Posts

Posted on

Buttons Acrostic – Stafford Challenge Day 29

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I was cleaning out a tub of sewing notions when my eyes were drawn to a trio of heart-shaped buttons that cost 70 cents a long time ago. My mother, a master seamstress, always had an ample supply of colors of threads, buttons, and laces for her next project. She made us matching dresses and taught me to sew when I was in elementary school, even though I never graduated to zippers, braking to a hard and fast stop at buttons. Today’s acrostic poem was inspired by these heart-shaped buttons, which I believe may have been destined to be sewn onto a Valentine’s Day top for me. Mom would have been 81 next week, and she still lives on in our memories.

Actual old buttons from my mother and grandmother’s age-spotted collection of notions

I Love Buttons

Because I wonder what
Unfinished dress, never-
Touched pattern, fabric-
To-be-imagined
Outfit
Never quite got
Sewn........
Posted on

Birdwatching Abecedarian – Stafford Challenge Day 28

Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers for giving writers space and voice

As the birds make their way back from their winter vacations, I find great peace in sitting on the front porch and counting the species using Merlin ID and recording my results in eBird. This information-gathering is not only fun, but it also helps scientists at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology track birds across the world when birdwatchers report their sightings. On Saturday morning, the weather was significantly warmer and the skies were overcast. It was the perfect morning for counting 28 species that appeared on the farm in a 90-minute observation. I was inspired to report the species in an Abecedarian list poem today, where each line beings with an ordered letter of the alphabet. 

Tufted Titmouse 
Birdwatching Abecedarian

American Robin
Brown-Headed and White-Breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Chickadee
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Flittering American Goldfinch
Goose (Canadian)
House Finch
Invasive Brown-Headed Cowbird
Jay, Blue
Kinglet, Golden-Crowned and Ruby-Crowned
Loud-mouthed Carolina Wren
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Obnoxious American Crow
Phoebe, Eastern
Quarreling Pine Warbler
Red-Winged Blackbird
Sparrow, Savannah
Tufted Titmouse
Up-too-late Dark-Eyed Junco
Very Hungry Chipping Sparrow
Woodpecker, Red-Bellied
Xenial Gray Catbird
Yellow-Rumped Warbler, "Butterbutt"
Zippy White-Throated Sparrow
Posted on

Gratitude for Felix – Stafford Challenge Day 27

Tomorrow is my father’s birthday, and he’ll be celebrating eight decades of this journey. He loves his Schnoodle, Kona, and takes her to the dog park so that she can socialize with her friends while he socializes with his. Here he is, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day red, talking over the big dog/little dog fence to a fellow canine enthusiast. 

Happy Birthday, Felix! 

Father's birthday tomorrow, so
Everyone join me in wishing Felix a
Lovely day
In all his favorite
Xenial dog park conversations!
Posted on

Purging – The Stafford Challenge Day 26

Photo by Anna Baranova on Pexels.com

Today’s poem for The Stafford Challenge is a rondine, a 12-line poem with two stanzas – seven lines in the first stanza, and five in the second. It does not have to have rhyme scheme, and the first word becomes the only word on lines 7 and 12. Each line has 8-10 syllables in all other lines. 

Purging

purging baggage collected through the years
notebooks, dishes, clothing, books, heirlooms
so I don't end up with a pile of things
anchoring my mind and body
holding onto stuff without purpose
holding valuables hostage
purging

because nothingness wins: less IS more
more life, more time, more freedom to live
more present, less past, more future
releasing is therapeutic
purging

Posted on

Dangerous Readers – Stafford Challenge Day 24

Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com

Today’s poem is a nonet, a nine-line poem in descending or ascending same-line-number-as-syllable order. This one is inspired by a fraud. 


#thesmartestoneintheroom

don't read enough to be dangerous
read enough to have influence ~
there is a marked difference
between coercion and
living example
that defines fraud
for all those
who read
deep
Posted on

Bad Boys – Stafford Challenge Day 23

Today’s poem is a nonet, a nine-line poem in ascending or descending order with syllable numbers representing each ordered line. My son’s recent hunting experience inspired this poem. 

Actual photo of the bad boys. #camouflagedgoodboys
Bad Boys 

two lifelong friends got warning tickets
from the game warden, duck hunting
without the proper life vests
then....held up their tickets
smiled while their buddy
snapped a photo
to send their 
moms. THEY
BAD!
Posted on

Keepsakes – The Stafford Challenge Day 22

Photo by Khairul Onggon on Pexels.com

Today’s poem is a cherita, a form that has 3 stanzas and tells a story. In the first stanza, there is one line, the second two and the third three. My cherita is also a paint chip poem, inspired by the color keepsakes.

Keepsakes

keepsakes misdirected

keepsakes
bring regret

keepsakes
tainted, uncherished
keepsakes   unkept

Posted on

Four Chaplains Roundel Poem – Stafford Challenge Day 21

Photo by Joseph Fuller on Pexels.com

The first Sunday in February is set aside across our nation to honor the Four Chaplains. I attended a service this past weekend to remember them and to honor their greatest sacrifice. Today’s poem is a roundel. 

Four Chaplains Roundel 

USS Dorchester torpedo attack
four chaplains lost at sea~
knew they wouldn't make it back
serving God on bended knee

price of freedom isn't free
singing hymns in arm-locked pack
Nearer My God To Thee

gentle souls in night so black~
beams for all of us to see
faith, not fear, on Heaven's track
serving God on bended knee