Category: Gratitude

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Open Write Day 1 of 3 September 2025 with Kelsey Bigelow

Today’s host of the first day of September’s Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com is Kelsey Bigelow, who works as a mental health poet and renowned author of books, slam poetry events, and writing workshops in Iowa. You can read all about Kelsey and visit today’s prompt and poems here, as she inspires us to think about what lives on the “good side of memories.” Today’s writing is rooted in stream of consciousness writing that can live on in that form or be the start of one that takes root for another.

It’s All in the Kneading and Knowing

the happiest thing

I’ve ever tasted was that moment

when in my grief

soul-gutting tears in a

big-enough-for-all

walls of a VRBO

reverberating sniffles

and crumpled Kleenex

and happy laughs of

oblivious grandchildren playing

with their newest cousin

trying to teach him

to walk at six months

and believing he could

the strains of Amazing Grace

sung to a guitar

by the rest of us trying

to sing with the best of us

believing we could

as we all sat piled high

on the curved couch

pajama-clad, remembering

*******. ********

then one broke the silence

asking for a happier moment

in the autumn – another together

time when smiles returned

then another added

yeah, when

any of us can

make a word from tiles in

turntable Scrabble

and another added

yeah, and only if Mom

brings the pumpkin bread

and right then

in those delicate moments

I knew three things:

that I had taken the reins

as the newest family elder and

that tradition of togetherness

lives on in food tried first

as a flopped recipe

when they’re toddlers, then tested

again and again to perfection

by the time they’re teenagers

and can’t think of gatherings

without it and

that families too

are like that ~

learning to walk

learning to sing

learning to bake

learning to live on

believing

through all the tears and laughter

that together

we can

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Secret Life

Last month, I started writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. I’m continuing this month so that I can experience the entire deck of prompts. Today, the post asks about the secret life or hidden dialogue of our pets or plants – or whatever lives in our homes.

Cat and Mouse Games

I think our garage ghost’s name is Felix

born in Waycross, Georgia in 1944

died in Brunswick, Georgia in 2025

a real cat all his life, a preacher

who knew the pleasures of wine

and wanted to taste the whole world

with every taste bud on heightened

sensory awareness because when

my brother and I left Five Star Bank

we ran into Al Brown

the church drummer who told

us in the Tramici’s parking lot that

our dad had come to him in a dream

and told him Heaven was great, that

…you can go anywhere you want, Al!

I was just in Minnesota yesterday….

and I stopped in my tracks

drew in my breath ~ because

that told me Dad and Gus

my sister-in-law’s father

are paying visits to their children

that they’d been to see Greg in

Minnesota (we know no other

soul in Minnesota)

Greg, my sister-in-law’s brother

who knew me well enough already

at the reception during the

sibling speeches to fear I might

push him in the pool

and now the cat and mouse are

on the loose

prowling around in my

garage posing as orbs

for the cameras

keeping me up all night

putting me on heightened

sensory awareness

Felix and Gus

a cat and a mouse

playing games

….as always….

*references to Felix the Cat and Gus, a mouse from Disney’s Cinderella

**Dr. Felix Haynes and Dr, Gus Hernandez died three months apart earlier this year

***One was a Southern Baptist, one a devout Catholic…..and now we have a Baptist and a Catholic ghost teamed up visiting friends and family in the afterlife. One shows up as an orb on Ring cameras, and one sets off fire alarm. Shenanigans.

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Peace

Last month, I started writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. I’m continuing this month so that I can experience the entire deck of prompts. Today’s prompt is about what brings peace and what is not peaceful in your day. As a fan of visual poetry, I chose the form of the breathing wave today the way it may appear on a screen in a medical office (scroll fast and you can see the wave appear in the line breaks.

Where Peace Lives

I’m up at 5 a.m. writing

most days, even today – a

weekend I’ve longed for

after months of long

trips home to clean out

Dad’s house. Peace awaits

~ coffee, silence, cool gray screen

backlit keyboard, eye masks ~ where

the meditations of mind and memory

converge without to-do lists

and deadlines and data

keeping the pulse in

check, breathing

slowly, deeply

where I belong

before the clock

kicks in, governing

routine like a thief of

time, getting in the way

of the relaxed pace of

living without all the

demands awaiting

outside these

doors in the

real world

I find my

peace

here

…..

