Patchwork Prose and Verse
Proven Whispers She proved with her actions what whispers could never have proven alone like when she cut uncles from her son’s wedding guest list then realized she was the pruned branch ~ the tables turned on her and what was entrusted, the legacy to honor parents? she buried that promise in her mother’s lonesome grave smashed it to smithereens, sealed that coffin shut like God couldn't see truth
we’re cheering them on these Atlanta Braves of ours Funny Farm fireside loving these cool temps Fall Break wrapped in hoodies with coffee and warm socks
I’m thrilled to announce that my writing friend Clayton Moon, better known as Boxer, will be a guest poet on the blog today and several days throughout October. Boxer teaches history and psychology classes in our local high school, and has a beautiful wife and three children – one of whom I was privileged to teach and who is now a teacher himself. His wife and daughter often collaborate on his writing projects, illustrating his work.
All alone, Zombie of Me Before Dawn, Your life will be. Crackling bones, Xanthic Demon! Demonic Songs, Why have you Chosen Me- Dreaming? Every Breath a stone, Vicious Song! For Here my Creature roams, Ugly rightful wrongs! Gleaming with blood, Tomorrow I’ll retrace. His eyes yellow with crud, So fast-paced. Inside no love, Retreating from my space. Just as teeth chatter, Quietly, I leave my place. Keynotes of feelings matter, Pathogen thoughts infected. Leave, oh please leave,---- Rejected! My heart punctured and deceived- Neglected! Neglected- My punctured heart grieved- dejected! Or rejected- Leave, oh please, leave in the latter Pathogen thoughts, Keynotes of life do not matter. Quietly, shhhhhh! Justify my chatter… Running, Ruining, my face! Inside without love So fast-paced, His eyes yellow stained with crud! Tomorrow I’ll retrace, Gleaming with blood. Ugly vicious wrong! For my creature roams Vicious, ugly, song. Each breath a stone Why must we repeat this Demonic song? Xanthic Demon, Crackling bones! Your life is mine, Be. Zombie of me, A me of Zombie? Boxer Moon
I’m thrilled to introduce my writing friend Clayton Moon, better known as Boxer, who will be a guest poet on the blog today and several days throughout October. Boxer teaches history and psychology classes in our local high school, and has a beautiful wife and three children – one of whom I was privileged to teach and who is now a teacher himself. His wife and daughter often collaborate on his writing projects, illustrating his work.
Boxer writes with http://www.ethicalela.com during our five-day Open Writes and during #Verselove, our 30-day writing celebration of poetry during National Poetry Month in April. From time to time, we challenge ourselves and others to write creatively, and this is what Boxer wrote the week leading up to our fall break when I asked if he’d ever written a Loop Poem.
THE BLACKENED WITCH”S SHREWThe Shrew
Petite mouse scampering in the crowd, Crowded and taunting the hag loud! Loud shouting, “Hang the Witch”, with a smile. Smiling Sorcerer! that killed the poorest child. Child holds your fragile hand, Hands you the mouse- as he can? Can the mouse be saved from a stomping grave? Grave, the shrew chews your skin as you gaze, Gaze, at the witch on the stoop. Stooped over with her head in the loop. Looping eyes with heinous smile, Smiling at you, all the while. The Witch
While the Loop swayed to and fro, Fro and above the trap below, Below the Door to my Woe, Woe swaying my undergo. Undergo, my hanging today, Today, for my murdering way, Way back when I lured them to play. Play my rhyme as I sway!! Sway a Haunting tune -did I? I Once upon October’s Eye, Eye of a killer, I cannot deny, Deny my hanging, through diabolic surprise!! Surprised children stewed on the thirty-first, First enticed with my candy- laced curse, Cursed, they recited my dreadful verse, Versed and versed till their little hearts burst! Burst as you listen to my Rhyme, Rhyme with me and you’ll be mine. Mine to put into a boiling stew, Stew you into my Shrew’s brew. Brew-Rhyme is only meant for a kid, Kid you not, but you thought I did. Did you do what you said you would do? Do you fancy your wants for only you? You are not true, True like me, Me and you are meant to be, Be the devil inside you -you see? See the Devil’s dares, Dare you let go of all your cares. Care not for life anymore? Anymore wishes- for me to ignore. Ignore the poison shrew’s core, Core out your insides- let them pour, Pour on my plate of poison sores. Sore throats allow my stanzas to soar. Soar as all our haunts become true, True death of blackened Witches Shrew. Shrew picks and nibbles at your virtues, Virtues in my bile blue are meant to hurt you. You watch me sway, mesmerized in my rhyme-say? Say my rhyme, say my rhyme today, The Blackened
Today you have defiled you, You have become me with your bile blue. Blue eyes turn dark, Darkness now, embark! Embark on the evilness throughout time, Time is our spirit- your heart is grime, Grime with death as I sway, Sway? A witch’s demons never go away. Away with you, from my death, Death to the children, is your stealth. Stealthy I trick you to mine, Mine for all your gruesome time! Time for my torment to gorge your spirit, Spirit is dead, demons shear it…. It has taken your soul, Soul from my rhyming scroll. Scroll more- Hideous you become, Become me! My riddle must be sung. Sung by children on the thirty-first, First their blood will quench your thirst, Thirst with a sore vocal, Vocal my rhyme in their chokehold. Chokehold all the righteous to dread, Dreadful life you’ll soon be dead. Dead as me in my undergo, Undergo my swaying to and fro’. Fro’ and slo’ to hypnotize, Hypnotized you in demonic lullaby. Lullaby to the witch’s rhyming shrew, Shrew nibbled me into you. You were warned from the beginning, Beginning a life with the shrew’s rhyme ending. Ending as you drop through the loop, Loop this rhyme to the weakest in the group! Groups will stare when you are captured, Capture the shrew embrace his stature. Stature of men judge the wicked, Wicked men are judged in liquid. Liquid boiling new skin, Skin the eyes of unrighteous men. Men who judge will turn into, Into The Blackened Witch’s Shrew!
