Thinking in Threes

" Life, it seems, is series of eras, periods, and ages that are constantly shifting, rearranging, being integrated, and viewed anew." 

- Karen Edmisten

I am always on the lookout for well-stated thoughts to inspire my day. While reading Karen Edmisten's blog recently, I decided to capture the above quote to add to the Poetry Sisters' writing challenge.

It's the end of June, and the Poetry Sisters invited PoetryPals to join June's challenge. Here's the scoop from Tanita Davis: "We’re greeting the opening act of summer with a triptych." Tanita was introduced to the poetic format by Tabatha Yeatts, who shared West Coast poet and essayist Louise Ireland’s three-act August Triptych. 

Even though I never heard of a triptych poem, I decided to bring together three different summertime moments as poet Linda Pastan did in her Summer Triptych. My triptych poem went through many revisions, so it is still in the draft stage. Wordy narration, was a start. 

“It’s strange how summers from different decades can be yoked together by memory in a single poem.” -Linda Pastan

Summer Love Connections

1.

Love is summer's heated-blush

to a young lady, who arrived late.

A sun-kissed sky, and one crutch

slowly. moved me toward a surprising spark of connections. 

From the thumping of his heartbeats,  

smiles and conversations rose.

Temperatures swelled and 

whisperings swirled as  

 hearts melded together.

2.

Summers passed by; full-bloom gardens 

shared nature's nurturing fragrance.

Hearts deepened as heated sands

and roaring waves ebbed and flowed.

The sounds of children's voices

echoed across ocean waves and

cherished memories lit sunsets. 

Love sparked amidst life's shifting, 

and tides of ups and down.

Anniversaries broadened. 

Summers renewed a bond.

Love connections flourished.

along with blooming gardens 

of florals and herbs 

and refreshing waves.

 3.

Summer years followed; 

love grew like the deer family

marching strategically from the woods.

Geese paraded with fledglings broods.

At times, connections were

lost in unexpected time warps. 

Sunrise either brought warmth

or skytears of gray mornings.

New home renewed life's designs

until love split in half as 

one life slipped heavenward.

draft, CVarsalona, 2026

Hope and faith are strong components in life. Connections are anchors. Love and nature nurture life. Breathe in. Breathe out and notice what is precious in our lives and on our earth of contrasts  

Join Poetry Sister, Tricia Sthor Hunt, at 

The Miss Rumphius Effect for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

You will be delighted to read her triptych and those of her 

Poetry Sisters,Tanita, Mary Lee Hahn, and Liz Garton Scanlon.

My time slipped by so this blog was finished into the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Hallow's Eve

It was the sign of the times. The Wraiths' Feast came to be. Collegiate voice lifters journeyed through the Witches' Passage to the nearest Wailing Walls. With Lantern Haze devices, they slowly proceeded onward. Under a darkened sky, they listened for Midnight Murmurs from Gossamer Ghosts who enjoyed lurking on the bewitching night of Halloween. 

Are you ready for a ghostly poems prompted by our creative Poetry Friday host, Jone Rush MacCulloch? Jone offers a list of Halloween prompts to create a variety of poems by our community of writer-poets.  What I did was take her poems and introduce them in a short tale that is partially true from my college days with additional support from Halloween photos I took while living in Long Island.           

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DON'T BE AFRAID!

Howling whisperers

screech and whimper.

With bated breath,

 Halloweeners creep quietly,

slowly inching their way

throughout the cemetery

until they notice

a formidable sign.

"Yikes!"  Do you see a conclave before us?

Ghastly, bellowing ghosts circle.

Whose Moolinght Graveyard is this?

I think I know, but

not all agree.

Some friends step back,

tingling like scared cats,

Others mesmerized by the Phantom Lullaby.

Howling screams, frozen in time, rise. Stop!

Something lurks by the Velvet Coffin.

"Let it be known", so it is said.

"There is something haunting

in the light of the moon."

Without delay, scratching voices

rise from the ground.

We quickly skedaddle

under the light of the evening moon,

before sirens chase us out.

©CVarsalona, 2025

Just Remember:

Beware of what lurks at night on Hallow's Eve.

@CVarsalona, free verse, Halloween 2025

@CVarsalona digital artwork 

Follow the light of the moon to Jone's Poetry Friday Halloween Roundup.

