Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers for giving writers inspiration and space to share
Today’s poem is a random line poem, constructed from a line heard or read randomly. My husband is an NCIS fan, and he’s in season 20. I’m usually reading or writing when he’s watching his show. I heard Kasey say she was going to drink a ginger ale (a drink I don’t think she likes). I jotted it down and wrote this random line poem.
Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers for giving writers an encouraging and safe space.
I’m borrowing a line or two from Lucille Clifton today, from her book Quilting: Poems 1987-1990, to write a borrowed line poem. This line in italics is from her poem “eyes”: I could say so much to you if you could understand me
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for building a network of writers worth getting dressed for!
It was that kind of morning here in rural Georgia. I’m an hour south of the world’s busiest airport, but believe me – – nothing was busy here in my small town this morning. Low 60s, overcast with a light mist, and my husband and his brother were installing a motion sensor light over their dad’s garage about a half mile across the Johnson Funny Farm where we all live ~ something that has been on their to-do list since Christmas, but things kept getting in the way. That’s why I didn’t bother getting dressed to be anywhere.
My 80-year old father, a retired minister, was preaching in my childhood church, so I was streaming him on YouTube, kicked back on the couch and flanked by three snoozing Schnoodles. I imagine if anyone was watching through a hidden camera, they’d have thought we’d had a Saturday night party and were still recovering, moving slowly if at all, still in our pajamas.
Actual photo of a Sunday morning sermon-snoozing Schnoodle (Fitz), flanked upside down on the couch cushions next to me
Glenda Funk’s text came right as the service ended. She’d sent me a photo of her coffee mug a few minutes earlier, since my post was about my dogs on Sunday.
My text conversation with Glenda, who reminded me of the Slicer Meet-Up on Sunday
Thoughts of one particular Slicer Meet-Up came rushing back, the one where I was in California for the NCTE Convention and asked some random people on the street if they were going to the Slicer Meet-Up, and they stared at me like I was packing a blade before hastily walking off in the opposite direction.
I ran for the closet and threw my tousled hair up in a clip, setting a new personal record for putting on a bra and a shirt and looking alive. Boo Radley snuggled in on my shoulder as he usually does, and I took a deep breath and found the email reminder with the Zoom link from Stacey. Sure enough, there it was. I entered into a breakout room with Group 2: Sonia, Pia, and Glenda. We talked about our plan for writing through the month and how we were feeling, but we didn’t get to the part about what we wanted to get out of it. We were having too much fun chatting about the grace we give ourselves in making the timing of our writing and our reading work for us as we navigate the currents of writerhood.
After leaving the Breakout room, we shared our conversations and then had the opportunity to talk with another small group about these questions:
Questions from our Slicer Meet-Up Breakout room
I was in Group 1 with Kristen, Stacey, and Pia this time, and we talked about the way we choose the blogs we read and how we comment on them. Pia shared that she likes to consider the equity of comments; she looks for blogs needing comments, and those are the ones she reads. Kristen talked about managing her time with reading, writing, and commenting and is working on these parts of the Slicing Life right now, Stacey talked about the importance of first draft writing – to share organic slices of life and resist the urge to blog to perfection.
Seventeen Slicers shared an hour of conversation and getting to know each other, offering tips and sharing what has worked for us. Some like to set a timer, some read first to find the inspiration to write, some gravitate to those they know while visiting new bloggers, too, and some read for what we find we need that particular day. As we comment, we like to find connections and keep blogging conversational as we build relationships with other writers and feel the sense of belonging take root in this sacred space of writers all networking, encouraging and inspiring each other.
To Glenda, thank you for the text reminder since I had missed the email reminder. To Sonia, Pia, Glenda, Linda, Pia, Trish, Betsy, Carol, Kristen, Alice, Juliette, Barb, Cathleen, Stacey, Vanessa, and Amy, I want you to know that the hour I spent with you was most enjoyable. You are ALL worth getting dressed for, and I can’t wait to get to know all of this month’s Slicers better as we share our lives and inspire each other throughout this month!
Check out today’s homepage of Two Writing Teachers for a photo taken by Trish Emerson of Sunday’s Slicer Meet-Up Zoom attendees!
Slicer Meet-Up
Slicer Meet-Up sharing, inspiring, considering writers encouraging each other networking
Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers for inspiring writers to write each day!
Several years ago, I led a poetry workshop for teachers in my district using Mary Oliver’s Dogsongs as our text, inviting participants to write mirror poems inspired by the late great poet. One of my favorite poems in this collection is For I Will Consider My Dog Percy, which she wrote about her own dog following the form of Christopher Smart in the 1700s in his poem Jubilate Agno, or For I will Consider My Cat Jeoffry.
L-R: Fitz, Ollie, and Boo Radley in February 2024
Over the years, we have adopted several rescues, and they appear frequently in my writing. They’re all named after favorite Literary figures. We have Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, because he was abandoned and found behind a door, an outcast of his original people. His rescue organization named him Einstein for his matted and untamed hair when he was found. I wrote a For I Will Consider poem about my Schnoodle, Boo Radley.
