The Art of Reappearing

 

Meco

Hello, my friends.

Some disappearing act, huh! 

 

I might have been gone an entire year if it weren't for National Poetry Month and a serious hankering for more well filling. 

 

 

Creating daily inspirational posts gave me so much pleasure last April, I decided to give it another go this year—well filling for well being. Even if I don't manage a post every day, there should be enough of them to make a difference in my world. Hopefully in yours, as well.

In lieu of an explanation for my absence, perhaps this excerpt from Naomi Shihab Nye's "The Art of Disappearing" will suffice?

If they say We should get together
say why?

It's not that you don't love them anymore.
You're trying to remember something
too important to forget.
Trees. The monastery bell at twilight.
Tell them you have a new project.
It will never be finished.

Read the poem in its entirety HERE, or watch this two and a half minute clip from Naomi Shihab Nye's conversation with Bill Moyers. She reads "The Art of Disappearing" at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrUOR5RkFKo

Despite my own "new project" that will never be finished, I have missed you all and am grateful for those who have reached out in various ways to say hello.

Let me also take this opportunity to express heartfelt thanks for two books that were published during my hiatus:

 

 

For Every Little Thing: Poems and Prayers to Celebrate the Day (Eerdmans, 2021) is an engaging collection for ages 4-10 that recently received an Honorable Mention for Children's Books of the Year from World Magazine. Arranged from waking up to falling asleep, this anthology about the day and its delights gathers classic selections, modern prayers, and new poems from multiple cultures and faiths. From Emily Dickinson to Amma and from Kenn Nesbitt to Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro, fifty-one voices encourage children to be present and thankful at all hours. I am thankful to June Cotner and Nancy Tupper Ling for including my poem "Be." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.10 Poetry Anthology: Celebrating 10 in 10 Different Ways is Bridget Magee's anthologist debut. It includes poems in 10 categories based on "TEN": TENtative, TENderness, TENacity, TEN More Minutes, TENsion, I Wouldn't Touch That With a TEN-Foot Pole, TEN Little Fingers/TEN Little Toes, Take TEN, TENth _____, and I TENd To. I'm smitTEN with this collection and delighted to have my poem, "Stray," included. Word has it Bridget has another anthology in the works if you care to submit two truths and a fib.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, in honor of World Poetry Day, I'm tickled to be included on Twinkl's 2022 list of Top 10+ Children's Poetry Bloggers. Many thanks to Saemi Jung for the lovely write up!

 

 

Looking forward to sharing another National Poetry Month together!

Today's Poetry Friday roundup is being hosted by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm.

Filling the Well (National Poetry Month)

 

Sid Litke

 

Hello, Friends!

I hope you've been well. I've been keeping busy with a little of this and a little of that—staying out of trouble for the most part. While I haven't been very good about participating in Poetry Friday lately, I have been watching the days draw closer and closer to National Poetry Month. The thought of not participating this year was too sad to contemplate, so I put on my thinking cap and came up with a project that I think will be both fun and manageable. 

 

Like many others during this pandemic, I've been revisiting The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I sort of gave it a mention in my last blog post, but today I'd like to be more direct and introduce a concept from the book Julia Cameron describes as filling the well—

In order to create, we draw from our inner well. This inner well, an artistic reservoir, is ideally like a well-stocked trout pond. We've got big fish, little fish, fat fish, skinny fish.... As artists, we must realize that we have to maintain this artistic ecosystem....we must learn to be self-nourishing. We must become alert enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them—to restock the trout pond, so to speak.

I've borrowed that idea for my National Poetry Month project. Instead of celebrating poetry, we'll be filling the well and celebrating the genesis of poetry—the inspiration, the artistic ecosystem, the... trout. Or possibly goldfish.

 

ali mosavi sam px

 

Clownfish, perhaps?

 

Pilar Palmer

Oh, you get the idea.

Yes, there will be some poetry, but mostly I'll be playing with the stuff that inspires poetry—

The language of art is image, symbol. It is a wordless language even when our very art is to chase it with words. The artist's language is a sensual one, a language of felt experience....In filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun.

