A Quote to Start Things Off

""I'd love to go to Santa Fe at some point, Emmett said, but for the time being, I need to go to New York. The panhandler stopped laughing and adopted a more serious expression. Well. that's life in a nutshell, aint it. Lovin' to go to one place and havin' to go to another. Amor Towles in the Lincoln Highway.

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Pictures of Memories I

Pictures of Memories I
Snow kidding! These "kids" now range from 17 to 23
Showing posts with label A Poem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A Poem. Show all posts

Friday, March 8, 2024

A to Z Challenge 2024 Theme Reveal

AtoZChallenge theme reveal 2024 #atozchallenge

 March 10th is the official theme reveal for the 2024 iteration of the A to Z challenge.  Last year I actually announced my theme for 2024 here a year early while announcing my theme for 2023. In that post I stated, 

"The 2024 theme will be Narnian characters and creatures from A to Z. My working title is Narnia: From Aslan to Zardeenah."

Well it turns out, I lied.  Lied is a strong word.  I miscalculated.  Almost every year for the last 35 years I have reread each book in the Chronicles of Narnia.  Last year when I made the announcement, I had not yet started on my literary pilgrimage to Narnia and thought the idea of reading the books would help in making the alphabetical list of entries.  

I ended up reading a sum total of zero Narnia books in 2023.  While it's true that  I could easily journey from Archenland to Zalindreh, my heart was not in it.  I chose to abandon  delay my Narnian sojourn for another time (Although I would prefer to do all my blogging in Narnia, as no time would pass while I was writing).  

I then toyed with the idea of having no theme and simply blogging about something new from A to Z each day.  I liked that idea quite a bit, but then it occurred to me, I would have nothing to say at the theme reveal.  I then thought of having an overarching theme but leaving it wide enough to choose the individual topics the day they were due.  That also seemed a little problematic as I often suffer more from topic block than it's cousin writer's block.


Holidays by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free 


 Finally I thought of a topic that would give me both flexibility and stability.  I decided to blog about Holidays.  However instead of A is for Arbor day, C is for Casmir Pulaski Day (It's A Chicago Thing), I will be focusing on lesser holidays, the kind you would find at sites like the National Day Calendar or What is Today Holiday's like National Take A Poet to Lunch day which takes place on January 6th each year, the holiday that inspired this poem.


My process this year is each day of the challenge to post about a holiday that is taking place that day.  Some holidays like April Fools day on the 1st would match very well for the letter of the day.  Others will take a little pushing to make it fit the letter of the day.  April 2nd for example is Children's Book day. If I choose that holiday, I would have a title like B is for Books for Children. 

In addition to actual holidays, I am going to also create 5 new holidays as part of my list, including ways to celebrate these new festive occasions.   

Recent A to Z Challenges

2023 A Month At The Movies

2022 Limericks, Homeruns, & Wordles (Oh My!)

2021 A to Z People who were alive in 1921

2020 State (& Other) Capitals


Each year on Spotify I make an A to Z playlist for the year.  At the end of each post I will have a link to the song for  that day .


I am very excited about this Holiday edition of the A to Z challenge.  To learn more about The 2024 A to Z Theme Reveals click here, if you are ready to participate in said reveals click here, and finally if you are looking for a spreadsheet of who is already participating this year click here.


Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Do What I Did - Valentine's Day Advice

Poetry Friday is upon us once again. It is at Reflections On The Teche this week. I am entering this post from Valentines Day.


 

If You Want Your Love Story

To Have A Happy End

Do What I Did

Marry Your Best Friend

 

If A Diamond

Isn’t Really Her Thing

Do What I Did

Buy An Emerald Ring

 

If Your Fiancée

Doesn’t Need A Lot of Folks

To See Her Wed

Don’t Do What I Did

Just Elope Instead

 

26 Years Ago This Valentine’s Day

We Got Our Marriage License

And I’m Here To Say

I’m So Glad I Married My Best Friend

I Did What I Did

And I’d Do It Again


I wrote this earlier this month based on a prompt at my poetry group.  I gave it to Amy on Valentine's day.  Each time I read it I'm reminded of the work OF P.D. Eastman.  This is probably because I think MY NEST IS BEST because of the bird I share it with.


