A Muse In Me

Silence

2011-05-17T22:43:00.000-04:00

This is what a strung together for last week's Three Word Wednesday. The words are brandish, forbid, and manage.

I make a statement punctuated
with forbidden tears
As you brandish your
laughter and mockery

I stare at your back
Your shield
Your voice trailing off
As you walk away

I ask you to stay
Maybe manage to sit next to me
So we can whisper instead of shout

You pull out
your weapon of mass destruction
Silence

Ashes

2011-05-07T10:15:00.002-04:00

Your kiss presses my lips,

limp, cold, and stillborn.

Where did the fire go?

Dire smoke billows;

Acrid tears dwindle the fire

Into smoldering coals.

We poke at them -

And spread the ashes.

* I was inspired to write this after reading this poem by Mamta.

Forget Me Not

2011-03-04T23:39:00.003-05:00

A heart-worn path, sharp turns at every mention

Of his name - to reach out in the darkness –

Searching for her center of attention,

Roving daydreams - anything but aimless.

Exasperated fingers only fidget,

To pluck at strings a million miles away.

A song grows strong within the womb of spirit,

To open up and birth a brand new day.

Affinity sets in, a second skin

Awakens – windy synonyms of him -

Warm waves of whispered paradise roll in;

To soak and soothe a weary phantom limb.

In spring, Forgot-me-nots play hide-and-seek

Rejoicing end of winter, cold and bleak.

Posted for Three Word Wednesday, the words this week are: mention, affinity, and fidget.

photo credit

Debris

2011-02-25T00:31:00.001-05:00

photo credit: photonquantique

The tide that carried all my woes away,

Has crashed and torn and broken everything;

Has rolled back in; it's all come back today.

Debris is scattered where I used to sing.

Sunflowers grow nearby, oblivious;

They dance beneath the only sky they've known.

Until one day a cry to Helios;

From Helianthus, dying where they've grown.

But I - I leave the broken shore behind

With eyes upon a promise to unite,

Horizon waits for me - wants me to find

And meet his distant, undefined twilight.

Warm whispers from the wind; caress and hold

As gently my new wings start to unfold.

Dust Motes

2011-02-08T02:36:00.000-05:00

An unforgettable moment.

When I first read about the total lunar eclipse of December 2010 in an MSN news article just a week before it was to occur, it caught my attention for three reasons: It would be a full moon. It was happening on the winter solstice. The coinciding of these celestial events hadn't happened in over 400 years. How could I miss it? A few hours before it was to begin, I got my camera set up on a tripod so as to attempt my own photographic record of this rarity in history and astronomy.

Even though this memorable event was talked about in the news for quite some time before and after, the significance of it didn't inspire many others to observe it happening. At least not in my neighborhood. At Shadow Run Apartments, when I finally meandered out with my camera equipment, the parking lot was as empty and quiet as it usually was at 1am. I know, because I'm a night owl who often perches on a patio chair with a smoke or a drink around this time.

From 1am to 3am it was mostly about waiting, and the time passed quickly as I carefully repositioned the camera each time the moon's position changed. My anticipation grew as the Earth's shadow stretched its way across the moon. As the full eclipse approached and golden red swirls of light and shadow played across its surface, I was transfixed. I felt I could stand there all night, my neck craned at the most uncomfortable angle. How could everyone else be missing this? I felt that some magic was being bestowed on me by standing beneath the colorful dampened glow of reflected sunlight.

When it was all in shadow, I still found myself in awe. As the moon sat there divested of its sunshine robes, the bare facts struck me. That it was a giant rock floating in the sky, and I was standing below it on yet another suspended sphere. That these giant spheres were only dust motes in one small corner of the galaxy. I was not just a Floridian, or an American. I was an Earthling. I was not an accidental mixture of chemicals. While the vastness of this concrete reality we call the universe enveloped me, other invisible and unknown forces permeated my soul. The black & white images I'd captured on my Minolta would make fine archival prints of this astrological moment, images that would last for a hundred years or more. But this one moment was burned into the blueprint of my soul for all time. Through my frail mortal mask, I was staring down my own eternity.

photocredit: Rich Anderson

A New Year: A Challenge For You

2011-01-05T00:13:00.002-05:00

Here we are, four days into 2011. New year, new beginnings...right? I hope everyone is starting off with their better foot forward, and all that. How many of you have set some resolutions for yourself but already feel the inertia holding them back from accomplishing them?

Changing old habits can be more than challenging and at times can seem downright impossible. But what about your mindset, your driving intent - your personal philosophy. Do you have one?

Several months ago I read a blog post over on Breeze Daze about something she called the six word motto. She talked about a question someone had asked on a forum somewhere, which was "What is your six word motto?". At first, it doesn't sound all the difficult to compress your mode of believing, thinking, and living into a six word motto. I decided to do it but it actually took me three or four months.

The whole of last year was already pretty much about rediscovering who I am outside of motherhood, and this exercise became almost an epiphany for me. After opening a file in my desktop notepad, and noting various combinations of words and ideas it finally came to me.

To where my heart takes me. Now it didn't suddenly help me drop the excess weight or become wealthy or anything - yet. But it has given me a wonderful sense of both clarity and comfort to have my very own motto tucked away to pull out just when I need it. This mode of living actually kicked in around January 2009 after working a job that I hated for a year and getting the sickest physically I have ever been in my life. I knew the two were correlated and was actually relieved and hopeful when I was fired from that job. Shortly after being fired, I found myself home recovering from whooping cough and started this blog. This blog has been the start of so many beautiful things; a reconnection with myself, an outlet for communicating my deepest thoughts, and friendships with people that are physically far away but are very close to my heart.

So now I give this challenge to all of you! It might take you five minutes, five weeks, or even five months. I would love to hear what you come up with, so come back and comment with your own six word motto or if you decide to blog about it post up a link here in the comments.

And I'm off again, to where my heart takes me.

Pondering

2010-12-23T00:36:00.007-05:00

Do falling stars

feel lonely?

What about comets,

who endlessy revolve

'round some other sphere

Yet never touch it.

Do asteroids wonder

where they are going?

What about planets,

who spin and fly

through dark energy,

to us seeming still.

Blowing Smoke

2010-12-11T22:41:00.011-05:00

Seventeen, working renovations
One Hungarian driving,
The other in the passenger seat.
I sit on the floor
Of the white work van.
They laugh and smoke,
I sit there and
Eventually they notice me
"Want to try?"
Ivan says in his sing-song accent,
eyebrows raised high.
I take the cigarette, curious
and decide, why not.
I perch it on my lips
and Stefan lights it.
They explain how to inhale,
laughing and speaking Hungarian
while smoke billows and goes everywhere but
into my lungs.
My struggles pay off
as I develop the technique,
my lungs burn but my head
feels light as a balloon.
My body sways and swoons
and I feel both
heavy and light.
Energized yet relaxed,
and we've arrived
at the work site.
I get out of the van
and almost fall over;
they laugh and hold my arms
and walk me to the door.
But before we go inside I ask,
"Can I have one more?”

For a smoking hot poem , go check out the latest at Double-Dolphin.

Nothing

2010-11-19T22:21:00.005-05:00

Nothing in the world can make me believe:

...that we only live once

...that its ever wrong to love

...that its too late

...that its too soon

...that its impossible.

Prompted by Daydreaming on Paper

Morpheus and Minerva

2010-09-03T23:14:00.006-04:00

He whispered a dream as Minerva lay asleep,

awoke her soul and pulled her away

from her body, into ethereal flight.

She felt on her shoulder, the hand of Morpheus,

warm and fantastic and full of light.

He pulled her off into Dreamtime.

Wrapped up in clouds, she arrived in Dreamtime,

a place where worries and fears are fast asleep.

Minerva is greeted by lyrical sparks of light

that ignite and inspire and carry her away

from the highest peak of Mount Imagination, Morpheus

took her by the hand into nocturnal flight

A wild, wonderful and wish-worn flight

to all the sacred sites of Dreamtime

Led by the shaman of sleep, Morpheus

Her soul free to fly while her body is asleep

nightmares erased and washed away,

All dark places bathed in light.

Sparks and explosions and songs of light,

ethereal wings beat in melodious flight,

up and up and up and away.

New patterns woven in the web of Dreamtime.

All the wishes that once were asleep

danced into being by Morpheus.

The heartbeats of Minerva and Morpheus

pulsed in harmony and light.

No dream or desire remained asleep.

A mystical, magical, musical flight

throughout the land of Dreamtime.

Monsters and demons all melted away.

Minerva's heart filled with joy, and she drifted away

down, down, down to the riverside - where Morpheus

told her the secrets of Dreamtime.

Her love transformed his words into chords of light,

songs of galactic flight

that could break the deepest sleep.

The night slipped away; Minerva awoke in daylight,

singing memories of Morpheus and their magical flight.

In Dreamtime, no longer asleep.

Fun With Limericks

2010-07-18T23:57:00.013-04:00

A few weeks back I wrote some limericks for Kindred Spirits. I had never written one before but I had fun writing these two. I hope you enjoy them as much as the poetry group (who requested I bring more for the next meet up.

****

There was an old man from Neversink

He always did things that made you blink

Such as pull down his pants

And butt naked he'd dance

Wagging his shrivelled old sausage link

****

There once was a lady from Ybor

No one cared much about what she wore

She wiggled her titties

And shook her good bitties

Gasparilla is never a bore

Tanka for Three Word Wednesday

2010-05-06T03:29:00.003-04:00

It's Three Word Wednesday, and the words this week are hum, escape, and vibrant. I've got a poetry workshop tomorrow night. Each meet up we are given a homework. Last time it was to bring in a rondeau. Tomorrow I need to bring in two to three Tanka. Tanka is a new form for me, this is what I came up with:

Hum of the city

Escape to Mother Nature

Her gentle embrace

Vibrant green sanctuary

A place to breathe and dream

II.