                    – Julia Cameron

I will be playing with quotations—pairing them with art, photography, poems, music, dance... anything that strikes my fancy and gives the words new life. I'm calling them inspirational musings. For those who are familiar with Today's Little Ditty, you will recognize these posts as similar to my Two Line Tuesday and Monday Musing series, with a touch of Poetry in Action to spice things up. The objective is to offer new perspective to the words, enhance our experience of them, and maybe even inspire some poems of our own.

 

I hope you will enjoy diving into the well with me.

Illusion-X

 

aquarium

 

Goldfish

Flash

Gold and silver scales;

They flick and slip away

Under green weed—

But round brown snails

Stick 

To the glass

And stay.

 

from all the small poems and fourteen more, by Valerie Worth

 

You'll find this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Soul Blossom Living, where Susan Bruck is previewing many other ways to participate in National Poetry Month.
 

 

Raising the White Flag

 

"Surrender" by Jess

 

Hello friends.

I wasn't expecting to post this week, but it's been quite a momentous one, hasn't it? 

 

When my daughter was home for the holidays, she asked if I had chosen a One Little Word for this year. Until she mentioned it, I hadn't given any thought at all to a guiding word for 2021. I've hardly been in that frame of mind. As it was, I completely lost track of my 2020 word until Mary Lee Hahn indirectly reminded me of it with this post around the same time. Funny how that happens. I think my muse, or as Julia Cameron calls it, my inner child, might have something to do with that little coincidence.

 

“The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.” 

          – Julia Cameron

 

Even though I haven't been writing lately, I have been trying to get back in touch with that inner child (the one that loves creative play and happy accidents) in other ways. For me, the most difficult phase of embarking on a new project are the weeks when I'm walking around in creative limbo. When the ideas have not yet formed in a concrete way and I'm flailing around for something I'm not at all sure is even there. It's uncomfortable at best, this amorphous cloud of confusion. 

 

"Confusion" by Erik

 

You'd think that if I'm familiar enough to recognize and talk about it, I should be able to trust that it's just part of my creative process, and yet, time and time again, I cower under the dread that I may never again be able to connect with my muse.

Over the last several months I have discovered that life can be confounding in a similar way. Last year I came to a crossroads, and while I'm okay with the direction my life is taking, I am confused by the "new normal." I feel stuck creatively, overwhelmed by my to-do list, and anxious about the not-knowing. Is this, in fact, my new destination or am I still in transition—on my way to some place I've never been before? 

 

Yes, I'm a bit of a control freak. There's no doubt about that. I'm also impatient—especially with myself. But I'm also resilient. I'm determined and I'm a problem-solver. So what if, instead of seeing the future as something to be fearful of, I looked to it with anticipation. Amanda Gorman in her inaugural poem spoke of a nation—our nation—"that isn't broken, but simply unfinished." I take that to heart in my own life as well. My creative process is not broken—I am not broken—I am evolving.

 

Always say "yes" to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to something that already is? What could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say "yes" to life—and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.
                                – Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

 

Dan Simpson

 

 

 

 

What if I surrender to the changes in my life and simply trust the process?

 

 

From the Tao Te Ching (chapter 13):

 

     Surrender yourself humbly; then you can be trusted to care for all things.
     Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things. 

                       – Lao Tzu

 

Surrender is my One Little Word for 2021. Not in the sense of giving up, giving in, or losing hope, but in the sense of yielding to the flow of the universe and heeding the whisperings of my inner child. She's never let me down before. 

 

 

"Sweet Surrender" by Sarah McLachlan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2JWJYLNUq4

Wishing you a perfect word to guide you through the next year of your life's journey.

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is hosted by author Laura Shovan.

 

Spoken Word Goes Prime Time

 

 

On my Poetry Friday rounds last week, I didn't notice that anyone mentioned Brandon Leake. If the name's not ringing a bell, let me fill you in. Brandon recently won this year's million dollar prize on America's Got Talent, so let's just say he is our newly-crowned (unofficial) spoken word poetry ambassador. 

The fact that I'm even aware of this is a bit of a mystery. I'm not a big TV watcher. We don't have cable, and for most of our time in Florida we didn't get NBC because that channel never tuned in for us. When suddenly (after 12 years) it did, I felt compelled to explore what was on offer. I had never seen America's Got Talent before, and though it's not really my cup of tea, I happened to see spoken word poet Brandon Leake's audition. I was gobsmacked. Not by his performance so much as the fact that spoken word had made it to the national main stage. 

