Magical Medicine for My Soul

 

Dear Mother Nature,

I just wanted to express 

my thanks to you 

for the constant care you wrap around me.

Your fresh air cleanses my body

as I release stress and anxiety into your winds.

Your beautiful blooming flowers

color my world diminishing the gray gloom of my mind.

That absolutely glorious sun

energizes me with its life-giving powers.

Your flowing waters create cascading melodies

washing calm into my being.

Thank you for offering all of yourself to me so unselfishly.

Being in your presence

is magical medicine for  my soul.

I certainly don't say it enough- 

so THANK YOU.

With great love,

Your child- Cathy

I was reminded this weekend about the power of nature. Spending time in the sun amongst beautiful flowers with a warm fresh breeze tickling my face, just washed away the tenseness of the past week. My whole spirit feels so different than it did a day or two ago. I have always known that being outdoors is my comfort place. So I am expressing my gratitude to Mother Nature for all that she provides for me. 

Poetry Form: Epistolary Poem -a poem that reads as a letter

Subtly Proclaiming

Blossoms rivered through the leaves of green

flowing blue through the weave of trees

cresting in bells of beauty

so subtly proclaiming 

a welcome to Spring

waiting to be

noticed by

human

eyes.

This morning I took a walk along a trail at the perfect time. The bluebells were in full bloom! As I rounded a curve in the trail, a sea of blue stood before me. The bells were spread as far as I could see creating a river of blue amongst the leaves of green. It was purely beautiful! I paused a moment to take it all in. 

A little farther down the trail, I came across a fairy door at the base of a tree trunk. It made me wonder if this space was really a garden cared for by fairies. There did seem to be something magical in the hush of the sunlight illuminating these blue beauties. 

Poetry form: Nonet

9 lines with each line decreasing by 1 syllable from 9 to 1. 

Photo credit: my husband, Greg, took the 1st photo in the post.

Mother Nature's Melancholy

As morning edged out night

the sky gripped tightly

the billowy gray blanket

of Mother Nature's continued melancholy

as a few tears

trickled,

then

escalated

to sobs of sadness,

pattered back down to

a mist of glumness

day, after day, after day, after day, after day, after day.

When will Mother Nature let the light of hope shine again?

We are on a 5 day of streak of clouds and rain. It is starting to feel like the gloominess will never leave. Morning- gray   Afternoon- gray    Evening- gray   

The only change is the amount of rain that may accompany the gray- mist, sprinkle, rain, downpour. Everyday just feels the same. 

May has arrived and I know I am waiting for the sun and its warmth. When will Mother Nature's let the sun shine through?  Honestly, I am hoping the forecast is correct and it will be nothing but sun in 2 days. Fingers-crossed!

Filling My Rising to My Rest

our sun rising through cotton candy sky

dew drops glistening along blades of grass

birds announcing the arrival of a new day

- Oh the beauty of an earthen morn!

white puffs peppering the cerulean sky

sunflowers heads seeking the light 

bees dancing their way from bloom to bloom

- Oh the beauty of an earthen noon!

sunset masterpiece fading to periwinkle

wind whispering a lullaby

rabbits grabbing grass mouthful by mouthful

-Oh the beauty of an earthen twilight!

blackness glittering with infinite stars

fireflies decorating with yellow bursts of light

rest filling the moments with silence

-Oh, the beauty of an earthen night!

Filling my rising to my rest with your beauty, 

thank you Earth.

This poem was written to a prompt from Solace and Connection by Leigh Anne Eck, http://adayinthelifeof19b.blogspot.com/2023/04/solace-connection-4.html to write a poem about the beauty of the earth. I tried to capture the small bits of beauty that fill my days. I am so grateful that moments of beauty exist all day long. 

 

Progressive Poem 2023 Continues... Day 20

 

                                                        Photo credit: Margaret Simon, Reflections on the Teche.

The Progressive Poem tradition was started by author Irene Latham. It is now under the inspired helm of Margaret Simon who has organized the event during the last few years. A poem is passed from blog to blog each day in April. Each line is contributed by a different author. The only stipulation is that it is written for children. By the end of the month, a poem completed by thirty individuals awaits us all. Thank you, Irene and Margaret, for your inspiration to create the Progressive Poem and continue its tradition during National Poetry Month. This is my first year participating and am honored to add my line to the poem. I have so enjoyed watching its creation day by day.

The poem thus far:

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 mist, muddled, confused.
 
Was this a dream or reality, rousing my response?
The sun surged, urging me to join in its 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 lilies 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.
 
