something wrong with her.

Oh, yea! The storm's over. I can look up again.

Memories Day

Memories Day

keeping

time
in a box
keepsakes
of spent time
memories
packed up and stored
forgotten trinkets
of parents' past
everyday clothing
Sunday jewelry
Coast Guard tags
calendars
watches
timekeepers
no longer
keeping
time

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

Saturday on Monday

I took a couple of days off, and have returned refreshed!  I have not finished compiling my poems, as I'd really like photos to go with them.  So I'll look into getting those this week.

We spent Saturday up at Gull Haven...my husband mowing the lawn, and me singing at the top of my lungs in the house.  No one could hear me because of the mower, I'm sure.  That's what I told myself anyway.

It was absolutely the most gorgeous day in the world.  I took this picture out the doorknob hole.  We brought up doorknobs for the two entry doors, so this will be the last time I look out the doorknob hole to see the view.  I guess that's what they make windows for.

blue and green ribbons

land, ocean and sky

 

picture perfect day

framing a moment

rushing to move on

put in the doorknob

and open the door

new beginnings of

adventure and rest 

renewed and refreshed

©2012, Donna JT Smith

Thank you, Lynn for the Kreativ Blogger award!  That was very kind of you!  I went to your post today and then went back to catch up on others, and saw my name there on your Friday post.  That was a pleasant surprise to get during toast and coffee!

 I will post my responses to this award later today.  I have to run up to Gull Haven with a toilet and the outside lights.

1.   Thank and link back to the person who presented you with the award.- See above!!

2.   Answer the ten questions below.

3.   Share ten random facts/thoughts about yourself.

4.   Nominate seven worthy blogs for the Kreativ Blogger Award.

 

Ten Questions:

What is your favorite song?

"It is Well With My Soul"

What is your favorite dessert?

Whoopie Pie - only chocolate with white filling, of course - the others aren't whoopie pies.  Are you listening?  The others are NOT whoopie pies.

What ticks you off?

See previous question!

When you're upset, what do you do?

eat ice cream

Which is/was your favorite pet?

This is too hard.  If ice cream could be a pet, then that would be my favorite.  But since it can't then, probably Butch, our tiger cat, that let our kids suck on his ears when they were babies.

Which do you prefer to wear, black or white?

Black, naturally.  I smallens me and my white hair looks better on it than on white.

What is your biggest fear?

that my waitress/waiter/waitperson will not refill my coffee cup in time

What is your attitude mostly?
Evenly joyful.

What is perfection?

Jesus.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Watching "Project Runway"

Ten Random Thoughts About Me

1.  My husband and I run a Christian addictions program.

2.  I danced en point.

3.  I owned my first horse after I got married, and later we had 10 of them.

4.  I won $10,000 in 2002.

5.  I love my husband more today than the day I married him 40 years ago this September.

6.  I love ice cream a lot, and I love a lot of ice cream (is that two things?)

7.  My husband and I lived in a motel for 11 months while our house was being cleaned after a house fire.  We had a half closet and one bureau for two of us, and ate out every meal that whole time.

8.  We have built 2 homes and are renovating an old house as our next home now.

9.  We have lived in Maine, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, and we have been  back in Maine for the past 23 years.

10. I have never colored my hair.  It is quite white now and I like it like that. 

I would love to bestow this Kreative Blogger Award on a few people I don't think have received it yet.  I hope they are paying attention.  We'll see now, won't we?

Heads up to

Linda at Teacherdance

Deb at Coffee with Chloe

The Lumberjack's Wife

One Sunflower/Wake Up and Write

Tara at A Teaching Life

Diana at One Literacy Coach

Donna (a different one, not me) at My Write Spot

Today

Today is the day I am learning to get my A to Z Poetry book in order...
I need to redo pictures for it, as mine are Tagxedo images with copyrights.  So now I have the task of finding new images, or taking pictures.  I have some I can use, but not all.  I could try drawing them, I suppose.  Maybe after I have all the text set down in one place I'll be able to figure it out.  Maybe after I've read all the guidelines I'll think it's easy, why didn't I just do this a long time ago.  Maybe I need some coffee...

Last year, I had my class do a rewrite of The Seven Blind Mice, and they came up with a great book that we printed through Apple.

It is a beautiful book.  The kids were pleased and so was I.  We shared it at our end of year Author's Tea, gave a copy to the school library, and some parents purchased copies.

But this will be different.  With the Apple book, if someone wanted a copy, I'd have to order it from Apple.  It isn't digital and it's not promoted.  I didn't write it, so the kids really own it.