 

Is Brandon Leake the best spoken word poet I've ever seen? No. There's no question he has talent, but he isn't what I would consider top tier. Not that I'm an expert, mind you, but I am more familiar with the art form than the AGT judges—Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara, and Simon Cowell. They were blown away. Never saw anything like it. Howie Mandel even gave Brandon a golden buzzer, which, if you're not familiar with the show, is a gold-confetti-falling-from-the-ceiling big deal. Long story short, I was hooked. I needed to see how far he would go. And wouldn't you know, he went all the way to last week's final and then won the whole dang thing! Spoken word poetry has been around for decades, but thanks to Brandon Leake, America just got the memo.

The following video is a compilation of all of Brandon Leake's performances on America's Got Talent. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaPXcg7lLfg

 

My favorite piece is the second one (starting at 2 minutes in). It's masterful how Brandon invites the audience into his life experience through humor, love, and something as relatable as a silly pet name—his mama calls him Pookie. Once we are comfortable, we are introduced to his mother's fears. Through her eyes we see the fears of black mothers everywhere. Brandon imagines himself in the shoes of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake and countless others destined to become "America's next most popular hashtag," and before we know what hit us, our eyes have been opened.   

Another spoken word poet I wanted to share with you came to my attention last March. Before the Covid-19 lockdown, I attended a spoken word event for young people in my own community called ARTSPEAKS: Courageous Young Voices.

 

ARTSPEAKS: Courageous Young Voices, Gainesville, Florida, March 9, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There, I was introduced to a talented guest poet by the name of Grim Jackson. Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, Grim is a Youth Grand Slam Champion who has been speaking his mind and spreading his passion for spoken word poetry since 2013. He offers his own perspective on the black experience in this powerful performance of "No More Heroes."

 

In the somewhat more restrained (though no less effective) video below, he was invited to open Day 1 of the 2017 National Education Association's Representative Assembly in Boston. I have a feeling that the teachers among you will especially appreciate what he has to say. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb1iDGnQjpE

And while we're on the subject of teaching, the last performance I want to share with you is "If I should have a daughter" by Sarah Kay. I've mentioned this video before, but it's worth revisiting. Sarah's piece opens a TED Talk from 2011 where she defines spoken word poetry, talks about the role it has played in her own life, and describes its profound benefits as as a teaching tool, especially for teenagers. If you can spare 18 minutes and haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you watch the whole thing. You will be rewarded at the end with a second performance called "Hiroshima."

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snNB1yS3IE

 

 

If you'd like to explore more, Louder than a Bomb is a terrific documentary from 2010 about four high-school teams from Chicago who compete in the world's largest youth poetry slam. For more recent videos, Button Poetry on YouTube is a wonderful place to peruse many more performances at your leisure. You can also visit the Button Poetry website.

Do you have a favorite spoken word poet or video? If so, please share in the comments!

 

 

Join Tabatha Yeatts for this week's Poetry Friday roundup at The Opposite of Indifference. She's got a special guest post by Carole Boston Weatherford today featuring Beauty Mark, a new verse novel about Marilyn Monroe. (Read Carole Boston Weatherford's Spotlight ON interview at Today's Little Ditty HERE.)

 

While the Ditty of the Month Club is on an extended hiatus, this is a great time to peruse the TLD archives. You'll find an alphabetical listing of spotlight interviews HERE and links to all 50 of our ditty challenges HERE. You'll also find The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2014-2015, 2016, and 2017-2018) available in paperback and ebook versions on Amazon.com.
 

 

 

Joy in the Stepping

 

"Wonderous" by SoCal Photo Design

 

Hello, Friends!

Long time, no see, right? 

 

Although it's only been about three months since I last participated in Poetry Friday, it feels like much longer. The world moves so fast these days, lurching from crisis to crisis.

 

My personal life has been eventful as well. With new priorities, I don't have the stamina to dive back into the Ditty of the Month Club. I hope you understand. But that doesn't mean I want to disappear altogether! After taking some time to reassess, I've decided that if blogging is going to have a place in my life, I need to go back to basics—focus on the aspects of Today's Little Ditty that bring me the most joy with the least amount of effort. Joyful baby steps.

