Common Threads

Shaun Ingalls is our host to today for VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com, inspiring us to write Drift Poems – – to look at something, and look at it again in a different way, allowing our thinking to drift to a new perspective.

Getting the Drift

I’d just finished

a writing workshop

for a school-community partner

when she – my same age – 

asked me 

how many more years

I’ve got

It’s getting more common

with each new wrinkle,

this question 

that makes me wonder:

to live? 

or to work?

I’m not sure, I paused

how about you?

I U-turned her question,

to clarify

to get her drift

me? oh, I’m going to keep 

right on working, 

she fired back

I’m not one of those

to sit home in my chair and 

wait my turn to die

Interesting, 

I considered, 

nor am I – 

I’m waiting my turn

to linger over coffee

to travel more

to write more

to walk dogs more

to watch birds more

to adventure more

to read more books

to nap in the hammock more

to lunch with friends

to cook more

to live more

Numbers 8:23-26 

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”

Our host today at http://www.ethicalela.com for VerseLove is Amy Vetter, who inspires us to create Found Poems from any text. I chose a page from Tom Sawyer for my Found Poem.

Conversation

Conversation

beating hearts

heads together

voices

through the gloom

spangles of light

Isaiah 9:1

But there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time he has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

Our host today for VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com, Linda Mitchell, inspires us to write Scientific poems by making an observation, asking a question, forming a hypothesis, making a prediction based on the hypothesis, testing the prediction, and making a new prediction based on the results.

Hummingbird Flutter Turbulence

tickling breeze in the clover

no wind – what could it be?

bird at the feeder?

hummingbird flutter turbulence!

stirring grass two feet beneath ~

awakening the earth

to the wonders of spring!

Matthew 13:4 

And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

Jessica Sherburn is our host for VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com today, inspiring us to write Found Annotation poems. These are also called Talking Back to the Text poems. You find a short passage of text to read and annotate, and talk to the text.

The Postcard Project

In Malaprop’s Bookstore 

Asheville

I saw it.  

The Postcard Project. 

52 Weeks of Art Journaling

Via snail mail.

Perfect for my grandkids, 

I thought, 

Thumbing through, 

Send a card weekly 

and ask them 

to create their own art

and ask their mama 

to send me a picture

of their work.

Perfect. 

I started with 

A good deed.

“Nana filled the birdfeeders

In the garden,” I wrote.

“What good deed

did you do this week?” 

I can’t wait to hear!

For this week, I might pick 

On My Plate –

What did you eat today?

I’ll draw a tomato sandwich.

I wonder what the babies

Are eating. 

They love Nutella.

Or maybe it’s our favorite 

Music or song.  I can draw

Abba singing 

Slipping Through My Fingers

Knowing it’s for real. 

I wonder what they are

Dancing to these days.  

Maybe Five Little Speckled Frogs,

Eating the most delicious bugs.

Maybe I’ll draw a still life

of my Aleve bottle.

So many choices in 

The Postcard Project.

Plenty to keep Nana writing,

Plenty to keep the babies 

Writing back.  

Proverbs 17:6 

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.

Our host for VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com today is Stefani Boutelier, who inspires us to write Metaphor Poems. I have the Metaphor Dice App on my phone, and my roll of the dice was bad data, delusional, touchdown. I checked the jumpstart option and went in a different direction.

False Start Replay 

Bad data
is a
delusional
touchdown
that will flat
have you
optimistically
living
full-fledged lies. 

Like when you
balance your checkbook 

It’s a beautiful day
when you add that
extra few million
on top of
your regular
paycheck. 

You come home
to a majestic
new mansion
with
mid-century modern
furnishings
and shiny faucet fixtures
roll up to your
four-car garage
in your spiffy new Porsche
and park
by the money tree. 

You celebrate
your sudden success
as your private chef
serves you lobster
and a drink
with a little umbrella in it. 
And you wonder……

you just wonder….. 

how did I score this castle??

Bad data. 

A delusional touchdown. 

The hand roll
ruling: 

“False start
on the offense.

Huge penalty.”

The refs revoke the play.

1 Timothy 6:6-8 

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

Tammy Belko is our host today at http://www.ethicalela.com for VerseLove, and she inspires us to write All Things Cheese Poems, or poems about favorite foods.

Mississippi Pot Roast

Mississippi Pot Roast –

Eating in at our house

slow cooked, juicy, tender

au jus, ranch, and pepper

savoring the gravy

asking God’s rich blessings

thanking Him for dinner

loving every minute

feeling warmth and comfort

hanging out with my boys

mourning for the cow killed

(should I be a vegan?)

Genesis 1:26 – And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Our host at ethicalela.com for VerseLove today, Leilya Pitre, inspired us to take a walk to a place of comfort. Ill be adding haiku stanzas as I walk through the day and finishing this evening.

Comfort Walk (morning stanza 6:00 a.m.)

Old photo albums

bird and butterfly garden 

places of comfort 

morning writing time (7:30 a.m. stanza)

flanked by dogs in our big chair

peaceful solitude

strong cappuccino (noon stanza)

rich, bold coffee or black tea

sipping with a friend

early morning steam (five o’clock stanza)

vapors rising from farm ponds

quitting time drive home

violin music (dinner stanza)

pause, played in public places

tomato sandwich

Isaiah 66:13 

As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

Today at http://www.ethicalela.com for VerseLove, Tammy Breitweiser is our host for What I Didn’t Do Poems.

I Didn’t

I didn’t take the bait

strike, spark, ignite

I didn’t smile at the watermelon memories

flicker, flame, burn

I didn’t buy the celebration dresses

sizzle, fizzle, smolder

I stayed home.

With my dogs.

We ate cake.

sparkle, glimmer, shine

Matthew 10:14 

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.

Today our host at http://www.ethicalela.com for VerseLove, Sheri Vasinda, inspired us to write How To Be Poems. I immediately thought of the video I received from my son on Easter, after the kayaking adventure with his two older children when they saw a pod of dolphins. They live on the coast and kayak frequently.

I love the way he and his wife are raising their children to be lovers of the outdoors, and it made me think about how to be a coastal adventure parent.

How to be a Coastal Adventure Parent

1. Teach your babies how to swim.
2. Model safety by wearing a life jacket out on the water.
3. Show your children how to respect nature – wild animals included.
4. Spend quality time together away from screens!
5. Be thrilled and remain calm when you encounter the unexpected.
6. Make every single moment matter.
7. Invest time in making memories.
8. Seize the sunshine – and relish the rain!
9. Share videos with Nana and Poppy so they, too, can be amazed.
10. Never underestimate the power of a dolphin to outdo the Easter Bunny.
    

Psalm 104:24-25 

O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.

Maureen Ingram is our host today, inspiring us to write painful truths about challenging issues as Lucille Clifton often wrote.

The Pattern

the pattern began

before he was born

when his left him

he watched and learned

then he left his own

they watched, learned,

one of his left hers, too ~

it pains us all, still

but one learned

to keep his closer

to have

to hold

to love

to cherish

to raise

to break the pattern

and show the way

Proverbs 22:6 

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.