Patchwork Prose and Verse
A huge thank you to Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche for the Progressive Poem. Track it here
Yesterday’s line : “Come with me, and you’ll be in a land of pure imagination”
I’m adding this line today: ( from Maybe by Kobi Yamada)
Wherever you go, take your hopes, pack your dreams, and never forget – it is on our journeys that discoveries are made.
Day 7 of 30
Chris Goering, songwriter from Arkansas, inspires us to write songs of our origins today at http://www.ethicalela.com as part of VerseLove! For my poem, I consulted my 23 and Me Report to see where in the world I came from. Since I was born in Georgia, I changed the lyrics of Georgia on my Mind to reflect my DNA Report. Now I understand the constant pull to travel and see parts of Europe. My roots are calling. With a nod to the one and only Ray Charles……
Europe On My Mind
Genesis 9:19
These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
Listen to Georgia On My Mind Here
Day 6 of 30 of VerseLove (my April theme is Poems)
Mo Daley of Michigan is our host today for National Poetry Month in #VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com. She inspires us to write a Cherita with these words:
The cherita was created in 1997 by UK poet ai li as a tribute to her storytelling grandparents. In Malay, cherita means “story” or “tale.” The form consists of three stanzas- one line in the first, two in the second, and three in the third. You may link your cheritas if you wish. The poem is simply designed to tell a story. So I wrote one, entitled Oomph!
An oomph! at 3,446 feet can’t be good.
Atop Black Rock Mountain, I heard her –
She’d fumbled her phone.
But did I stop recording?
Heck, no!
I laughed – and we haven’t stopped since.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
Denise Krebs of California is our host today for National Poetry Month in #VerseLove (my theme for April is Poems). She inspires us to write a 4 x 4 today. The 4 x 4 with its repeating line is one that I will add to my more frequent writing. It has four stanzas of four lines with four syllables in each, and the refrain moves in each stanza from position 1 to 2 to 3 to 4.
Traveling Shoes
traveling shoes
adventuring
hippie spirit
wandering soul
journeyer’s heart
traveling shoes
climbing mountains
rapt in wonder
mailing postcards
taking photos
traveling shoes
soaking it in
living each day
finding my way
forging new paths
traveling shoes
And, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
Day 4 of 30 of National Poetry Month #VerseLove
Jennifer Guyor Jowett is our host today at wee.ethicalela.com for VerseLove. She inspires writers to use burrowing seeds from other poems to inspire an original poem. I have taken a line from Jennifer Jowett’s poem and one from my writing group buddy Kevin’s this morning to inspire my writing as I sit just feet from the two rooms at the Grove Park Inn where F. Scott Fitzgerald summered as a place of respite as he wrote The Great Gatsby. Fran Haley, another of my writing friends, has a photograph of her sitting in his room at his desk. Oh, how I would love that experience. I strolled Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground, Georgia yesterday and was inspired by Jennifer’s line Turn Seed to Stem, and write this morning hoping F’s fingers are ghostly guides of mine this morning with Kevin’s lines Keep watch for dust, falling in flight as I keep peeking for orbs or shadows of F.
Keeping Watch for F
Turn seed to stem
Bees buzz on a whim
Tulips yellow, tulips red
Tulips tucked in loamy beds
Daffodils yellow, orange, white
Grove Park Inn on moonlit night
Drinking mules by stone fireplace
Kicking back, vacation pace
Across the hall from Fitzgerald’s room
Gatsby ghosts in Grand Ballroom
Thoughts when scattered germinate
Writing fingers celebrate
Turn seed to stem, touch his door
Write the morning on F’s floor
Keep watch for dust, falling in flight
And ghosts in hallways, orbs of light
Are his fingers guiding mine?
These sacred moments – – so divine!
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
On March 21, our ethicalela host Chiara inspired us to write a Looking Up poem. I’m sharing my poem from March today. My mother’s last coherent words to my father were “You take care of these dogs.” I think about those words this morning as I write.
Christening Wild Onions
stepping out
into the cold morning darkness
with the boys
not heeling
pulling like Iditarod dogs
off the porch
racing
toward the grass
to sprinkle the
wild onions
roosters asking
roosters answering
throughout the countryside
the distant sound of tires
on pavement
faint steam rising
from christened onions
I look up
Good morning, Mom!