For More Poetry Friday click here.

Friday, January 12, 2024

Poetry Friday: A Winter Poem For Reluctant Poets


 Poetry Friday is being hosted this week by Tracey at Tangles & Tails


Today there was no school as there was a snow day.  All the snow reminded me of an incident from 14 years ago when I was teaching a unit on  poetry to my children when I was homeschooling them.  The original post is found here.

Each of my children wrote a poem, but my 8 year old at the time son was originally a little reluctant to write his. Before producing the picture poem below, he recited something like Winter, winter I hate winter.


Later when I had some time to myself.  I reflected on the incident and wrote a poem as if it was written by an 8 year old who did not want to write a poem.

It reminds me of something that P.D. Eastman of Go Dog Go, or The Best Nest might write.

Winter. Winter. Winter. Winter.

Winter is no fun.
Winter. Winter. Winter Winter.
Now my poem's done.

I say it's done
but Dad say no.
Who wants to write
when you can play in the snow?

Sledding, Skiing, snow ball fighting.
Winter's really quite inviting.
It's fun outside and in the home
but do I have to write a poem?!!!

Winter. Winter. Winter. Winter.
Now, my poem's done!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I write this poem almost 14 years ago.  The youngest of the three children I was home schooling at the time is a senior now in high school.  I am working as a building substitute (a substitute teacher who works at the same building all year) at a middle school  I think of this poem from time to time when I encounter reluctant writers or winter activities.

_______________________________________________________

For more Poetry Friday click here.

Saturday, January 6, 2024

National Take a Poet to Lunch Day

 January 6, 2024 is Take A Poet to Lunch Day.  It was started in 1995 making today the 20th annual celebration of this event created by Professor Arnold Adoff. This link gives some good ideas of how to celebrate poetry on this day.  A few years back I found out about this day and wrote a poem to commemorate the occasion,


I Took A Poet to Lunch Today

I took a poet to lunch today

And there amid the verse

Our flow of thought

Was free and light

Not stifled, bland or terse


I took a poet to lunch today

And traded quip for quip

She scrawled a sonnet on her check

 And left it with her tip


If you can't take a poet to lunch today

Please don't wear a frown

We all write poems in our own way

And some just write them down.


A few years later I included the poem in a holiday poetry reading on my vlog.

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

First Poem Of The Year

 


I have written my first poem in a while, and it turns out also to be my first poem of the new year.  


Juggling

Why do I juggle?

Why Do I struggle,

with the pressure of every demand?

Why do I struggle?

Why must I juggle

When God has each ball

well in hand?

Why do I stumble?

Why do I grumble

constantly rehashing my plight?

Why do I grumble?

Why must I stumble

instead of choosing to walk

in the light?

Why can't I stop

Juggling and Stumbling

Struggling and Grumbling

Living a life based on fear?

Why cant I give up on 

Trying and Crying

Believing the lying

That I whisper into my ear?


The answers are found in the questions.

Truth is more than suggestions.


Poetry Friday is being hosted this week by Marcie Flinchum Atkins.  Click here to join the fun.  .








Tuesday, November 7, 2023

60 Years in 60 Days 2013

 

2013: The Beginning of the year of limericks

I turned 49 in the year 2013.  I remember going with my wife and kids to the Cook County forest preserve in Elk Grove where there is actually, wait for it, a grove of elk.  We were hanging out watching elk, climbing trees, and having all kind of birthday fun when an idea came to me.  For the rest of the year, I would write a limerick each day and post it on Facebook for all  to see.  

Eventually the task got a little much for me and I did not write 365 limericks that year, but I wrote well over 200.  While my limericks never quite went viral, I am sure a few of them made a number of  my friends, family and acquaintances sick.