This WILL be different.  So I have to go figure out how to put it online, and I think with a paper copy option, and do pictures.  I think I will be busy today.  First I'll start the washing machine.  Oh, and get that coffee.

No Need to Cry Today!

I can see you through this hat!

This is a poem/song, to the tune of "I'm an Old Cow Hand, From the Rio Grande" by Roy Rogers, or by Gene Autry and Mary Lee. (hear the tune by clicking on a link).   An Ode-e-o to my little grandson!

No Need to Cry Today!

I'm a happy guy
Let me tell you why
Every need is met
I don't need to cry.

When my diaper's wet
You can surely bet
That my mom or dad
Will be there to get
This old wet one off
And I'll be all set 
A diaper that's dry, hooray!
A diaper that's dry, hooray!

If all goes as planned,
I will play in sand;
Got a cowboy hat
So I won't get tanned.

When the sun's too hot
There's a shady spot;
If it gets too cold
I get dressed a lot.
If it starts to rain
An umbrella's sought. 
Temperature's fine, hooray!
Temperature's fine, hooray!

I ride a bouncy stroller
It's a real good roller
And I have front teeth,
I don't need a molar.

I don't have a cup
Fill my bottle up;
I love mashed sweet yams
For a real good sup.
I will eat my fill
Till you hear "Bruppp"!
Tummy is full, hooray!
Tummy is full, hooray!

I can roll around
Till I can't be found;
I can stand up straight
Stomping on the ground.

When it's time for napping
I close my eyes,
Then I go to sleep,
You won't hear my cries,
I will snooze for hours,
The time sure flies!
Dreaming of happy days!
Dreaming of happy days!

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

Oh, he is such a happy guy!  He's back home, and I miss him, but he'll visit again really soon...I'm dreaming of more happy days!

Don't try this with Santa Claus!

Happy Birthday, Grampie!!!

Revisiting the A to Z Challenge

A to Z Blogging Challenge 2012 from Donna Smith on Vimeo.
The challenge went from A
to Z
I wrote until the hours
were wee
The days were fun and full
of glee
I’d written most in March
you see

So days could just be used
to read
I had no fires and flames
to feed
And I could sleep when e’er
I’d need
And follow blogs where e’er
they’d lead

I met great people of
the blog
Writing about master’s
wee dog
Or how they're lost in some
blog fog
And sitting in a cabin 
of log 

Some wrote their fiction with
a twist
Or ordered the towns in
a list
Then exercises meant 
for brains
Or blogs of cars or of
great danes.

Not all finished every
letter
Others got their feet much
wetter
Some days could have been much
better,
But I am not a sad
regretter,
I wrote about every
letter,
Year two should be even
better!


Suggestion:  Next year, maybe have tags for posts, or categories or headings, so we can bop around more easily to the ones we might have more interest in.  I still have a varied interest, but I'd like to know what is out there.  Food?  Pets?  Flash Fiction? Fantasy? Poetry?  Diary Logs?  Book Reviews?  Music? Etc.  I might visit all of these areas, but I'd like to have a clue before I go there.
It was a fun ride.  I had done most all the prep beforehand, but added extra poetry and links some days in April.  Because I had scheduled my posts, I could read more blogs each day, at least until I felt guilty that I hadn't done something else with my time and it was 3 pm.  Laundry won't do itself, you know!  And meals degenerated to chips and orange juice...
I threw out the 5 blogs after yours suggestion, as some weren't really participating, and some weren't really ones I wanted to follow.  So I started skipping around, looking for interesting blog titles - things that appeared to be something I might be interested in.
I had hoped to gain more followers, but I was pleased with the gains I made.  I started with 9 and ended with 51.  So that was pretty decent!  Not the 100 goal set, but still many more than I started with.
So I'm leveling off blog-wise for a bit, and then I'll get going again.  I had lots of encouragement to try to publish my poetry, so it seems that I should go for it.  I'd like some more original, non-blogged stuff though, so I guess I'd best get busy!

