Tag: inspiration

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Music

This month, I continue writing posts from prompts in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. I’m continuing this month so that I can experience the entire deck of prompts. Today’s inspires us to write about what kind of music we love and what is beauty for us.

Righteous

I’m officially old, I suppose,

but they don’t make music

like they used to

those voices, that harmonizing

that message in

(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration

is what the world needs

today to fix what’s broken

inside the heart

The September Open Write begins tomorrow at http://www.ethicalela.com, and I’d like to invite you to drop in and read the prompt and write a poem with us. You don’t have to post it to experience the soothing balm of poetry. No one even has to know you wrote it. It doesn’t have to be long, it doesn’t have to rhyme, it doesn’t even have to make sense to anyone else. It’s all about the habit of writing and having a daily routine of self-expression. The prompt will be posted at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and there will be a process and an example. Come write with us! Kelsey Bigelow, Allison Berryhill, and Barb Edler will be our hosts for the next 3 days, inspiring us to get in touch with our inner voices.

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March 3: 6:04-6:35 – The Brain Awakens to Face the Day in a Septuple Nonet

(scroll quickly, vertically, to catch the brain wave working)…….

just finding two matching shoes to wear

or not spraying the walls with the

Water Pik, …..and Cranberry

Orange breakfast scones with

piping loose leaf tea

awakenings

are hallmarks

of bright

starts

plus

Wordle

Connections

Spelling Bee for

a brain-charged challenge

keeping synapses sharp

– these are my routine morning things

right here in rural middle Georgia

and writing friends across the nation

who inspire me to do new things:

like humbleswede, whose camper

postcards will now be mailed

and Glenda Funk, who

inspires me to

travel the

world with

new

eyes

(and to

hug my old

rescued Schnoodles),

Margaret Simon

whose baby ducks on jump

day always bring a teared smile,

and Denise Krebs, whose Mojave

desert hikes are calling my name now…

Fran Haley, my birdwatching sister

one state north in a same-named town,

wordancerblog’s March food fest

keeps tempting my tastebuds,

Sally Donnelly’s

city sights and

book talks make

me want

to

read

on a

sunny park

bench, Barb Edler

whose slam poetry

competitions inspire

me to buy tickets to a

poetry event on a stage

in Atlanta this coming April

and so many more fellow writers

whose blog are a source of daily

inspiration this month, all

awaken my brain, inspire

me to get out and live

to try new things I

wouldn’t have done

without a

friendly

nudge

Cheers to. you from my mug of green pomegranate tea

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Tails on Trails Weekend Walks

they love to take walks

to go “tailing on trailing,”

as state parks call it

Fitz, Ollie, and Boo Radley take to the trails and paths of state parks

Our three Schnoodles enjoy taking to the trails. In Georgia, the state parks have a program called Tails on Trails, and you can even get a t-shirt for yourself and your pups to identify yourself as a Tailer-on-Trailer.

Our boys may look all nonchalant about it, but don’t let them fool you. They live for this. Boo Radley could not settle himself down for all the things he was trying to take in, and Fitz had to pee on every upturned leaf and then kick dirt and pine straw up in a confetti nature parade behind him as he scratched off. He and Ollie tried to scale a vertical cliff like they were mountain goats or something.

Come with us for a few moments as we walk. The band of brothers will lead the way.

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Day 4 of July Open Write

This day of the month is my favorite – the day when all three of my online writing groups converge – The Slice of Life (www.twowritingteachers.org), The Open Write (www.ethicalela.com), and The Stafford Challenge (a group on Facebook, led by Brian Rohr and inspired by William Stafford). I look forward to seeing my fellow writers in person at NCTE in Boston in November and hereby volunteer to work with others to help set up meet and greet points where we can all eat and write together. There is something special about getting to know a person through writing and then meeting them face to face.

Today’s host at http://www.ethicalela.com for Day 4 of the July Open Write is Gayle Sands of Maryland. She inspires us to write Important Thing Poems based on the childhood classic Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. You can read Gayle’s full prompt here, and I hope you will write a poem and share it!

I so love this prompt and its reach to everyone, everywhere. This prompt would work to inspire verse in grades Pre-K through 12 and beyond. Classic books have the power to change the world, I am convinced.

Photo by Dhivakaran S on Pexels.com

Sparking Hope

The important thing
about a flame
is that it sparks hope.
You can warm by it,
hold hands by it,
kiss by it, sleep by it.
You can see with it,
you can remember through it,
you can glow in it, pray over it,
refine gold in it,
say goodbye or goodnight with it.
But the important thing
about a flame
is that it sparks hope.

Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers at Slice of Life for inspiring teachers to share their writing and giving space to read the work of all and share the love of the writinghood.

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March Open Write Day 5, Stafford Challenge Day 64, Slice of Life Challenge Day 20

Special Thanks to Two Writing Teachers
Photo by Daniel Reche on Pexels.com

Shelley of Oklahoma is our host today for the final day of the March Open Write, encouraging us to write poems to help us relax. You can read her full prompt here. I have one of those conferences today – the kind in a town with a gas station and a stop sign and maybe a hot dog in the gas station and nothing else, and I’m driving in with coworkers from an hour and seven minutes northeast, and I’m not overnighting so I have to leave early and get home late and I know the coffee’s gonna suck because it always does when they have those plastic canisters of powdered creamer and only pink-packet off-brand sweetener.

But I’m trying to relax.

Really.