She is all alone

Feet pounding the pavement

She prays for escape

Runs to the bass drum heart beat

She keeps looking behind her

Regardless

2010-05-04T03:42:00.006-04:00

A OneWord creation, the one word being "regardless". You're given 60 seconds to write what comes to mind without thinking about it all that much (stream of consciousness).

regardless

of all the reasons

damn them all

reasons are only

excuses

to stop in your tracks

and get in your way

regardless

Wishes at Tiffany's

2010-04-01T23:08:00.009-04:00

Today was the second time I got to meet up with the "Kindred Spirits" poetry group over at Tiffany's Restaurant in Palm Harbor. The restaurant was packed today and all 7 poets sat around a table for 6. An American constitution-loving barber shop quartet was singing in the meeting room so we were out in the main (loud) dining area. This is a really fun and talkative group of mostly women...the one man there today said he felt like he was on "The View".

Our homework assignment to bring was to write a poem in any style, but to use only questions. This is what I came up with for the homework:

Have You Heard?

Have you heard your muse today?

Does she have wings?

Does she dance and sing?

What dream did she whisper?

Did your muse come out to play?

Then while some of us munched on salads and sandwiches, we workshopped: a poem in any length or style, as long as it contains a list of some kind:

Wishes

If you could have one wish

what would it be?

I don't think just one

is quite enough for me.

So I'd wish for

infinite wishes,

dreams come true,

love, laughter,

and world peace too.

Beautiful sunsets,

and skies of blue

and I'd also wish

for endless wishes for you.

I don't know if all these wishes

could really co-exist.

But who wants to be practical

when you're writing a wish list?

I'm really enjoying the homework and workshops, and I'm looking forward to the next meet up. For any Tampa Bay area poets reading this, sign up at Kindred Spirits and join us the next time we meet.

Happenings

2010-03-29T02:21:00.011-04:00

It's just the beginning of a whirlwind year. I haven't been blogging much, but things are happening:

~My poem "Invitation to Flight" was chosen on Poetrydances as one of two favorite poems for the month of March. Scroll down and you'll see the poem title and my name right there on the front page.

~I've written two new songs, one based on the poem "Ocean Tide". The other one is called "Kaleidoscope". Now that the sound is fixed on my computer, its just a matter of organizing the time with J to help me record them.We're going for much higher quality recordings this time, and the songs will be available to download on Amazon and iTunes when they are finished.

~I've got a new photo project I'm about to begin for my dear friend Maggie for a coffee table book that she's writing, and I'll be sure to blog about that in the near future.

~My DH has started a blog called indieLife, about all things indie and I'll be a contributor over there.

~I have my very own .com currently in the design stage that should be up and running in a few months.

~I saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D! It was amazing!!!

I feel like many things are beginning for me just as springtime has begun. Happy Springtime everyone!

3WW: Ragged What?

2010-02-17T16:44:00.022-05:00

Here we are for another Three Word Wednesday. I deviated from my regular sonnet writing and wrote a piece of flash fiction instead. The words today are occur, ragged, and tidy.

Jane was delighted to have found a large digital library of antiquated children's literature. Homeschooling the children was a challenge on their budget, and the internet could be such a goldmine. She smiled at her discovery of this archive of fully scanned books, illustrations and all.

It was such a perfect resource for her 7 year old. His early mastery of language and reading had earned him the nickname Little Professor among the family. The book "Bambi" looked wonderful. This wasn't the diluted Disney version of the story, but a 223 page and 25 chapter English translation of the original 1920's Austrian novel by Felix Salten.

Her eyes widened as she came to the last book in the library index. It had never occurred to Jane that there was ever a book titled "Ragged Dick". It certainly stopped her in her tracks.

Of course there was a tidy explanation. Like "Moby Dick", it had been written in the mid 1800's and apparently the word dick had not yet acquired its prevalent euphemistic status. Despite this realization, she still couldn't help raising another eyebrow when she read the book's byline - "Street Life in New York".

Her amusement built into peals of laughter. She read several of the chapter titles such as "Dick Makes A Proposition", "Chatham Street and Broadway", "A Scene in a Third Avenue Car", and "Dick's First Appearance in Society".

It only got worse. She doubled over in tears when she saw the chapter titled "9 Months Later".

Sunday Sonnet: Love Letters

2010-02-14T10:56:00.005-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone, I wish you all a day full of love. This is a sonnet I wrote for my husband a while back, and the poetic reply he wrote to me. Enjoy.

photo credit: Mance

To My Love

Your smile a beacon on the darkest night.
Your laughter questions all the gloom and doom.
Allegiant lover loyal as a knight,
A valiant guide across the rocky flume.
Excursions undertaken by your side,
My comfortable companion in this life.
The one to whom all things I can confide,
I honor you; your faithful loving wife.
Forgive my imperfections as they fade,
Your grace remains my greatest hope for change.
Delusion cut away, our love the blade.
Logistically, the days we will arrange.
Efflorescence commences with our faiths,
to chase away the gremlins and the wraiths.

Love, April

My Love's Response

Would you go back in time and change anything
Not knowing what the future will be?
Could you live with yourself, that for fame and wealth
The thing you changed stopped you from meeting me?

I know that you're not perfect,
but I know that you are true.
I know that you will make mistakes
and I know that we'll grow from them too.
I know that I am with you,
and I'm the one that won.
So I forgive you for all the mistakes you made,
If you forgive the ones I've done.

Love, James

I Want A House

2010-02-12T03:36:00.010-05:00

For over 10 years now, I've been an apartment dweller. I really do want a house. However, this is a poetry assignment I did for a meetup I just joined. It's called Kindred Spirits, and this poetry meetup is twice a month. 

I really had a great time. Here we were in the back meeting room of Tiffany's Restaurant in Palm Harbor. There were 6 other people there, and they were all very friendly. I had to ask everyone their names twice to remember them, except the man who introduced himself, "Hi, my name is Manoj...as in Menage a trois". Great ice breaker, and I didn't have to ask him his name a second time.

So we all brought our assignment, called "I want a house". The challenge was to "describe the ideal house to accommodate your evolving spirit, essence, metaphysical self, your spiritual milieu". The house in this case a metaphor. Any length, any style...and here is the etheree I came up with about an hour before the meetup:

Home
Is where
My heart is.
Sanctuary.
Skylights and windows
Allow the light and air
To circulate. Cozy nooks
With stacks of books and pillows
On a window seat. Cups of coffee
and tea. Mountain home with a view.

Short and sweet, I really like how etherees keep building to the end. We did a workshop challenge while we were there...18 lines, a story, including 4 pronouns. I was the last one to finish while people picked at their food.

The homework for next week is an isolation exercise. It's to write a description of one particular element of a set. Like "one face in a crowd", or "one voice out of many". The goal is to describe the characteristics of the group and what distinguishes the one from the others. Oh, and its to be in lyric form. I've got two weeks to work on it. 

3WW: The Wishing Well

2010-02-10T22:23:00.005-05:00

It's another Three Word Wednesday, and this week's words are righteous, lucid, and salvage.

photo credit: spratmackrel

Old rusted pennies lost where wishers beg,

With silt atop the treasures that once fell.

Down low the bucket goes, down through the dregs,

To salvage wishes from the wishing well.

Below the crust and rock the water surges

From cracks made in the deep dark shell of Earth.

At first a slow and murky mud emerges

Not fit to bathe in, nor fit to quench thirst.

Allowed to flow, in time it will distill

Into a lucid rush of liquid wealth.

Then bucket after bucket we shall fill,

And drink our dreams of love and perfect health.

With righteous love true wonders can begin.

Our hearts the wishing wells that wait within.

3WW: An Invitation to Flight

2010-02-03T15:57:00.007-05:00

It's Three Word Wednesday, and the words are lurch, odor, and frantic.

Such frantic motions spent in blind pursuit

Of norms defined by cultural expectations.

Wondrous places await in undilute

Expressions of purest inspirations.

Splendific odor of social decays

Beg for the masses to bathe in new scents.

Dried up traditions; Death of the old ways.

Alive in the choices true freedom presents.

Rennaissance; spontaneous creation.

Adventures of fantasy and surprise.

Lyrical, musical, imagic explorations.

The end of blind pursuit, with opens eyes.

A lurch to the left, then step off the edge.

Fly up to the moon and beyond, my fledge. 

Time to Push Play

2010-02-03T01:44:00.007-05:00

Well, I really did push the pause button on this blog, didn't I? I really thought I'd have my new blog in full swing, which was supposed to include poetry plus the happenings in exploring venues for performing music. I recently - like 10 minutes ago - was informed by James that the template we used sucks and only allows for a very small limit of blog posts to be posted. As in, the blog for some reason won't allow more than 10 posts per tab I have up there. Which means, I could have a total limit of 50 blog posts on the new blog we had set up. Weird, right?

That's okay. James is designing a website for me instead, so it will be customized to be even better than the new blog. I'll have a blog section as part of the website. Meanwhile, I am back to posting here on a regular basis (see, I just pushed play).

The first month of 2010 has gone by, and good things are in the works. I've got myself a new guitar - a Dean Performer, acoustic/electric, plus a nice amp for it. The guitar I'd had for a while wasn't in great shape, and wasn't really going to cut it for performing live.

Anyhow, getting a job for 2 weeks over the holidays, then losing it before Christmas, then starting a job hunt all over again...meanwhile still home schooling the kids during the day....sapped some of my creative drive. I've sort of been in limbo. However, I'm seeing now the limbo isn't such a bad thing. Limbo can be like the calm before the storm.

I'm not just pushing play on this blog, but on all my creative stuff again. A decent tax refund has helped smooth out the beginning of our year. A new guitar, a new song in the works...based on the poem Ocean Tide. A new attitude even. That short foray into a "real job" has shown me once again that my heart lies outside of a cubicle.

I'll have a Three Word Wednesday posted up shortly, and the new song just needs to be recorded and that'll be up for you all to hear as well.

Until then.

Serenity

2010-01-09T00:12:00.007-05:00

I have a new poem up for Three Word Wednesday, the words being: drain, epic, and nibble. 

An epic view of brilliant blue-green sea

As eager feet meet waves with pure delight.

Blue sky awakes in joyous jubilee

Confetti clouds aglow in morning light.

Intrepid seagulls nibble picnic spreads

Near face-down tourists oiled and half-asleep.

