Patchwork Prose and Verse
that is the question:
is this watch worth all the hype?
some say yes, some no
perhaps it’s purpose
that I have to determine:
I want to know time
I need to count steps
pinging my phone, a bonus
but the distractions?
I don’t want to be
ever-accessible me
with constant dinging
help me, somebody
I need recommendations
not the “paid reviews”
never eat a free
Mexican taste testing lunch
of new recipes
and think you’ll get a
good night’s sleep because you won’t
(neither will your spouse)
Our host for Day 2 of the October Open Write is a group of students at Aquinas College in Michigan, inspiring us today to write odes to change. Stefani Boutelier, an instructor at AC, leads them in their prompt offering today, which you can read in its entirety here.
the leaves show us how
on our morning driveway walks
straight into the sun
how to let things go
bidding the branches goodbye
flitting to forest
floor beneath, seeking,
stirring, gathering in groups
with others who’ve held
onto things for far
too long to know weightlessness
untethered freedom
to roll on gentle
breeze to take to bright blue skies
on blustery gusts
to change their small view
and see the whole world anew. ~
a new perspective
see it in his eyes?
Boo Radley doesn’t feel well
time to see the vet
up all night: coughing
hacking up white foamy phlegm
time to see the vet
didn’t have jeans time
skipped his loving during socks
and his morning treat
time to see the vet
I’m worried for him this time
see it in his eyes?
on this crisp, cold morn
I take the dogs on a walk
into the sunrise
just the beginning
of the changing of the leaves
brings joy to my heart!
a country sunrise ~
its beauty is breathtaking
The drive took 8 1/2 hours with only one stop to fill up the gas tank and to get an iced mocha and a Rice Krispy treat as a snackish meal to avoid making a time consuming stop. When I blew through Nashville without any significant delays, this should have been the signal flag that I was in traffic trouble in Chattanooga and Atlanta.
Standstill traffic in each of those two cities set me back by two hours – about an hour each with stop and go brake lights and watching the rear view mirror in case I needed to brace myself for a texting driver not paying attention. I finished my audiobook and talked to family on the phone, catching up from the few days I was away.
A return to my own bed and flatter memory foam pillows was bittersweet. I miss my daughter and her fiancé already, but I rest in the comfort that they are continually building their new life together a few states away, while mine is here. There is great blessing in the peace of knowing that she is deeply happy and that so many prayers have been answered.
they moved in today
opened new doors to new life
forever as one
I saw this social media post with a haiku plus 3 syllables, and it inspired me to take action:
My Response to the Leaf Writer
I did what you said
I found leaves and rocks, penned verse,
left for others to
discover….
We were camping at FD Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia, and the leaves are starting to change. I found an assortment of leaves and rocks and took the advice from the
post.
This writing on the rocks makes me think of my time in Asheville at the Grove Park Inn, which has been fiercely and steadily on my mind over the past week. I’ve heard much about Biltmore House, but very little is out there except for a statement that I could find on the Grove Park Inn’s website. Besides the old caged elevator and the mega-sized fireplaces with rocking chairs lined up in front of them, one of my favorite things to do at the Grove Park Inn during my visit there was walking around and reading the quotes from books etched into the rocks in the lobby. Perhaps this rock with its lines of poetry is one small way to keep the city of Asheville and its devout love of the arts close to my heart as they heal.
I do hope that The Grove Park Inn finds a way to temporarily host the National Gingerbread House Contest in November this year to another location if they are unable to have it there – which I’m sure may be next to impossible. My vote is for Atlanta, and I’d love to buy 15 tickets and bring the children and grandchildren!
I shared, they listened
we engaged in the need for
more writing to heal
My haibun today is in reverse – my haiku is first, my narrative is second, but I’m also adding pictures to make it an illustrated haibun.
The evening kicked off with Craig Logan’s welcome to TUAC and introduction, and then I was honored to share the journey of my writing group’s most recent books after the publication of Bridge the Distance and Rhyme and Rhythm: Sports Poems for Athletes. I printed these notes and placed a copy on the podium to guide me through the evening.
Book Talk Agenda and Talking Points – October 3, 2025 6:30 p.m. TUAC – Thomaston, GA
Agenda Timeline
6:30 – Welcome/introduction/talk
7:00 – Stop talking and take Q and A, Drawing for free books from David’s Bust Vase
7:30 – Reception, Meet and Greet, Book signing
Talking Points
Thank you for coming!
Land Honorarium of Place, Native Tribes, People, Our Stories (keyword for the evening)
In The Beginning:
Write before Read – – the photograph of Dad’s stacks of books/me as a baby seated among them/ him studying/ firm roots in books and language
Crayons – writing in the books, or how I to read and write using Crayola names of colors
Childcraft – Harold Monro “Overheard on a Salt Marsh” Poem fixation, and….
a Child’s Garden of Verses – two copies by age 6
Checklist Book: Memoir, my first book – Father, Forgive Me: Confessions of a Southern Baptist Preacher’s Kid
The Middle:
Mother’s death, NCTE Convention, and Sarah Donovan with The Groups at www.ethicalela.com that emerged ~
Bridge the Distance (Oral History Project through Oklahoma State University)
Rhyme and Rhythm (an invitation to an anthology – read Golden Shovel)
And then……we coded prompts since 2016. Predominant themes emerged: Healing, Assessment, Community Spirit, Technology uses, and Teachers’ needs for shorter texts and stories
Who wants to work on which books? We made groups.
The Conclusion:
Keep writing – set a timer – tell your story. Write it down. SHARE it. Your story matters.
Q&A
*Photos shared with me by Bethany Johnson and Briar Johnson, and I am ever appreciative of my sister-in-law and my husband for their outpouring of love and support!
crochet blanket pose
up he jumps, to sleep he goes
early morning doze
I watched it happen:
this night-blooming cereus
popped open and bloomed!
Common Threads 