I’m taking care of these dogs.
I smile at the stars
Lori L. and Gae P. also challenged us to write a collaboration poem using a line from another poet and saying, “You’ve been poemed!” Here is my collaboration poem for this day, having taken a line from Gae’s poem – growling, rawr, rawr, rawr. Gae and Lori, what a beautiful form born out of friendship! Thank you for inspiring us! We have indeed been opened today! I’m taking a line and running with it!
morningsounds
my stomach
growling
“rawr, rawr, rawr,”
splatter of water in the shower
Tingle jingle of dog tags
Tick tick tick of paw feet
Lick lick lick of grooming
Hummmmm of refrigerator
Drummmmmm of rain on the roof
Whirrrrr of hair dryer
Slide glide of pocket door
Creaking of floor, house settling
Throughing of Keurig brewing
Plop plop of Kcup drops
Whish-splish of toothbrush scrub
A special thanks to http://www.ethicalela.com for giving writers space, voice, and encouragement.
Day 2 of 30 of #VerseLove (My theme for April is Poems)
Emily Yamasaki, our host for Verse Love today, uses a mentor poem Things I Have Memorized by Maria Giesbrecht to inspire us to write a list poem of things we know or have memorized or any similar list of things. In the mornings on my way to work, I don’t listen to the radio. About five years ago, I declared my car my prayer chamber for my work commute. I pray my way to work with a fairly memorized order of prayer, adding and rearranging along a basic prayer list. I like the ACTS method – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication, and some days I use that as a guide when I’m in between meetings or feeling the need for a quick prayer hug. And thought I shouldn’t be, I am continually amazed at the peace that this brings to my heart.
My Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for this day – for our health, for our blessings, for our family, for your love.
Forgive us of our sins and all those bad thoughts I sometimes think and words I mumble.
Be with our MAMA children – with Mallory, Marshall, Ansley, Andrew and the ones who love them – the other Andrew, and Selena and any you are preparing to join our family.
Be with our BRASS Grandchildren – Beckham, River, Aidan, Saylor, and Sawyer, and keep them healthy and safe. Help them grow in Your love and wisdom.
Be with Dad and Ken, help them to make good choices, and be with us, too Lord, helping us to love and be patient and kind to one another. Help us to stay healthy and safe. And loving. And knowing how to respond to others and to situations.
Be with all those who are sick and suffering, who have lost their way. Bring them peace.
Guide us in our work that we will be good servants and good stewards.
Guide us with lights along the path to keep us focused on the trek you have planned for us.
Stay by our sides and keep us focused on the purposes you have for us.
Stay close and hear us as we pray throughout the day.
In your name I pray, Amen.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Pray without ceasing,
Thank you to EthicalELA.com for giving writers space, audience, and voice!
Day 1 of 30 of #VerseLove (my April theme is Poems)
Bryan Ripley Crandall opens National Poetry Month at #VerseLove (come check it out at http://www.ethicalela.com) with an invitation to write an acrostic. Today, I’m writing a version of acrostic called a Hashtag Acrostic – an acrostic that is written with words that “hashtag” photos in words that capture personalities or hobbies. I’m hashtagging my 3 schnoodles – Boo Radley, Fitz, and Ollie – who bring pure joy to my life! They’re my Literary Trio. Boo Radley is named from a character who was behind a door in one scene of the book To Kill a Mockingbird (our Boo was abandoned in a duplex, found behind a door); Fitz came to us as Henry (he was, in fact, Henry David Thoreau reincarnated we believe, but we changed his name to Fitz for F. Scott Fitzgerald, the party animal of The Great Gatsby, in hopes that he would perk up…..but what’s in a name stuck with him at Henry and wouldn’t budge); and Ollie is named for my favorite poet, Mary Oliver, who reminds me to take note of the beauty of nature and all it reveals to us.
#MyLiteraryTrio
#Barksateverything
#Oneofakinddog
#Overthetop
#Rescuedandwanted
#Abandonedforweeks
#DrDoolittlewouldrun
#Lordhelpuswiththisone
#Expressiveeyebrows
#Youcan’tnotlovehim
#Foodhog
#Independentspirit
#Transcendentalhippie
#Zendog
#Outgoingandsocial
#Livestoplayfetch
#Liketotallyclumsy
#Intelligentpuzzlesolver
#Everybody’ssweetheart
The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.