"Rainy Day" by Adam Baker

 

For those of you who follow TLD by email, you probably noticed two posts earlier this week—a Monday Musing quote inspired by World Peace Day and a Two Line Tuesday quote by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Pairing quotes and images has always been a simple pleasure, so I plan to do more of that. As for Poetry Fridays, it's doubtful that I will post every week. When I do, it will be to share poems that speak to me on a personal level. These days it's more important than ever to give poetry a voice in my life. Creativity grounds me, yet it's one of the first outlets that I neglect when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Makes no sense, I know.

 

So over the coming weeks and months, at least until the end of the year, I expect Today's Little Ditty is going to look more like a reflective journal than a community playground. I won't lie. It's been a struggle to accept these changes, even if they are temporary. I'm afraid that I might be letting some of you down. But apparently this is what I need right now, and I can thank Ruth Bader Ginsburg and this poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer for motivating me to take the first step.

 

IN THE STEPS OF RBG

Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.


     —Ruth Bader Ginsburg

 

So let me take one step right now,
one step toward respect.
And give me strength to take another
toward clarity. And though
my feet might feel like stones, let
me take another step toward justice.

          Read the rest of the poem HERE

 

 

Thanks to Jone Rush MacCulloch for hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup.

Missing your monthly ditty challenge? This is a great time to peruse the TLD archives. You'll find an alphabetical listing of spotlight interviews HERE and links to all 50 of our ditty challenges HERE. You'll also find The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2014-2015, 2016, and 2017-2018) available in paperback and ebook versions on Amazon.com.

In Memoriam: Carrie Lee Clickard

Steve Corey

I have some sad news to share. My close friend Carrie Clickard passed away last Wednesday, June 10, 2020.

CARRIE L. CLICKARD
October 10, 1961 - June 10, 2020

As difficult as this post is for me to write, I know many of you came to know Carrie through this blog and would like to send your love and prayers to her family.

Earlier this year, Carrie posted a link to "Author's Prayer" on Facebook—"I'm developing a fan girl crush on Ilya Kaminsky," she said.

AUTHOR'S PRAYER

If I speak for the dead, I must leave
this animal of my body,

I must write the same poem over and over,
for an empty page is the white flag of their surrender.

                    Continued below . . .

At the time, I didn't know what to make of it. Carrie would be the first to tell you that she was generally not inclined to read (or write) "serious" poetry. A poem about a zombie-mummy pas de deux, a martian lullaby, or an android dog? You bet! Rhyming picture books about mammoths, pirates, magic, and dumplings? Of course!

Two and a half years of battling stage 4 breast cancer can have a profound impact on anyone's preferences, but this one little poem on Facebook threw me for a loop. On the surface, the poem seemed to be about death (her death?) and I just couldn't go there. Because I was in denial, I chose not to respond to her post at all—me, her "serious poetry" friend—not a "love," not a "wow," not even a "like".

Now that she's gone, I regret that decision. I owed it to her to take a closer look at these words that touched her so profoundly. What I discovered is that this complex and thought-provoking poem is not really about death at all. It's about the power of language and storytelling, and what it means to be an author—a subject she knew and lived well.

If I speak for them, I must walk on the edge
of myself, I must live as a blind man

who runs through rooms without
touching the furniture.

                    Continued below . . .

Living life as an author means sacrificing your own ego to let your subject speak through you, even if that subject is dark and forbidding. Carrie was a true storyteller. She was grateful for the gift and respectful of the responsibility. All she really wanted to do (besides play with her dog) is write her stories. It wasn't a choice for her. She was haunted by these stories until they were released by the act of writing them down. Besides which, writing was the only way that she, their author, could find out how they ended!

Carrie was not giving up the fight. Not at all. By sharing this poem she was affirming that this was her journey. To experience the pain for what it was—it was something she needed to do.

Yes, I live. I can cross the streets asking “What year is it?”
I can dance in my sleep and laugh

in front of the mirror.
Even sleep is a prayer, Lord . . .

                    Read the rest HERE.

After Carrie passed, her mother told me, "she just didn't look at the future in a negative way. When she got the results of the last scans, she told them she was not ready to throw in the towel. My daughter was never a quitter." Yes. That's the Carrie I knew and loved as well.