You never know what you will find.

Poetry Peeps were invited to the Poetry Sisters challenge for October! A burning haibun arrived from the ashes of my opening prose poem. As the Poetry Princesses noted, the burning haibun is not the "old regular haibun. It highlights the internal landscape of memory and within them, something somewhere must BURN." 

(Please enjoy visiting other poets who enjoyed creating burning haibuns: Tricia, Sara, Laura, Mary Lee, Liz, and Michelle K. Check Tanita's blog to see if more people joined in.)

In prose, I present Hallow's Eve.

It was the sign of the times. The Wraiths' Feast came to be. Collegiate voice lifters journeyed through the Witches' Passage to the nearest Wailing Walls. With Lantern Haze devices, they slowly proceeded onward. Under a darkened sky, they listened for Midnight Murmurs from Gossamer Ghosts who enjoyed lurking on the bewitching night of Halloween. 

Erasure #1. Result after the blackout technique:

it's time. Wraths' Feast came. Voice lifted. Journey with lanterns slowly proceeded. Darkened sky listened. Midnight ghosts lurking on Halloween. 

Erasure #2. Burnout leads to a haiku.

It's time wraith came

voices journey listen

night ghosts lurk

  Draft CVarsalona, Halloween 2025, burning haibun

Oh, what fun it is to capture Halloween Eve, especially since this year I am homebound with a fractured ankle. My boot and walker chair are my costume for a chilly night at home.

Please understand that I have been on slow-go movement since last week.

Navigating Reality: Touch of Hope

Photographer: March-Olivier Jodoin at Unsplash

"Today...I open my heart's hand to allow the touch of hope.”

Julia Cameron

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I feel the sorrow of loss and grief

Wondering if flowers feel the same

While wilting in the heat?

Summer heat reminds me that

Your hand no longer gently holds mine

But there is hope waiting

Beyond my spinning dreams. 

Today under an azure sky, nature

Splendidly welcomed morning's peace.

I opened my bleeding heart to life and

Felt the warmth of nature's healing

Peeking through the slats on the shades.

I accept the invitation to indulge in life

Because where there is an open heart

Possibilities open as well!

CVarsalona, draft, 2025

I shall carry this thought throughout the day with hope for peace to settle in.

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This month, the Poetry Sisters, Tanita at{fiction, instead of lies}, Laura at Laura Purdie Salas, Tricia at The Miss Ruphius Effect, Sara at Read Write Believe, Mary Lee Hahn at Another Year of Reading, and Liz at Liz Garton Scanlon, invited  writers to write a couple of couplets and make a raccontino. I am glad they explained the format that I have never tried before. A raccontino is a form that follows these rules: composed of couplets (any number) even-numbered lines that share the same end rhyme, the title and last words of the odd-numbered lines tell a story. I must admit that I struggled with this poetic format.

Silent Disease

Would I have known

What the future planned

When my heart was full of sorrow

And there were multiple demands?

Caregiver was the title given

But I could not withstand

The extent of sorrow

Nor could I understand.

There was a trip to take,

A birthday treat that was grand

To a place of ease

A beach filled with sand,

Summering during winter's end,

Yet you could not fully stand.

Life withered over our last days

Until what was left was in God's hands.

draft ©CVarsalona, 2025

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A Special Thank You To:

Jama Rattigan for lifting my heart and helping me navigate my reality with a special gift, Healing After Loss by Martha W. Hickman. This book inspires me to write about my journey with a touch of hope that summer will open my heart to joy.

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A new poetry friend, Shirley Thacker, shared a lovely poetry swap filled with poetic goodness. She sent me her book, Wind Beneath the Pines, that provides various types of poems which she wrote. This book is special because it comes from the heart. Shirley's husband urged her to "write the stories-the tales about life" and so she did. I am thrilled that Shirley shared her love of poetry with me in such a special way. You can read more about Shirley at Jone Rush MacCulloch's blog. Click here to read Jone's Interview with Shirley. I enjoyed Shirley's poems especially Grandchildren. Her six-word  poems shared her wisdom.