We also adopted a badly-abused (mostly Schnauzer, but some poodle) Schnoodle named Henry at the time, who had road rash and a broken leg that required surgery to save and eight weeks of intense physical therapy with his foster mom. We followed his journey back to health online, and prayed they would place him with us. When the news came, we eagerly met the foster mom and welcomed Henry into the fold, renaming him Fitz for F. Scott Fitzgerald, the party animal author. Turns out, he’d been correctly named as transcendental Henry David Thoreau, because he doesn’t party. Here is a poem I wrote about my Schnoodle, Fitz.
Which brings me to King. He was a young stray found on the streets of north Georgia, and he was supposed to be our girl. I’d put in a request with the rescue about a year prior to welcoming King, but the rescue called one day to let me know that they had a Schnoodle who met all the matching criteria as a good adoptee for us….except gender. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to meet this boy who needed a home but who had been turned down by two other families. It only took seconds. King was renamed Ollie for my favorite poet, Mary Oliver, and rode home with us that very day we’d hopped in the car for the 3 hour drive to meet him.
I’ve never written a For I Will Consider poem about Ollie, so today is the day especially set aside for my trophy dog we call the baby..
For I Will Consider My Schnoodle Ollie
For I will consider my schnoodle Ollie.
For he was a young stray running the streets, a real canine gangsta.
For he was named King like royalty, taken to a foster castle.
For he was rescued, brought to our Funny Farm with his one true love: a ball.
For he was renamed Ollie after Mary, who loved dogs through and through.
For he needs no bells and whistles when simple will do.
For he realized all too soon he had brothers vying for position.
For he rejected all possibility of being low dog.
For he rose like a king to the throne.
For we call him the baby.
For he eats sheets.
For he listens for empty K-cup boxes to hit the floor....(for he eats those too).
For he bites ankles and eats Ada Limon poetry books.
For he places one paw on the head of his brothers (sibling annoyance tactic? or knighting?).
For there is no such thing as a quick pee when there are things to see.
For he "kicks" the ball with his nose like a gauntlet at our feet. Throw, he commands.
For he catches popcorn mid-air.
For he fully belongs in our tribe.
For we whisper to him: you're the best dog we've got.
For he returns our love with royal full-face kisses.
Logo of an actual writing game changer – squeeze it and watch the magic happen as habits take root!
Cheers for the journey through the Slice of Life Challenge throughout March! Here’s the link if you’d like to read the daily blog posts of writers in this challenge.
I celebrate 3 years of daily blogging today all because the Slice of Life Challenge pushed me along in my thinking that if I could write for a week, I could write for two weeks. If I could write for a month, I could write for two months (I joined #VerseLove on the heels of SOLC). If I could write for two months, I could write every day of my life, as I now do with The Stafford Challenge. And so it began….and continues. Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for the inspiration to make writing a part of my life every single day and for giving writers voice and space. If I can do this, we can all do this. Writers are born from mindset.
This year’s National Poetry Month (April) poster will feature a line from Lucille Clifton’s poem Blessing the Boats (at St. Mary’s) from her book Quilting: Poems 1987-1990. Today, I’m writing a Golden Shovel poem using the striking line: and may you in your innocence sail through this to that. The striking line appears vertically as ending words on each line.
if only these walls hadn't crumbled and we hadn't pretended, we may have made her proud ~ but you in your striped robe of pious innocence paint fake facades, sail in synthetic superlatives through frilly frippery, oblivious to this truth: she would not have wanted you to carry on like that
I was there for a concert with my husband – to see Atlanta Rhythm Section at The Capitol Theatre in downtown Macon, Georgia, when I saw the landmark plaque on the historic bricks back in January. From Guale, the Marshes of Glynn to Lake Lanier and beyond, so much of Georgia History is steeped in the words of Sidney Lanier. I took a picture and turned to William Carlos Williams for the inspiration today in a borrowed line poem.
OLW = Pray. Diopter Word = Release. Today I’m praying for things to always take a back seat to the people in my life. The worth or value of possessions can demand more of our investment of time and energy, and I’m praying that this never takes root in my own life. The stories many of my friends share in their challenges with their aging parents who struggle to let go of the past and move forward shines an unwelcome spotlight on priorities – and the degree to which they are a priority. Enough is plenty and preferable, as Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass explains, and I pray I never amass an anchor of belongings that gets in the way of what is most important.
Today, I begin a season of release and pre-spring cleaning. Starting in my own attic. 
My oldest grandson turns 14 today. Last year, we went on a fishing trip together. This year, he went skiing with his youth group in West Virginia. Time is flying, and we love the time we share with him. Here he is, loving life.
Today’s poem is a Haiku, inspired by the footage on my Netvue bird camera. We always seems to find such joy in watching birds, but the truth is that they argue and antagonize each other as much as people. Perhaps we laugh because they help us see the humor in human nature and how ridiculous we look.
The Quarreling Songbirds
quarreling sparrows bicker, spar over birdseed like squabbling siblings
Chipping Sparrows spar for the Johnson Funny Farm Birdcam
Common Threads 