Vacation from bustle of urban heads

Let thoughts escape into the ocean deep.

Old rusted drain of gloom evaporates

Into the salted maze of seaside mist.

Harried worries morph into ecstatic states.

Entangled dreams unravel and untwist.

Serenity the only place to go

Awash in waves, inside the ebb and flow.

Sunday Sonnet: Lost Summer

2009-12-28T01:11:00.005-05:00

photo credit: amangupta

With summer comes the heat and memories
Of long walks, midnight talks, and wordless gazes.
Warm air caresses me, its scent a tease
That takes me back to all your whispered phrases. 
Ecstatic energy exchanged, we swim.
At midnight our skin shimmers bathed in moonlight.
Our bodies aglow as the night grows dim,
We only want to hold each other tight. 
But when the leaves begin to turn, alas
You take your flight back home. I'm left behind,
To grasp at faded pictures. To drive past
Those places our adventures use to find. 
Lost summer passion wintered into ice;
Until again the balmy nights entice. 

Sunday Sonnet: Whispers

2009-12-21T02:05:00.009-05:00

Well, it's Monday now, but here's my Sunday Sonnet. I started writing it on Sunday, anyhow. I was chatting with a friend about the story in her book, and its highly influenced by that. You can read an excerpt from her novel here, to be published sometime in early 2010. 

A dream, a whisper; indigo vibrations.

A promise for a future time and place,
Such warm and cozy smiles upon his face.
Her soul ignited by his sweet flirtations,
His eyes reflected her aspirations;
Despite his wildness all she saw was grace,
And felt so whole and loved in his embrace.
Their conversations flowed with expectation.
"Goodbye, farewell, but only for a while",
Upon the breeze their promises were made
To meet again, and dance around the moon.
But now she had to walk another mile
Alone; alas the whispers didn't fade,
But told her that they'd be together soon.
  
The original idea for Sunday Sonnets, its to have a line of poetry to begin the sonnet posted the week before. Then anyone that would like to can write their own, with the same opening line.  Breeze and Dolphin have joined me in the past, and it is so fun to see the different directions that are taken with the same opening.  Shadow suggested a wonderful opening line one week, and I would love to see her join in and write a sonnet. Her poetry is gorgeous and heartfelt.

For anyone that would like to join in, here is the opening line for a sonnet to be posted Sunday, December 27th:  

 
With summer comes the heat, and memories

 
If you join in the sonnet writing, post it up on your blog and link here in the comments next Sunday. 

Desire

2009-12-17T02:30:00.007-05:00

This weeks Three Word Wednesday: bleak, hiccup, queer.

Both bleak yet wondrous, secret passions stir
within the heart. His golden voice the sun.
Pink cheeks belie the nonchalantly done
side-glance by her. Too late now to demur.
A queer incipient couple, lust and guilt.
Gazes meet then search for their distraction,
mundanely greet while giddy with attraction.
All broken down as fast as it is built.
Arrive like hiccups, unexpectedly.
Intensely felt desires dance a dither,
invisible yet palpable sensation.
Forbidden fruit, left there upon the tree.
Delicious, ripe, untasted; Soon to wither,
impervious lips hold back their salivation.

Sunday Sonnet: The World Out There

2009-12-07T01:15:00.009-05:00

What lies out there for us - how far we see.

However can we reach the clouds up there?
Big trees can reach the sky so easily.
Great hawks and eagles glide without a care.
Green grass invites us out to dance around.
Our voices sing a joyous song of now;
Pink flowers' heady scent is heaven found.
Amazed at all the what, and where, and how.
The world awaits us, just beyond this door.
So beautiful and wondrous to our eyes;
We spent the morning out, but we want more.
Sun soaked, out there, is where adventure lies.
Alive, excitement courses through the air!
We stand in here and watch the world out there.

Magic

2009-12-03T19:22:00.010-05:00

For Three Word Wednesday, a few days late, but the words this week are: fondle, kick, and sumptuous.

photo credit: NestleCSV

For

Some folks

These things are

Decorations

To fondle, ogle.

Sumptuous eye candy.

For little ones they are warm

Pretty, milky, meals-on-moms

That wait underneath cotton blouses.

What a kick; a marvel; a true fast food.

They're known by many names, I'm sure you know;

Jugs, melons, boobies, hooters, or breasts.

Chi-chi's, ta-ta's, the girls, the twins,

And others I won't mention.

The names go in one ear,

and out the other,

as babies drink

their magic

titty

milk.

Wind Rhymes

2009-12-03T17:16:00.009-05:00

When my blog adventure began the spring of this year, Carolyn over at Breeze Daze was one of my very first followers/fans. I've also come to consider her a friend. I find many of her blog posts and poems to be uplifting; At the very least, her words are thought provoking. She puts things in a positive light, which is as refreshing as a cool breeze compared to all the negativity that can be found in the mainstream media.

Carolyn has put together some of her best poetry, into a book titled "Wind Rhymes; Poems from the Breeze". She gave me the great oppurtunity to illustrate her upcoming book with some of my own photography. Carolyn is probably the best "boss" I've ever had (probably because she wasn't my boss at all, but a teammate) - she's really fun to work with. She was super patient with me as I put together the photography for her, amid moving into a new apartment and starting a new job. Thank you, Carolyn.

My poetry and blog posts has been at a minimum lately; it's almost like winter has effected my creative blooms as much as the greenery outside. Mainly though, the move into a new apartment has taken up so much time and energy. We've been in the new place for just over 2 weeks now. We are mostly settled in (still some boxes to unpack though), and have already made friends with a very nice family upstairs. Our kids play together a lot, and we all took a walk to the park today.

The photo above is the cover for Wind Rhymes, and below are two more photos out of about 16 that are in her book. For a taste of Carolyn's poetry, head over to Breeze Daze.

Karmic Dance

2009-11-05T19:54:00.017-05:00

(For Three Word Wednesday: Karma, Wither, Obey)

Shades act and sing; a script in play each day
Recycled dreams and nightmares overflow.
Half asleep, dead whispers are obeyed.
All deaf and dumb and blind; a horror show.
Souls withered all away behind their cloak,
All skin and bones on strings; stone eyes all cold.
On gallows seven, they all hang and choke.
Alas, arrives a moment to behold.
The curtain raises up - the dark dissolves.
In rythmic steps; a spin, a fall, a lift.
A karmic dance of light and life evolves,
This universe a stage; this life a gift.
In comedy and tragedy divine;
Let fall the mask, so love and light may shine.

photo credit: mkream

3WW: Conceptions of Deception

2009-10-29T20:07:00.009-04:00

The words for Three Word Wednesday this week: vanity, nightmares, incubate.

With vanity, a tale is spun so tight -

It chokes our breath and cuts off clarity.

A promise to turn darkness into light;

Salvation sold as rare commodity.

False prophets of these modern times abound,

Storytellers all, masters of illusion.

Eternity for sale, athanasia found!

Alas, fear incubates into delusion.

It rips and tears apart our precious wings,

And yet entices us to fly in vain.

Despite the nightmares, hope alive yet sings.

Our wings will grow, so we can fly again.

Conceptions of deception all around.

Yet in the silence - truth can still be found.

photo credit: c41tnq

One Word: Gem

2009-10-27T00:16:00.010-04:00

One word, 60 seconds. The prompt today at oneword - gem. This is what I came up with:
     

Sparkles

Golden from within

Heartfelt smile

Dances

Eyes meet

Souls greet

Unspoken connection

Beautiful

Sparkles

One Lovely Blog Award

2009-10-23T21:00:00.010-04:00

Thank you, C.R. Stone, for passing this One Lovely Blog Award on to me.
Here are the rules:
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog along with the name of the person who has passed the award on to you; include a link to their blog.
2. Send the award on to 15 other bloggers, and either leave a comment on their blog, or email them so they know they've received the award.
I'd like to send this award on to:
A Gasping Little Voice
Breeze Daze
Cecelia's Place
Constant Current
Double-Dolphin
Glimpses of Me
My Scattered Stones
Poetic Karen
Poetry For A Night Owl
Proper Joe's
Just Writing Words
Shadow
Surface Tension
The Melting Pot of This and That
The Memory of Rain
The Zen of Geek

3WW: Opening the Door

2009-09-29T18:07:00.013-04:00

Wow, I'm finally in writing mode again! It's been 3 weeks since I posted last. Here is a poem I started writing for last week's 3WW but didn't finish until today. The words were eclipse, languish, and velocity. 

Eclipse of crescent moon behind the clouds.

Heat lightning bounces all around inside.

No winking stars apparent; lost in shrouds.

And so with sullen eyes, my wishes hide.

I languish in the rain, all cold and wet.

Though here I sit inside, all warm and dry.

Peering through the window; glaring gray threat.

A part of nature that I can't defy?

Velocity of dreams beneath my wings.

A lift; a breeze blows in, and I awake.

I manifest a place of magic things.

Even as the rain pours, and the clouds quake.

Opening the door; time to get out of here.

Before the driving rain freezes over.

photo credit: doustpauline

3WW: Calling All Dreams

2009-09-09T17:43:00.010-04:00

The words for this week's Three Word Wednesday are: mayhem, disarm, and engage. Join in the fun!

Air conditioning whirs, a cricket chirps

Jumbled mayhem from the television.

Day is done; to moon the sun usurps.

There soon shall be a head to bed collision.

I'm calling all dreams; calling all wishes.

As I lay me down to sleep, please disarm me.

Engage me as I flutter my lashes,

Give me map and wings so I can fly free.

Up among the clouds, around a mountaintop,

To wear a rainbow and dance with the stars.

Bounce on down below, so as to bed hop.

Remind the sleepy souls, the sky is ours.

Wake up, sunshine and humidity seep in.

Grasping to the memories, of places I've been.

photo credit: Matthew Fang

3WW: Plum Fight

2009-09-04T23:00:00.003-04:00

This week's words for Three Word Wednesday are: luster, threat, and glare. Here I am with my 3WW, late on Friday night once again. Better late than never. 

The backyard, fragrant

purple luster of juice

hanging, ready to pick.