Frumpy

Relax - no one cares
whether your pants match your shirt
or that they're wrinkled

Relax - no one cares
that the tops of your feet are
white as unbaked bread

Relax - no one sees
you picking at your fingers
of chipped nail polish

Relax - no one knows
your Odor Eaters are now
expired by three months

Relax - just because 
you forgot to tweeze your lip
doesn't mean don't go

After all: you're the 
driver....others are counting
on you to get there

Relax - your oil got
changed, your gas tank's full and your
car is vacuumed out

Relax - your riders 
might find your car is cleaner
than theirs (not driven)

Relax - wait, is that
.....is that a seam coming out?
It's right on the butt

Nope, don't relax.  Go
change pants. Nothing clean? That's what
long sweaters are for.

Heck, grab a blanket
and wrap up like a student
.....relax for a change!




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March Open Write Day 4, Slice of Life Challenge Day 19, Stafford Challenge Day 63

Special Thanks to Two Writing Teachers

Rex Muston of Iowa is our host today for the 4th day of the March Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com. He inspires us to use our kitchen junk drawer to inspire poetry. You can read his full prompt here.

A kitchen junk drawer is second only as frightening to me as forgetting a piece of clothing and showing up at work for everyone to see all truth. It’s downright scary except for the drawer I did clean out last weekend. I still have one to go, and it’s the worst one. An invitation to explore those quirky drawer corners is fantastic! I love that even in the oddities, the junk, there are revelations of life and memories.  

Unbanded

One junk drawer
is empty
~the middle one~
but the one
on the edge
is chock-full
of random bits
and pieces

a years’ supply
of 9V batteries
for the
smoke alarms
we change
often
because
Boo Radley shivers
at the smell of
toaster heat and
smoke alarm chirps

plus the goat ball
banding tool
and bright orange
bands
as if the
whole horrid
thing
needed a
screaming
fluorescent
proclamation
across the farm

and a vintage
unfiltered
cigarette-
sized box of
Happy Family
ceramic pigs
from England

a mama
and twin
piglets
but no daddy
there was never
even a space
for his
unbanded
self

now
from the
Funny Farm
kitchen
windowsill
Mama smiles
with a sparkle-eye
bats her eyelashes
and thinks….

freedom!
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Character Motivation – Stafford Challenge Day 5

Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Pexels.com

Anna Roseboro of Michigan is our host at http://www.ethicalela.com for Day 2 of the January Open Write, where educators gather to write poetry and share thoughts. Today’s prompt has us thinking about the motivation of a book character – what drives them to action. 
I thought of the book I’m reading, An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor, and decided on two limericks today, showing the relationship between the old doctor O’Reilly and young doctor Laverty. (I changed the last line of the first limerick about twelve times…..you can guess the obvious struggle with that last word, but I kept it clean since it’s Sunday – my own motivation and reason).

The Young and The Old

There was a young doctor from Belfast
whose countryside practice in green grass
was learning the ropes
in this village of folks
from an old mentor doctor with wise sass 

When Laverty finds Doc O’Reilly
he bites his tongue, sees raw truths wryly
patient respect is a must
as country doctors earn trust
before they’re regarded so highly

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Word Box

I’m a sucker for wooden blocks that will fit words on them, so when I found miniature Jenga blocks in the Dollar Tree for $1.25 per set, I bought 3 boxes of them. Each game set has 72 blocks. I also purchased a sturdy Christmas giftbox I’d planned to use for recipe cards, but I got a better idea once I saw the blocks.

Three sets fit perfectly into the recipe box. 

What if I wrote positive action verbs on them and gave them as a gift to someone who needs positive words every day? Instead of having One Little Word, what if I came up with 72 x 3 = 216 words and wrote them on the box, encouraging this person to pull one daily and meditate on it or use it as a journaling challenge to not only meditate, but to write a quip about how the word played into the day?

Wait, what if I used both sides, like 216 x 2 = 432 and said, “take your choice, front or back, and start all over when you get to 217 so you can have one for every day of the year?” 

So that is what I worked on all day yesterday. 

My Christmas Day post will be my word list you might choose to print and write on your own Dollar Tree miniature Jenga blocks, and place in your own container for journaling throughout the year. Perhaps one of these words will be your One Little Word for 2024, or perhaps…..just perhaps……you might even use these words as the diopter lens on the choice word, to give it an added focus and perspective. 

Christmas Eve – – a time for reflecting, for renewing, for thinking back and looking ahead. A time for silent introspection, for all the wonder of lights and magic. A time for the sacredness of the Nativity, and the blessings of peace and everlasting life for all who believe. 

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August Open Write: Nestlings with Gayle Sands

Gayle Sands is our host today for the second day of the August Open Write at www.ethicalela.com.  She brings us a challenge to write a nestling poem in the essence of Irene Latham.  You can read her full prompt here.  

I’m reading Ada Limon’s collection of books, and I chose Forgiveness from The Hurting Kind as my base poem.  If I were adding to a list of the things I would hold close forever, it’s Limon's poem. Here is mine, taken from hers:

Silent Water

dumb hearts
hurting each other
shadowy places
scars
bound to the blades
bound to outrun
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T-Shirt Poetry ~ Your Story Matters

Britt Decker, our host at www.ethicalela.com today for the Open Write, shares a prompt that proves that we walk by thousands of writing opportunities everyday. We walk in them, past them, heck – we wear them! She shows us how to take a t-shirt from our closet with words, a picture, or a memory that will inspire poetry.  It's as simple as going to the closet and considering all the possibilities.  I love how her t-shirts inspire a poem about her own need of distance between work and play. Read the prompt here, and consider writing with us.  I bought a t-shirt at the NCTE conference in Anaheim, California last November with a message I enjoy sharing – your story matters.  My poem is a 3x5 today - short and simple like an index card - three lines, five syllables.  

Your Story Matters

you’re a child in God’s
great universe so
your story matters