A Story Evolves...

January on Long Island marks the start of a deep winter chill while in Australia, my poet friend Kat Apel is experiencing the warmth of summer. While we may be seeing life from different perspectives, we can still exchange #InstaPoetry via Instagram. Kat is trying out new poetry forms this month so I decided to join in the fun. You can see the progression of thought on our Instagram accounts. (Kat Apel and Carol Varsalona)

While creating poetry, a story can evolve. Last week, I saw a beautiful sight in the sky as evening approached. I have been trying to recreate the incidence and finally have some ideas to share. 

Since this is my first attempt at writing a cherita, please comment so I can refine my development of the poetry form. A cherita is the Malay word for story or tale. It starts with a single stanza of one-line verse and is followed by a two-line verse and ends with a three-line verse. 

nature brushes january sky

pink streaks blend with headlight glare
as rush hour moves in parade formation

i wonder if others
slow down too, to view
winter's nighttime magic 
©CV, 2019, Long Island

I was writing with the #haikuforhope community in December and am continuing to use the hashtag as I see fit. Below you will see that I added a haiku to the original photo I took. It is a hope of mine to capture the uniqueness of nature every chance I get.

Lastly, I offer the first idea I had when I started using the photo as a prompt. I decided to digitize the photo using the app, Mobile Monet, as part of the designing fun for today's #InstaPoetry challenge

Now, I am wondering what the summer sky at evening time looks like in Australia?

It's Slice of Life Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers. As I linked up, I noticed the introduction to today's slice of life, "Entering the Slice of Life community through stories is like exhaling a breath of your own life and then taking in the next through the stories of each other." I look forward to reading the stories of others and seeing what Kat Apel posts from January. 

Winter Settles In

Each morning of this week, winter's arms reached out like barren branches hoping for a rush of warmth. The sun, playing hide and seek, poked in between sweeping clouds making its way slowly toward evening. As the indigo sky darkened earth, stillness laid its blanket down. Nature rested, knowing that the next day would follow in a similar pattern. 

Yesterday, as I traveled east, from one end of Long Island to my destination, I noticed that each town we passed had the same barren look. Vast arrays of trees, leafless and still, made me feel that nature was ready to embrace the winter chill. After arriving home from a wake, I started thinking about the cyclical pattern of the seasons. Winter walks in with a chill and settles down. T.S. Elliot describes this in his poem, Prelude, which is divided into four parts.

I

The winter evening settles down

With smell of steaks in passageways.

Six o’clock.

The burnt-out ends of smoky days.

And now a gusty shower wraps

The grimy scraps

Of withered leaves about your feet

And newspapers from vacant lots;

The showers beat
On broken blinds and chimney-pots,
And at the corner of the street
A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.
(You can read the rest of the poem here.)

I was struck by Elliot's first line, "The winter evening settles down." Coincidentally, it pairs beautifully with my title, so I decided to try a golden shovel poem to exemplify my thoughts. 

"The winter evening settles down"

As nighttime approaches, the

sun's warmth fades and winter

holds court in the glint of evening.

The house forgets to fire up and settles

into its own pattern of laying down.

𝍂

This week, I started joining poet Kat Apel at Instagram for #MoPoetry2019 and some insta-poetry. Today, I decided this would be a great way to share my haikus with her since she is hosting Poetry Friday from Australia where it is summertime. I'm waving to you, Kat, from a cold, wintery day on Long Island, New York. 

While I am designing my Abundant Autumn Gallery for its upcoming unveiling, I am welcoming winter to share its beauty with the world. Please consider sharing your insta-poetry and image poems with me. for showcasing at the gallery. 

Making Memories at the Shore

Memories-

snapshots in time

glistening like brilliant jewels

tucked away in hearts 

waiting to be polished

For years, I tucked away my memories in albums, then indexed them in boxes, and finally resorted to unsorted piles. This was not an efficient way to recall lifetime events. The iPhone, has made it much easier for me to capture and store memories. 

Remembering helping my 14-month-old grandbaby set up for this photo taken by my daughter

Years ago when my family went to Disney World, I heard a catchy song, Makin' Memories. As the song says, "Taking pictures is making memories, catching little pieces of time, making them yours, and making them mine...Celebrations we can forget in a year. When we're making memories happiness can reappear." 

Photos do make happiness reappear so last night after returning from my family and extended family trip to Cape May, I diligently edited my photos. Each time I added a new photo, another memory from the trip was recalled. I lingered in those memories that included many shots of my precious little grandbaby at the Jersey shore. 

What memories have you captured with your camera this summer? 

Does each one add to your concept of summering?

Here is my morning Instagram post with one of my memories that was digitized.

It's Slice of Life Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers.

Join me to read what others are slicing about.