Tangy skin breaks, and

burst of sweet explodes.

My mouth ignites.

The fallen delights,

squishy beneath our toes

are perfect ammunition.

Threat, glare, throw!

Splotchy streaks appear,

our battle scars.

photo credit: cheekycrows3

Sunday Sonnet: Perfect Moment

2009-08-30T16:12:00.012-04:00

Awake, aware, amazed; eyes wide with awe.

Complexion goes from gray to perfect pink.

The weight once in her belly, held in arms.

Blue eyes soak up the world without a blink.

A tiny sound escapes those perfect lips.
His head turns to and fro to find his thumb.
With every cry, the milk begins to drip,
And soon the pain of childbirth is all numb.

All warm and cuddled up, the babe drinks in,

A living breathing gift on mother's breast.

The perfect way for new life to begin,

A mother and her child; they both are blessed.

That perfect moment stretches on forever;
A bond of love is made; forgotten never.

Starting line for next week: When in the arms of Morpheus, I dream. 

photo credit: sean dreilienger

3WW: Cracked

2009-08-28T23:32:00.008-04:00

My Three Word Wednesday is finally done this late Friday night. I just couldn't get into writing mode until today. The words this week are: fracture, noise, and vanish.

A fracture in the time loop of our now,

a cracked up version of the daily grind.

Our castles in the sky are falling down;
We pick up all the pieces we can find.
The bubble bursts and here comes all the noise.
We sink, we float along, back to the surface.

And try to catch a wave and surf with poise,
and try to find a piece of sky to kiss.

Escape and vanish for a while tonight ,

get caught up in the clouds somewhere up there.

It very well might be a shaky flight.
It very well might be a bloody nightmare.

The sky is falling, hold on to the pieces.

Adrift, in awe, of everything that is.

 
I found two places to start out the open mike adventures. One called "The Witch's Brew" and the other "Cafe Bohemia". They both seem to have, from what I can glean from their websites, a very laid back atmosphere. I meet with Gladis this Thursday, whose putting together some beats on her djimbe for a few of my songs.

My mother has also invited me to a poetry reading. I told her I'd go with her; I think it will be fun. Although, as much as I write poetry, I have never done "spoken word". I'm definitely much more comfortable when my poems are wrapped up in a melody.

photo credit: Lee J Haywood

Sunday Sonnet: Sparkle

2009-08-23T02:38:00.004-04:00

I never want to see you zombified.
A disconnected wire; burnt out light.
I never want to say "Her sparkle died."
You've always been a candle in the night.

I want to see those sunny smiles of yours,
And listen as you conjure up your hope.
You'll walk on down a hall of many doors,
Instead of sliding down that slippery slope.

I'm glad you finally took the straighter road,
Instead of dyin' out in stranger's arms.
Dream big and keep your heart as your abode,
Starlight, shine bright; fly free with all your charms.

I never want to see you zombified.
I never want to say "Her sparkle died."

If you came up with a sonnet for today, leave a link in the comments. There is a problem with my comments right now, some aren't showing up. But the comments are being emailed to me. I will add a link directly into this post if that happens (until I get the issue corrected).

Opening line for next week's Sunday Sonnet: Awake, aware, amazed; eyes wide with awe.

photo credit: bullinna

3WW: Graceful, Riot, Decay

2009-08-21T22:02:00.005-04:00

This week's Three Word Wednesday: Graceful, Riot, Decay.

Hostage

A graceful stride across the parking lot,
To find a path to melt my woes away.
Cicadas sing a riot, break my thought,
And crickets chirp in time to day's decay.
The rain-soaked grass meets with my sandaled toes.
My feet soak up the rhythm of the night.
This orchestra of nature hums and grows,
A lullaby; soothing, glowing twilight.

A balmy inhalation; then, I sigh.
The distant cloudy billows fade in red.
I climb the stairs, the end of summer nigh,
Nocturnal echoes buzzing in my head.
I'm hostage to the night; outside my door.
I'll sit another minute, maybe more.

photo credit: Brian Wilson Photography

Monday Meanderings: 10 Quotes to Live By

2009-08-17T18:05:00.003-04:00

photo credit: Bob Jagendorf

You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?" - George Bernard Shaw

"True inspiration is subtle and graceful and will leave you secure if you listen"
- Sonia Choquette

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
- Henry David Thoreau

"I value my time. I choose to use it wisely and do not let others steal it from me."
- Paula Peisner

"When you really listen to yourself, you can heal yourself."
- Ceanne Derohan

"The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware."
- Henry Miller

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

"...To get where you want to go, you must keep on keeping on."
- Norman Vincent Peale

"The crisis of yesterday, is the joke of tomorrow."
- H.G. Wells

"The things on my world eat rainbows, and poop butterflies"
- Horton Hears A Who

Sunday Sunday: We Are the Night

2009-08-16T01:18:00.007-04:00

photo credit: ambushonecreative

My friend, the night, the moon, the light, the stars.

Warm wind; it gently holds us while we walk.
We whisper secret tales of faded scars,
And rearrange our souls with dreams and talk.
The trees our luminescent canopies;
Our nightlight on this cozy midnight jaunt.
We coax, performing mental autopsies,
Of loves, and loss, and places that we haunt.

We are the night; our eyes the distant suns.
Galactic dust rains on our dreary feet.
This perfect peace we feel, both awes and stuns.
The music of the spheres, plays soft and sweet.
For us, the crickets sing a lullaby.
But we won't sleep; not 'til the dawn is nigh.

Thank you Shadow for your opening line suggestion. Anyone can still join in for today's Sunday Sonnet, using the same beginning line as above. Post a link in the comments if you do!

If you don't want to join in today, join in for next week. The opening line for next week's sonnet is: I never want to see you zombified.

Also, feel free to leave suggestions for opening lines anytime.

3WW: Capture, Jinx, Qualify

2009-08-12T21:05:00.007-04:00

Three Word Wednesdays, join in the fun! This weeks three words are: capture, jinx, and qualify.

Soul to Soul

This is me stripped down to nothing; naked.
I don't even have to take off my clothes.
When my heart sings, you see what I've hidden.
All the answers woven into my prose.

Capture me with your soul, it's forever.
Qualify for a lifetime guarantee.
Smile with your eyes, I won't leave you; never.
'Cause what you get is right here, what you see.

Every step is a choice, or chance, to give.
Every breath a promise of something more.
I speak of your dreams, and the life you live.
Shrug off the jinxes, the nightmares, the war.

Forget names; soul to soul is all I know.
Close your eyes, feel the beat; let yourself go.

Tuesday Tunes: My 3WW Sonnet Turned Song!

2009-08-10T16:43:00.012-04:00

photo credit: detbuzzsaw

A few weeks ago, for a Three Word Wednesday, I wrote a sonnet called "I Don't Know How". I immediately knew I would turn it into a song. Here are the lyrics, as it is changed up a little to be in a song format and make it flow well for that:

You know I've got so much love here for you
So what will I do now that you're gone
I've got so much love in my heart for you
It perfectly lights up the sky at dawn

Salt burns down my face, I can't let go now
Try to forget you, and I don't know how
Try to forget you tonight, Try to forget you tonight
Stars are shining bright, and I don't know how

Each morning my cradle I feel your smile
And dew drops on the glass are all your tears
I close my eyes and you live for a while
Wake up it all just disappears

Salt burns down my face, I can't let go now
Try to forget you, and I don't know how
Try to forget you tonight, Try to forget you tonight
Stars are shining bright, and I don't know how

My feet touch the floor that you once walked upon
Go on past the room where you would dream
It's all dark now, the curtains are drawn..
Down on my knees I start to scream

Salt burns down my face, I can't let now
Try to forget you and I don't know how
Try to forget you tonight, try to forget you tonight
Stars are shining bright, and they don't know how
Stars are shining bright, Stars are shining bright
For you

In my sidebar there is a music player widget with that song; listen and give feedback!

Monday Meanderings: Childhood Dreams I Never Forgot

2009-08-10T14:22:00.006-04:00

photo credit: chandrika221

1. Jumping off of a bridge, into a raging river, I wake up before I land. That one I had more than once.

2. Jumping off of a brick building, and waking up before I hit the ground.

3. My house full of water, and I'm swimming around in it like a fish in a fish bowl.

4. Flying on a broom, to a posh house where a party is going on; piano is being played, people are dressed elegantly; a beautiful woman with long red hair sits at a table with a drink. A phone rings, and I wake up.

5. My best friend and I get kidnapped; we are being driven away in a jeep. We get left in a house in the middle of nowhere, all alone. We hear on the radio that a tornado is coming. We get out of the house and run until we come to this cafe, and we call our parents. The phone rings, and I wake up.

6. I'm floating and flying through the air in a forest. It feels like I'm swimming through the air. Birds fly by, and I can see pretty flowers down on the forest floor.

7. I'm in a mall, and someone is chasing me. I run out of the mall, into a forest, to the edge of a lake. The people that are after me are getting closer. Someone shows up with a boat and I get in. Then I wake up.

8. I'm sitting in front of a cottage in a meadow. Grey wolves rush across the meadow straight to me, and surround me. They are growling and baring their teeth. A big white wolf appears and growls at all the grey ones. Then the grey wolves transform into my friends, but they are all mean...trying to stab me with forks and knives. One girl stabs my back with a fork. The white wolf turns into the boy I have a crush on, and he is a knight wearing a white cape and wielding a sword. The mean kids turn back into wolves, and so does my crush..and he chases them back across the meadow. I wake up and my back is sore where the fork had stabbed me in my dream.

9. Once I woke up still dreaming...I saw visions of candy floating above my head and tried to grab it. Then it all disappeared..oh what a disappointment.

10. I used to dream of climbing this tall building I always saw downtown, that had these wide concrete ledges. I would climb and walk around the ledges, and get all the way to the top and look out at the city. That was a recurring dream.

Do any of you have childhood dreams or nightmares that you still remember?

