Poems of Presence

The practice of writing poetry is an exercise in mindfulness. To be open to the universe of words and to put them down on a page is nothing short of a miracle. - Margaret Simon

At the start of May, there is always an urgency for me to explore what nature has to offer. This year, quarantine life left Long Islanders longing for the joy of a sunny day, the exploration of sandy beaches, and the call of the gulls. When newspaper headlines stated, "LIers flock to state beaches, parks amid warm weather," my husband decided to hop in the car with his mask and head to the beach. Wanting to be present with the sea once again, my son and I joined him. As we traveled to Jones Beach State Park, I noticed the clear waterway sparkling like diamonds. It was uplifting but as we turned into the park entrance, I was alarmed by the number of cars gathering. We did not stay there because social distancing appeared not to be regarded. Instead, we traveled to the next beach town. Along the way, we saw at least 40 people on a line waiting (six feet away from each other) for the ice cream store to open. Our short stay at the next beach in Long Beach, allowed me to briefly satisfy my urge to be present in a moment of joy. On that sandy beach, I felt the sunshine, listened to the roaring waves and watched seagulls dive and swoop as scavengers of life. I communed with nature, the ever-present healer, and gave thanks for a few moments of relaxation during my quarantine life.

This past week, some poet friends were writing epistolary poems or letter poems so I decided to write one also.

On May 1, 2020, at Today's Little Ditty, Michelle H. Barnes spotlighted Margaret Simon. Michelle asked Margaret to choose the month of May's Ditty of the Month challenge. She chose poems of presence with this prompt: write a mindful poem about the present moment and add it to the DMC padlet. I am offering the above poems, hoping for feedback. These poems will be added to my #NatureNurtures 2020 Gallery.

I am also joining Two Writing Teachers today for their Slice of Life Tuesday.  

Look Into the Future

Into the future, I stare

pondering
its 
vast
unchartedness

pondering
a
new
normal.
Pondering,
I stare into the future.

Future life is unknown.
Virus
implodes,
changing
society.
Virus
affects
humanity's
existence
Virus,
is future life unknown?

With positivity, I imagine possibilities.
Wondering
what
life
holds-
Wondering
what
life
will
unfold.
Wondering
with positivity, I imagine possibilities.

Will mankind
create
cultures
of
trust?
Create
viable 
practices?
Reflect?
Create"
Will mankind?

This week's Ditty Challenge from Michelle H. Barnes

For this week's TLD challenge, Patrice Vecchione selected "Into the Future: Take Yourself There Now" (Chapter 53) from Part III of My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice. 

Patrice writes:  Is the future a place you wish you could arrive at now? I remember feeling that way. Or maybe here and now is fine. For the length of a poem, venture into that place called future, as you imagine it; peer into its unknown terrain, and see what you find. The Padlet can be accessed here.  

I created a skinny poem series for this challenge during National Poetry Month.  

*****

I am accepting poetic/artistic expressions this week for my #NatureNurtures2020 Global Gallery. If interested in learning about the gallery or offering a piece of work, click here. 

On a Cold-Smacking Day

Today, I woke to a chilly day. Tiptoeing my way to the bathroom, I felt the cold tiles under my feet, heard my husband asking for the quilt to hug around his shoulders. As I looked out the window, I saw trees dancing and heard the wind howling. It was a cold-smacking day, a descriptive backdrop for a sensory poem at Michelle H. Barnes' Ditty Challenge created by Buffy Silverman, the author of a new children's book, On a Snow-Melting Day.

On a Cold-Smacking Day

Loud morning sounds filter in 

orchestrating a wake-up tune

"Let this sun-shining day begin."

Sounds surround as birds croon.

Winter dances its syncopating step,

digging a fast tree-swaying,

blustery, wind-yowling rep.

Spring interjects on this cold-smacking,

winter-dancing, February morn.

Winter, can I please send you packing?

Answer, a brand-new thought is born!

©CV, 2020

"...only when one comes to listen, only when one is aware and still, can things be seen and heard." -Sigurd F. Olson

I'm heading to the theater but will leave this post for the Poetry Friday Round-up at our host, Karen Edmisten's blog. Last week, she shared a different approach to creating a black-out poem. You can find that format here.

#DearOneLBH

This week the Poetry Friday community is celebrating the life of Lee Bennett Hopkins at Amy Ludwig Vanderwater's The Poem Farm. I am happy to join the celebration for Lee Bennett Hopkins. Lee has been our poetry champion, a grand anthologist, and talented poet throughout the years and will remain so in years to come.