-Boxer
listening to the radio
sappy love songs
bring on
tears
college fight songs
bring on
cheers
Jackson’s Thriller
brings on
fears
somewhere between praise and rebuke~
distinguishing
calls of
bliss
songs of worship
hard to
miss
domestic feuds~
goodbye
kiss
day breaks over tobacco fields
Kentucky’s soft
rolling
hills
pasture cows moo
farmer
tills
birdsong praises
my soul
fills
I usually post my goal update at the end of each month, but September’s is running late. October was sneaky and arrived before I knew it. I even forgot to say Rabbit, Rabbit.
At the end of each month, (or beginning), I review my yearly goals and spend some time reflecting on how I’m doing in living the life I want to live ~ a way of becoming my own accountability partner and having frequent check-ins to evaluate my progress. I’m still in the process of revising some of my goals as I encounter successes…..and setbacks. New goals have asterisks for the month of October, when I will report on them in a few weeks. For the month of September here’s my goal reflection:
| Category | Goals | My Progress |
| Literature | Read for Sarah Donovan’s Book Group Send out Postcards Blog Daily Write a proposal for writing group’s book | I participated in the September book discussion with Sarah’s reading group and look forward to reading October’s book – Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World. I’ll participate in this book discussion this month. Fellow blogger Tammi Evans recommended a book by Elizabeth McCracken entitled The Souvenir Museum, and I hope to explore this collection of short stories as well this month. I need a spooky book, too, to bring on the chills of October. I mailed 10 postcards this month from Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. I continue to blog daily, and the daily writing and reflecting is a wonderful habit for me. I don’t feel complete without some form of daily writing, and the blog is a way of continuing the habit. My writing group is writing a series of new books, and I will spend time editing the chapters we have written. I will continue to add chapters as we receive feedback from our proposals. We are each sending our proposal out to some publishing companies. |
| Creativity | *Decorate the house for fall *Create Shutterfly Route 66 | I am working on decorating. It’s a slow process this year. I picked up an orange and a bronze mum today from Home Depot, and I’ve also made the instant hot spiced tea and put it in Mason jars for the fall. I have added a couple of new pillows and a throw for the living room. Our decorations are simple around here in the country – – we have a lot of natural foliage, and I like using it in some wine bottles I’ve wrapped with twine using double-sided tape as vases. I have been trying to get to Shutterfly since July, so if I haven’t accomplished this goal by the end of October, I may give up on this one. |
| Spirituality | Tune in to church Pray! Keep OLW priority | We have been tuning in to church. With Dad preaching every Sunday in October and a few Sundays ahead of that, it makes the church home hunt take a back seat until my childhood church gets a new preacher, since I have the opportunity to hear Dad. My car is still my prayer chamber for daily prayer, and there’s so much to give thanks for. I continue my conversations with the good Lord each morning and afternoon. I’m still keeping my OLW my priority: pray! |
| Reflection | Write family stories Spend time tracking goals each month | I have shared family stories through my blog this month and will continue this month to do the same. I’m tracking goals, revising, and considering some new categories as I look at my goal table. |
| Self-Improvement | *Reach top of weight range | This is a setback for me this month. I’ve hit major stress and gained weight, despite joining WW. I need to set a firm date and get the mental mindset that it takes to stay on track. I have work to do. Update: every day, the diet is starting “tomorrow.” I seriously need a good mindset to start back. |
| Gratitude | Devote blog days to counting blessings | I begin the days this way and end them giving thanks as well. I enjoy tea on the porch, taking time to meditate on all that I have been given. And all that I have not been given, too. I’m grateful both ways. |
| Experience | Embrace Slow Travel Focus on the Outdoors | I’ve taken a trip in September to Augusta for a work meeting and to Kentucky to visit family. We visited Mammoth Cave National Park and the Bell Witch Cave – two caves in two days. I’m still focusing on the outdoors with birdwatching adventures and camping. It’s the best time of the day to sit outside on the porch (in the shade) and just listen and watch what is going on around me. I have also come to an interesting resolution: I like my own backyard for birdwatching. Over time, I begin to know where each bird lives, its hours of activity, and its preferred seeds and feeders – and there is a powerful science to the perch on a feeder. Take cardinals, for example. They will come to a hanging feeder, but they prefer platform feeders just like mourning doves do. I’m learning by slow birding. |
I have a family member who celebrated a birthday in September, so we enjoyed a trip up to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky this past weekend.