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Suffering

Last month, I started writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, and I’m continuing this month so that I can experience the entire deck of prompts.Today’s post asks us to consider all the ways people suffer.

I’m not in a mindset to write as much about suffering since I’ve seen my father’s suffering through illness and death so recently – and it has left some raw wounds not yet healed – but I am in a mindset of certainty that once the suffering is over, there is great reward and comfort in the arms of a loving Heavenly Father. I can imagine the desserts at the buffet are pretty tasty, too, and calorie-free, but I have appealed to the Lord to please ban Dad from the dessert table until we get his house and storage rooms cleaned out. I have a secret hope that there is a big screen TV in Heaven and he’s having to sit in a time-out chair and watch us clean it all out while all the other angels up there are swooning over the cakes and pies. We asked Dad so many times to please let us help him clean up and get some affairs sorted out, but we were always met with his insistence that he had it under control. And his attitude.

His definition of ‘under control’ and ours were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Nothing was under control. Most things in his house, health, mind, and world were, in fact, spinning out of control. This, too, I’m convinced, was all a part of his suffering in not being able to admit he could no longer function – – and having too much pride to accept the help he so desperately needed.

I’m convinced: we are all suffering. If we were to all sit in a circle and generate ideas about the order of the worst kinds of suffering, we might could gnaw all the meat off the bone with our stories.

And then, there is Romans 8:18: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. And herein lies a Haiku to remind us of this truth:

all the suffering

cannot compare to the joy

of Heaven’s blessings

Amen.

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Reaching

This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. For this last day of August, the question asks: what are you reaching for? The end of the month provides a perfect time to reflect and set the sails for the last four months of 2025.

I’m reaching for better days ahead

more fitting for a woman of almost 60

to live out some dreams

go traveling

tend the parched plants

pet the dogs

read happy books

wear comfortable clothes

cook meals

drink morning porch coffee

chase waterfalls

sip wine

have time to call my own

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How I Learned to Drive

This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. Today’s post inspires us to write about how we learned to drive.

In a Volkswagen

I learned how to drive in a

red Squareback stick shift

I still remember those days vividly – especially the day I pulled out in front of a car coming around a curve to make a left-hand turn at the last minute, thinking I had time. I don’t know how I avoided a collision, but I am convinced it was the other driver’s reaction time that kept us from wrecking. My mother was on the passenger side, and I remember the look of sheer fear on her face. She screamed, and the other driver laid on the horn.

This is what comes to mind when I think of the patience of my mother. She didn’t take my license away or put me on restriction – she quietly reminded me of the consequences of decisions that are made too quickly without enough forethought. Unintended consequences often have impacts on others that can’t always be undone.

Some lessons are never forgotten, and some words come rippling back right through the years.

Last night at our County Commissioners’ meeting, in a count of 4 to 1, our Commissioners did something no other Board has ever done in Georgia history. In a “hold my beer” move by one Commissioner who confused courage with a lack of sense, he made a motion to reject the school board’s millage rate proposal. The consequences for this are now that our county Tax Commissioner will not be able to collect taxes until the millage rate is submitted. The deadline is September 1. Today is August 27. I fear for the ripple effect that may close our library doors or other county departments; this impacts far more people than school leaders who are charged with making the best decisions for their schools and taxpayers worried about pennies on the dollar in their own pockets.

The one vote against this act of senselessness was my husband, I’m proud to say. As one who rarely comments or gets involved in politics on any level, I applaud his standing up for what is right in the face of overwhelming opposition. He voted for what was right.

It’s comforting to know that there are drivers who, unlike me in my learning days, do not put others in jeopardy. I rest fully in the confidence of his ability to lead and to drive. I pray for the ones who do not know what they do not know and do not count the costs.

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What Did You Bring

This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. Today’s post inspires us to write about what we bring – in our purses, on a trip, to a party, in our suitcases, in our book bags or in our cars.

I’m reminded of our adventure book club that met at Barnstormer’s Restaurant in Williamson, Georgia the. month I couldn’t attend. You read that right. I’m reminded of a memory I don’t actually have. We’d recently finished reading a book entitled The Last Flight, where two women change identities to fly off to new lives but then one plane crashes. This inspired us to meet at our local small airport’s restaurant and actually bring a bag of only the five things we would take if we ever left and were limited in our departure possessions. They had to fit in a tote bag or small personal bag you’d carry when flying. We excluded cell phones, chargers, wallets with money/photos, and medications.