The cancer wreaked havoc on her body, but she also never lost touch with her sense of humor. About a month ago, she sent me a photo of the back of her head with one small patch of hair growing back. The subject of that email was "my new mullet." I'm going to miss that sense of humor. It's in every single one of her posts here on Today's Little Ditty. Her determination, drive, and knowledge of publishing markets was remarkable, as was her ability to offer astute career advice and constant encouragement in terms of my own writing. When I get my first book published I know she will be smiling and whispering in my ear, "I told you you'd be next."

Thank you, Carrie. I'll miss you.

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

Today's Little Ditty is on a summer hiatus. While I'm gone, please feel free to peruse the TLD archives. You'll find plenty to keep you busy writing all summer long. You'll find an alphabetical listing of spotlight interviews HERE and links to all 50 (!) of our ditty challenges HERE. You'll also find The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2014-2015, 2016, and 2017-2018) available in paperback and ebook versions on Amazon.com.

Dancing to the Music of the Madness

geralt

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.
          – Viola Davis


My baby just graduated from high school.

Miranda's first and last days of school.

As she prepares to step out into the world, I've been thinking a lot about my own momentous transition into pre-adulthood. What advice can I give her, especially given the world she is entering into—a world that I hardly even recognize anymore?

The class of 2020 is going to need more flexibility, more resiliency, and more self-confidence than I ever had at that age. And these are just a few of the characteristics necessary to pull this generation through. I do believe they have what it takes, though—Miranda and her older brother certainly do. I'm counting on them and their peers to help the rest of us find our way.

In honor of her graduation, I thought about sharing this poem by Langston Hughes.

DREAMS

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

                    Read the rest here.

Dreams are vital, as is holding tight to a vision of the future we want for ourselves. But what sticks with me are the images of the "broken-winged bird" and the "barren field frozen with snow." This poem is more of a warning than a celebration, no? I sense that Miranda is tired of me protecting her. She wants to be set free. I need to trust that her wings are strong.

Tim Herrick

So what about this poem by Jen Bryant?

AND LATER . . .

I take my kaleidoscope off the shelf,
look through the little hole at the end
of the cardboard tube;

I turn       and turn       and turn       and turn,

                    Read the rest here.

I love that this poem speaks to who Miranda is as an artist. That vital creative force that seems like serendipity, but is so much more. Without a doubt, Miranda's ability to tap into those "strange and beautiful patterns" will take her far.

Lance Shields

And yet, beyond the message to trust herself and be open to whatever comes (which is an important one), it still doesn't feel like it encompasses everything I want to say.

There was a plaque that hung in my 1970's bedroom. I'm not sure what happened to it, but I read it so often as a child, it became an affirmation of sorts that's stayed with me over the decades. I was lucky enough to find an image online:

Yes. This is the advice I'd like Miranda to take to heart. In fact, I probably had this plaque in mind back in September 2017 when I wrote "A Mother's Advice" for Carol Boston Weatherford's abecedarian challenge. It seems fitting to revisit it on this occasion:

A MOTHER'S ADVICE

Along the way…

     Be yourself.

     Collect wonder.

     Do good deeds
     Every day.

     Find a reason to be
     Generous—

     Help when you are able.

In life…

     Joy, Kindness, and Love
     Matter most.

     Needing Others
     Pulls us together.

     Questions
     Require listening,

     Speaking requires
     Thought, and

     Understanding, not Violence,
     Weathers the storms.

eXplore your horizons—         
     Your time has come.

                        Zig,
            zag,
                                    and zoom….

© 2017 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.

I also wanted to find a commencement speech that would speak to Miranda—words of advice by a strong woman, like herself, with a creative sensibility. I spent a good long time searching, but eventually came up with just the right one—Viola Davis speaking to the 2012 graduating class of Providence College. (Her speech begins about three minutes in.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtadJUGBlbU

She uses an interesting metaphor, comparing life to a pivotal scene from The Exorcist. Surprisingly, it not only works, it's timely—some of the demons she mentions are ones we, as a society, are facing today more than ever. More important, however, is her overriding message to find and stay true to your authentic self no matter what life throws your way. She closes with Topsy Washington's party monologue from George C. Wolfe's The Colored Museum, and these defiant lines:

... whereas I used to jump into a rage anytime anybody tried to deny who I was, now all I got to do is give attitude, quicker than light, and I’m dancing to the music of the madness in me. And here I was, all this time I been thinking we gave up our drums. But, naw, we still got ‘em. I know I got mine. They’re here, in my speech, my walk, my hair, my God, my style, my smile, and my eyes. And everything I need to get over in this world, is inside here, connecting me to everybody and everything that’s ever been. 