Last spring when I visited her, she mentioned that she’d loved exploring the colorfully-lit caves at Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, Tennessee so much that she’d wanted to visit more caves. So we headed over to Dunbar Cave in Clarksville, Tennessee back in April but were disappointed when all the tickets were sold out. I promised that when I returned in the fall, we’d tour a cave together.
If you’ve ever been to Mammoth Cave, you may already know it’s the longest cave system in the world and that it gets its name from its immense size. We chose the self-guided tour on the last day of September so we could enjoy the cave at our own pace, but we only saw one small section of this natural wonder since the entire cave is 426 miles in total length and growing by the year as more discoveries are made by cave explorers. The lantern tour was recommended as one of the best tours, so we are planning a return trip to see it by lantern light the way that early spelunkers would have seen it – – without electric lights.
To set the spooky tone for the month on the first day of October, we went to The Bell Witch Cave in Adams, Tennessee to hear the historical accounts of the Bell Witch’s terrorizing of the Bell family back in the 1800s, even sending a United States President running from the place. We toured the replica cabin and the actual cave where she was said to have frequented. It is said that she saved a child when he got stuck in the cave one summer. For all the evil she is said to have caused, she did do something good, apparently.
Please share the most fascinating caves you’ve visited in the comments. I’m adding to our list, so I’d love to know which ones would be recommended and which ones would not. I would highly recommend Mammoth Cave for its balmy temperature and fascinating history, but I would not recommend the Bell Witch Cave unless you are very steady on your feet and do not mind squeezing through tight spaces on rocks with a cold-water creek running underfoot. You have to sign an accident waiver, which should have been my first sign – – especially since last year at the end of September, I missed the last step at work and broke my ankle (redefining fall break). I lucked out this year and walked away without injury, but I’m starting to admit that my age may need to be a risk factor in my adventure assessments going forward. I’ll also add that Fantastic Caverns in Missouri is my favorite cave adventure to date (it was discovered, in part, by a lost dog) because I appreciated being driven through the cave in a jeep instead of having to crawl or walk through it – or swim.
Both recent excursions were fun, though, especially as we have long sought reprieve from the brutal heat of summer. There’s nothing like the 54-degree-year-round cool of a cave to welcome the balmy feel of fall!
Cheers for sweater weather!
I’ve finally done it.
I dreamed up the perfect bag for writers.
Since I’ve been taking Meno to ease the symptoms of menopause (namely hot flashes that are like wandering the dungeons of hell in the middle of the night, after just crawling out of a shower of hot baby oil and syrup boiled with dead bugs and toads), I’ve had some colorful and interesting dreams. I think there is a mild sleep agent in it, but at least my dream recentl had an upside.
I invented a purse.
I was wandering with my late mother and her parents through these stores, and I don’t even know what we were doing or where we were, and they had wandered on up ahead. There was no conversation – I just knew they were there.
The stores were big rooms, that connected, but there was no middle-of-the-room merchandise. It was all lined along the walls.
I picked up a pair of flexible toe shoes, knitted like a slipper on top but soft rubber with floor grippers on bottom, and put them back. I walked on into the next connecting store and started making my way along the walls, looking at merchandise. We all looked like creeping mice, never going into the center of the huge rooms.
Then I spotted it.
The price tag: $81. It was splotched black, with intermittent patches of turquoise and shimmery champagne, a shoulder bag with a hinged lap desk that let down from the top and came off, allowing a writer to have a hard surface wherever inspiration struck, to journal even in the middle of nowhere with no desk or countertop space.
Another bag, a mahogany square tote, had a side sleeve that held a thin lap desk for a writer and gave support to one side of the bag. I didn’t look to see if there was one on the other side and the two pieces could connect like a puzzle and become a bigger piece, but hey – there’s another idea for the invention of my dreams.
I’ve had to cut back from 2 Meno gummies to 1 gummy to 1/2 of a gummy to restore some more logical and peaceful dreams without the lingering haunting feelings, but I must admit …..I’m curious about what other inventions I may have made by now if I hadn’t.
Common Threads 