I offer my humble septercet poem written for a poet extraordinaire who entered my life years ago when I was a young teacher.

poet extraordinaire
anthology creator
grower of poem gardens

you filled many children's minds
with imaginative thoughts,
leaving your heart-print on lives

we honor your legacy
as a beloved writer
who made space for poetry
©CVarsalona, 2019

*****

Last year, Robyn Hood Black held a Poetry Friday celebration for Lee's birthday at her blog site. I created an invitation to the party and the short poem below.

To Lee,
You have been the consummate poetry champion.

↓

poetry passer
pens crafted thoughts on pages-
master word packer
©CVarsalona, 2018

******

Jone MacCulloch suggested finding a line from one of Lee Bennett Hopkins' poems and writing a new poem based on the line chosen. I am using Lee's opening line from a poem in his anthology, I Am the Book, and answering my question, "How should we promote the back-to-school hashtag, #StartStrong, for elementary school children?"

It's poem o'clock
school starts strong-
sing-song
up-down
verb-noun
poems belong!

Ready to rock
to the beat-
read-write
ring-sing
song-ding
Poetry's our treat!
©CV, 2019

******

When should we highlight poetry in the curriculum? As Lee said in I Am the Book:
It's poem o'clock.
Time for a rhyme -
tick-tock
ding-dong
bing-bong
or chime.
Poems are
wistful
wish-filled
sublime-
Come.
Unlock a minute
for
poetry time.

******

This afternoon, I added my #ditty #poemsong for Michelle H. Barnes' August Ditty of the Month. It was written for my granddaughter and is about waking up in the morning. You can read my poem below but please check out the ditty video I created here.

sweet darling

behind clouds of gray

comes the sun

welcoming

you to greet another day

peek-a-boo hello

©CV, 2019

Expressing Myself Artistically

Have you ever created a ditty, a short simple poem that turns into a song?  I did in response to Jesse Anna Bornemann's invitation at Michelle H. Barnes TLD Ditty Challenge:

Find a Beatles song.

Write down as many words from the song as you can. 

Compose a poem that uses at least three words from your list. 

Don't tell the name of the song that inspired your poem.

 

Backstory:
While visiting my granddaughter this past week, I was inspired to write a poem for her about waking up in the morning. After choosing a Beatles song, I investigated new poetic forms and found the shadorma. It is defined by Writer's Digest as a 6-line syllabic poem of 3/5/3/3/7/5 syllable lines. You can see how it is broken into 6 lines below.

sweet darling
behind clouds of gray
comes the sun
welcoming
you to greet another day 
peek-a-boo hello
©CV, 2019

For fun, since my granddaughter enjoys music, I turned the poem into a ditty song using the app, Ditty by Zya. It is amazing how technology can assist a not musically-gifted writer to express herself artistically in another dimension. Below is my ditty poem song video.

Last step: I added my poem song with blog address to the padlet,  Today's Little Ditty Song Lyric Poems. The next time I visit my granddaughter we will have a poem song to hear and the video to watch.

Reflection at Sunset

The timeworn idiom, "One man's trash, is another man's treasure," is one that has become a statement of truth for me. Last week, writing friend, Linda Mitchell, opened up her box of "clunkers" for Poetry Friday friends to choose and turn one into a poem, a keepsake treausre. My choice was flitting, fluttering, flying. I immediately was drawn to those three words because of the alliteration. The words flowed off my tongue in such a lyrical way that I knew they could work for me. While Linda may have turned it aside as a clunker, I brushed it off and repurposed it.

I hope Linda agrees that her passed on words paired with a stunning photo will become a treasure for my Abundant Autumn Gallery. In addition, the words fit nicely into the context of my week that had me flitting from place to place, fluttering in and out of professional development projects, and sending my voice flying. A gorgeous nature photo by #chazchaz from South Africa brought to me by one of my PLN friends, Al Dhalla, combined with Linda's words allowed me to play with language and find the inspiration to write. 

I now present Linda's clunker incorporated into my poem, Sunset Dreams. 

   Sunset Dreams

   Sunset ignites in indigo skies.
   Flitting, fluttering, flying
   words pop-up, wiggle, wind
   into a universe of ideation,
   cleansing and fortifying 
   the sanctity of thought.
   In the sweeping indigo sky,
   serenity settles in at sunset,
   laying thoughts to rest.
      ©CV, 2019

Photo by #chazchaz via Al Dhalla

Now I am off to Poetry Friday to post this offering. Our host this week, Buffy Silverman, has a wonderful review of Rick Lieder's book, Hello, I'm Here. This book is sure to delight children with its vivid photos of a newly-hatched baby crane chick who relates her story through a first-person poem. Buffy followed this review with an original poem, Advice to a Baby Chick, she wrote for Today's Little Ditty June Challenge.