Spring Senses Revisited

Here's the thing:
I wrote this first poem and posted it yesterday.  Then I started messing around with it, kind of like the progressive poem that was done a bit ago, and edited all to pieces to come up with a new shorter poem.  Well, I tried that in my own way, with the poem from yesterday.  I kind of like all of them, for different reasons, and maybe the whole thing should be a poem, all together.  I could name the format with its editing rules even.  You will be able to discern what I took out each time and I think there is only one word change that was necessary.  So my question to you is, which one is the best version, in your opinion?  You can say you don't like any of them, and I will be slightly hurt by that opinion, but I will definitely take it into consideration, and it won't kill me.  I do think it will be fun to see/hear/read others' viewpoints, so if you could vote for the number of the favored version at the top of the navigation column here, swell!  If you can tell why in the comment area, sweller!  If you don't like them at all, you can say why - and I thank you in advance for that opinion, because I won't be able to respond while I'm crying...just kidding.  I can write when I'm crying because I can touch-type.

Spring to My Senses

1. (the original from yesterday)
Spring...
smells fresh
of grass and leafy buds
like greens and purples;
of dirt and worms
awakening.

Spring...
looks new
with changing shadows
like rippling waters;
with yellow dandelions
popping.

Spring...
feels soft
as a kitten or puppy
like a fuzzy friend;
as breezes
tickling.

Spring...
sounds gleeful
with goldfinches and robins
like a musical interlude;
with busy bugs
humming.

Spring...
tastes smoky
as blackened marshmallows
like burned bubbles;
as hot dogs
grilling.

©2012, Donna JT Smith
May 7, 2012


2.
Spring...
smells fresh
of dirt and worms
awakening.

Spring...
looks new
with yellow dandelions
popping.

Spring...
feels soft
as breezes
tickling.

Spring...
sounds gleeful
with busy bugs
humming.

Spring...
tastes smoky
as hot dogs
grilling.

©2012, Donna JT Smith
May 7, 2012


3.
Spring...
smells fresh
of grass and leafy buds,
like greens and purples.

Spring...
looks new
with changing shadows,
like rippling waters.

Spring...
feels soft
as a kitten or puppy,
like a fuzzy friend.

Spring...
sounds gleeful
with goldfinches and robins,
like a musical interlude.

Spring...
tastes smoky
as blackened marshmallows,
like burned bubbles.

©2012, Donna JT Smith




4.
Spring...
smells fresh,
awakening.

Spring...
looks new,
popping.

Spring...
feels soft,
tickling.

Spring...
sounds gleeful,
humming.

Spring...
tastes smoky,
grilling.

©2012, Donna JT Smith




5.
Spring...
smells
like greens and purples

Spring...
looks
like rippling waters

Spring...
feels
like breezes

Spring...
sounds
like a musical interlude

Spring...
tastes
like burned bubbles

©2012, Donna JT Smith


6.
Spring...
smells fresh,
of grass and leafy buds
awakening.

Spring...
looks new,
with changing shadows
popping.

Spring...
feels soft,
as a kitten or puppy
tickling.

Spring...
sounds gleeful,
with goldfinches and robins
humming.

Spring...
tastes smoky,
as blackened marshmallows
grilling.

©2012, Donna JT Smith

7.
Spring...
fresh awakening
new popping
soft tickling
gleeful humming
smoky grilling

©2012, Donna JT Smith
 

Spring Senses

Friends Sharing a Moment

I opened the slider, and the cat and dog shared the smells, the view and the breeze together.  I wondered which of the senses the animals most enjoyed during this close encounter with the outside.

Spring...
smells fresh
of grass and leafy buds
like greens and purples;
of dirt and worms
awakening.

Spring...
looks new
with changing shadows
like rippling waters;
with yellow dandelions
popping.

Spring...
feels soft
as a kitten or puppy
like a fuzzy friend;
as breezes
tickling.

Spring...
sounds gleeful
with goldfinches and robins
like a musical interlude;
with busy bugs
humming.

Spring...
tastes smoky
as blackened marshmallows
like burned bubbles;
as hot dogs
grilling.

©2012, Donna JT Smith

Tomorrow, a poetic exercise and an opportunity to vote on the one you liked best.

Happy Birthday!

It's my daughter's birthday today!  Yea!  And she is home for a bit visiting with her baby, so I get the presents!  Ha!  The joke is on her!

Somewhere in time
On this day in May
A daughter was
Born to me
And she is
As sweet as,
And as kind as,
And as beautiful as...
Nothing I can think of;
All compare to her.
Honey is as sweet as she,
Angels are as kind as she,
Her child is
As beautiful as she.

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

I could be prejudiced, but I'm trying to be objective here...really!