The year of limericks was a bit of a turning point for me in a few ways:

While I have dabbled in poetry along with other kinds of writing and studied poetry while obtaining a degree in English, I never considered myself more than an occasional  poet.  The limerick experimented jump started this part of my writing.

Facebook has become a curator of my limericks.  Thanks to Facebook memories my limericks from 2013-2014 pop up on the anniversary of the day I wrote them.  The November 7th 2013 popped up again today.  It is about knock knock jokes.  

While knock knock who's there jokes are lawful 
A lot of them are just plain awful 
When you knock knock who's there 
You best be aware 
There is such a thing as a doorbell.




Thursday, July 6, 2023

Spiritual Thursday, Poetry Friday, Rejoicing in the Summer Season





 Carol Varsalona of Beyond Literacy Link is hosting this months Spiritual Journey Thursday.  I hosted last month and then went to Greece just a few days after that.  


Carol's Theme this month is rejoicing in the Summer season.  I technically was in Greece this spring as the official first day of Summer was June 21st this year and I left Greece on the 20th.  However I am going to use some of my experiences from the trip in this reflection as the trip took place on my "summer" vacation.  

Carol asked us to reflect on this Elanor Duse Quote:



"If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the field has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive"

As I reflected on the quote, I was reminded of the opening verse of Psalm 19 ...

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1


I got to thinking why we  don't always stop to smell the significance of God's creation.  It reminded me of my flight to Athens.  I had a window seat and it was a beautiful day out.  There was lovely view after lovely view as we approached our destination. Most of the passengers were not looking out the window.  Some were sleeping, others were reading.  The majority were on their electronic devices are watching the screen in front of their seat.  


The View Out My Window

God's glory in nature

Is always displayed

To see it, it helps 

When I roll up the shade.




My second thought about creation also has to do with my trip to Greece.  The above picture was taken on my first day in Greece at a place called the Areopagus or Mars Hill.  The Apostle Paul visited Mars Hill and even gave a sermon there.  You can read about in Acts 17: 16 -34.  Essentially Paul is in Athens disturbed by all the idol worship in the city, he is reasoning in the synagogue and gets an opportunity at Mars Hill to explain the new teaching he was proclaiming.  Paul uses the opportunity to talk about some of the things he has seen in Athens and to compliment the Athenians on some of their practices.  He also talks about a statue he had seen that was to an "unknown" God and uses that as an opportunity to proclaim the God of creation and share the story of Jesus.

There is a tendency to celebrate nature in a natural way and not as the creation of a creator.  Instead of talking about God many just deify nature itself referring to it as Mother Nature or Mother Earth but rejecting the biblical idea of a personal God who created it all. Instead of taking an antagonistic or combative approach to these differing world views, I think an approach like Paul used on Mars Hill is more suitable.  People who find inner peace, and contentment, and wonder from nature should be commended even if they do not believe in the God who created that beauty.  Like Paul believers should use that common bond, a spiritual regard, for nature as a starting point to talk about the God that the heavens declare the glory of.

Spiritual Journey Thursday is a gathering that takes place on the first Thursday of the month,  Click here to see the rest of the July installment.  I left for Greece on June 6th and returned on June 21st.  Today I started daily posts about my trip exactly one month after the trip began. Please join me for those reflections.  



I am also including this post at Poetry Friday for the brief poem inspired by this weeks theme and the picture I took from the airplane.  Marcie Atkins is hosting this weeks Poetry Friday.  Join in, by clicking here.


Thursday, May 18, 2023

Poetry Friday - The Poet That Lives Inside of Me

 Last week I shared how in our poetry writers group we were asked to write two poems about the writing process:1 serious and the other humorous.  I shared the serious one last week, and now the humorous attempt. 


The Poet That Lives Inside of Me

There's a poet living inside of me

We sometimes don't agree



My life sometimes gets in the way 

Don't write a thing from March to May

But the poet living inside of me

Is writing every day


He stores these poems somewhere

He doesn't say; I do not care

But when I need to write a poem 

He lets me know they're there


The poet living inside of me

It seems we're in a fight

But rather than we disagree

We know that we're both right.