I breathe-brave, quiet. Like a seed,
as the day, foretold in my dream, ventured upon me. 
 
Sunbeams guided me to the gate overgrown with wisteria
where I spotted the note tied to the gate.                                                                                                

As I reached the gnarled gate, pollen floated like fairy dust into my face. Aaah Choo! 

Enter, if you must. We’ve been waiting for you.

Not giving the curious note a thought, I pushed the gate open and ran through. 

Stopped in my tracks, eyes wide in awe- can this really be true? (my line)

Process: Carol Labuzzetta added the excitement of bursting through the gate. I thought about the idea of revealing who was waiting but felt it was a bit to early to answer that. Nothing was popping into my mind as to who or what would be waiting so instead I decided to write about how it felt at the first moment of seeing it. 

This poem continues tomorrow with Sarah Grace Tuttle at  https://www.sarahgracetuttle.com/blog.

Progressive Poem Schedule

April 1 Mary Lee Hahn, Another Year of Reading
April 2 Heidi Mordhorst, My Juicy Little Universe
April 3 Tabatha, The Opposite of Indifference
April 4 Buffy Silverman
April 5 Rose Cappelli, Imagine the Possibilities
April 6 Donna Smith, Mainely Write
April 7 Margaret Simon, Reflections on the Teche
April 8 Leigh Anne, A Day in the Life
April 9 Linda Mitchell, A Word Edgewise
April 10 Denise Krebs, Dare to Care
April 11 Emma Roller, Penguins and Poems
April 12 Dave Roller, Leap Of Dave 
April 13 Irene Latham Live You Poem 
April 14 Janice Scully, Salt City Verse
April 15 Jone Rush MacCulloch
April 16 Linda Baie TeacherDance
April 17 Carol Varsalona, Beyond Literacy Link
April 18 Marcie Atkins
April 19 Carol Labuzzetta at The Apples in My Orchard 
April 20 Cathy Hutter, Poeturescapes
April 21 Sarah Grace Tuttle at Sarah Grace Tuttle’s Blog, 
April 22 Marilyn Garcia
April 23 Catherine at Reading to the Core
April 24 Janet Fagal, hosted by Tabatha, The Opposite of Indifference
April 25 Ruth, There is no Such Thing as a God-Forsaken Town
April 26 Patricia J. Franz, Reverie
April 27 Theresa Gaughan, Theresa’s Teaching Tidbits
April 28 Karin Fisher-Golton, Still in Awe Blog
April 29 Karen Eastlund, Karen’s Got a Blog
April 30 Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, and Writing

 

 

Waiting to Unfold

Pale pink petals waiting to unfold

playing hide-n-seek in a grove of trees 

with blossoms of magenta bold

Pale pink petals waiting to unfold

the Springtime magic they behold

their beauty and fragrance sure do please

Pale pink petals waiting to unfold

playing hide-n-seek in a copse of trees.

Last weekend was absolute perfection in my area. It was sunny and 80! So my husband had I had a lovely picnic at the park under gorgeous blooming trees. The scent of magnolias filled the air. It felt like fairies had cast their Springtime magic on the world. The air had a buzz of energy about it.

The photos I took to capture this Spring beauty fueled the Triolet poem above. A triolet is an 8 line poem. It is small and powerful.

Here is the format:

1: original line

2: original line

3: original line – end word rhymes with line 1 end word

4: repeat line 1

5: original line – end word rhymes with line 1 end word

6: original line – end word rhymes with line 2 end word

7: repeat line 1

8: repeat line 2

The Mourning to Their Joy

Constant twittering fills the air

glorifying this summerlike day of Spring,

a soprano aria floats over the top

twining through the rays of warmth

as a slow, low coo- coo-coo weaves reality

through the counted days of bliss-

the mourning to their joy.

#VerseLove Day 14- Free Writing

So just went with the flow, flow, flow. I was relaxing in my backyard after work listening to the birds chirp away and soaking up some sun. This is a summer-like 80 degree day with pure sunshine. This is extraordinary for April in my part of New York. Then a Mourning Dove started cooing and the line " mourning to their joy" popped into my head. It made me think that even though the weather is joyous right now, it will not be in 2 days- much colder. We will all be mourning the loss of this.