Ticks and Not the Tocks Kind

You know when I was little, we only had mosquitoes to be irritated by, and then, they weren't that bad.  Well, I'm excluding the bees and wasps genre, but really, that was it.  Now we have ticks in Maine.  And this year is the worst I've ever seen.  For the prior 12 years, even in the woods where we are, if you didn't go in the bushes, you were very unlikely to pick up a tick.  But so far in two weeks I've seen three of them, two of which have been on ME.  This second one was embedded.  I am not very good at this kind of thing.   I tend to get panicky when a creature wants to crawl on me, and close to madwoman when it wants to bite me.
Today, I was a big girl and did not hyperventilate or pass out when I found the tick on the back of my knee this afternoon.  My husband was not home.  My daughter had taken my car to a friend's house.  I was alone.  And I couldn't reach the back of my knee, and I was afraid to look at it in a mirror, knowing my propensity to panic or faint in such situations. 

Calming myself I found a box of matches and the new twisty tool that I'd JUST two days ago, picked up at the vet.  I had tentatively asked if they could also be used to get a tick out of a person.  They said yes, so I decided to buy the green cloven hoof thingy, just in case.
You may be asking why the matches?  Well, you are supposed to overheat a tick and it will back out of its hold, trying to escape.

Funny story - (at least now it is).  When we lived out in Minnesota, our dog got a tick on her ear.  Having lived in Maine where there were no ticks, I had never had to take one off a dog before.  I had heard from people there that if you put the match end up to it they would back out.  So I lit the match and did that.  You are supposed to blow the match out first, but in my defense, no one said that.  I tried to hold it as close to the tick as I could, without setting the dog on fire.  Evidently that isn't possible - the part about not setting the dog on fire.  She only got a few hairs singed down to clear the way for me to be able to get the tick out more easily.  I DID NOT hurt the dog.  I patted the smoldering hairs out before they burned her.  I have never lived this down.  I can tell you now, because all the damage has been done to my self-esteem that can be done by friends and relatives already.  And enough time has gone by - the statute of limitations has run out. 

So, where was I?

Oh, I had the matches and tools. I lit the match and blew it out.  I did not want to see the tick though, so this was not going to work even if I could see it, which I couldn't.
So I called my daughter's number to see if she could bop on home for a minute.  No answer.  I called her friend's number.  No answer.

I tried not looking and just taking a tissue and pulling on the tick.  Ouch.
I decided I had to go to my daughter at her friend's house. 
We, fortunately, have three cars.  My daughter had taken my car and my husband had his cute little Miata, leaving the Focus here, which is his winter and practical transportation.  The keys?  The keys.  He must have taken the keys to the Focus with him. 
Great.  Wait.  Spare key.
I looked in the cupboard where there was a plastic sandwich baggie with keys.  Two of them said Focus.  I took the newer one and headed out.  Whoops, where are the matches again?  I went back in and grabbed the matches and ran out.  Whoops, where did I put the tool?  Ran back again.  Nowhere in the house.  Whoops, in my purse.  I left again.

The key turned in the car, but didn't start it.  I went back in the house and got the other key.  Nope.  It wouldn't even turn in the ignition.  Why didn't I keep the other key with me?  I went back and got the first key again.  Aarrgghh!  Stupid, stupid, stupid.  Of course the car wouldn't start; this is a standard, not an automatic.  It starts when you do it right and are not thinking about that tick in the back of your leg, just sucking away at your life blood with its ugly little face.

I am proud of myself for not fainting, not chopping my leg off, not peeling out of the driveway and down the road like a maniac.  I didn't even bang down the front door when I got there.  I didn't have to be carried at any point.  I just came calmly in the house and gave my daughter the implement and the matches.  And she, being the daughter I raised and loved and sent to college, took that tick out.  I don't know what I would have done if not for her being close by.  What do people do?  The emergency room seems a bit of overkill...ha!  Literally. 

It's May!

Happy May Day!
Remember when we made May baskets and put them on a neighbor's doorstep, rang the bell or knocked, and then ran away?  They were supposed to chase you and give you a hug...or a kiss if it was your grandma or aunt or someone huggable like that!
I don't think kids even know about them anymore.  Pretty sad!
Anyway, happy May Day!
And I finished the A to Z Challenge.  I wrote poems for each day of the month (except Sundays), one for each letter of the alphabet, and made a tagxedo to go with each one, and tried to use a form of poetry that began with that letter (along with the font and style names of the Tagxedo).  I'm not sure what possessed me, other than my PCD (Poetic Compulsive Disorder).
So for today, I give you a haiku to May:

rainbow toes of spring

tiptoe past leaving color

in flowery paths

Enjoy the new month!