Slice of Life Day 31 of 31: Journeys (my March theme)
Journeys through ordinary days lead us to extraordinary people and places.
In Atlanta, Georgia in 2016 while I was attending the NCTE Convention, I was doing what every other attendee was doing but never admits: numbering my preferred sessions in each time slot, then positioning myself strategically close to a door in case my first choice didn’t pan out the way I’d hoped, praying in advance to not appear to be one of those rude attendees.
Dr. Sarah Donovan was moving through the conference room placing her contact cards on the chairs. I picked up the card and placed it as a bookmark in my conference catalog for my second choice session – just in case. But as she began her presentation, I was captivated by the way she engaged her audience.
I would not be sneaking out of this session seeking a second choice.
At the end of the session, she announced, “If you’ll look on the back of your card, a few of you have won a free book. Please come see me to get your copy.” I shook her hand and thanked her for my copy of Alone Together, unaware of the places it would take me.
The following spring, I pledged to write every day during #VerseLove at her site http://www.ethicalela.com to celebrate National Poetry Month. A host gave a prompt and a mentor poem, and participants wrote their own verses, shared them with the group, and everyone commented on at least three other poems.
When #VerseLove ended, I was hungering for the same manna that had fed me all of April when I hadn’t even realized I hungered for words and creative expression. I emailed Sarah to let her know how much the month had meant, and found that several others were also hoping for a more frequent writing community. Today’s Open Write was born from those seeds of need that bloomed and grew, all because Sarah listened and forged a way.
I’m grateful for all that Dr. Donovan has cultivated in her writing group. She is the reason that I write daily and have come to be a host for prompts in April that will now carry Slice of Life daily writing into the next month as I transition from prose to verse. I’m also grateful for Two Writing Teachers who broaden the spectrum of blogging, allowing tiny slices of life, concentrated moments, to create habits that drive me to stop whatever I’m doing in the midst of life and write what inspires me. Prose writing is sharpened and refined through verse writing, where every word, every form, every technique is practiced and woven into the fabric of other writing.
At the end of slicing through March last year, I took on the April verse challenge. At the end of April, I thought,I’ve written 1/6 of the year. I could do this every day. So I do.
I celebrated one full year of daily writing at the end of February all because Slice of Life and #VerseLove gave me a drive to be an ultramarathon writer – even just a few steps each day of my journey. I find a monthly theme is helpful, and I outline my plans at the beginning of each month so the well doesn’t run dry. i also reflect on my One Little (not so little) Word for the year: Listen. I learn a lot of lessons from Listen!
In 2017, the NCTE Convention was in Houston, Texas, home of NASA. The Space Museum lay under my feet on the floor beneath the session I attended with Sarah Donovan one year after I first met her, and I couldn’t help thinking of the past year’s writing and all the ways teachers launch rockets by inspiring others. That’s what Sarah and Two Writing Teachers and other similar groups do, and as teachers, that is what we do. We spark interests in students that take them to the moon and back and everywhere in between.
Thanks again to Two Writing Teachers for a month of inspiration, space, voice, and challenge for the March launch into Year 2 of daily writing.
Cheers for the journey!
And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.
Slice of Life Day 30 of 31: Journeys (my March theme)
On my childhood home of St. Simons Island, Georgia, occasionally visits include pleasant paddles through the marshes of Glynn County with my brother, husband, and dad. Gould’s Inlet is our favorite kayaking off the coast of St. Simons for all of its pristine beauty and abundant wildlife. Pleasant all depends on the season, the weather, and the tides.
And the compadres.
Knowing the tides and knowing the marshes, though, is key. Embarking on the course requires a guide – one who knows as well as the back of his hand the markers, the turns, the shortcuts, the quickest way back to shore from any given point.
Recognizing patterns is important along the journey. They indicate when to bail, when to paddle on.
Plans and preparations, too, are critical. Having enough (water, sunscreen, sunglasses, paddle, whistle, life vest, dog) but not too much is essential.
As in life. Sometimes we bail, but always we paddle on.
You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.
Common Threads 