Photo by Marvin Filmaker: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-close-up-shot-of-a-mourning-dove-15269075/

Nature Wrote It's Own Poem

 

This is a photo poem, just like there can be a photo essay. Leigh Anne Eck, http://adayinthelifeof19b.blogspot.com/, put out her weekly Solace and Connection prompt. This week's nature inspired prompt was to pay attention. It was inspired by this quote- "Poetry is the act of paying attention." by Clint Smith.  So I decided to pay close attention to one specific daffodil plant. With the warm weather and days of pure sunlight, this plant changed incredibly this week. I took a photo each day until full bloom. I wasn't intending to do a photo poem but I believe nature wrote its own poem this week. I was just able to capture it. 

Oh Yes, Mother Nature, I Enjoyed Your Sample Spring!

Gray slab of boulder - - wonderful perch to take in the view.

Cool wind whimpering my clothes -- branches dancing in Spring celebration.

Sunshine warming my back -- surfing across the tops of waves.

A woosh-swoosh- pause water song -- waves meeting the curvy C's of shore.

Multi-colored nature litter -- crushed shells and pebble debris.

Naked, smooth tree branch -- shipwrecked on the beach

Lone seagull rollercoastering -- rising, diving between sea and sky.

Gray, then royal blue, then deep navy --- lake colors from shore to horizon baby blue sky.

Location: Lake Ontario

Date: April 1st

Time: 1:30

Season: Spring

Mother Nature sure played an April Fool's joke in my neck of the woods. We had about 4 hours of loveliness- 70 degrees, sunshine and clear blue sky before the winds of change brought winter back to our door. It was 25 the next day. I made sure to get out and enjoy those hours. These observations were made while sitting on a boulder looking out over Lake Ontario in response to the "Begin Where You Are" prompt from Solace and Connection. 

Psithurism

 

Psithurism

def: the sound of wind in the trees

A secret rustle
gently rolls leaves to and fro
comfort on the breeze

Long exhaled whooshes
sway treetops in unison
gaining momentum

Continuous groans
as branches shake, rattle and roll
change is a coming

Howling, shrieking force
splintering arms from core
will the damage heal

What melody will your symphony compose today?
The musicians are at the mercy of the mercurial mistral.

This poem is for Day 3 of the #VerseLove Poetry Challenge. The prompt today was to choose a word that resonates with you and then create a Haiku Sonnet. This form of poetry has 4 haikus and then 2 lines at the end to make 14 lines like a sonnet. 

Walk Inspired Spring Haikus

 Winter's fierce exhale,

sunshine's warmth and light

Battle of change continues

Patterns of grace

amongst decomposing life

Little lights of hope

Iced hardness melted

Flowing freely once again

Choosing path to take

Surprise! The time's now.

Purple party poppers burst

Spring celebration

Sealed hard and tight

Soaking in life-giving sustenance

Awakening is near

I just finished reading Three Simple Lines: A Writer's Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku by Natalie Goldberg. Part of my learning was that haiku does not need to be written in the 5-7-5 syllable pattern that I had always learned but it can just be 3 short lines. The tricky part is that these 3 lines need to make the mind leap.

So I had haiku on my mind as I went out for a walk today. It seemed that I was on a Spring scavenger hunt during my walk as many new features of Spring caught my eye. I was inspired to try writing haikus about these lovely nature gifts. I know that I wrote 3 lines for each one- some in the 5-7-5 manner. I don't know how much of a mind leap exists in them but I hope my attention to now comes through.

 

Come Out and Enjoy the Day

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

chirps the chickadee perched on my deck rail,

head turning from side to side trying to hold me in its gaze.

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

beckons the squirrel investigating the snowless deck,

bounding over to my French doors, glancing in to invite me to join him.

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

herald the first yellow blossoms of Spring

pooling in a thatch of gold amongst the brown.

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

call the sunbeams

dancing across the screen of my laptop.

RSVP'ing to the invitations... out the door I go.

This 2nd day of Spring is definitely calling me to go outside and enjoy it. I had no inspiration to write then sitting here looking out the window it came to me. The squirrel, chickadee, flowers and sun know how wonderful this Springy day is and want to share it with this human. I thank them for the reminder to celebrate their gorgeous day. Turning the computer off and out the door I go.

On Sun, You are a Trickster

 

                                                             Sunbeams fill the room                                                             

  Drawing attention outside  

Calling us to play  

Oh sun, you are a trickster

no warmth, winter's living on

All day long I sat in a conference room with no windows. At the end of the school day, I returned to my room. It was filled with sunshine. I happily looked out the window at the blue sky and brightness and felt a desire to be outside. The day had the mirage of Spring about it. I had a bounce in my step walking down the hallway thinking of a walk on a beautiful sunshiny Spring day. As I opened the door, I was blasted with the cold air of winter. There was a definite wind chill in the air. My Springy hopefulness was dashed by the cold slap of winter. Oh sun, you are definitely a trickster and fooled me. I guess I will have to settle for just the joy of your brightness and wait patiently for your warmth to fully arrive.