June Vibes

Summertime makes a grand entrance each year as children and parents move into a relaxed mode of living. There are family outings, mini-trips, vacations, and fresh air fun. Everyone feels summer vibes that bring smiles and uplifted spirits. Here is a feel-good song, "June is bustin' out all over," that holds the spirit of June in its lyrics.

Feeling the verve of summer busting out, I am joining Michelle H. Barnes' June Ditty Challenge created by Karen Boss, an editor from Charlesbridge Publishing who is Today's Little Ditty Spotlight guest for the month of June. Susan likes the idea of "putting good vibes for kids into the world" so her ditty challenge this month is to write a poem in second person, speaking directly to a kid or kids about something that you think is important for them to know.

For my ditty challenge offering, I chose to discuss the gift of reading. It is a joyful one that never stops surprising the reader with journeys to near and far-off lands, inspiration, amusement, and beautiful language to develop communication skills. My ditty poem captures my love of reading and the blossoming love for books that has developed in my granddaughter's life. Because she delights in choosing her own books to read, one of my gifts for her second birthday was a picture book that speaks to the blossoming artist that she is. Sky Color, written by my friend, the creative artist/children's author, Peter Reynolds, is a great read aloud to spark the creative spirit in any child. 

I dedicate my poem to my little love, Sierra, who is full of life and celebrated her second birthday this past weekend.

📖

Dear little grandchild of mine,

summer is for old-fashioned fun-

your time to notice, wonder, and combine

outdoor merriment under the sun

with picture books for everyone.

Find the story that sends you climbing

the one that's filled with rhyming.

There are many to make you smile,

others to spark your artistic style.

Perhaps, you'll come read with me

by my roaring Long Island sea

or under your old Virginia tree.

Wherever you go,

bring a treasured book

to fly you to an enchanted nook

where summer dreams wait for you 

as book love grows during year two.

©CV, 2019

📖

Now, I am off to visit my friend, librarian/poet, Linda Mitchell at her blog site, A Word Edgewise. Linda is the gracious host of Poetry Friday this week.

Instructions For My Digital Notebook

When Michelle Heidenrich Barnes invited Liz Steinglass to Today's Little Ditty, an intriguing ditty challenge evolved. One of Liz's favorite poems, "Instructions for the Field", in her new book, Soccerverse, became the mentor text for the project.  For the writing challenge, each writer was asked to write a poem giving instructions to an inanimate object about how to do its job.

Since I am designing several digital galleries of artistic expressions, I decided to write a poem about an interactive digital notebook. My digital notebook in Google Docs is a companion piece to my poetry journals. It is my sacred space to record thoughts, add images, and create digital inspirations as a risk taker of thought. It is the place where I ponder, reflect, and "find my voice". Because it is an important part of my writing life, I have created templates for other writers to hone their writing skills during professional development.

Stage 1: Create the poem after many drafts in my digital notebook. 

Stage 2: Create a digital inspiration, an image poem, to add a different perspective.  I decided to change the name of the title and add one of my nature photos as a signature logo.

Digital Tools Used: 
Google Docs-Interactive Digital Notebook, Blogger, FotoJet, PicMonkey, iPhone, iPhotos, Preview

Question:
Do I keep the simple design in pink or the swirled background digital inspiration with the signature logo to submit to the challenge?

✎

Not only will I offer this post and poem to Michelle Heidenrich Barnes' challenge at her May 2019 Padlet but add it to the Tuesday Slice of Life at Two Writing Teachers.

My other blogs on digital design that I referred to when writing this post:

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2015/05/digital-design.html

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2015/08/digital-poetry-in-classroom.html

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2015/08/digital-expressions.html

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2016/08/crafting-digital-media_18.html

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2016/09/play-think-write-digitally.html

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2017/04/digioetry-is.html

Halloween Eve Ditty Fun

Have you ever been faced by a writing challenge and did not really know how to proceed? This month at Today's Little Ditty, the challenge created by Calef Brown for Michelle Barnes' October Ditty Challenge had me perplexed. He challenged writers to “Write a poem or a story about two anthropomorphized objects.” I sighed when I read this. I even had to look up the exact definition of anthropomorphized.  

Since it is Halloween week and I already created a fictional octopus for Irene Latham's #OctopusMonth, I thought I would extend the adventures of Ona Octopus to include a Halloween outing where she meets up with a large furry, stuffed cat. Halloween is a fun time of the year to let your imagination soar. 