Sunday Sonnet: Journey in the Dark

2009-08-09T03:00:00.001-04:00

photo credit: Apenas imagens - Marília Almeida

Eyes closed but I'm awake; lucidity.
My voice an instrument; clarity and love.
Magic moments sparkle in harmony.
Melody floats upon the clouds above.
Heartbeats keep the time, glow the truth so bright.
Darkest of dark rooms, open the curtains.
Let the moonshine in, shadows turn to light.
Solar energies bleach away blood stains.

Open the door, I'm not afraid of this
Adventurous night; journey in the dark.
Nightmares are nothing all soaked in bliss;
Light them all up with my golden dreamspark.
Walk through any door I can imagine.
Knock on my door, and I will let you in.

Here are links to two more Sunday Sonnets, one by Breeze Daze, and the other by Double-Dolphin.

I am looking for suggestions for an opening line for next week. Dolphin, Breeze, Shadow, Mamta...anyone? I have a lot of great writers reading my blog now, I'd love to hear your ideas for an opening line. 10 syllables, iambic pentameter. Leave your ideas in the comments today!

3WW: Accentuate, Glamor, Pitch

2009-08-06T19:46:00.014-04:00

Join in for Three Word Wednesday; This week's words are accentuate, glamor, and pitch.

photo credit HAMED MASOUMI

Synchronized

When its time to get away from the row,
Just sit right here beside me dear and listen.
Don't expect glitter; it's no glamor show.
But I need all your love as admission.

Accentuate the rhythm with a smile.
The pitch will find a way into your heart.
Just sit here, listen for a little while.
Your worries come unglued right from the start.

A fire burns so bright between us now,
We feed it with emotion; watch it dance.
The world needs so much more of this somehow,
With love and music, this world has a chance.

My soul is synchronized with what you long for.
Who else do you think I wrote this song for?

Tuesday Tunes: 10 Random Songs That I Love

2009-08-04T07:00:00.002-04:00

When someone asks me what kind of music I like, my usual answer is "good music". Or "eclectic". I really like a huge variety of songs, a variety of genres both old and new. Here are 10 random songs that I love and have been listening to a lot lately.

And here's Sick Puppies "It's All the Same". I love the lyrics and melody, and the first time I heard it was when someone sent me this "free hugs" video.

Monday Meanderings: Comfort

2009-08-03T01:03:00.006-04:00

10 random things that I find comfort in.

photo credit: Leszek Golubinski

An ocean breeze, mixed with the sound of waves crashing.

A hot cup of coffee on a rainy, gray day.

A hug, without having to ask for it.

A full body massage.

Music that takes you away somewhere magical.

Reading a good book, and ignoring everything else.

A long soak in a hot bath.

Homemade chicken soup, even just the smell of it.

Big fluffy pillows, no such thing as too many.

Wading in the pool, on a sunny day in Florida.

Sunday Sonnet : Treasure

2009-08-02T02:31:00.006-04:00

photo credit: skyseeker

Torpidity, my lassitude's mourner.
Malaise strangles hopeful exhalations.
Indifference crouches darkly in the corner,
Crushing hopes as mere hallucinations.
Oppressive climate, humid hankering.
Incessant heat of want will chase the storm.
Desire chips away old anchoring;
Set free to swim ambition's aquaform.

Black coal becomes a shiny diamond new.
Beneath the Earth so dark and deep at first,
A molten heat surrounds, chisels; subdue
Into a gem so bright, Earthly star burst.
I'll sail the ocean deep; a treasure mine.
Survive the journey; stronger soul to shine.

Who would like to join in and write a sonnet? Starting line for next week's:
Eyes closed but I'm awake; lucidity

If you post it on your own blog, post a link in the comments next week. Otherwise post directly as a comment.

Did anyone else write a sonnet for this week?

Picture Perfect: Candid Cuteness

2009-07-31T11:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes words are extraneous. Here are some random favorite candids of my two cutie pies, at various ages. They are my everyday muses.

3WW: Darkness, Patronize, Weaken

2009-07-29T12:19:00.011-04:00

Join in for Three Word Wednesday.
This week's words: Darkness, Patronize, Weaken

photo credit:Fuzzy Gerdes

Even in the city,

There are places to walk.
Steppin' over cracks
Savin' all the mothers' backs.
Backways; shady paths
Behind dilapidated gas stations.
Trees still tower over tarmac,
Birds perch on branches and wires.

Bees find those flowers
Peeking out of concrete.
My feet the beat,
Dancin' to my drum,
I patronize Mother Earth;
With each exhalation
I breathe life into her
As she does for me.

She in her bunker
Called the universe
Barely weakens under
Our eco footprints.
Just as mothers merely wince
As the baby bites
The breast that nourishes.
The sun rises,
then sets into darkness,

Even in the city.

Lucid Love

2009-07-27T23:00:00.003-04:00

photo credit: Craig Grobler

Everyday with you

Is poetry.
A living, breathing song
of passion.

Energies and chemistries
That intertwine, combust, and combine
Into the compound Love;
It's elements like the very
Wind, Earth, Fire, and Water.
Powerful grace,
You are the center
of my universe.
Our love, a world where
Two universes are one,
Crazy and magical.

Our imaginations run wild
In the same direction.
Creation of alternate reality,
A parallel plane of existence,
Above and beyond
The mundane, earthly, and material.
We are Two Wings that
Carry a shared body ethereal.
For our love is a dream,
And our dream, love.
Lucid and magical.

I love it when I clean out my closet, and I find a box or folder of old poems and drawings and doodles. Yes, I even save doodles, if I like them well enough. This poem is one that I wrote for my husband before we were married. There is no date on it, but I know it was late in 2000, or early 2001..before we were married, but we were madly in love and living together. The poem was written on small lined memo paper and signed with my name and lots of X's and O's. I believe I dropped in on his desk to read at work - where we met.

Monday Meanderings: Time

2009-07-27T03:30:00.001-04:00

photo credit: Robbert van der Steeg

(Remember, this is stream of consciousness, "whatever comes to mind" style. It's all about the meandering, no brilliance required on Mondays)

Everyone wants more time.

'Cause time is on your side, yes it is.

Also, everybody needs some time, on their own.

A time for hate, a time for love,

What time is it? Oh, you know what time it is!

I used to have a swatch watch.

I haven't owned a watch in many years.

I lose track of time easily.

Times, they're always a'changin'.

Timing...it's all about the timing.

I want a time machine. Or a machine that can make time. So when someone tells me, "You just gotta make the time for it" I can push a button and voila!

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The mouse went up the clock.

Clock Work Orange...saw it. Umm...Loathing in Las Vegas made more sense than that one.

Time magazine...I've only read it a handful of times.

If I could turn back time...I don't know that I really would. What if the things I thought I should change took away all the best parts of my life today?

If time is just an illusion...its a damn good one.

Freezing time...now that would be a handy power. Just pause...have some time to myself and refresh, push play when I was ready for the world again.

Time flies when you're having fun...so they say. When I am songwriting, it's more like time disappears. Until 5am when my lids get droopy - time re-appears suddenly, I fight it, and it wins.

I need quiet time every day...silence truly is golden for me.

Sunday Sonnet: New Terrain

2009-07-26T11:20:00.007-04:00

photo credit: stuant63

Cold stone in crumbles, sharp beneath my feet
Only remnants of steps that led nowhere.
This valley before me a vestige of deceit,
My fledgling wings open, I float in midair.
I step to the edge where the span once was,
Expecting stone or wood security.
The clever wind approaches with a cause,
To push this flight into maturity.

At first I dive head first toward certain death.
I twist and kick and try to slow the fall.
Alas I feel the warmth of nature's breath,
Arrest my steep descent; I hear the call.
Broken bridges; ancient fragments remain.
Depart the ruins, explore the new terrain.

Here is the starting line for next Sunday's sonnet, for anyone who would like to join in. Just post a link to yours next Sunday when I post mine. You can also post it in the comments:

Torpidity, my lassitude's mourner

Featured on Breeze Daze

2009-07-24T14:41:00.004-04:00

I've had the great pleasure to work with my very good friend on a poetry book project, and today she has featured me on her blog Breeze Daze with samples of some of my photos that she is using in her book. Take a look for a preview, and see the inspirational poetry and articles she's got going there too.

Now I'm off for a walk in the city, camera in hand.

3WW: Snare, Perfect, Cradle

2009-07-22T12:33:00.014-04:00

Join in for Three Word Wednesday each week.

I Don't Know How

You know I've got so much love to give you
So what will I do now that you're gone
This love in my heart that I have for you
It's perfect to light up the sky at dawn
Each morning my cradle, I feel you smile
These dew drops on the glass are all your tears
I close my eyes and you live for a while
When I wake up it all just disappears

My feet touch the floor you once crawled upon
And walk on past the room where you would dream
But its all dark now, the curtains are drawn
The sadness a snare; I choke out a scream
Salt burns down my face, I can't let go now
Try to forget you, but I don't know how

I actually wrote this poem last night. It sort of poured out of me, after reading a story of yet another child's untimely death in the hands of pure cruelty. Asking myself, "Why?" and I didn't get a good answer. It was after reading a blog post by Breeze Daze about little Victoria Stafford. You can read that blog post here. Insanity and evil don't make sense to me. But I could feel the pain that a parent would in this situation, or that anyone feels who has lost a loved one tragically and unexpectedly.

I was able to add the 3WW words to it this morning, one line changed a bit and I think the poem is better for it now. Also, this poem is destined to be a song .... I've already started working on a melody.

Update as of Aug 8th 2009: It is now a song as well, and I will post it as soon as I have a good recording.

photo credit flower beauty

Monday Meanderings - Love

2009-07-20T21:00:00.005-04:00

I don't think we should ever regret love.

Love at first sight has happened to me more than once.

Sometimes you have to re-invent it, whatever that means. I guess it means, if you want to love you have to continue to show it.

It's not something you are in, its something you do.

We can say "I love you" but what are we doing that is loving?

I really do love being told that I am loved.

I love it when my kids tell me out of the blue.

My husband tells me every day, and I say it at least 20 times a day to my kids and my husband.

Chocolate is the food embodiment of love.

Roses make me think of new love. Red soft petals, very sensual and passion inspiring.

Passion and love though, are not the same. But I think they are a great combination.