Poetry Friday is hosted this week at Salt City Verse. Join in, by clicking here.








Thursday, May 11, 2023

My last 500 days of 50

Last 500 Days of My Fifties

5/12/2023 - 9/22/1964


 I'm in my late 50's.  I was born in 1964, the last year of the Baby Boomers.  

The year before  I turned 50, I wanted to do something special to commemorate my last year in my 40's.  On or about my 49th birthday I was with my family visiting the  elks in Elk Grove Village.  Elk Grove Village is a suburb of Chicago located near O'Hare airport, It is where I grew up and where my parents lived until very recently.  There is a forest preserve in Elk Grove that extends into neighboring towns like Schaumburg.  Ever since I was a kid there has been a herd of Elk maintained by the Forest Preserve in Elk Grove.  



As my family watched the elk,  an idea came to me.  I could write a limerick, and  post it on Facebook every day until I turned 50.  I wasn't completely successful in my quest, but I do believe that I wrote and posted over 300 limericks over that time period.  Why limericks? I never did figure that one out, but I think I owe a lot of the personal poetry renaissance I have been going through the last 15 months due to my year of limericks.

As my mid 50's turned into my late 50's I have been thinking how to celebrate the last part of my 6th decade.  No "elks" moment has hit me and I'm not sure my FB friends want a year of haikus or anything like that.

A couple of months ago an idea came to me that instead of having some special activity, I could just be more purposely reflective during the time.  I decided since my 50's were ending that I could perhaps extend the year   to 500 days.  So starting tomorrow I find myself in the last 500 days of my 50's.

Today is May 11th so that means that there are 20 full days left in the month.  There are 30 days in June, 31 in July and August and 22 days before my birthday in September.  That's 134 days before my birthday. There are usually 365 days in a year, but 2024 is a leap year so there are 366 days from  September 23rd, 2023 and September 22nd 2024. Some may wonder why I don't count until September 23rd, my birthday.  The answer, of course, is because that will be the first day of my 60's.

So, what do I plan to do with this time period that 1150% greater than Lent? First of all, give it up for Lent, it's a great religious observance, and it doesn't get nearly the credit it deserves.  I'm not sure really.  I think what I'll do is when I'm reflecting on my adventures in ageing, or perhaps doing something for the last time in my 50's I might blog about it here.  But mostly I'll do what I encouraged my 11 year old future sister in law to do 8 years before I courted her sister, and that is cherish the time.  

In the Bible we are encouraged to number our days. By delineating the last 500 days in my 50's I am inviting myself to live purposely.  It is of course very possible that I publish this post and then regular life and my ADHD conspire that I never think about it again.  This is part of the reason why  I'm publish posting this on my blog and on Facebook so I do pay  attention during these final days of my fifties.

Dear Facebook friends, this doesn't mean that there will be no more limericks.  It just means I'm commemorating the end of this decade differently than I did the last.  In fact, I think I feel a limerick coming on now:

I really thought it would be nifty

To write a limerick a day 'til I was fifty,

The days in my  fifties are numbered

I only have left 500.

I'll live them up, cause the will end swiftly. 


Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Progressive Poem April 12th

 Some of my fellow poets who contribute at Poetry Friday are working on a progressive poem for April's National Poetry Month.  I signed up for today and then quickly forgot about it.  Thanks for all the reminders on my J post for the A to Z Challenge.


Here is the poem so far with my line on the bottom,

Suddenly everything fell into place

like raindrops hitting soil and sinking in

When morning first poked me, I'd wished it away

my mind in the midst, muddled, confused

Was this a dream, or reality rousing my response?

The sun surged, urging me to join in it's rising.

Rising like a crystal ball reflecting on morning dew.

I jumped out of bed, ready to explore the day

My feet pull me outside and into the garden

Where lillies and bees weave ... but wait what's that?

A bevy of bunnies jart and dart and play in the clover.  

A dog barks and flash, the bunderstorm is over. 



That's my line and I'm sticking to it.  Tomorrow, Irene Latham at Live Your Poem contributes the next line.  


