Optimism

Did you ever stop to reflect on why there is such a bounty of positive feelings during the month of April? Is it the opportunity to become one with nature or the rebirth of life that makes humans want to break out of the cold weather months or be unencumbered by heavy and dark clothes to feel the warmth of a new season? 

I do know that I feel optimistically positive during the month of April. It happened last year and once again this year. April signifies abundance: the opening of the spring season, voices raised in poetic writing, and the joy of the awakening of the earth. April is a month of possibilities and opportunities to break out of a sheltered cocoon to feel a newness and freedom from old ways and routines.   

Last April, I felt a strong creative surge and so I designed the second virtual gallery of artistic expressions, April Awakenings. The gallery became my outlet for creative thought and a rebirth of poetic compositions. For quite some time prior to that season, I was not weaving thoughts as frequently as in the past. Because I was reflecting in quiet and my voice needed to join with others, I felt a strong pull to create a community of reflective writers.  April Awakenings was a way to renew my journey of writing and provide a space for voices to come together. 

You can access the April Awakenings Virtual Gallery here.

OPTIMISM

Stretched along the horizon of boundless skies

lies a rainbow of colored hues:

pale pinks, brilliant blues,

yellowed sunflowers, jeweled greens.

Its path lightens the dreariness

of a rain-covered day.

In the expansive wonder, 

hope waits to be plucked

from its jewel-toned painting.

CVarsalona © 2015

My Poetry Parade will continue after the month of April, throughout the season of spring with a new gallery, Spring's Symphony. I am optimistic that reflective writers will listen for the music of springtime to compose poems paired with photos that will give tribute to a season of renewal. 

I wrote the following as a tweet during one of Monday night's chats and it is a fitting ending to my post. Blogging is the act of allowing your voice to be raised as you reach out to others.  

Today's post and poem are being offered to the following writing challenges:

Two Writing Teachers

Mary Lee Hahn
Emotion of the Day is Optimism

April Awakenings

Welcome to 
REFLECT WITH ME
"April Awakenings" 
Showcase of Artistic Expressions 

featuring a 
 Growing Community of Reflective Writers 
from across the United States and as far away as Australia

 ***************************

As the 2014 National Poetry Month comes to a close, it appears that the art of poetic writing has taken a prominent place on the Twitter channels, giving rise to an explosion of sights and sounds. At this site, poetic expression has become a connector, linking like-minded, imaginative spirits in a creative sharing of thoughts and photographs about their awakenings this April. Allow these thoughts to carry you into a new season of possibilities.

It is with pleasure that I open the REFLECT WITH ME Gallery to showcase the different ways voice can be expressed. Enthusiastically, I have collected original, artistic poetic expressions and photographs to publicly share my excitement for this work. Noticings and wonderings occur each day and here below you will find balance, flow, and reflective thinking expressed creatively by a variety of writers and photographers. 

Enjoy the showcase!

"APRIL AWAKENINGS"
A VIRTUAL GALLERY 
of Artistic Expressions

Please peruse the original poetic expressions and accompanying photographs to feel the joy that spring brings each year.

@lester_laminack  -  Author, National Consultant  -  North Carolina

"Poetry begins and ends in the soul." Samantha Hall

@tomj_rhodes

@differNtiated4u - Missouri 

@AjmaniK  -  Ohio

@muz4now
Stan Stewart's Instrumentals can be found on SoundCloud

JoAnn Bradley Hackett  -  Long Island, New York

suparna.kudesia@gmail.com  -  Denver, Colorado

On a quiet corner,
there stands a reason
for a mother and daughter
to share a moment of spontaneity. 

Dog Beach on West Cliff in Santa Cruz, California

@mssackstein  -  Long Island, New York

@JoAnnEMacken

From Matt Pasca's upcoming collection, Raven Wire

Thank you to the reflective writers, poets, and photographers who shared their artistic expressions this April.

END NOTES:

• In many cases, visual compositions were created by Carol Varsalona after writers sent in their thoughts and/or photographs. Some writers offered both an original thought and photograph.
• The REFLECT WITH ME Community of Writers will also be showcased on Facebook and Pinterest.
• During National Poetry Month, I have posted other poems for various projects: A Taste of Chocolate, End of Year Planning Message => Champion the Child, Poetry Alive During National Poetry Month, A Dreary Day Becomes a Lasting Gift, It's Springtime - Time to Rethink Clutter, Why Write Poetry?, CELI14: Connecting Educators on Long Island Through the Power of Twitter and Face-To-Face Conversations, National Poetry Month: Come REFLECT WITH ME as I Bring a Community of Reflective Writers Together and have participated in various poetry/writing projects such as Chris Lehman's TeacherPoets, Talks With Teachers 4-Week Challenge, Mary Lee Hahn's Our Wonderful World and connected with various poets. It has been an amazing month of filling my soul with creative noticings, wonderings, and writings. 
• It is my hope that this Virtual Gallery of Artistic Expressions will continue to grow, strengthened by a collective body of reflective writers and an appreciative audience.