Or is passion really just intense love? I guess it depends on which definition we use, or choose.

Love without romance is like coffee without cream and sugar - it gets the job done, but it can be plain, and sometimes its bitter.

The first step to finding true love, is to stop trying so hard.

When you love someone, listen first - then listen some more.

There are different kinds of love - spousal, maternal/paternal, friendship, kinship, camaraderie, brotherhood, sisterhood, it's all good.

Love is sharing ourselves with others; our time, attention, presence, kindness, and understanding

You can never love too much.

When you feel like you need more love in your life, start with yourself.

photo credit: Shanissinha_

Sunday Sonnet - Wish Drops

2009-07-19T18:40:00.001-04:00

I climb this ladder straight into the clouds.
Perhaps I'll fall asleep there under stars
That twinkle bright to peak through hazy shrouds,
To dance along the galaxy's bazaars.

When it rains, I'll fall right back down to Earth
Perhaps upon a rainbow slide of hopes
To labor forth a wondrous dream's new life,
Star to spy with no need for telescopes.

Gamma-ray sparks, a solar transfusion
Straight into my wishful thinking socket.
To shape and weave a new and grand ambition,
My hands hold tight the stardust in my pocket.

Such bright and shiny wish drops fall on me,
A shower of hope my perfect company.

New start line for next week's sonnet:

Cold stone in crumbles, sharp beneath my feet

photo credit: jwolf312

3WW: Drip, Hypnotic, Sulk

2009-07-15T16:22:00.009-04:00

I just saw this poetry writing prompt and decided to give it a try. Three Word Wednesday, (3WW) is a blog that posts three words each Wednesday, to be used by interested bloggers/writers. You link your poem or story or paragraph in the comments, and hopefully go check out and comment on other people's 3WW writings too.

My ears drip with honey sweet from your lip,
Deafened to any other sound or call.
Muffled suggestions and directions slip
Past all awareness, through cracked stone wall.

Stereo hypnotic pulses caress
To lift, and undulate into dances.
Feet lift and drop, a release of all stress,
Instinct king in this castle of chances.

The sulk of day recedes and melts away,
Amid the raucous flow of wondrous light.
Alive, awake, aware, we stomp and sway.
The clocks are stopped; we feast upon the night.

Tomorrow waits; we grasp and won't let go,
Until the sun appears, the day aglow.

Whens-Days

2009-07-15T02:30:00.001-04:00

Whens-days; where I talk about about how _______ when ________.

A camera would have been handy when - I was walking the Largo Park Nature Trail, and there was a man nonchalantly riding a unicycle whilst playing a guitar.

My laughter was inevitable when - my 6 year old son told a grown woman about her break up, "Maybe he just wasn't the man for you"

A smile appeared from ear to ear when - I saw how my 3 year daughter was delighted by the sound of her recorded voice.

Aggravation crept in when - I found out being a regular patient at my eye doctor for several years, has only been saving me $5, compared to the new patient price for an exam.

It was a happy surprise when - the Publix pharmacist announced, Amoxocilin is always free of charge (which I picked up for the sinusitus I came down with last week).

A customary part of many days now, is when - My 6 yr old proclaims in a conversational tone "Yeah, I used to do that in my past life".

Immense feelings of gratitude fill my heart when - my husband gives me a fifteen minute massage to help me relax, even after he is tired from a long, hard day of work.

One of my favorite things is when - my daughter falls asleep in my lap.

The day seems so much nicer when - I end it with a soak in a hot tub.

One of the most magical things in life is when - you meet someone, and you feel like you have known them forever.

*Feel free to comment with your own whens, as little or as many as you like.

Photo credit: 2create

Monday Meanderings

2009-07-13T10:45:00.004-04:00

...10 random thoughts, stream of consciousness style...

I love coffee.
My white mocha latte is better than Starbuck's.
Most pajamas look more comfortable than they feel.
I hate most perfumes.
I own a book called Thinkertoys
I want to live on a small self-sustainable farm.
I'd like to learn at least 2 other languages fluently.
I feel like I can never learn everything I want to know
I used to be addicted to Everquest.
More people should fall in love with their best friend.

Feel free to add some random thoughts to your comments. Don't think too hard, just write! I used to write 3 pages worth of whatever thought crossed my mind, each and every morning. I did it first thing upon waking. It's one of the regular exercises I did in the book The Artist's Waylast year. Writing that way every morning, was very much like a writing meditation. It's a great part of any writer's or artist's (or anyone's) daily routine to keep creativity flowing. I keep meaning to start up my "morning pages" habit again, it's a great way to start the day. I actually recommend the book "The Artist's Way" to a lot of my artist friends, because it helped me immensely in getting back into my creative groove so to speak, after being sort of stagnant for a long time. There are several weeks of exercises that you do, and morning pages I did every single day. Not too long after, I began writing again in volumes - lyrics, music, and poetry. I still have the book and I've mulled over the idea of doing all the exercises again, they were that helpful to me.

photo credit: MontanaRaven

The Sunday Sonnet

2009-07-12T04:00:00.000-04:00

A New Sonnet Every Sunday

I'll post the beginning line for a sonnet every Sunday. The following Sunday morning I will post my sonnet (as well as the beginning line for the next week). I invite any of my fellow bloggers and readers to write their own sonnet, based on the same line. So the line I post today, if you decide to write your own sonnet, take a week to write it and post it on your blog, then link it as a comment the following Sunday.

What is a Sonnet?

The word sonnet is derived from the Italian word sonneto, which means little song. Sonnets are a type of European lyric poetry. Lyric poetry are short poems written to show personal feelings, as opposed to drama or epic poetry. It can be put to music, or not. I just spent a few hours perusing the history of the sonnet and its constructs, and I still have a lot to learn to get all the nuances. But I've mainly been following a Shakespearean form of the English sonnet. It contains 3 quatrains and a couplet, ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Each line has 10 syllables, using iambic pentameter. For a simple breakdown on the different forms click here. Pick any form you wish for your Sunday Sonnet.

For today, I am re-posting a sonnet I wrote based on a line written by Double-Dolphin. He wrote one line of poetry and invited a few of his fellow bloggers to write a whole poem based on it. This is what gave me the idea for this theme. I loved seeing the different poems that came from that one line. So, here it is:

Ocean Tide

The dead are an ocean tide, they reach out
To us - the dying, as we cross the sands.
Each day on life's shore we parade about,
Sun on our faces and time on our hands.

We trip upon messages in bottles,
Walk upon fossils and shells turned to dust.
The waves that lap our feet are canticles,
"Our castles crumble, but build them we must."

Sailors puff out sails to glide the surface,
As divers go beneath for their treasures.
A few lie in silence for sun and bliss,
While others sit and fish for their measures.

The dead are an ocean tide; they reach out
To us - the dying, as we walk about.

Here's our opening line for next week's Sunday Sonnet (July 19th, 2009):

I climb this ladder straight into the clouds

photo source: Jordi Serra Carol

Saturday Soliloquy

2009-07-11T01:32:00.019-04:00

"Saturday Soliloquy" - This will be a recurring theme for my Saturday blog posts. I've actually just come up with a theme for every day of the week, to give myself a bit more incentive to write every day. Some of them will be really fun for my readers and fellow bloggers as well, since I will invite you all to participate: Monday Meanderings, Tuneful Tuesdays, Whens-Days, Thoughtful Thursdays, Friday Funnies, Saturday Soliloquy, and The Sunday Sonnet. Read every day this week, and you will find out what these themes are all about!

Saturdays are almost the "no theme" day really, I just get to ramble on about whatever I wish, throw in some new poem styles I'm playing with, ramble some more, etc.

I've been craving quiet time.

Whispers, hushed voices
Feet shuffle past book towers
Book bags heavy with knowledge

Peace, and solitude
A nook to cozy up in
Escape to another world

It's been way too long since I've stepped foot in a library. I will have to make it a point to hop on a bus and spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon there. Maybe tomorrow.

It's 9:40am - I am very sleepy. That decongestant medicine for my sinusitis, I took it late in the day yesterday. No wonder I couldn't fall asleep. Then I woke up too early and couldn't get back to sleep, even though the kids slept in.

I don't feel like doing anything today! But I will have to get out of the apartment - for the kids sake at least. It will be good for me, too. There's a blue sky, so we may go to the pool. The weather has been so hot, the pool is almost like bath water. The humidity has made being outside very miserable, in my opinion. The pool is nice though, it makes being outdoors bearable. The water may actually be cooler since its been rainy. I don't know - humidity is at 79% and its 79 degrees Farenheit. The high is supposed to be 91. I either need to go to the pool now, or wait until the evening to avoid the scorching midday sun.

Alright, I've decided....we are headed to the pool.

ETA: Alright, we never made it to the pool. The pool gate was padlocked, a mean dog was on the loose in the complex and I had to call animal control, and then it rained, and then, and then, etc...oh well, I managed to play some guitar, do some dishes, and steam clean one room.

Also, I had a great laugh when I was reading through this natural health circular. There was an advertisement for Colon Hydrotherapy, and the woman that does the hydrotherapy is named Billie ODORS! Ha!

(Originally, I was making my Saturday theme "Smorgasbord". My husband suggested it last night after having some beers, and I was tired and though "oh sure". I like soliloquy better, it fits - its what it is after all. I am talking to myself. It's typed out for all to see, but I really am talking to myself.)

photo credit

Motto of a Free Spirit

2009-06-30T14:38:00.011-04:00

No one else is doing it -
so why not me?
I'll be the first,

and maybe the last.
Hello Chance!
Good to meet you.

Everyone else is doing it -
so why not me?
That's never been

my Modus Operandi .
Public pools
are full of piss.

photo by Andrew

Audience

2009-06-28T03:23:00.015-04:00

Sweet, smokey cloves

Kiss my lips

Shadows lick the Earth

I am audience

To the balmy night

Symphony of crickets

Headlights prowl

The engines low

Lights stretch and streak

Cat calls below me

I gaze at the sky

From my balcony

Sweet, smokey cloves

Still on my lips

Applaud the night

Etheree for the Muse

2009-06-27T02:00:00.002-04:00

No
rest comes
as i write
into the wee
hours of the morn;
my muse won't allow it.
She holds my hand so gently,
yet with the urgency of now,
to draw my ink from heaven's summit.
Whispers of dreams fly across my pages.