While knowing that my idea would stretch the concept of anthropomorphized objects, I read some of the poems on Michelle Barnes' October Padlet and thought "Eek!, mine is so unlike the others." With a deep breath, I proceeded anyway with my idea to create a story poem. (I only had a few days left to complete a ditty). I then went to the Buncee digital platform and transformed the poem into an animated tale with the great graphic tools there. You can see my Happy Halloween Ditty Buncee here. 

I ask, "Is my poem worthy to sit on the October Padlet?" Then stop and reflect. Aren't I the one who says the fun of writing is being open enough to take risks and accept feedback? 

Thinking back on Halloween time when I was a reading specialist in an elementary school, I recall the fun I had transforming my classroom into a Harvest/Halloween House complete with decorations and a collection of seasonal books to be read aloud. Each classroom would pass through my decorated house for a festive treat. The teachers could choose from a menu of interactive activities to wow their students but the read aloud was the featured surprise. For teachers who are interested in a pairing of two texts, a poem and informational text, Wonder of the Day #743, What's Your Favorite Costume, would be an interesting reading to pair with my ditty. The goal is not only to have children celebrate Halloween in an appropriate environment but to whet their appetites for lifelong reading. 

Note: The link to my story poem has been placed on the Wonderopolis Wonder Ground under Resources and the Buncee is below.


Ghouls and goblins are milling about
for sweetened treats, there is no doubt. 
I watch them swing their candy pot
Hoping to catch the best what not.

They think me grand in my octosuit
with lots of moves that catch more loot.
But don't they know it's just me,
Ona O on a quick spree.

I wink, I sniff, I think you're grand
Your arms are lovely and expand
But take a look at my furry coat
It makes me look like quite a bloat.

Aren't we swell with fine demeanor?
We're genuine. Who could be keener?
Look! Children creep in "pretend" clothes
While we just strut under their nose.

Come, my pretties. Join the parade
for the best Halloween accolade!
©CVarsalona, 2018

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It's Slice of Life Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers. I found another challenge there: end your slice with a written affirmation about yourself. Does your story show any perceived truths about yourself that can become more positive? 

My Affirmation

What I Do:                               I gingerly move beyond my comfort zone to try out a new move to 

                                                   see if it fits.

What Are My Next Steps:  If my move is not a good fit, I will rely on my one word hope to help 

                                                    me improve my craft.

Listening to the Roaring Waves

While preparing for the unveiling of “The Art of Summering Gallery of Artistic Expressions, I  took a week-long detour to present at the National Center for Families Learning Conference in Fort Lauderdale and visit friends and family in both Bonita Springs and Palm Beach Gardens. With a "summer frame of mind", I experienced nature’s touch from cloudy skies that broke into thunderous roars of intense rainfall to exquisitely-hued sunrises and sunsets. Each day, the moon and the stars dressed in sparkling shades and the ocean roars lulled me to sleep. From one coast of southern Florida to the other, my husband and I enjoyed the Floridian sights, the presence of a still visibly strong summer season and the opportunity to continue the "art of summering" after its designated end. Needless to say, I immersed myself in the experience, collecting magical memories to reflect upon during the cold winter months.

In my post, Anticipation, I stated that the art of summering is listening to the ocean waves and wondering, such a simple act that I engaged in while in Fort Lauderdale.  Each morning and night, I heard the ocean call. On two mornings, I engaged in beach yoga before sunrise and deeply reflected on the presence of the moon, its descent, and the rising of the sun. From these experiences, I wrote a questioning poem.

Questioning Life, the Mystical Mover

How would my life have been different

if I only knew

to pause and savor quiet moments more often?

How would my life have been different

if I only knew

to view silver raindrops as day brighteners, not negatives?

How would my life have been different

if only I acted with patience

as nature slowly paraded in front of me?

How would my life have been different

if "what if" reflections

marked the beginning of the journey?

...and so now, I listen intently to the roaring waves

throwing out one question,

"How can I find balance in life to make a difference?"

©"CVarsalona, 2018

The above poem and digital inspirations are being offered to Michelle H. Barnes for her September Ditty Challenge from the inspirational poet, Naomi Shihab. We were asked to write a letter to ourself in which we asked some questions that we didn't have to answer. You can access all of the responses to the challenge at Michelle's Ditty of the Month Club September Padlet. 

***************

Before I post my poem on the padlet, I will stop at Jone Rush MacCulloch's blog site, Deo Writer: Musings to Spark the Spirit, for the Poetry Friday Roundup. 

Photograph/Logo created by Jone MacCulloch

I am dedicating this weekend to put the finishing touches on The Art of Summering Global Gallery of Artistic Expressions. Stay tuned for the unveiling announcement. 

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