Courage each

Day, walking

Life's road

©Shirley Thacker

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I have lingered a long time trying to make sense of life while piecing the raccontino poem together. I gardened outside with the sun's warmth. Hope touched me, yet I still am unsure how to navigate reality. Healing after loss is a process. I am determined to continue this journey with stride. I thank family, friends, and the poetry community for their support. 

Now I turn my attention to the Poetry Friday Roundup that is hosted this week by one of the Poetry Sisters, Tanita Davis. This week she penned two poems and provided her process. I look forward to reading the contributions of all those who are adding their poems to the Roundup but I go at a slow pace these days.

In ending, I decided to take Shirley Thacker's 6 word poem 

Courage each

Day, walking

Life's road

and write Golden Shovel as inspiration to be present in life daily.

Finding courage

is not easy on each

summer day

perhaps walking

will provide life's

journey a new road

©CVarsalona, 2025

Letter To Heaven

Dreams seem to flow in and out of my mind lately. They sweep across each night, but I rarely remember a complete dream. I try to keep parts of each dream lodged inside my memory, but I usually fall asleep, and then, the dream vanishes.  

Designed by CVarsalona using Fotojet

At the beginning of May, the Poetry Sisters, Liz Garton Scanlon, Tanita at {fiction, instead of lies}, Laura Purdie Salas, Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect, Sara at  Read Write Believe, and Mary Lee Hahn, invited writers to join their challenge. They have been in conversation with Elizabeth Bishop's "Letter to N.Y.", using the golden shovel format created by poet Terrance Hayes. As one of the #PoetryPals, I have constructed a draft of a poem entitled Letter To Heaven with bits and pieces of night dreams and two strike lines from Bishop's mentor text: 1. where everything seems to happen in waves, and  2. nevertheless, I'd like to know.

On this spring-scented May day, where

thoughts float through the clouds, everything

reminds me of our last goodbye. It seems

unreal without you here to

hold my hand and handle finances. What will happen

to your paperwork, stacked up in

piles that push forward as rapidly, ascending waves?

Life seems difficult now, nevertheless,

I must continue to move forward. I'd

be content wishing upon a star like

a child learning how to

enjoy life. For now, I need help being in the know.

©CVarsalona, 2025

It is time now for me to add my #PoetryPals themed poem to the Poetry Friday Roundup. The lovely poet/author Karen Edmisten is our host this week. Thank you, Karen, for supporting me through this difficult chapter of my life. I shall meet you at your blog site. For those interested in the Poetry Friday weekly roundup, please visit Karen's blog here. 19 writers besides Karen are sharing their work.

January's Tan-Ku

"January is the month to let go of fear and embrace transformation." - AI

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When the Poetry Sisters (Tanita, Laura, Mary Lee,  Liz, Sara, Tricia, and  Kelly) announced their January challenge, write a tan-ku, a tanka followed by a haiku, I paused because I was unaware of this poetic format. It was time to pick up the snow shovel and dig deep. I started by staring at my photos sharing winter's dazzling scenes of quietude. Then, I turned on the world news with updated reports on the world's sadness. So I picked up my computer mouse and began to compose a tan-ku. It was time to embrace a new format. 

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This worked for me but I decided to concentrate on the mentor poem, Hubrus by Marko Kiakubo & Deborah P. Kolodji the Poetry Sister offered. My first poem did not look as terse as Kiakubo's and Kolodji's poem, so once again with a shovel in hand, I paused to create another poem. 

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Winter Frame

through

the clearest

window

of our traveling car

nature stands still

one frozen moment

clear sky blinks

world tears-up

©CVarsalona, 2025

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Dear Readers, I appreciate any comment you have on my first tan-ku.

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Special Invitation

I am hosting Poetry Friday next week at my Beyond LiteracyLink blog. Join me on February 7th as I honor Valentine's Day, a love-note to the rest of the year (Jo Lightfoot). Please join me by creating your own heartnote, valentine, poem, digital artwork, etc.  I look forward to seeing the variety of imaginative work that will brighten the Heartnotes Padle that you can find here.

Valentine's Day is the poet's holiday! - Ted Koosner, Poet

Let's gather to honor "love as the poetry of the senses"!

(Honore de Balzac)

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The Poetry Friday Roundup is brought to us this week from Florida. Our wonderful host, Jan Annino at bookseedstudio, offers interesting information and much poetic goodness.