Photo by Athena

It's My Very First Blog Award

2009-06-24T18:09:00.010-04:00

I've received my very first blog award this week. Thank you Double-Dolphin, for sending this on to me.

About this award...

...the rules

1.link the person who tagged you.
2.copy the image above, the rules and the questionnaire in this post.
3.post this in one or all of your blogs.
4.answer the four questions following these rules.
5.recruit at least seven (7) friends on your blog roll by sharing this with them.
6.come back to BLoGGiSTa iNFo CoRNeR (please do not change this link) and leave the URL of your post in order for you/your blog to be added to the master list.
7.have fun!

...the questions

the person who tagged you
his/her site’s title and url
date when you were tagged
persons you tagged

...the answers

Double-Dolphin
Double-Dolphin
June 27th, 2009

And I'm passing this award to..

Gladis
James
Haye
Mamta
Emily
Sammy
Mama Zen

Ride the Wind

2009-06-19T23:02:00.004-04:00

Sailing, source: Philipp Bunge.

I began life so soft and innocent,
a shapeless puddle of clay and cries.
Strawberry fuzz for hair, a toothless smile,
and inquisitive blue marble eyes.

But my muse has been ever present,
her invisible hand pushes and pulls.
A wind, sometimes a warm caress;
but also a knife that shapes and chisels.

With each sweep, and every stroke;
Day by day, the details are laid.
My mind changed, life rearranged;
With my response, my character is made.

Not yet a masterpiece, I stand tall,
until the final gust brings an end.
For until that storm rolls over and in,
I shall batten the sails and ride the wind.

Self Awareness

2009-06-19T21:04:00.011-04:00

source: eduardo.meza.

It begins with self awareness
That quality within you
Where you realize truth and fairness
And from there you will continue

In one pocket is your conscious
When you might get lost, it's a clue
Hold it in hand when you're anxious
And from there you will continue

Imagine who you want to be
Put that image clearly into view
Add your will, and soon you'll fly free
And from there you will continue

It begins with self awareness
And from there you will continue

Sun Showers

2009-06-14T14:24:00.014-04:00

Sun showers on a heavy gray-sky day
Break right through the shady clouds of sorrow
It frees all the rain drops to wash away,
To make a path on through for tomorrow
Each step that I take, you're right here my friend
Even when the storms brew, you shine for me
The deepest darkest night will always end,
Daylight finds us beneath the linden tree

Warmth of dawn shakes us from our deep slumber
Dew drops melt across the lively landscape
Perfect beginning to a hot summer
Nightmares disappear into our dreamscape
You will greet me when I wake up, sunshine
You drive away the cold, and I feel fine

Indians, Jews, and Spirituality

2009-05-29T01:58:00.006-04:00

I just returned from the Smokey Mountains, only 2 days ago. The drive there was beautiful in itself, from flat Florida to the rolling foothills in Northern Georgia, then the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. Soon I will have pictures to share. For now, I have a story for you about one of the highlights of my trip.

Up in the mountains, at Oconaluftee Indian village, my 6 year old son took it upon himself to ask some questions. This village is set up to show how Cherokee life was a few hundred years ago. There are different styles of dwellings from different time periods, a sweat lodge, a garden, and you can also see traditional pottery, bead work, weaving, and other crafts being done live throughout the day.

Before some ceremonial dances were about to begin, a Cherokee man held a little question and answer period. One audience member asked about the compatibility of Christianity with Cherokee beliefs. The Cherokee man answered, "We Cherokee have always been a spiritual people, religion is man-made and that is where mistakes come in." Then my 6 year old son raises his hand, and he asks loudly and excitedly, "What's the difference between an Indian and a Jew?"The lady who sat next to Jakob looked at him, and her jaw dropped slightly. Many audience members gasped, smiled, and laughed. The Cherokee man was quick on his feet and replied, "People end up living in different places around the world, and develop different languages, and that really is the only difference...we are all really much the same." Jakob was satisfied with this answer. I also thought it was a wonderful answer to this unexpected question.

A few more questions were asked, and the same audience member who asked about Christianity, wanted to know specifically what religion the Cherokee followed. The Cherokee man answered (and I am paraphrasing), "Well, we really have been a spiritual people, not religious. Spirit is God talking to man...it is here, all around us in nature. Everything here is sacred. Religion is man talking to God." I thought that was just a really amazing description and comparison of religion and spirituality. And Jakob also wanted to add his 2 cents. He raised his hand again. "Well, I'm not sure what we're gonna hear next, but go ahead", said the Cherokee man kindly. The crowd chuckled, and then all were quiet to hear what this little boy was going to say next. Jakob says, "Well, what all religions have in common is that they believe spirits are immortal." Silence, chuckles, applause, the lady next to him - her jaw dropped once again. The Cherokee man says, "You and I could have a long conversation, later on."

I've thought about this little event often since it happened a few days ago, and I smile and laugh every time I do. My sister in law doesnt' call Jakob "The Little Professor" for nothing. He speaks loudly, clearly, and with lots of confidence. I home school him, but he is also a teacher to me! He makes me laugh, and he gets me thinking, on a regular basis.

I hope this story made you smile, and inspires you to focus on the spiritual side of life a bit more today.

May the warm winds of Heaven blow softly on your home,
And the Great Spirit bless all who enter there.
May your moccasins make happy tracks in many snows
And may the rainbow always touch your shoulder.
(A Cherokee Blessing)

Dreamwalking

2009-05-20T12:18:00.003-04:00

That would make a great poem or song title, wouldn't it? Hm, I may have a new poem soon. It's actually been a real routine of mine lately. The breaks went out in our (junker) car and we won't repair them, since its not financially worth it for this car. My husband bikes to work and back each day, and I walk for all my errands around town. Also, we have lacked a regular internet connection for a few weeks now..which is why I seem to have disappeared from the web world recently.

I actually look forward to my walk - or two, or three - daily. Not only am I out of the apartment, but I have time to think and daydream without constant interruption; mothers everywhere understand what a treasure this alone time is. I also get some much needed exercise as well.

As I walk to the grocery or corner store, I dream up some new song lyrics, a new melody, or think about a new recipe I might try later in the week. I dream of what my first performance (within the past few years) at a local coffee house will be like. I also enjoy the relative quiet away from my adorable, energetic, and talkative children. It's a luxury to have random thoughts come in and out of my mind, the muted woosh of traffic soothes my frayed nerves, I enjoy the balmy air, and a few sprinkles of warm rain too.

Also, I dream of the trip to the Smokey Mountains we are about to embark on. Tomorrow we'll drive from here in Largo, Florida, up to Georgia. We'll stay in a motel for one night, and then we will check in to our cabin in North Carolina, Friday morning. This is a trip for my step-dad's huge family reunion, so we'll be around a lot of wonderful cousins, aunts, and uncles..and my parents, my brothers and some nieces and nephews. I will have my traditional film camera with me, with black and white film, and some color film too. I'll also have my digital video cam with me as well. When we return, I'm sure I will have many pictures to share. I'll have a notebook too for any inspired poetry or lyrics to go down in. I want to bring a guitar, but don't know if it will fit into my dad's car, or mom's SUV. Maybe I will get new strings for my son's little guitar and bring his, I could actually fit that in my lap.

There is a plan to visit a Cherokee village before we leave, and there is a Pow Wow going on. There is talk of Cherokee lineage in my family on my father's side, although I haven't been able to verify it or get anything but a sort of family legend of a raid on a tribe, and a little girl being taken in by my ancestor's family and then marrying one of them when she grew up. She is supposed to be a great-great-great grandma but I haven't seen any real details in our written family history. None-the-less, I have always been completely fascinated by Native American history and tribal life, and will enjoy the village and will take lots of photos there, too.

I find that nature is one of the best places for me to relax and recharge. It is also a particularly effective place to get inspired and let my creativity run as wild as Mother Earth's flora and fauna.

I grew up in a California valley, and every day I saw purple mountains loom nearby. We camped in the mountains or the foothills quite often, two of my favorite spots were Lake Arrowhead (San Bernandino mountains) and Idyllwild (San Jacinto mountains). Here I am now, in a very flat Florida, and I am very excited about this mountain adventure.

Look for a blog explosion in about 2 weeks, when I have returned refreshed and renewed, with lots of pictures!

The Rest is Always Unwritten...

2009-05-05T09:58:00.006-04:00

I'm listening to Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten this morning. I'm linking to this great acoustic version of her hit song, I love it.

Unwritten lyrics

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, yeah, yeah

Anyhow, I just think it's a beautiful song and the lyrics are inspiring.

I also found read this quote today, and it goes well with Natasha's message:

Always do what you are afraid to do.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

On that note...time to get started with my day, which includes some errands , a jog in nature, and possibly a swim. The usual stuff like home school with the kids, cooking etc. And I'll be recording a cover of "Bobby McGee". Maybe I will follow Emerson's advice and do something I'm afraid to...make a youtube video of myself.

Happy writing everyone...in your unwritten pages of today and tomorrow.

It's You, Love

2009-04-28T20:28:00.012-04:00

You know, I don't think there is anyone else
in this whole, wide, weary world
that gets me
like you do.

Over scorched desert, and wide plains,
forever over seas, and across
rushed rivers and craggy mountains;
and into
dark caverns.

If I visited every pub and club,
tent, shack, house, mansion, palace,
castle, or the pearly gates;
time spent
in vain.

My heart tells me I'd turn up
no souls or
minds that match me
as you, love.

It's you, love.

A Muse In Me

2009-04-25T15:45:00.004-04:00

Note the title of this blog post, it will very shortly be my new blog title. Just a heads up.

A Beautiful Spring Day

2009-04-25T13:02:00.010-04:00

The kids and I just got back from about 2 hours at Highland Park and Recreation Center. It is such a perfect day to be outside. I half wish we had forgotten about lunch and stayed there, because the kids have brought their outdoor energy inside, to wrestle each other in the living room.

