Category Archives: Photography

Retirement Home

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 I’m going to build a solid house,
 Good bones to frame it straight and true
 Upon which fasten seasoned boards
 The outside elements to subdue.
  
 It shan’t be graced with gingerbread
 that merely mildews in the rain,
 or gargoyles leering overhead 
 evincing darkness and disdain.
  
 A simple plan as fits my taste,
 I aim to please no one but me.
 One needn’t look for blemishes.
 I’ll know they’re there; I’ll let them be. 
  
 My house will stand the tests of time
 Clean lines that age but loathe to stray,
 With understated grace and strength
 to see me through my final days.

Today’s dVerse poetry prompt, as posed by sarahsouthwest: “I’d like you to look back over the last year and choose a poem that calls to you, and write a response to that.”

I chose a poem by Elizabeth Crawford Yates, a local poet who published in the 1950s. Her poem, “To a Time-Grayed House,” struck me in that she ascribes the aging process with “dread and wistfulness.” As I celebrate my 60th year on this planet, I don’t dread growing old nor do I pine for those long-lost days of youth. I do want to age gracefully though, and maintain my health as best I can. And so, the poem above was my response to this:

 TO A TIME-GRAYED HOUSE
  
 Though you may stare with dread and wistfulness
 At youthful cottage and its sleek white dress,
 Remember this. Too soon, that one may be
 A peeling thing, with shaken masonry. 
  
 Elizabeth Crawford Yates
 from her book Wind Carvings (copyright 1953)

Blue B’s

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blue1

Beautiful blooming bluefields bounce, bob, bow.
Balmy breezes brush by,
blowing… bending.
Blue blossoms balance
atop tall, slender green stalks.

Buzzing, boisterous bees; bumbling busy bugs
bombard bevies of burgeoning blue bouquets.
Bad-ass bayoneted bottoms belie
beneficial blending
of pollen dust on golden legs.

blue2

dVerse Quadrille #107: Blue

Day Five and Twenty Projects

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Wow! So it’s Day Five of NaPoWriMo,* and today’s prompt is a doozy.

“It’s called the ‘Twenty Little Poetry Projects,’ and was originally developed by Jim Simmerman. The challenge is to use/do all of the following in the same poem. Of course,  if you can’t fit all twenty projects into your poem, or a few of them get your poem going, that is just fine too!”

chules

Confused? You’re not alone.

I’m not going to list the 20 projects; that would make the prompt longer than the poem. But for those who want to attempt making sense of the poem, you can find the list here.

And so to the poem:

Sugar Cookie

You are the sugar in my cookies,
you’re the sizzle to my pop.
Were I to measure you for distance,
I wouldn’t spill a single drop.

Your cheeky smile, your limp embrace,
your heaven-scent and tactless taste;
like a songbird in Chicago,
a voice as cool as mint toothpaste.

A humdinger of a human,
every Charlie would agree;
unless of course he were a horse;
they’re so senseless, mon ami.

He’d not cramp your style on purpose,
though he’ll cramp your leg at night.
but if he did – and I digress —
it would only be for spite.

The short life of every meaning
is like the holly in a wreath;
when pigs know a storm is brewing,
they run with sticks between their teeth.

If you read this you will wonder,
will the cookie find romance?
Will the craven crumbs careen through time?
Heed my warning in advance!

Charlie horses, cookies,
songs in the key of mint toothpaste,
holly rings around the wreath,
as Chicago lays to waste.

*National Poetry Writing Month, Day Five

NaPoWriMo Countdown

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microphone

Tap tap…
“Is this thing on?”
I am answered with the squeal of feedback from my microphone.

Squinting through the bright spotlight, I see vague outlines of a few forms in the audience. I hear the shuffling of feet, some random coughing, chairs chirping as they scrape the floor.

“So, it’s been a while.” My breath stirs dustmotes from the mic.

Silence.

I clear my throat.

“Anyway, as you know, it’s almost April, and April is National Poetry Writing Month, or NaPoWriMo for short. And I’m here to announce that – even though I’ve only posted once on my blog so far this year – I fully intend to meet the challenge of writing a poem a day for the entire month of April.”

Silence.

Apparently, I’ve lost a few audience members in my absence. Or maybe a lot. Not that I had many to begin with.

Sigh.

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” I say to my muse. “Muse?? Muse!!” Now where has she gone off to?

Well, I’ll find her and bring her back well-inked and ready for the challenge.

See you then. If you’re still out there…