Z is for Zebra, Zero, Zed, Zzz

In the A to Z Challenge, we are writing about something to go with each letter of the alphabet, one letter a day through the month of April.  Today we're on the letter Z.  How sad!  We are at the end!  But I'll still be here.
My theme is poetry for ages 4 to 104.  In addition to writing at least one poem, I'm also incorporating a Tagxedo image with a font having the same letter, and the Tagxedo theme beginning with the same letter.  It isn't so easy with these last letters, so sometimes I have to get creative with where the letter is found!
You can check out my other posts listed on the side.  Then head on over to check out those of other writers by clicking on the top tab "A to Z Participants"!

I said at the beginning that as the rate I was going, I might have 26 poems for Z.  Fortunately, I don't!  I do have 5 though.  And that's quite enough for today!
Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I might put these together into a book? I'd like to do that, and maybe add some extras for some of the letters, or just edit it down to just one per letter.  Any ideas on which way is best?  Suggestions?  Encouragements?  H-h-e-l-p?

Font: Zapf Dingbats

Taxgedo Theme: White on Black - which seemed better than the Zing theme I could 

have used that was a greenish and yellowy theme.  No, not right for zebra.

Poetry Style: ZaniLa Rhyme

The ZaniLa Rhyme, a form created by Laura Lamarca. The rhyme scheme is abcb, 

with a syllable count of 9/7/9/9. Line 3 contains an internal rhyme and is repeated in 

each odd numbered stanza. Even stanzas contain the same line but reverse the 

internal rhyme.  It has a minimum of 3 stanzas. 

Zebra Stripes 

Zebra on the plain with stripes of white
Stripes so light against the dark
White and then black, lined up front to back
Your fashion is so formal and stark.

Zebra on the plain with your black stripes
Your stripes clearly meant to show,
Lined up front to back, white and then black
Repeating stripes march row after row.

Which do you have white stripes or black?
Alternating colors flash
White and then black, lined up front to back;
At least your two colors do not clash!

© 2012, Donna JT Smith 

Learn about zebras here. 

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Zero

You're my hero

You make little numbers big

And the bigger numbers small

Depending on which side

Of the deciwall

You fall. 

© 2012, Donna JT Smith 

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Zip zap zing
Who says z's are not the thing
To make a poem sing?
Zombie, zilch, zits
These are just the pits,
But zooming, zesty, zealous
make plainer words
Quite jealous.
And then you always have
The z that's in the middle
Wizard, lizard, drizzle.
Pizza, razzed and fizzle
And if that's not enough, friend
You have them at the end then
Like whiz and fizz and jazz
Which give this poetic spaz
 Some dazzling razzmatazz! 

 © 2012, Donna JT Smith

 ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
 

Zed

is in my head

And I cannot deny it

Z will always be

The sizzle when I fry it. 

© 2012, Donna JT Smith  
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Catching a fewZZZZzzZZzzzz

Clutch, net

Glean, get

Harvest, nab

Gather, grab

Land, snap

Gain, trap

Snag, swoop

Snare, scoop

Hold, seize

Pluck, tweeze

Collect, snatch

Corral, catch-ing Zzzzzz’s

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

 ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

And zis is zee end until negzt Aprilz event. 

Time to catch those z's.

I will still be blogging.  Minimum blog time: Tuesdays and Fridays. 

 Never on a Sunday, unless I wrote it ahead and scheduled it. 

Oh, but I'll read you also on May 7th, our A to Z reflection day!

Y is for Yellow Yadu

In the A to Z Challenge, we are writing about something to go with each letter of the alphabet, one letter a day through the month of April.  Today we're on the letter Y.
My theme is poetry for ages 4 to 104.  In addition to writing at least one poem, I'm also incorporating a Tagxedo image with a font having the same letter, and the Tagxedo theme beginning with the same letter.  It isn't so easy with these last letters, so sometimes I have to get creative with where the letter is found!
We are close to the end now!  But you can check out my other posts listed on the side.  Then head on over to check out those of other writers by clicking on the top tab "A to Z Participants"!