Poetry form: Tanka ( ancient Japanese form that has 5 lines and 31 syllables. (5 in first line, 7 in second, 5 in third, the 7 in forth and fifth)

A Song of Color In a Doldrum World

A scarlet blur

of stillness

upon a monochrome maze

of branches

from the bare trees skirting the meadow.

The song of color

in a doldrum world

waiting for the meadow

to join him again

in vibrancy

of new life and color

of the ever-nearing Spring.

Today I went on a hike with a dear friend as snowflakes were falling all around. In the woods, the red beauty of the cardinal stood out against the white, gray and brown backdrop of the trees and meadow. The male cardinal proudly displayed his colors as a mark of vibrant life in the meadow during the winter months. It was wonderful to just pause and take in his beauty for a moment or two.

I had heard about a type of poetry called Ekphrastic. It is based off of a work of art. I knew I wanted to write about the photo of the cardinal I had taken today so I figured I would give this form a try. In this type of poem, you are supposed to describe a part of the work of art and then extend your own thoughts into its underlying story. You use your power of observation to find the hidden stories in the work of art. I enjoyed the process of writing this poem and finding a hidden story in my photo.

If you would like to more about Ekphrastic poems, visit this site: https://poetryteatime.com/blog/ekphrastic-poetry

...Would You Tell Me?

Did you scream as fury whipped all around you?

Did anguish fill you as you were torn to pieces?

Did you weep knowing you will never be whole again?

Cause outwardly, right now,

you personify a strong warrior

surviving forces beyond your control.

Do you struggle to go on?

....would you tell me????

The other night very powerful winds whipped through my area. In the morning, when I peered out the window, a large tree limb had fallen and I could see the snapped shards of the branch. This moment in time combined with my current read, The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate:Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben made me pause and wonder what that tree felt like last night as the forces of Mother Nature encompassed it. My wonderings lead to the writing of this poem. 

Fortunately, most of the tree still stands proud. If the limb was not jabbed into the ground like a vertical arrow right next to it, you may not notice the destruction. The tree will continue living each day. I wonder if it struggles. It will not tell me right now. I will need to watch carefully as time moves on to see if this loss causes the tree further issues. May it be a healthy survivor for years to come.

Softly Still

A silent

visitor

knocked at night. 

Barrenness

transformed to

beautiful.

Awaking

to a world

softly still.

I have been waiting all winter for this to happen. Snow was forecasted to fall overnight. In previous weeks, I woke up excited until I looked out the window and saw brown-gray grass and barren tree limbs. But, this time, I woke to a winter wonderland! 

Glancing out the window, rooftops were dusted in white as well as the black pavement of streets. The grass was a blanket of white and the trees looked like someone had dipped them in confectioner's sugar.  Everything looked beautiful. The snow had turned our bleak gray and brownish into a world of white brightness. The flakes had softened the world. For the moment, everything was softly still. 

Poetry form: Tricube

3 stanzas with 3 lines each. Each line has 3 syllables.

As a Buffalo Bills fan, I think the #3 was on mind this week and last so it brought this poetry form to mind. 

Hope is Barely a Flutter

The dreariness drapes over me

as my eyes flutter open to another day.

The gray gloom continues

as day has the darkness of night.

The forlornness feeds my soul-

No energy, no motivation, no umph.

The drabness is victorious

as the anticipated break from colorlessness falls in defeat.

Hope is barely a flutter-

How much longer until I feel aglow again?

Let's just say that the world has been nothing but GRAY. It has been days upon days of endless clouds ranging from light gray to almost black. At times, noon has looked like midnight out the window. This unending bleakness is taking a toll on me as well as people dear to me. The new year is not filled with energy, motivation and positivity but sluggishness and blahness. The colorlessness of the world around us is definitely feeding the unvibrancy of our lives. Even when the hope of predicted sunshine exists, the clouds rally and defeat the brilliant rays from shining through. Each day I rise hoping upon hope for even a small rip in the gray blanket that shows a brilliant blue and brightness shining through. Come on Mother Nature and deliver your gift of sunshine to my area. I long for it so my days can be fed by your warmth, light and hope. 

(The photo is the gray sky on this Sunday.)