Month: January 2024

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Hippie Scrapbook Stickers – Stafford Challenge Day 15

I’m having so much fun with The Stafford Challenge that I can’t bear to face my goal chart every month. I’m dropping back to quarterly reflections. Poetry offers more self-care, which I need more right now than thinking of all the things I’m not doing that I should be doing.

So I’m poeming instead.

Hippie Scrapbook Stickers

My childhood scrapbook, filled with stickers

psychedelic colors, hippie

Kim was here!! footprints, daisies,

seventies lettering

mushrooms, all the vibes

coolest era

best music~

Kim is

here!

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Hygge Pantoum – Stafford Challenge Day 14

Photo by Ioana Motoc on Pexels.com

Today’s Pantoum poem celebrates warmth and comfort in these cold, wintry days leading up to mid-winter. I have a little faith in our southern groundhog, so I’m holding out some hope for a thick blanketing of snow to keep us home for a few days, snuggled fireside with books and dogs, before warming up and staying warm so the peaches will survive. Georgia lost 90% of its crop last year to a late freeze, and what few I was able to find locally cost a fortune and ended up in Mason jars as preserves so we could enjoy them all winter.

For today, though, there is hot tea with honey ~ and so begins my poem. Stay warm, friends.

Hygge Pantoum

chamomile tea with honey
warm blankets, heated throw
sherpa slippers (ears of bunny)
beeswax candle's ambient glow

warm blankets, heated throw
heavy quilts of rag-stitched flannel
beeswax candle's ambient glow
flickering shadows on the mantel

heavy quilts of rag-stitched flannel
heirloom warmth of hand-stitched hugs
flickering shadows on the mantel
cotton-braided oval rugs

heirloom warmth of hand-stitched hugs
sherpa slippers (ears of bunny)
cotton-braided oval rugs
chamomile tea with honey

Special thanks to Twowritingteachers at Slice of Life for giving writers space and inspiration!

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Jenga Poetry – Stafford Challenge Day 13 part 2

I learned this form from Paul Hankins, who cuts letters from magazines and puts them onto blocks so that student writers can arrange them into words. I modified it by cutting out whole words and placing them onto Jenga blocks. Even the most reluctant poets have fun writing Jenga block poetry. 

As we look to the month of 💕 February, here’s a Love Jenga poem:

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Stuck in the Mud – Stafford Challenge Day 13

actual photo of where he got stuck last week

he got his truck stuck

in the mud last week

and had to call a buddy with

a chain to pull him out

so now we are dickering

bickering about whether rain spots

on the road are dark or shiny

because that’s what

married people do ~

we dicker and bicker over words

in the car

playfully draw invisible

boundary lines

down the middle

just like kids

spinning tires

stuck in our own mud

all the way to see his favorite 70s band

Atlanta Rhythm Section


we sing all the words

at the show

except that one song

we remember when

link fingers

sneak a kiss

hold hands

all the way home

unstuck

invisible lines erased

humming

It’s just like a dream you can’t remember
Even though you always wish you could
When it’s gone, it’s gone forever
When it’s gone, it’s gone for G – o – o – o – o – D

ARS singing one of their top songs of the 70s
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Grandchildren’s Tea Party Elfchen Poem- Stafford Challenge Day 11

I was so thrilled when my daughter in law texted me earlier this week to let me know that three of my grandchildren had a tea party with my childhood tea set I passed on to them. These pictures just melt my heart, seeing their little hands hold the cups I once held. What a joy and blessing! I’m also grateful for their mother, who creates special moments for them and shares them with me. She is an absolute treasure, and we love her so much!

My

grandchildren had

a tea party

with my childhood china

{{ pictures!!! }}

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Stafford Challenge Day 10 – Valentine Schnoodles Elfchen Poem

Many thanks to my friend and fellow writer Margaret Gibson Simon from Louisiana for introducing the elfchen poem, written in five lines where the first line has one word, the second two, the third three, the fourth four, and the fifth one. Our 3 rescue Schnoodles went for grooming this week and smiled for the camera (well, for the treats dangling in front of the camera) on our front porch. 

From left: Fitz, Ollie, and Boo Radley

Valentine

Schnoodles, groomed

heart neckerchiefs knotted

three sweeties smile (for

treaties)

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Gratitude for Mallory – The Stafford Challenge Day 9

It’s my daughter’s 37th birthday, and I wrote an acrostic poem for her today. She’s celebrating on a trip to Arizona with her boyfriend, and they’re enjoying their time together, exploring the sights! 

My daughter’s birthday

Arizona gift trip

Loving the cactus desert weather

Living the good side of life

Out for adventure

Rock-hounding enthusiast

Youthfully energetic

*She sent me this picture of a random cactus with this explanation: “We stopped for a wee and a fill up. This cactus was at the gas station. We’re 20 minutes from Tucson.”Classic Mallory text. I’m so happy that she is celebrating her birthday today!

Christmas 2018
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Open Write Day 5 : Naani Poems with Leilya Pitre of Louisiana – Stafford Challenge Day 8

Our host today for the fifth day of January’s Open Write at www.ethicalela.com is Dr. Leilya Pitre of Louisiana, who inspires us to write Naani poems. Nanni poems are 4 lines of any topic, with 20-25 syllables. She challenged us to look to the texts on our phones to find a poem. 

Naani Goat

William the goat 

      was a character.

The Sapelo cabin is a story.

The fireplace remains.

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Honorary Unicorn – Open Write Day 4 – Stafford Challenge Day7

Our host today at http://www.ethicalela.com for the 4th day of the January Open Write is Larin Wade of Oklahoma, who inspires us to write free verse poems on the theme of reflection or discovery, following a reading of One of Us by Joyce Sidman as we explore a time when someone revealed something new about themselves or reflecting on a defining moment. You can read her prompt here. 

I’m an Honorary Unicorn

I came in to work

on a cold Monday morning

to find her note

on my keyboard

Her children 

have lost 4 grandparents

in the past 5 months

and all I did 

was take pizza to her house

while she and her husband

disconnected life support

  said goodbye to a father

And here, she thinks 

I’m a magical unicorn

who is noble and brave

who shoots lighting bolts

     from my eyes

who inspires others to sparkle

who carries a passport to Fairyland

who is kind and good 

    but not a goody-goody

who loves with my whole heart

She thanked me for the little

   thing I did

taking pizza over

   and always being there

but she got it wrong.

I’m none of that except maybe the Fairyland passport carrier

But I’ll tell you one thing:

I’m using that checklist to 

be a better me.

My unicorn friend has

given me new goals: 

pooping glitter and charming dragons