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I might put these together into a book? I'd like to do that, and maybe add some extras for some of the letters, or just edit it down to just one per letter.  Any ideas on which way is best?  Suggestions?  Encouragements?  H-h-e-l-p?

 yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Tagxedo Theme: Yellow Finch
Font: Yanone Kaffesatz Bold
Poem Form: Yadu

The yadu (also spelled ya-du and yatu) is a Burmese form of poetry which consists of up to three stanzas of five lines. The first four lines of a stanza have four syllables each, but the fifth line can have 5, 7, 9 , or 11 syllables. A yadu should contain references to the seasons.
It has a climbing rhyme. The rhyme is on the fourth, third, and second syllables of both the first three lines and the last three lines.
Example of the rhyming pattern:
---A
--A-
-A-B
--B-
-B---


Y is for Yellow Yadu

yellow sun floods
the field buds bright
in mud of spring
the birds sing of
the bling of yellow dandelions

hovering blue
above new green
a few clouds fluff
not the stuff or
enough to threaten a rain

yellow, blue, green
paint the scene and
spring’s sheen of dew
shimmers truly
on newly erupted dainty, yellow dandy-heads

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

 yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Okay, that wasn't the easiest pattern to follow.  Yowza.  You should try it.  I dare you!  It is fun when you finally get the rhyming locked into the correct syllable on the correct line, with the right number of syllables...oh, and then make sure it has a season theme, and then of course, be about the Y word... All this just after you've suddenly remembered that you haven't done this letter yet and it is 11:45 pm the night before and you have a grandson arriving in about 15 minutes from PA, and there's a shower to go to tomorrow and you want to make a trip to Friendship to see Gull Haven and so there will be no time on Saturday to write anything.  
Can you tell by the rambling, I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson?  

They just texted me and said they were about 6 miles away.  

So good night, Y'all!  

Whoops! 

Yea! 

They're here! 

Give me that grandbaby!

 You are my sunshine.

X is for X

Font: Hoefler Text 

Tagxedo Theme: SoapboX Parade - a word with an X

Poetry Form:  (Extreme) Shape poem - the shape of the letter X!

And even though the letter x is not at the beginning of the words, you would need the letter x to write this poem:

X is for X
 

          Watch how this                                   extraordinary fox

             Examines  how                               to exit this box.

               He tripped a trap                         with his hi-jinx,

                  And calls for help                  from Mr. Lynx.

                     The extra help is                not  enough

                      This box it seems          is really tough.

                       Exhaustion requires    an extra hand.

                        Who’s the strongest  in the land?

                         Here comes the famous Mr. Rex

                         His excellent muscles he will flex.

                            He  tries and  tries to  no avail.

                         Who can we call    that will not fail?

                       Exactly   who               can  extricate

                    This fox from his               box-toxic fate?

                 Extremely adept                     with  an   ax

                Now he’s called                          on  Mr.  Max,

              Who finally fixes                             this  fox’s  fix

            Before the  clock                                 tick tocks to six.

          Once exasperated                                   to  the extreme,
       He’s home relaxed                                       and ready to dream.

                                                                                      XXXxxxx....YYYyyyy.... ZZZZzzzz

                                                                                                                                                zzz

                                                                                                                                                    zz

                                                                                                                                                       z

© 2012 Donna J.T. Smith

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

W is for Whale, Wow and Wubble-you!

Font: Webdings - Yes, I thought that would be funny!  You can't read what I wrote, can you?  You need a webding translator, hah!  Maybe I didn't even write whale words this time!  How would you know?  Extra points for anyone who can read one and tell me where it is and the color (so I know you didn't just cheat and guess!).
Tagxedo Theme: Wonderful Tirzah
Poem Form: Waka - or Tanka ("short poem") is a type of classical Japanese poetry, earlier known as waka ("Japanese poem").  It consist of five units usually with the following pattern:
5-7-5-7-7. Traditionally it has no rhyme.

Waka for a Whale

giant seafarer
lumberer of the deepest
breathing watered air
traveling the salted roads
at home where we cannot go

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

Information about whales here. 

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

In the A to Z Challenge, we are writing about something to go with each letter of the alphabet, one letter a day through the month of April.  Today we're on the letter W.
My theme is poetry for ages 4 to 104.  In addition to writing at least one poem, I'm also incorporating a Tagxedo image with a font having the same letter, and the Tagxedo theme beginning with the same letter.  It isn't so easy with these last letters, so sometimes I have to get creative with where the letter is found!
We are close to the end now!  But you can check out my other posts listed on the side.  Then head on over to check out those of other writers by clicking on the top tab "A to Z Participants"!

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

An Acrostic for Wow

Wonderful
Or
Weird


Weighty
Or
Wild

Whispered
Or
Wailed

Wistfully
Or
Woefully

Willfully
Or
Wonderingly

Wow!

