listening to the radio
sappy love songs
bring on
tears
college fight songs
bring on
cheers
Jackson’s Thriller
brings on
fears
Radio Zeno
Zeno for Sunrise
breathtaking sunrise in Georgia
walking three dogs
on the
farm
sipping coffee
waking
warm
peaceful solace
nature’s
charm
Zeno inspired by Margaret Simon
My friend Margaret Simon from Louisiana challenged her writing friends to write Zeno poems this week. It’s a 10-line poem with the following syllable count: 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1 where the single-syllable lines rhyme. I’d held a family engagement session this week at a local church’s preschool center, and as I was leaving, I heard the unmistakable caw of a fish crow directly overhead. I snapped a photo, not realizing at the time that it would become my zine photo for a poem! Thanks to Margaret Simon for a fresh, new poetic form. I feel a lot of zenos coming on!
Fish Crow In the Know
high overhead, perching on a
church steeple, caws
a fish
crow
giving off strained
vibes of
Poe
raven-like eyes
in the
know
Pileated Woodpecker Fibonacci
Red
heads
drill trees
with their beaks
(I love watching them!)
Pileated Woodpecker pairs!
#VerseLove April 28
Amber of Oklahoma is our host at http://www.ethicalela.com today for #VerseLove, inspiring us to write poems that connect concrete to abstract. You can read her full prompt and the poems of others here.
Cutting Eyes post-ripple small talk~ reconnecting after a hard conversation but eyes tell the truth might as well pass out peanuts feed the elephant which just grows bigger eyes that will no longer meet resentment sets in
#VerseLove April 22 – with Emily
Emily is our host today at http://www.ethicalela.com for Day 22 of #VerseLove.
Today is Earth Day, and Emily encourages us to write about an island of our choice. I grew up on two islands – one in Georgia, one in South Carolina. I love today’s topic, because I’m back on St. Simons today spiffing up our rental unit here, remembering my youth softball league playing in the ballpark across the street, walking the village where I crabbed on the pier with my mother. It’s a perfect day to enjoy the island vibe with three out of control schnoodles who can’t get enough of all the salty sea smells. St. Simons Island, Georgia Childhood Memories splash Time-faded photographs Redigitized to present-day Beach walks sea smells salty schnoodles savoring Saturday still snoozing, sunrise sand dune soon spoiled sons
#VerseLove April 21 – with Darius Phelps
Darius Phelps of New York is our host today for Day 21 of #VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com, inspiring us to write poems of grief or disillusionment. You can read more about Darius and read his full prompt here. He mentions that the ancient Chinese believed that by burning the house down when relatives died, it would send the house to the place where they were so they could have their homes beyond this life. I reflected for a while on that idea this morning, even chuckling about the Calgon laundry whitener that I remember commercials for as a child – – an Asian actor would come into the frame holding a box, saying, “Ancient Chinese Secret” when someone wondered about how the clothes got so clean. I think the ancient Chinese had a lot of things right. Come join us and read today’s poems.
Up in Flames ^ Choose One: House or Legacy? ^ those ancient Chinese had it right: burn the house down! strike up the torch flame! better the house go up in smoke than the siblings killing each other who gets the dwelling? who gets the crystal timepiece? who "gets" anything? executor’s call: who gets to make decisions? who denies morphine? which one plans all meals? oh, but NO SUGAR, stage 4 cancer patient fat?!? what is this fresh hell?? give Mom a damn M&M! stop controlling LIFE! inheritance sucks some get fortunes, some get F(ORK$#) who "gets" anything??! those ancient Chinese had it right: strike the match and walk in peace from fire
#VerseLove April 10 – Whimsical Science with Brittany Saulnier
Today’s host for Day 10 of #VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com is Brittany Saulnier, who inspires us to write whimsical science poems. I chose to focus on outdoor science – nature and all its discovery and wonder about the world! I have just gotten my flower presses out of the old barn over the weekend and can’t wait to gather flowers and greenery to press on a long walk one afternoon this week. So much of science is soothing, just pure medicine for the soul. Brittany’s gift of a prompt that invites peace is particularly appreciated on this Monday back to work after spring break. Today, my poem is a first-word-Golden Shovel Tanka (5-7-5-7-7) string. I took my striking line as a quote from a birding journal by Vanessa Sorensen: “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Bloom! adopt a mindset~ the practice of noticing pace your amazement of observing more fully nature: less is so much more her covert moments secret discoveries ~ what is our big hurry? its blessings beckoning us patience blooms on every stem
#VerseLove April 3 – with Stacey Joy
Stacey Joy of California challenges us with a fabulous prompt on this first Monday of April, when we can feel all the promise of spring and the budding words, when shimmers of dew sparkle on the morning grass. This is a lovely way to start the day at www.ethicalela.com for the third day of #VerseLove. Her mentor Haiku Sonnet abounds with all hope and promise, restoring my morning of a sleepless night. I took her second line ~ Ancestors’ prayers and dreams ~ and meditated on this as I considered the quality of sleep that plagues me for weeks on end after the spring time change, last night especially. I also added one extra Haiku to the mix because I can’t ever count, so my Haiku Sonnet might actually be a Haiku Syllable Sonnet since there are 17 lines. Life at Times sleeping country nights overhead ceiling fan whirs windows open wide blurred nightmare airing my life hangs in layers on laundry line in dreams night fog, striated slices dense as fear, tense as monsters past, present, future random rumblings REM: impossible journey uncertain murmurs billowing slumber sheets dancing, ghostly breezes whipping, wrestling, wavering woeful, restless angst real nightmares play out
Gratitude for Mallory on her Birthday
It’s a good idea to remind yourself that you are slow traveling to experience the world with all your senses and not the World Wide Web from behind a screen…..when our mind is free from information overload, we tend to slow down. – Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project
Today is the last day of five days of January’s Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com. Each month, this writing group gathers to write and give positive feedback to at least three other writers. Please join us and write with us!
I’ll share my Open Write writing from today in tomorrow’s post. Today, I give thanks for my daughter, Mallory, who celebrates her 36th trip around the sun. Happy birthday, Mal!
MALLORY MICHELLE MEYER My daughter~ Adventurer Les Miserables star! Little Shop of Horrors fan Outdoor-Lover Rock Hounder Youthful lover of life Master Jeopardy Player Indubitably a Prize Child Child of God Hiker of deserts and hills Everyone's instant friend Leader of the Safety Plans Living healthy Explorer of caves and trails Miracle, she is! Ever a champion! Yearns to learn new things Ever the creative spirit and Reading Enthusiast
Common Threads 