First we went to the playground, where I grabbed a swing. I swung lazily and watched as Piper climbed around, and Jakob tackled the monkey bars. After several minutes of daydreamy swings, I walked over closer to the kids and helped lift them to grab this handle that sits in a groove all along a beam...so you hold on and you hang and just glide across (I have to pick up my feet so they don't drag on the ground). After a while Jakob said, "I hear a hawk". I listened just a few seconds and heard it too, so we gazed above us and soon we saw the hawk kiting around above the tree tops, back and forth. We lost interest in the playground at that point and started to traipse around in the patch of the hawk's woods.

Our shady path took us to a creek's edge, which we followed for a bit. The kids stopped to throw pebbles in - tadpoles dispersed to escape them - when we were almost to the little lake. This lake might be called Highland lake but I'm not sure, I couldn't find the information on a cursory Google search. It's surrounded by trees on all sides, so the path is fairly shady. Birds sang, and from across the street we heard the crack of wood against a baseball, shouts,and laughter. Two boys who looked like they might have just come from an earlier game sat by the lake's edge, both donned in red baseball caps and shirts, their fishing poles in hand. Jakob immediately introduced himself and asked if he could share the boy's fishing pole. The request was denied, so I suggested to Jakob he just watch and learn. I had to warn him to keep his hand's out of the tackle box that was open so he wouldn't hook himself. Jakob is the kind of kid that jumps right in, hands first. When he started to lecture the older boy on the best bait to use (something he doesn't actually know anything about yet), I suggested we leave the boys to their fishing and we continued our walk.

Soon we got the the shadiest, biggest tree on the lake..the only part of the lake that actually provided shade over any part of the water itself. This is where much of the lake wildlife was gathered. A small flock of ibis pecked around the shoreline, and an egret mingled with them, as well as a handful of ducks. Piper ran towards them and all the ibis flew up into the branches above. The egret just walked a few feet away, and the ducks were nonchalant. We noticed at least a dozen turtles in this same shady water hole. We just saw their heads glide above the water, and then a few showed themselves near enough the bank that we could see their colorful green and yellow spotted shells. We saw a slightly bigger ibis-like bird off near the creek that was mostly a light pink color, with some white feathers too. We went to see it closer, and of course the kids got too close and the pink ibis flew off.

Then it was time for us to fly home for lunch and here we are. The kids have eaten lunch and I can hear them fight over something that Piper found. I could have stayed at the park all day. I have a scenario planned that goes something like this: 1) Take the kids back outside until it's time to, 2) Pick up husband, 3) Drop off kids and husband at home, and ) Grab my camera, film, and notebook and head back to the park alone.

Our Cherished Mother

2009-04-23T03:19:00.003-04:00

Rondel for the Wild Things

2009-04-23T02:22:00.027-04:00

Ink and Quill

2009-04-23T00:38:00.007-04:00

A noisy thought shakes all around,
like a broken filament will.
Haunted by this ghost of a sound,
I take up some ink and my quill.

No use to try and forget it.
It's not something I could just kill.
A long lost puzzle piece to fit,
I take up some ink, and my quill.

Let's call it a song from my muse,
Who lights up dark the stars can't fill.
Magic sparks ignite my heart's fuse -
I take up some ink, and my quill

A noisy thought shakes all around -
I take up some ink, and my quill.

New Flowers

2009-04-23T00:11:00.010-04:00

I am reborn.

First, I
rest in my
nocturnal garden.
My eyes closed,
I drift there
and walk.
My bare feet

touch
cool, fertile soil.
I dig deeply with
my bare hands,
and place the new
lively seeds
in their mother's womb.
To grow

into new flowers,
each morning.

Creating On A Shoestring

2009-04-17T15:50:00.006-04:00

An idea that I came upon in a great book, called The Artist's Way, is that we shouldn't have to stop being creative - even if we feel blocked in our "preferred" medium of creation. While I'm not blocked in the truest sense, my finances are acting as some kind of barricade this week.

But without the extra cash this week to get the guitar strings I need, or the film I would like, it is going to get me back into a different kind of creative flow. It can be an interesting thing to just get creative any other way you can, whether its finances or lack of inspiration holding you back. Creativity seems to breed creativity, so this week could actual be a start off point for some new projects, musical or otherwise.

So that's what's on my mind this afternoon. I can continue to lament my lack of guitar strings and film, or I can get creative in other ways. On my list of possible creative outlets: re-arranging the furniture in my living room, collages (with the piles of magazines I've saved just for that purpose), writing in my paper journal and/or blog daily, trying out a new (inexpensive) recipe, working out a melody with my voice for the 3 sets of lyrics I have in my folder, making up a story for my kids, or make someone laugh with a new faceinhole.com creation. (I highly recommend anyone reading this to check out faceinhole.com, it is hilarious.)

In essence, creating on a shoestring is a great way to flex our creative muscles. On my limited resources, I am forced to get more creative with less. It's not entirely a bad thing, really.

Gray Clouds Gather

2009-04-06T12:13:00.004-04:00

Gray clouds gather up in the sky

The window is opened slightly

The smell of fresh cut grass wafts by

And I sip my coffee lightly

I hear traffic in the distance

Jakob strums his guitar brightly,

the growl of an airplane's advance

And I sip my coffee lightly

Magical windchime narratives

serenade a rainbow sprightly,

backed up by a rustle of leaves

And I sip my coffee lightly

Gray clouds gather up in the sky

And I sip my coffee lightly

Twin Souls

2009-04-05T22:51:00.005-04:00

Sometimes

as we walk along

we meet ourselves.

Another soul wears

the same stripes we do.

At that moment,

something ignites.

That sparkle within,

dangles from someone's neck

like a gem.

It beckons us to speak

to an apparent stranger.

Will we pass by and leave

a piece of our heart?

With a hello, a handshake,

or a smile -

we hope

to complete this connection.

This twin soul,

a magnetic force

that pulls us right in.

To part would be

physically impossible,

once together.

Twin souls,

united.

I Lie Here

2009-04-05T09:03:00.008-04:00

I lie here
in pain,
physical comfort eludes me.
My mind also wanders,
and I wonder
about this
and that
random life issue.
Tied down
to a bed,
imagination is my friend.
I can't help but
to dream
of all the things
I'd rather do
than cope.
So I hope,
and make grand schemes,
for when the pain chain
is broken.
When I fly again.
To live, to learn,
and to love.

Seeds That We Sowed

2009-04-01T13:14:00.015-04:00

Springtime soon will dance wildly into bloom,
Winter's dry remnants still droopy with thirst
Green waxy leaves will bear orange blossoms soon
A fragrant promise of an autumn outburst

The balmy days and warm April showers,
are here to quell wildfires and chapped landscapes
Browns go green, and mingle with new flowers
while revellers all flock to the seascapes

And the lakes and the rivers come alive
Beneath green canopies, we gently pace
Watchful in places that gators connive
Yet unrestrained in this mild breezy place

Climax of seeds all anxious to explode
We walk among blooms, of seeds that we sowed

Ocean Tide

2009-03-30T11:56:00.007-04:00

(inspired by one beautiful line of poetry written by Double-Dolphin...)

The dead are an ocean tide, they reach out
to us - the dying, as we cross the sands.
Each day on life's shore we parade about,
sun on our faces and time on our hands.

We trip upon messages in bottles,
walk upon fossils and shells turned to dust.
The waves that lap our feet are canticles,
"Our castles crumble, but build them we must."

Sailors puff out sails to glide the surface,
as divers go beneath for their treasures.
A few lie in silence for sun and bliss,
while others sit and fish for their measures.

The dead are an ocean tide; they reach out
to us - the dying, as we walk about.

Eternal Song

2009-03-24T21:51:00.004-04:00

We faithful gather, yet church walls dissolve
Eroded by acidic hates and fears
Praying only on mere problems to solve
We are blinded to our dreams all these years

We trip on roads as we stare at our feet
And when we look behind, we fall behind
Instead look ahead as we walk our street
Each step is steady with an end in mind

Let our hearts be the starlights that brighten
And our minds be the maps that navigate
Only from within can we enlighten
As from there, truth and love we emulate

Let the choir crumble as our God stands strong
Inner peace and truth our eternal song

Lone Walker

2009-03-18T10:42:00.003-04:00

Every poem is a fragment of me
A slipping of my soul scribbled in blood
Words flowing out from my heart to be free
O'er solitude's drought I rain and flood

Twitch of inspiration from heart to hand
Etching fleeting thoughts on a foggy window
The blizzards have cracked all the trees and land
Come cozy by the hearth all warm and aglow

Could you ever be more than a passerby,
Trekking outside in the cold and the frost?
Fogging up this window as I stare and sigh
Thinking on how lone walkers easily get lost

If ever I opened my door to wave
Then maybe two lonely hearts I could save

Invisible Wings

2009-03-15T20:10:00.001-04:00

Eyes closed
Steady breath
Against me
I smell your newness
Your breath...a song

Where do you hide your wings?

Warmth
Tiny fingers
around mine
Blossom of love
soft against my cheek

My arm is your pillow.

Sudden cry
Eyes wide
Piercing me
You smell your safety
Drinking it in

Where do you hide your wings?

I found this poem today, in my journal. It's something I wrote about my son Jakob in 2003,
when he was just a newborn. It really brings me back to that sweet time when he was so small, and we spent so much time cuddling and nursing.

Idyllwylie

2009-03-14T13:11:00.005-04:00

Idyllwylie is a poet who
Catches the wind
Chisels it with words, and
Sculpts it into song

The song like a warm breeze
Across your skin
And gentle waves
Tickling your feet

But a stab wound to your heart
That heals you
Bleeding out the sorrows
Beckoning tomorrows

Idyllwylie is a soul who
Loves to love
Her heart a wreath
That hangs on her door

Soul Scribbles

2009-01-18T19:41:00.005-05:00

Does it start with the pen, or the lens?
The lens, I'd say
The one in my mind's eye

Then the eyes in my head
Search for the visual twin
Dancing in carnival mirrors

Or sometimes my heart bleeds ink
To blot the message down
Soul scribbled on paper