Filling the Well: Donna Tartt and Micah

 

"Laughing Buddha" by Khaled Monsoor

 

I had the epiphany that laughter was light, 

and light was laughter, and that this 

was the secret of the universe.

 

– Donna Tartt, from The Goldfinch

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP4abiHdQpc

 

 

 

April 1: Michelle H. Barnes and Cosmo Sheldrake

April 2: Hans Christian Andersen

April 3: Guy Finley, Anneke van Giersbergen and Árstíðir 

April 4: Joseph Campbell and Fabien Weibel

April 5: Salvador Dalí and Pilobolus

April 6: Jacob Nordby and Talking Animals

April 7: Aileen Fisher, XTC, and Takarazuka Ballet

April 8: Amit Ray and Yehuda Amichai

April 9: Frances Hodgson Burnett

April 10: Frank Lloyd Wright, Stéphane Grappelli, and Django Reinhardt

April 11: John Burroughs and Stunts Amazing 

April 12: Beverly Cleary

April 13: Lee Bennett Hopkins and Judy Collins

April 14: X. J. Kennedy, Godfrey Reggio, Philip Glass, and Ron Fricke

April 15: Lucille Clifton, Anthony Howe, and Akeboshi

 

 

DMC: "New Life" by Keri Collins Lewis

NEW LIFE

Tiny head
rests on my shoulder,
hand on my neck
curled in sleep,
delicate breaths
fill me with peace. 

© 2020 Keri Collins Lewis. All rights reserved.

TLD reader Margaret Simon has challenged us to write a mindful poem about the present moment. Click HERE for more details and to add your poem to the padlet. While some poems will be shared as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, May 29th.

DMC: "Baby's Breath" by Fran Haley

BABY'S BREATH

He wakes—that sound.
That rasp.—Is it?
It is.
He traces it to the crib.
The baby. Just three months old.
Not breathing right.
Hand to her little face—no fever.
She stirs under his touch, still sleeping.
Breath ragged, rattling.
He is young.
It is his first child.
He goes back to bed.
But
he carries his baby with him.
Lies awake all night
with her beside him
making sure
she still breathes.
 
-She does.
Long after he does not.

Thank you
for all the nights
you watched over me
when asthma attacked,
Daddy.

© 2020 Fran Haley. All rights reserved.


Our first of three challenges from My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth by Patrice Vecchione (Seven Stories Press, 2020) is to write a poem about the place empathy has your life. Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our April 2020 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, April 24th, and one lucky participant will win a copy of My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice, courtesy of the publisher.

DMC: "Object Permanence" by Bridget Magee

OBJECT PERMANENCE

mommy's there
in front of me
then disappears
where she be?

PEEK-A-BOO!
mommy's back
big bright smile
bubbly laugh

© 2020 Bridget Magee. All rights reserved.

TLD reader Tabatha Yeatts has challenged us to write a poem about a game (any kind). Click HERE for more details and to add your poem to the padlet. While some poems will be shared as daily ditties this month, all contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, March 27th.

DMC: "The Sleep Tight Rocking Chair" by Lisa Albert

THE SLEEP TIGHT ROCKING CHAIR

The nightlight glows
Sleepy eyes twinkle
To a rhythmic soothing hum

Steady motion
Back and forth
Little fingers squeeze big thumb

Eyelashes flutter
And give in to the night
A sweet sigh fills the air

A tiny heart dreams
And beats in soft slumber
In the sleep tight rocking chair

© 2016 Lisa Albert. All rights reserved.

Ann Rider has challenged us to write poems about places of refuge and solace this month. Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our November 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, November 25th, and one lucky participant will win a copy of BEFORE MORNING by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes, courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.

DMC: "Baby Hats" by Mindy Gars Dolandis

BABY HATS

Mom is four score and seven years worn

Seen her children’s children’s children born

Her body is agile, her eyes eagle sharp

She sits and knits daily, small gifts from the heart

Tiny, brimmed pink and blue hats to be worn

By a bevy of babies who’ve just been born

Tick..tick, click..click

Second hand moves, arthritic hands stitch

Once a month she drops off her donations

Baby hats for the next generation

© 2016 Mindy Gars Dolandis. All rights reserved.

Kenn Nesbitt has challenged us to write poems for our mothers this month. Click HERE for more details.

Post your poem on our October 2016 padlet. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, October 28th, and one lucky participant will win an autographed copy of Kenn's delightful new anthology, forthcoming from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on November 1, 2016:

Two Line Tuesday: Ogden Nash

Children aren't happy with nothing to ignore,
And that's what parents were created for.

- Ogden Nash

Mutual Admiration

Maternal Admiration (1869), PD-1923

In keeping with last week's celebration of babies, today's little ditty explores the bond between our helplessly loveable miracle-child and his/her mother.  (Can you see where I'm headed later in the week?)

I was delighted to find this gorgeous work by French painter, William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905), Maternal Admiration.  It so perfectly illustrates an ethereal and unbreakable bond between mother and child.

Here's my take on that special bond, from the baby's point of view:

          Sing to me softly a sweet lullaby

          Comfort and hold me whenever I cry

          Love me and love me and love me some more

          For you are my mommy, the one I adore. 

  

                                                             © 2005 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.

 

Tuesday's Miracle

"A rest in rotten row" 

1892 watercolour by Rose Maynard Barton (1856 - 1929), PD -1923

Springtime and babies—the two get along famously.  So in honor of the former, today's little ditty describes the latter.  Works for me. 

Tuesday’s Miracle

Five little fingers clutched around one

A smile that’s brighter than midday sun

A dear little face with sparkling eyes

A miracle dressed in a baby’s disguise

© 2005 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes.

For more poetic delights, don't forget to visit Elizabeth Steinglass with today's Poetry Friday round-up.