The rest of the participants can be found on the sidebar of Another Year Of Reading.

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Poets in the Family

 My daughter Emma and I started attending a live poem workshop at our library at the beginning of the year.  It meets on the first Monday of the month and the first thing we do is go around the table and share a poem we have already written if we would like to.  

Monday Afternoon was very hectic at my house.  Amy was out and about and everything was going wrong.  The workshop started half an hour earlier than I thought it did, dinner was a hot mess,and I was in a foul foul mood.  By the time we got on our way a gorgeous full moon was shining on the river that our library sits upon and it had a calming effect on my soul reminding me what the important things were and how I was chasing the unimportant.  

Emma and I got into the meeting right as the poetry sharing was beginning. I jotted this poem down and then recited it when it was my turn.


Inside Outside Upside Down

(With No Apologies to Sam And Jan Berenstain)

Inside


Running late

Mixed up meeting time

bad mood

burnt food

rush rush rush


Outside


Circle moon

Yellow glow

Silence between loved ones

That speaks comfort

Through the admiration of beauty


I'd like my inside to be more like the outside. 


After I read my poem Emma read hers.  She had written it previously but I  still took it as a warning that I need to be careful with my words, thoughts, and actions so I don't hurt the ones I love.

I encouraged Emma to start a poetry blog. She had a few other blogs when she was younger, but doesn't use them now.  Her poem and my poem are both at Poetry Friday this week.  It is being hosted this week by Carol at Beyond Literacy Link.


Love,

Dave


Friday, December 30, 2022

A Poetic Ending to a Semester of Subbing

 






The 2022-2023 school year is my 5th school year as a substitute teacher.  Since the Spring of 2021, I have been mostly working as a long term sub. A long term sub usually replaces a teacher on a leave or fills in a vacancy caused by a teacher's departure.  I have done both.   This means I'm filling in for the same position every day until that teacher returns from their absence  or the vacancy I'm filling in for is staffed.  This year I have been subbing for a special needs classroom since the beginning of the school year.  I have had 2 classes (1 group of 6th graders) and 1 group of 7th graders in one class room.  In addition to teaching 4 subjects on 2 grade levels, I have been preparing lessons, grading papers, , making report cards and basically everything else a "regular" teacher does.  It has been some of the most challenging and most fulfilling work I have ever done.  

The length of most long term sub positions are known in advance.  Generally you know how long, give or  take someone personal, sick or maternity leave is going to be in advance.  Filling an unfilled spot does not usually come with a knowable end date.  My principals were pretty sure they were going to have me for the full school year as in the first 4 months the job was posted a total of zero people applied for it.

When I came back from Thanksgiving break, I was greeted with the news that a teacher had indeed applied and been hired for the position.  It was bittersweet, my students all have various degrees of difficulty adapting to change.  Many of them did not take to the idea well.  I on the other hand, was very glad that a SPED certified teacher would be taking over at the beginning of the next semester at the same time as being saddened that such a wonderful experience was coming to an end.  

In the last 3 weeks of school I worked hard with the students that we would finish well.
In our English Language Arts class I wanted to teach the students some poetry so I found this lesson on Acrostic Poems  from  Youtube  utilizing Brain Pop which is one of my students favorite educational websites. 

 

After the video, I went to our board and "we" created this poem using SCHOOL as our acrostic.

                                                Students and Teachers
                                                Classes and Chaos
                                                How much is 7 times 3?
                                                Old friends and new ones
                                                Open their minds up
                                                Learning begins with me.

The handwriting equivalent


The semester is over.  I have said goodbye to my students and just need to go back next week, log in their final grades and do a few other thing to transition the classroom for the next teacher.  As for me, I was able to get a long term position for the next semester as a building sub.  I'll be going to the school my wife works at but will be most likely in a different classroom each day.  It is what I had hoped to do at the beginning of the school year but I am so glad to have spent August to December where I was.  

Thanks to for Patricia J Franz  
for hosting
the last Poetry Friday of the year.  
My advice is  
check it out 
just by clicking here.