So, hunny, don’t waste your time trying to label or define me. ... ‘cause I’m not what I was ten years ago or ten minutes ago. I’m all of that and then some.

Congratulations, Miranda, and keep dancing to the music of the madness in you. We're so proud.

8-year-old Miranda in front of the Carina Nebula (Kennedy Space Center)

Truth be told, I wish I felt more defiant these days. It's not that I'm complicit or apathetic, just tired. Exhausted really. Which means it's time for me to take a break for a while and tend to my home fires.

While I'm gone, please feel free to peruse the TLD archives. You'll find plenty to keep you busy writing all summer long. You'll find an alphabetical listing of spotlight interviews HERE and links to all 50 (!) of our ditty challenges HERE. You'll also find The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2014-2015, 2016, and 2017-2018) available in paperback and ebook versions on Amazon.com.

Stay safe and well, my friends. I'll see you in the fall.

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is hosted by Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche. Inspired by Kindness, she shares an inspiring farewell letter poem to her students.

DMC: My #PoemsofPresence Diary

One of the silver linings of quarantine life has been the community spirit of reading and writing #PoemsofPresence together. Thanks to Margaret Simon's DMC challenge, keeping up with these "mindful poems about the present moment" on the padlet and on Twitter has not only kept me busy, it's helped to make me feel less isolated. My own focus has been on writing haiku because it makes the daily habit seem less daunting. Not that I haven't missed a few days anyway... but if you can't cut yourself some slack during a global pandemic, when can you??? I'll continue adding to my #PoemsofPresence diary over the coming week if you'd like to stop by again when the month is over.

M. H. Barnes

May 2

no presents
just presence
quarantine birthday


               May 3

               morning walk
               I count my steps
               to the next patch of shade


May 4

sorting my thoughts
into boxes
midday sudoku

Tom Lee

     May 5

     morning news
     a lively debate
     of birdsong

Sarah Laval

May 6

quarantine life
eyeing the grass
get its hair cut


May 7

afternoon tea
I welcome the sun
like an old friend

Richard Hurd

        
     May 9

     rush hour
     I mistake a cardinal
     for a stop sign

           
     May 10

     avoiding the sidewalk cracks
     six feet apart
     mother's day




  

 

Steve Schroeder

May 11

long afternoon
postponing my fresh start
one more day

May 12

florida spring
the shadow of the ceiling fan
lengthens

Margaret Simon

 
 
     May 14

     no more
     or less that she can handle
     open window

Rene Rivers

May 17

hawk king
the white pickets stand
at attention


May 19

a poem stuck
to the roof of my mouth
morning breath

M. H. Barnes

     May 20

     day's end
     my mask and armor
     laid to rest


                         May 21

                         day 59
                         the moss holds on
                         by a thread

yoppy

May 23

anthill
the lump in my throat
I can't swallow


May 24

a crowd of clover
congregates
sunday mass

ihave3kids

          May 25

          home workout

          coaxing my muscles

          out of lockdown

          May 26

          the scenic route

          an empty nest

          around the next bend

         

M. H. Barnes

May 28

high school graduation

doomsday

takes a back seat

May 29

clouds

exploded into shrapnel

days like these

Tomáš Píšek, "The end will bring beginning"

               May 30

               afternoon nap

               resting my mind

               and expectations

                         May 31

                         saying goodbye

                         in search of an ending that isn't

                         the end

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

If you missed last week's Classroom Connections interview with Laura Purdie Salas, you'll find it HERE. Random.org has determined that the winner of a copy of Secrets of the Loon, courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society Press, is...

JAMA RATTIGAN

Congratulations, Jama!

I wish we could extend our #PoemsofPresence challenge into June to feature more daily ditties—there are so many wonderful poems on the padlet, I can't possible share them all! But this is it, folks, only one week left to contribute your mindful poem about the present moment. (Next week we celebrate.) Featured ditties this week were by Sarah Grace Tuttle, Breighlynn, Mary Lee Hahn, and Michelle Kogan.

Carol Varsalona is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Beyond LiteracyLink. She's also sharing a sneak peek of her beautiful Nature Nurtures 2020 Gallery that I think you'll enjoy.