Summer Bursts with Color and Creativity

Summer 2021 bursts with sizzling temperatures, brilliant sunset colors, and fierce storms. In between all of those nature-made events, creativity has flowed.  Summer Poem Swap #3 took me by storm (so to speak). A small package arrived filled with the flaming colors of summer. Inside I found a stack of custom card stock, water-colored cards created by Mary Lee Hahn that were tied with a turquoise ribbon. A letter was penned on a similar water-colored paper that was oversized. Included was a sentiment that touched me: "This is a custom haiku (or dodoitsu) oracle deck, made with phrases found in your poems". Mary Lee designed a workable and reusable deck of cards for me to enjoy and create different haiku or dodoitsu poems. Not only was the swap gift unique, but it was also a learning tool since I never heard of a dodoitsu.

Haiku (5-7-5) by Mary Lee

find open spaces

mix wonder and childhood dreams

be glad for blessings

Here is a photo I found in Mary Lee's blog post, Missing Mom dated 12/20/2017 that I thought would pair nicely with the above Haiku.

 

Dodoitsu (7-7-7-5) by Mary Lee

gratitude floats through the air

the sweetness of goodness found

in robes of golden sunrise

          great expanse of life.

          ©CV, 2021

I thought this Google Image was wll-suited for the above dodoitsu.

Mary Lee ended with a wish for me. "Have fun mixing and matching to create new poems with your very own words!" Since she requested that I not share my deck until mid-August, today I feature the sizzling, colorful, and creative poem swap. Grateful for this gift and the opportunity to write, I started to create immediately. 

 My thank you dodoitsu to Mary Lee:

gratitude floats through the air

blossoms like a bud of spring

in robes of golden sunrise

         how charming you are

         ©CV, 2021

I had fun playing with the deck. 

The above image poem was created using the FotoJet app. It is one of the many photos I have from the wooded trail along the creek in our community. It will be added to my Nurturing Our Summer Souls Gallery collection.

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Last week was one of the firsts in our family! My daughter competed in her first triathlon and my son saved a life at work! Because these were proud moments in our family's journey, I wanted to share the events with all. Unfortunately, after I published the post, the revised copy disappeared along with the cheritas I wrote to commemorate each event. Now, I am in the process of recreating the poems since the originals were lost. 

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Thank you, Carol Labuzzetta, for hosting Poetry Friday for the first time. Carol shares her experience teaching a summer enrichment program. She provides a serene photo to prompt our own imaginations.