Friday, November 11, 2022

Keith Roller Played With a Full Deck and the Cards He was Dealt.

 My brother Keith was born on this day in 1970.  He passed away in April of 2013 at the age of 38 from a heart attack while in a nursing home in Elgin.  He died a few weeks  before he was scheduled to return home to his wife and kids. 


Today, he would have turned 52.  There is really very little significance to a 52nd birthday, but a few years ago I manufactured a little significance by referring to it as the full deck birthday.  This is because a card deck traditionally has 52 cards.  Today would have been Keith's full deck birthday.

My brother had social, emotional, physical, and mental health challenges on his brief time here,  One could say that the deck was stacked against him.  To judge him for his challenges, as many did,  would be not only unfair but would rob you of knowing one of the kindest, smartest, funniest people you would ever encounter.

In his short life, he graduated college, fell in love, married and fathered 2 children who he showered love on.  While it seems cruel that they hardly remember him, his legacy of kindness, passion, and creativity continues in them. 

I was an older brother to Keith, I was also his youth group leader when he was in high school.  I guess I was something of a model and an example to him.  In many ways he was an example and even a teacher  to me and although his life on earth is over the memories and the lessons continue. 


 


Earlier this year,  I started 2 sonnets with the same line: The time were given is quite brief.  It started as just an exercise,  It became much more than that when the 2nd poem became about Keith.  As today is not only Keith's birthday but also Poetry Friday.  I thought I would share it again here.  


Death of a Brother

14 lines after 13 years


The time we're given  is quite brief
For some, it's much too short
One April morn I got the report
I'd lost my brother Keith

Such news was so beyond belief
That I had no retort
Of snappy comebacks, I'd fallen short
So anguished by my grief

My brother died in a nursing home
At the age of thirty-eight
While he was watching M*A*S*H

13 years later as I write this poem
Though my grief is not as great
My heart still bears the gash

Buffy Silverman is hosting this weeks Poetry Friday.





Thursday, August 18, 2022

Poetry Friday 8/19/2022 Finding Castles Among Ordinary Things

 I am hosting Poetry Friday today for my very first time. I originally said I would wait until Midnight Eastern time (11 P.m. where I live) so that it would truly be Poetry Friday. I have caved and am posting this on Thursday at 11:09 Eastern time as I worked at 2 of my jobs from 6 am to 9 pm (my time)  counting travel time and don't want to stay up any longer than I have to asI am also working the same shifts tomorrow.  Here's what I have for you ...

 Back on June 17th, Rose Cappelli of Imagine the Possibilities shared her amazing poem, Music Lessons for Poetry Friday.

I was not familiar with the form, an etheree, and decided to experiment with it.  An Etheree is a 10-line poem that works it way incrementally from one syllable to 10 syllables adding a beat with every line. At One aspect that I enjoy about creating poetry is the freedom to see the world a little differently than everyone else.  An ability to make a connection, and then see where that connection takes me.   

As I was reading Music Lessons, at Rose's blog, I noticed that right under her poem there was a section embedded in her post stating sponsored content replete with the usual clickbait about insurance rates, medical treatments, and other sundry time wasters.   Among the annoyance, I had a flash of inspiration.  Why not write an etheree about internet ads.  This was the result ...


Sponsored Content



I

Really

Don't care where

Educated

Singles in Elgin

Meet, Nor do I need to

Know the seven worst mistakes

I can make with my retirement.

There is a search bar for a reason,

I am content to find my own content.

6/18/2022


My wife and I have had one car between us for several months now.  We were hopeful that we would be working at the same school this year and only found out a few days before the school year started that there would not be a position for me.  Fortunately my long term substitute skills  are highly sought after and I received an offer to work at a middle school in my wife's district.  While we begin to look for a second vehicle, I have been bicycling nine miles down our bike path (each way) to my new school.


When I bike to work these pictures give you an idea of the view ahead of me.




