Happy Poetry Friday! Catherine at Reading to the Core has the roundup this week with thoughts on unanswered questions. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness.
It’s hard to believe it’s December already! I was thinking the other day about the holiday season and how every year it seems to start earlier with one blending seamlessly into the next. It’s not uncommon to see the goblins and ghosts of Halloween sharing shelf space with turkeys, and then even before the frost is on the pumpkin, snowflakes and Santas take over. Time has a way of speeding up as we get older, quite the opposite of when we were kids. So that’s what came to mind for me this Poetry Friday.
Last week I was on a personal retreat at the Highlights Foundation. It was wonderful sharing ideas with friends and taking the time to write and refresh in such a beautiful place. I always look forward to my Highlights visits where I am nurtured as a writer. I went with no expectations of what I would accomplish, although I did have a list of possible ptojects I could work on.
To my surprise I started revisions on a manuscript I haven’t looked at in several years, figured out a structure I might try for another manuscript, read poetry, wrote poetry, and even did a little sketching. And, thanks to Janet Wong, Sylvia Vardell, and many Poetry Friday friends (Patricia and Marcie I’m looking at you!) I also fooled around with Canva.
Outside the Barn at Highlights is a word garden. I took a few pictures, then let this one inspire a haiku.
I hope everyone enjoys a Thanksgiving full of food, family, and fun. Jama has the round up today, so be sure to head over there for some poetry goodness.
Lately I’ve been watching our dear puppy, Cyrus (who is not so much a puppy anymore), move gracefully into old age. Once a rambunctious, exuberant lover of life, he has calmed down considerably now that he is almost ten. I watch him sometimes in the morning, pausing at the top of the stairs before he cautiously finds his way. Is he waiting for his eyes to focus, for a hand to guide him, or maybe for assurance from the voice inside his heart? There was a time when he sailed down those steps, barely touching one, let alone all nine.
My poem was inspired by this poem:
“Something Told the Wild Geese” by Rachel Field.
Something told the wild geese It was time to go. Though the fields lay golden Something whispered,—‘Snow.’ Leaves were green and stirring, Berries, luster-glossed, But beneath warm feathers Something cautioned,—‘Frost.’
Buffy has the round up today here. Be sure to stop by for lots of poetry goodness. I’m at the Highlights Foundation for a writing retreat with my critique group members and a few other friends this weekend. Tonight the moon is shining, the stars are out, and inspiration is in the air. I can’t wait!
A few years ago I started a practice of recording observations that I call “Snippets.” It was a response to Mary Oliver’s suggestion to “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” I recently realized that some of my recent observations were more like diary entries than the musings or thoughts of a writer. I was inspired by Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems (Janeczko/Sweet) and Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature (Davies/Hearld) to not only be more consistent with this practice, but also to do a better job of observing through the eyes of a poet. This week I spent some time paying attention and trying to discover what it was that astonished me. Here are a few examples:
Autumn Snapshots
Lunch squash and apple soup chases away the quick chill— October delight
Hornet’s Nest papery swirls once hidden behind lush leaves— lanterns in the bare trees.
Intruders the deer, content in her reverie, raised her head as we drove by.
I hope your weekend is full of beautiful fall snapshots. Please take some time to head over to the Poetry Friday Roundup at Heidi’s Blog My Juicy Little Universe for a special musical treat and lots of poetry fun.
Bridget at wee words for wee ones has the round up today. This month she’s celebrating the first anniversary of her 10.10 Poetry Anthology: Celebrating 10 in 10 Different Ways. So head on over to meet poet Angela deGroot, find links to all the other poets Bridget celebrated so far this month, and find the links for today’s Poetry Friday offerings.
Do you struggle with occasional sleepless nights? I periodically go through periods of sleeplessness, never quite sure what is causing it. Sometimes it’s my dreams, upcoming events, and often a full moon. This week it was words. I tried to capture it all in today’s poem.
Insomnia
Some nights words swirl, fast and furious. I write them down on something more permanent than my memory, before losing them forever.
Some nights dreams twirl, cozy and comforting. I never want them to stop, always want to remember.
Some nights thoughts hurl, worrisome and wild. I wake hoping to forget.
Some nights light curls, peaceful and luminous through my window. And I wonder, just wonder. Draft, 2022RoseCappelli
Imagine the Possibilities 