Please leave a response, your feedback, or glow & grow thoughts in the comment section. This gesture of collegiality and a community spirit will be appreciated.

I hope you enjoyed this visual experience!

National Poetry Month: Come REFLECT WITH ME as I Bring a Community of Reflective Writers Together

As March closes and April makes its entrance, winter becomes a passing memory on Long Island. People speak of flowers, gardening, and various springtime pastimes that were unavailable during the long winter months. Although spring has not launched into full bloom, signals of renewal and rebirth are making their move as the human spirit awakens to nature's renderings. It is fitting during the month of April that poetic expression showcases itself as an art form, for as Dr. Maya Angelou says, "Poetry is music for the human voice." 

Let us join hands, hearts, and spirit to speak of our awakenings this April. 

Invitation

To honor the voices of those who hear the music inside their hearts, the REFLECT WITH ME Community of Writers will broaden its reach, bringing voices from near and far to awaken springtime senses through artistic expressions. 

JOIN me this April to add color, vibrancy, and voice to our sense of awakening. What started in March with the collaboration of sixteen writers and photographers, across the states, was a modest attempt to let human voice take flight. With National Poetry Month upon us, I am hoping that more writers will come forward to showcase their talents and create a collection of artistic expressions based on the topic, April Awakenings.

Let this project open the doors of connectedness and positivity across the globe to allow poetry to sing its song in a genuine spirit of collaboration.

Lend your voice, your spring awakenings, connect photographs of springtime with poetic expressions. 

Join the Community of Reflective Writers. 

Share a poem, poetic expression, photograph, or visual to build an explosion of thoughts during National Poetry Month.

I will be happy to share the collection in a virtual gallery on this site and Pinterest with a link on Facebook. Enjoy springtime!

Listening for Spring's Symphony

Since the launching of the Winter Whisperings Gallery, I have delightfully turned my attention to the season of spring with its magical awakenings. Last year, during National Poetry Month I unveiled April Awakenings, taking a cue from nature itself.

That gallery collection opened with this quote:

I realized that I relied on my 2014 one little word, openness, to find inspiration for the title of the April Awakenings' poetic collection, so I decided to do the same with this year's OLW. I listened, reflected, and turned all ideas over as they danced in the corners of my mind. A few #digipoetry colleagues and I discussed some possible names for the gallery, but they did not have the right "feel" for this new spring gallery, so I sought inspiration from nature itself. 

While the weather has fluctuated from warmth to coolness, to rain, to wind, a constant has remained-the landscape has been renewed. Interest in being immersed in spring's offerings, has been a strong emotion, but no name for the spring gallery surfaced until my son-in-law, Michael, suggested the word symphony. I paused to listen how the word sounded when I paired it with spring. As the words rolled off my tongue, the birth of a new collection evolved: Spring’s Symphony. When I heard Andre Rieu's Spring Symphony, I confirmed that this was a title worth inviting colleagues to use as their prompt. 

Take a moment to listen to the opening of Rieu's musical interlude. The sounds are what I hear in the morning when I open the window to daybreak. 

Windows flung open.
One look:
renewal offered.
Be present in a lifeforce of rebirth.
Nature offers a harmonious interplay of elements:
colors, sights, sounds
blending together 
in the concert of life.
Interested?

Join my Poetry Parade that will continue throughout the season of spring. Spring's Symphony will be launched at the close of the season. This gives you ample time to engage in reflective writing for the spring gallery. 

Below are guidelines to follow to create your special springtime offering:

pause, observe, reflect

find an element of springtime (a color that pops, a sighting that inspires, a sound that awakens your senses, or anything that provides your personal perspective of springtime) to photograph

write a poem or poetic expression to accompany the photo or image

refer to Winter Whisperings Gallery for ideas on how to pair a photo and poem

combine the photo and poem, using a photo-editing tool, such as PicMonkey, Canva, or even Word 

submit the combined poem/photo via Twitter DM or email to me for the new gallery, Spring's Symphony 

*one or two student/class poems are welcomed per teacher, as long as the teacher submits one, using his/hers as a mentor text for the class

May you hear spring's songs throughout the season!

It's DigiLit Sunday created by Margaret Simon so please visit that site and the following other ones where I am offering today's poem:

• A Year of Reading where Mary Lee Hahn is hosting PO-EMotions (today's word is interest)
• #digipoetry created by Margaret Simon and logo designed by Leigh Anne Eck where many writers are creating poems for National Poetry Month