Granted it's gorgeous but it's also fairly common place. Don't get me wrong I love my commute.  Most days I see at least 2 deer and some pretty good views of the Fox River but for the most part it's just tree after tree with a couple of towns thrown in for good measure.

But there is also this ...









Yes 2 miles from downtown Elgin there is this castle structure that I believe was brought over from England.  Most days I bike right past it often not even seeing it.  

Over the past few years I have found myself in a bit of Poetry Renaissance.  To me poetry has been my way of finding castles among ordinary things and even making ordinary things stick out like castles.  

That's what I have for this week.  Let's see what you can add and find out where the adventure takes us. 

 


As you read through what I'm sure re going to be excellent selections this week. I hope you experience your own Poetry Renaissance.  Next Weeks Poetry Friday will be hosted by Tanita S. Davis  at Fiction Instead of Lies.


Thursday, August 11, 2022

Poetry Friday: Hosting Next Week ,Way Back Machine This Week


Greetings Friday Poetry People.  I just came back from a month volunteering at a camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with my family.  It was an amazing time.   One minor drawback was there was very little access to Wi-Fi and such things and I did not get to read many blogposts let alone participate on any Friday Poetry events.

I did get to perform some of my poetry at a crew talent show so that was good. I didn't write any poetry while I was there and am saving the one I was working on before I left for next week so today I am going back to the archives.  

Here is one from 3-11-1993  


Untitled

John Doe rests uneasily

Albeit eternally in the county morgue

Found outside a supermarket

Slumped against the cart return rack

On a different cart now

The contents as generic


Doe, John

Motionless on the table

A poem prepared for publication

The venomous white space atop the page

Leaves the editor no choice

But to mark the work: Untitled


An unnamed man

Alone in a dimly lit parking lot

Breathes his last amid

Unread circulars and candy  wrappers

Leaving behind no glimpse of history

No hint of next of kin to alert


Height and weight can be measured

Eye and hair color observed

Blood type determined

Age only guessed at


The death certificate

Marks the cause:

Natural


Margaret  is hosting this weeks Poetry Friday event at Reflections on the Teche. You can check it out by clicking here.  Today is Margaret's Birthday so you may want to congratulate her on that as well.



Thursday, July 7, 2022

Poetry Friday: The Problem of Good.




 It's Thursday night so we all know that mean's it's time for Poetry Friday.  This week's festival of free verse, carnival of couplets, and symposium of sonnets is being held at Bookseed Studio.


I went through about 1.3 million drafts or so of this poem before I got this far. I was driving my family crazy with all the revisions.  Here is what I came up with ...

The Problem of Good.

I tried feeling good

       But ...

Feeling good fades.


I tried being good

       But ...

Being good is impossible


I tried doing good

Doing good is filling a leaky bucket

One exhausting drop at a time


Then I remembered

God is good.

I can ...

Feel His Goodness

Be His Goodness

Do His Goodness

And...

That's not bad. 


For more Poetry Friday click here.






Thursday, June 23, 2022

Poetry Friday: For The First Time



I hope you are not confused by the title of this post.  It is simply the name of the weekly blogging event  I am participating in, and the title of my poem which will appear therein. 

I did not mean to imply that I was participating in Poetry Friday for the first time.  This, in fact, is my 4th appearance in as many weeks.  Prior to that, I was an irregular reader of some of the entries through links to some of the other poetry blogs I follow.  My blog is not a poetry blog as such, it is more a mixed bag of miscellany in the shape of a blog. It is true that I am certainly on a poetry kick these days. While this is not the first time I have posted on Poetry Friday, this is the first poem I have written specifically with this blogging event in mind. 

I really enjoy these blogging events.  Back when I was homeschooling my kids, and this blog was called Home School Dad, I participated in weekly blogging events called Three Things Thursday, Works for me Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, and my favorite the Carnival of Homeschooling.  Some of my favorite posts in my 13 + years of blogging were when I hosted the aforementioned carnival.

