we piddled together through the mart
antiques, novelties, glove sizers
didn’t buy a single thing
except lunch — (we bought that)
fly in her water
didn’t keep it
sent it back
ordered
wine
Piddling
Morning Games
I see his figure
peeking around the sage chair
looking right at me
acting non-chalant
resting briefly to lick paws
he stretches out, yawns
as if he does not
have a burning agenda
playing me a fool
his ball rests nearby
then a thump of his black tail
and a sudden pounce
an invitation
to an early-morning game
that I can’t resist
Prayer Chamber
I think prayers take a
little travel time sometimes
so I pray pre-prayers
thanking the Good Lord
for His miracles I may
never know He worked
like avoided wrecks
and family protections
like health and safety
I wasn’t surprised
when my son called to tell me
his life had been spared
my morning commute
is my daily prayer chamber
no radio, news
I pray by name for
God’s will for all my loved ones
and I watch God work
Fitz and the Vent
Fitz
Fitz and the Vent
’twas a mystery
that the floor vent was missing
gone; vanished; not there
I asked who stole it
Who would steal a vent? he quipped
I thought we had ghosts
our dog naps on it
in the summer to stay cool
but a Schnoodle thief?
how would he take it?
it’s heavy ~ and he has no
fingers to raise it
why would he want it?
still, my husband checked the bed
it was underneath
we both scratched our heads
he retrieved the vent, replaced
it in his closet
and then we heard it
bumping against the wood floors
when we checked, we saw
Fitz’s collar tag
was caught in the metal slats
as he dragged it out
one mystery solved:
we removed his collar tags
unchained his anchor
camping pets
Camping families
more than half of us have pets
(One official stat)
Exhaustion Dodoitsu
full-body fatigue creeps in
exhaustion spirals brainward
eyelids grow heavy, eyes cross
time for bed at noon
An I Miss You Dodoitsu
the day after Open Writes
when we go back to writing
without the company of
friends makes me miss them
Day 5 of July Open Write
Mo Daley of Illinois is our host today at http://www.ethicalela.com for Day 5 of the July Open Write. She inspires us to write dodoitsu poems. Mo writes, “I was looking for poetic forms that I was unfamiliar with and stumbled upon the dodoitsu. It’s a four-lined Japanese form with no set rhyme scheme. Its syllabic structure is 7-7-7-5. The dodoitsu is usually comical and usually concerns love or work. Include a title if you wish.”
Mo notes that some consider the dodoitsu the Japanese limerick. It reminded me of our schnauzer, Fitz, who has CUPS disease and has had most of his teeth removed and is scheduled for the rest. He may have lost his teeth, but he hasn’t lost his ranking order.
Toothless Alpha
he’s practically toothless
our aging schnauzer alpha
gumming vicious warning snaps
at badass others
Day 4 of July Open Write
This day of the month is my favorite – the day when all three of my online writing groups converge – The Slice of Life (www.twowritingteachers.org), The Open Write (www.ethicalela.com), and The Stafford Challenge (a group on Facebook, led by Brian Rohr and inspired by William Stafford). I look forward to seeing my fellow writers in person at NCTE in Boston in November and hereby volunteer to work with others to help set up meet and greet points where we can all eat and write together. There is something special about getting to know a person through writing and then meeting them face to face.
Today’s host at http://www.ethicalela.com for Day 4 of the July Open Write is Gayle Sands of Maryland. She inspires us to write Important Thing Poems based on the childhood classic Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. You can read Gayle’s full prompt here, and I hope you will write a poem and share it!
I so love this prompt and its reach to everyone, everywhere. This prompt would work to inspire verse in grades Pre-K through 12 and beyond. Classic books have the power to change the world, I am convinced.
Sparking Hope
The important thing
about a flame
is that it sparks hope.
You can warm by it,
hold hands by it,
kiss by it, sleep by it.
You can see with it,
you can remember through it,
you can glow in it, pray over it,
refine gold in it,
say goodbye or goodnight with it.
But the important thing
about a flame
is that it sparks hope.
Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers at Slice of Life for inspiring teachers to share their writing and giving space to read the work of all and share the love of the writinghood.
Day 3 of July Open Write with Mo Daley of Illinois
Today’s host at http://www.ethicalela.com for the third day of the July Open Write is Mo Daley of Illinois, who inspires us to write poems using words from articles. We drew an X over the article and used the words touching our X. You can read Mo’s full prompt here.
I chose the article Best Inbreed: The Rise of Canine Clones by Alexandra Horowitz from the July 1, 2024 edition of The New Yorker, the article beginning on page 22 and my X from a section at the bottom of page 26 including these words: you, few, believe, zebra, individual, seminar, opens, question, you, your, her, especially, another, the, cherished, cloned, cognition, question, lost, subject, white, her, she, eyes.
The Open Seminar
few believe
she cloned
her zebra
individual
questions
led me here
to see
the white
of her eyes,
this cherished
subject
Common Threads 