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Wow!
Three letters to go
Only X, Y and Z!
Though the letter flow
Will soon come to a stop,
I'm not feeling low
My poetry's blooming
And starting to grow.
I'm forever able
In wonder to crow
I've finished the race of
Thirty days ago.
Can you see my face
beginning to glow?
Wow!

©2012, Donna JT Smith

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

An informational aside for teachers of the young - as a first grade teacher, when I came to the letter W, I would sometimes call it "wubble -you" and sometimes "double v" (pronounced as the French letter).  The former, I would use when we wanted the sound for w, as in many cases they would say /d/ as in "double" as the sound made by W.  They, of course, would laugh and protest my incorrect name for W, but would forever remember the sound for W.  "Oh, yeah, wubble-you!"
And when we were writing it, I would use "double v". They would protest and correct me again.  But I would point out that it really looked more like a double v to me than a double u! It was fun, and they remembered those funny ways of learning W's sound and appearance.  Besides, I just like antagonizing them to be silly, as I protested just as loudly to them, that the way they wanted it to be said or written just didn't make sense to me either!
Isn't Wubble-you a fun letter!

V is for Valley

In the A to Z Challenge, we are writing about something to go with each letter of the alphabet, one letter a day through the month of April.  Today we're on the letter V.
My theme is poetry for ages 4 to 104.  In addition to writing at least one poem, I'm also incorporating a Tagxedo image with a font having the same letter, and the Tagxedo theme beginning with the same letter.  It isn't so easy with these last letters, so sometimes I have to get creative with where the letter is found!
We are close to the end now!  But you can check out my other posts on the side.  Then head on over to check out those of other writers by clicking on the top tab A to Z Participants!

Font: Verdana
Tagxedo Theme: Vague Butterfly
Poetry Form: Visual
The visual arrangement of text, images, and symbols to help convey the meaning of the work. Visual poetry is sometimes referred to as a type of concrete poetry.

Read more about 55 Types of Poetry Forms here.
I used the syllable pattern of 8/5/3 to create the ups and downs of the edges of the poem...maybe valleys and mountain shapes?  Yeah, squint if you have to .

If You Can See the Valley

A valley lies between two hills
Amongst the shadows
And hushed chills.

The question posed to me is "why?"
If not for valleys
There's no high.

With valleys come the soaring heights
Of mountaintops with
Fuller sight.

With nothing higher to ascend
We would not fully
Comprehend.

The beauty of those valley lows,
The deep and dark from
Which we rose.

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

U is for Umbrella

In the A to Z Challenge, we are writing about something to go with each letter of the alphabet, one letter a day through the month of April.  Today we're on the letter U.
My theme is poetry for ages 4 to 104.  In addition to writing at least one poem, I'm also incorporating a Tagxedo image with a font having the same letter, and the Tagxedo theme beginning with the same letter.  It isn't so easy with these last letters, so I'm getting creative with where the letter is found!
We are close to the end now!  But you can check out my other posts on the side.  Then head on over to check out those of other writers by clicking on the top tab A to Z Participants!

Font Style: Euphemia font - sorry, it has a "u" and is pronounced "you" at the beginning!
Tagxedo theme: You Make my Day - again, the first word has a "u" in it and the word "you" is for "u"!
Poetry Form: Eulogy - okay can you guess why I did a Eulogy?  Yes, there were no real u forms of poetry.
A little understanding, please, unless you can come up with unuther way I could have dun it!

Parapluie Eulogy

You had a handle,
Like a crook,
On being
A sharp shooter;
A wash and wear
Kind of dresser;
A runner extraordinaire,
Straight stretcher,
Strong ribbed,
Openly protective.
Ready to spring into action.
You were top notch
From your tip cup
To your open cap.
You silently and smoothly
Came to my rescue
Day after dismal day,
Even a brolly in the sun.
I tip my ferrule to you,
It is finally the end,
My drear friend,
U inside out
Umbrella.

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

Click on the linked words to get definitions and a labeled image of an umbrella's parts!

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Us - an acrostic

Usually unusually

Satisfied with life

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

I couldn't leave us out of it...

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

T is for Turtle

Font: Little Trouble Girl

Theme: Timothy

Poem type: Triolet - A triolet consists of 8 lines.  The 1st, 4th and 7th lines repeat, and the 2nd and 8th repeat also.  the rhyme is ABaAabAB, with the uppercase letters being the repeated lines.

T is for Turtle

That turtle with the stripy legs

With shell to pull her head into

Digs a hole and lays her eggs

That turtle with the stripy legs.

