DMC: "refuge & solace" by Heidi Mordhorst

#haikuforhealing 11.26.16

refuge & solace:
today I don't turn on
the news

#haikuforhealing 11.27.16

not by hiding
from the world but by living
widely in it
 
© 2016 Heidi Mordhorst. All rights reserved.

Learn more about #haikuforhealing at Mary Lee Hahn's Poetrepository.

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

You have until the end of the day to join in! Post your poem on our November 2016 padlet and I will add it to the wrap-up celebration HERE. 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: "Winter Wonder" by Janie Lazo

WINTER WONDER

Swirling, falling bits of heaven
Floating down—whirling round
Gently land on snowy ground
Lying there I feel I'm flying
Through the snow—up I go
Through the whirling, swirling show
Winter's hush is all around me
Silence loud—Winter's shroud
Whispers peace she has endowed
In this perfect world of wonder
Heaven's show—earth aglow
making angels in the snow

© 2016 Janie Lazo. All rights reserved.


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

You have until tomorrow, November 30th, to join in! Post your poem on our November 2016 padlet and I will add it to the wrap-up celebration HERE. 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: "After School" by Buffy Silverman

AFTER SCHOOL

I perch in the front-yard maple,
back wedged against
solid trunk, legs
dangle.

A curtain of green colors my view.
Sure-footed ants parade
on invisible skyways.
Squirrels bound
from branch
to branch,
leaping from tree’s
skinny fingers,
without fear to hold them back.

I sit in my tree for
minutes or hours
imagining a day of leaping
and landing,
scolding and chattering,
owning the treetop.

© 2016 Buffy Silverman. All rights reserved.


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

You have until this Wednesday, November 30th, to join in! Post your poem on our November 2016 padlet and I will add it to the wrap-up celebration HERE. 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.

November DMC Wrap-Up + Giveaway

"Into the Light" by Tim Haynes

Each positive thought is your refuge and your sanctuary, where in that thoughtful moment, you are safe.         

                           – Bryant McGill


At the beginning of this month, Ann Rider challenged us to write poems about places of refuge and solace. I didn't realize at the time how useful the challenge would be to me personally. Hostility and negativity were seriously getting me down, and I wondered if this would be the first time I had nothing to contribute.

"Transient Insignificance (2)" by Tim Haynes

But reading all of your poems was therapeutic, like a daily dose of fresh air.  Thank you for pulling me through.

Rather than grouping these poems into categories, I tried to present them in a sequence that flowed comfortably from beginning to end. I hope it transports you to a tranquil state of mind.

"The Zig-Zag" by Tim Haynes

Scroll through the poems below, or for best viewing, CLICK HERE.

Would you like to write a poem about a place of refuge and solace?

Post it on our November 2016 padlet by Wednesday, November 30th, and I will add it to the wrap-up presentation.

Participants in this month's challenge will automatically be entered to win a copy of Before Morning by Joyce Sidman with illustrations by Beth Krommes (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016). One entry per participant, not per poem.

Alternatively, you may enter the giveaway by commenting below. Comments must also be received no later than Wednesday, November 30th. If you contribute a poem and comment below, you will receive two entries in total.

The winner will be determined by Random.org and announced next Friday, December 2nd.

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Many thanks to everyone who came by last week to help me celebrate the launch of THE BEST OF TODAY'S LITTLE DITTY, 2014-2015! I was tickled and humbled by so many expressions of support and congratulations.

I must have captured this screen at just the right moment to have it say #1 New Release in Poetry Anthologies. Don't believe me? Click the image to enlarge!

While I do think that designation may be slightly misleading, this amazing community will always be at the top of my best things list. 😍

Carol is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Carol's Corner.

DMC: "At Maybury" by Rebekah Hoeft

AT MAYBURY

We walk, we four, on earthen paths
made silent with damp leaves
that blanket all the space below
and glow above—our lamp. 
Unearthly light is our delight
and earthy scents, a balm.
The woods, they rest, and we—for now—
at peace, know Heaven's calm.

© 2016 Rebekah Hoeft. All rights reserved.



Wishing you calm, love, peace, and kindness, today and every day. Happy Thanksgiving!
                                                                        – Michelle


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 TOMORROW 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: "Montauk" by B.J. Lee

MONTAUK
(a pastiche of Yeat’s “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”)

I will arise and go now and drive down to Montauk,
and spread a favorite blanket there, and lie in the summer sun,
and later rise and watch the gulls or take a seaside walk
that ends with a sunset run.

And I shall climb the bluffs there, the bluffs of reddish clay,
spotting yellow sundrops that adorn the hither hills,
then back down to the ocean, where the soft-shells make their way
in foaming wavelet’s ebbing rills.

I will arise and go now, for I love to hear the sound
of the boisterous breakers crashing like thunder on the beach
while I stand on the sand and listen as they crest, then break, then pound,
then rush to my feet just out of reach.

© 2016 B.J. Lee. 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 this 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: "Umbrella" by Elizabeth Steinglass

UMBRELLA

Rain comes.
(It always does.)
You worry your plans
are ruined
like a soggy
piece of paper.

Raise me
over your head.
I will be your shelter
as you go on.
I will turn the rain
into song.

© 2016 Elizabeth Steinglass. 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 this 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.