In a few months, I will be hosting one of the Poetry Friday's which I am very excited about and have already begun drafting.  One thing I will put an end to, at least for the week I host it, is this whole Poetry Friday on a Thursday thing.  This is very typical of all the blogging events I've ever participated in.  If you want to be one of the first posts on the Linky list, and who doesn't?, you need to post the day before.  Now I must ask you my fellow existentialists, is it really Poetry Friday when you post it on Pre-Poetry Thursday? 

Therefore, When I host in August, my post will drop at 11 p.m central time on Thursday Night.  That's because it will be Friday in New York City and if that's good enough for New Year's Rocking Eve it's good enough for me.  

I believe that's more than enough pre-amble/rant.  Here is my poem for the week ...

 For The First Time

Meeting someone

Is like

Walking

Into the middle

Of two movies


They walk into yours

You walk into theirs


You both walk into

What could be

The pivotal scene

Of your lives

Poetry Friday is being hosted this week at Reading to the Core


 


Thursday, June 16, 2022

I Can't Skip

 It's Poetry Friday again and this is my 3rd straight week participating.  Before I share today's poem I'd like to thank everyone for their kind words about The time we're given experiment.  I just thought it would be interesting to start 2 poems with the same line, I had no idea what would come from it.

We've been doing some Spring cleaning around these parts and a few weeks ago my wife and daughter found one of my old college writing assignments. It was for a non-fiction creative writing class which I may put on the blog later.  On the back of one of the pages, I scribbled a poem.


I Can't Skip.

I can't skip.
Don't ask me to
I can't,
I won't.
I don't
Skip ...

I'd like to skip
It's fun,
It's free.
It's me,
It's who I want to be.

But I can't.
So, I won't,
And I don't.
Skip  ...

"Can't you skip?"
"No."
"Everybody can skip."
I can't.


This week's Poetry Friday is being hosted by Michelle Kogan.



Thursday, June 9, 2022

Death of a Brother: 14 lines after 13 years

 I am participating in Poetry Friday for the 2nd week in a row.  Last week I contributed this sonnet  and mentioned I had written a 2nd sonnet with the exact same first line

One of the many differences between this sonnet and last week's is that today's is an Italian sonnet and the first one was an Elizabethan sonnet.  Each one has 14 lines but the rhyme scheme varies.  Today's sonnet has the rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA CDE CDE.

Death of a Brother

14 lines after 13 years


The time we're given  is quite brief
For some, it's much too short
One April morn I got the report
I'd lost my brother Keith

Such news was so beyond belief
That I had no retort
Of snappy comebacks, I'd fallen short
So anguished by my grief

My brother died in a nursing home
At the age of thirty-eight
While he was watching M*A*S*H

13 years later as I write this poem
Though my grief is not as great
My heart still bears the gash

As I mentioned last week, in my opinion, this is the lesser of the two sonnets.  Maybe I feel that way because it's so personal.  

Buffy Silverman is hosting Poetry week, click here to see more.  

Friday, June 3, 2022

To Live Each Day

As part of my summer reading I've been reading a book about writing poetry.  I enjoy writing poetry and learning about different poetry forms.  This week I decided to write a an Elizabethan sonnet and a Petrarchan sonnet that both started with the same line.  

I am sharing the Elizabethan today as I think it is the better of two and will share the Petrarchan next week.

Both types of sonnets have 14 lines.  The rhyme scheme for the Elizabethan is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.  Karen is hosting Poetry Friday this week.  So I am linking it there as well.

To Live Each Day

                                                                      The time we're given is quite brief
                                                                      Our days are of finite amount
                                                                      Our object than should be in chief
                                                                      To live each day and make it count,

                                                                       Each person is a thing of beauty
                                                                       The Psalmist says wonderfully made
                                                                       I think it then should be our duty
                                                                       To live each day that work displayed

                                                                        Each day we contend with the urgent
                                                                        The important may be left behind
                                                                        We need to stay still and observant
                                                                        To live each day with peace of mind

                                                                        To live each day as we are able
                                                                        To live our lives - strong, good and stable. 

For more Poetry Friday click here.


A to Z 2023 Road Trip

#AtoZChallenge 2023 RoadTrip