Swims in ponds above the dregs

Tortoise is the next of kin to

That turtle with the stripy legs
With shell to pull her head into.

© 2012, Donna J.T. Smith

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Turtles tuck their heads into the shell upon their backs
The snail does the same thing, too, but four feet is what he lacks.

Turtle have hard scutes that keep his inner body safe
So as he scoots on rocks and sand his tummy will not chafe.

Peering up from deep below the light shell blends with bright
Looking down the dark shell is as water dark as night

Faster than a poky snail, but slower than the hare,
If you look away and back, the turtle is still there.

I want one as a pet, "Mom, can I keep this little fella?"
"Sorry, dear, but Google says that they have salmonella."

© 2012, Donna J.T. Smith

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Check here for turtles and salmonella.

Bonus: Little C

A very dear friend has just had her third baby.  She has become my friend through my daughter, and I enjoy her company and her family very much.  She has been like another daughter to me, and as time has gone on, just as with my true daughter, an adult peer friendship has developed.  And so, I feel much like a grandmother to her children, and especially this new life so close in age to our first grandchild.  I wrote this poem for this new life.  Such a special time of new beginnings lately.  It makes my heart want to burst with love, and it brings tears of joy to see these lovely ladies, once tea party friends, become such wonderful mothers.

To Little C.

Beautiful girl
without a curl
except
your butterfly lashes,
where are you going
in this world?
Who will you come to be?
We are anxious to see.
But if I could,
I’d delay
that "someday",
And I’d keep you,
Little C,
by me!

S is for Squirrel

Font: SF Slapstick Comic
Tagxedo Color Theme: Slow Motion
Poetry Form: Sedoka

The Sedoka is a poem that does not rhyme.  It is made up of two three-line stanzas with the
syllable counts: 5/7/7, 5/7/7.  A Sedoka may address the same subject from different perspectives.


S is for Squirrel

Upside down hanger
Seed stealer at bird feeders
Home wrecker in the attic

Selfish protector
The first to complain loudly
And warn about intruders

© 2012 Donna J.T. Smith

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I watched

through the kitchen window,

the red squirrel,

like a dog with a tug toy, 

head low

jerking to and fro

her back legs braced

strong jaws clenched

her whole body straining,

ripping at the

loosened fabric

of an old tarp
that no longer protected
the long neglected mower.

The stubborn fibers
 at long last surrendered
to the zealous squirrel.
She joyfully popped down
to the ground,

her mouth stuffed overfluffed
with extravagance for

the newborns' nest.

© 2012 Donna J.T. Smith

I'm writing poems through the alphabet, for 4 to 104 for the A to Z Blogging Challenge.  Visit other A to Z Bloggers by clicking on the tab at the top of the page, and selecting a blog to visit.  Happy hopping!

R is for Rooster

Tagxedo Color Theme: Red Tops
Imported Font to Tagxedo: Times New Roman
Poetry Format: Rondeau = a French poetry form of 15 lines of three stanzas: a quintet (5 lines), a quatrain (4 lines), and a sestet (6 lines). Its rhyme scheme is: aabba aabR aabbaR.
Lines 9 and 15 are short, made up of a refrain (R) being of a phrase taken from line one. The other lines are longer and all of the same metrical length.

R is for Rooster

He rouses us from sleep
His mission is to keep
The neighborhood awake;
With crowing he will wake
Us from our slumber deep.

Without a yawn or peep
To bedroom door I creep
His crow I cannot take
Rousing us

The stairs seem pretty steep
When I am half asleep
There is a lot at stake
This rooster needs a shake
This creep’s in trouble deep!
Rousing us

© 2012, Donna JT Smith

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

R is for Rhinoceros

It is just too preposterous
To think a rhinoceros
Could be easily led
by his rhinocer-head.

It would be much too dangerous
And way too adventurous
Not to stay very clear
to his rhinocer-ear.

If it wasn’t so thunderous
It might seem quite humorous
When he snores in his doze
with his rhinocer-nose.

He is clearly not acerous  (a seer’ us)
So we don’t want him near us
I wish he hadn't worn
his big rhinocer-horn.

And because he’s so ponderous
And not really fond of us
He might step on his foes
with his rhinocer-toes.

He might seem very treacherous
But he eats asparagus
You’d not be a sweet treat
at his rhinocer-feet.

So don’t be afraid of us
Says old Mr. Rhinoceros
But just stay far away
while we rhinocer-play.

©Donna JT Smith, 2012