Only thing is, that’s when my father was in Hospice in his final hours and I was out of town – so I heard all about what happened at that book club meeting but was not able to attend. Today, this question for the prompt is timely. What would I bring?

5 Things I’d Bring

I’d bring the tiny obsidian dog

to remind me you knew my heart

I’d bring the silver pearl cross

to remind me you knew my faith

I’d bring the pumpkin bread recipe

to remind me you value tradition

I’d bring the bracelet with the cardinal

to remind me you know transcendending love

of motherhood

I’d bring the memories

to carry you in my heart forever

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Open Write Day 2 of 3 August 2025: Hermit Crab Poems

Hermit Crab Poem

Today our hosts for the second day of the August Open Write are Margaret Simon of Louisiana and Molly Hagan of Maine. The Open Write is a place for educators to nurture their writing lives and to advocate for writing poetry in community. We gather every month and daily in April to write together and to share our thoughts on the poems that are born of our shared prompts. Today’s prompt can be read in full here.

My friend Margaret lives on the Bayou Teche in Louisiana.  She and I made a presentation at the Faye B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg last April to share prompts from a book we wrote with our writing group – Words that Mend. She writes a blog regularly at http://reflectionsontheteche.com. Molly lives in an old red house, on top of a hill, in a small town in mid-coast Maine. She blogs regularly at www.nixthecomfortzone.com.

These friends inspire us to write Hermit Crab poems today.

They explain: “Hermit crabs are known for creating inventive homes in all sorts of surprising spaces and containers. As writers, we can use the containers of other types of writing to form inventive poetry!”  A hermit crab poem takes on another existing form, such as recipes, glossaries, quizzes, applications, etc. 

I chose an Amazon Review for my Hermit Crab Poem. I spend time there whenever I’m about to buy a product and thought of how apt it would be to combine the book The Gift of Nothing and an Amazon Review only without the book part. First thing: Pull some of my old Amazon Reviews off of Amazon. I’m sharing them below:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works for my Hard-to-fit-Ears

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2024

Verified Purchase

I don’t usually have such luck with earbuds. They don’t stay in my ears, most of them. These have the ear hooks so that they don’t have to shove all the way in to be effective. I can even wear them with my glasses. And the charge life is unreal – it lasts for weeks.

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Color

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2024

Size: 7.5Color: CharcoalVerified Purchase

I have them in every color. On my feet all day, I find comfort in these shoes that offer support and traction. Having them in every color takes the guesswork out of what to wear. It may seem boring, but there is a lot of reliability in a dependable shoe that doesn’t rub blisters and offers enough support and comfort to get through the long work days.


5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect comfort
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2024Size: 7.5Color: Obsidian Verified Purchase
You can’t ever go wrong with a pair of Tevas. They are like a little cloud of heaven to walk on.

Next, I took some of my actual words from these reviews and applied them to a review for Nothing in a prose poem review-style fashion. Here is my Hermit Crab poem, Amazon review style in a prose poem:

5.0 out of 5 stars: Nothing

I give nothing five out of five stars. It comes in every color and brings traction and support. It may seem boring, but there is reliability and dependability in nothing to get me through those long work days. Nothing is something that doesn’t have to get shoved in to be effective – it works with or without glasses, and the charge is unreal – – it lasts forever, practically! You can’t go wrong with nothing – it’s like a little cloud of heaven, and exactly what we’ll all take when we go there one day. So think ahead: get your nothing today – you will be glad you did!

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Open Write Day 1 of 3 August 2025: Acrostic Poems with Mary Lee Hahn

Mary Lee Hahn of Ohio is our host today for the first day of the August Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com. She inspires us to write an acrostic poem. You can read her full prompt here.

My One Little Word this year is enough. With the recent loss of my father, a collector who kept everything he ever owned and left seven storage rooms and a house full of “collectible” treasures, my brother and I (both minimalists by choice) are using this word – enough– on a daily basis. We’ve had enough! When is enough enough?? So I chose enough as my word for my acrostic.

Enough

Even

Nothingness

Offers

Us

Generous

Harmony

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Late Arrival

This month, I’m writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. Today’s prompt card inspires us to write about arriving someplace late – a dinner, a job interview, a funeral, an appointment. I remember my father saying that my first marriage should have ended long before it did, and these words prompted my haiku poem today.

I arrived 19

years late to my own divorce

by the grace of God