On the Cusp

lines

As one year ends and another queues up for its grand opening, we sometimes find ourselves pin-balling from remembrances of the year(s) gone by, to plans and hopes and dreams for the year(s) ahead. For now I’m indulging myself in parsing the 2016 posts I wrote for the What Rhymes with Stanza blog. Planning for next year’s posts will come soon enough.

Yesterday, I posted a retrospect of 2016 using photos I’d taken throughout the year. Today, I’m taking on a suggestion from The Daily Post’s Discover Challenge which also relates to looking back over the past years’ worth of blogging, only this time with words.

One of the ideas presented in the Challenge was to write a “found poem” using lines from past posts. I’ve only attempted a found poem once before, and determined that it would have perhaps best remained lost.

But, hey… I’ll try anything twice. Hence, a “remix” of some lines taken from poems I wrote in 2016:

On the Cusp

With each passing day the past grows ever longer
even though we already cannot fathom its span.
History will always be defined by the lens
through which each one of us perceives.

You can’t get to where you’re going
until you’ve come from where you came.
It takes but one misstep to reset trajectory.

With each dawning day the present forgives us and
offers a clean slate to create what we choose.
Actions speak louder than words.
Non-action can speak just as loudly.

Leap, simply because you can.


The Daily Post Discover Challenge: Retrospective

Down the Path in 2016

At the beginning of this year, instead of making New Year’s resolutions, I chose a theme for the year. My theme was “magic.” Of course by February I’d totally forgotten about the whole theme thing, but I would say that 2016 has indeed been magical on several levels.

As some other bloggers have done, I’ve chosen 12 photos, one from each month of this year, and am sharing them here today. They are snapshots of the magic that was 2016.

January came in rainy and grey, but there are always patches of color underfoot. Mind the steps; they’re slippery.

1moss

February: Spring tries to rush things, as these daffodils bravely poke up from the cold ground in late winter.

2spring1

March: Combining color and creativity is always magical.

3glass2

April begins filling out nature’s beautiful spring palette.

4landscape

May: Beauty in art and animals.

5life-art

June: Warm, expansive days encourage outdoor activity.

6

July: The heat (and plants) get a little prickly. But just a little.

7

August: Those lazy, hazy days of summer.

8

September: Shadows begin lengthening, but there’s still plenty of time to get out and play.

9

October: Time to break out the warmer (and waterproof) clothing.

10

November: Grey skies return, and the last vestiges of autumn defy the rain and wind.

11

December: Snow is rare where I live, so one must make the most of what little we get.

12

The seasons followed their usual path in 2016, but these photos each carry a reminder of special moments, special places, special people, and the magic  of a year well played.

My theme for next year? I’m still pondering that. I can’t determine the path down which 2017 will take me, but I can certainly choose my company and mindset. I plan to choose wisely.

Do you have a theme for 2017? Resolutions?


The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Path