Friday, August 20, 2021

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. 

21 comments:

  1. "How charming you are" is a great last line!
    That does sound like a very special week for your son and daughter...wow!

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    1. Thanks for joining me here, Tabatha. I am glad that you enjoyed my last line dodoitsu to Mary Lee. Have a great weekend.

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  2. It is so fun to have these oracle decks. Our summer swap has been the best.

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  3. Love this line, Carol "in robes of golden sunrise." What a precious gift you have been given by Mary Lee. Many blessings. Thanks for sharing your oracle deck! I also will have to try the Dodoitsu. I've not heard of that form before.

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    1. When I wrote the line Carol I was thinking of my paint chip colors and how they influence my writing.

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  4. ah Ha! You have an oracle deck too. Isn't it fun? I've so enjoyed playing and sorting and re-arranging the cards. A wonderful gift to receive. And, I think this would be a fun activity to do with students, too.

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    1. I agree that students would love the decks. They could partner with another and swap decks to create more poems. PS: I forgot to tell you that I enjoyed Hamish's new poem.

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  5. All the makings of a poetic summer. Ahhh. Very nice. We're expecting a fierce storm of our own this weekend as Henri heads our way.

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  6. Carol, thank you for sharing all these lovely images, and the poems Mary Lee wrote. I appreciate your own poem of gratitude for her, especially "how charming you are."

    I was so sorry to hear about your losing your post about your son and daughter last week. It was a treasure!

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    1. Thanks for commenting on my lost post, Denise. It is still a mystery to me on how it happened.

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  7. Dodoitsu is a new form to me - I'm going to have to play with that one! I've enjoyed all your sizzling summer poems. Have fun making new poems from old using your oracle deck!

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    1. I look forward to reading your dodoitsu, Elisabeth.

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  8. What an amazing swap! So sorry you lost your post!

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  9. Sorry to hear about your lost post & will look for its re-creation, Carol. What a beautiful post you share now from Mary Lee's marvelous gift! Keep having fun with those cards - your words!

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    1. Linda, it is so much fun to engage in summer swaps. I still remember when we were partners and we are still talking about family and beach vacations. Have a wonderful weekend. My little girls spent 3 days with us and they were delightful. We just ended the stay with a dinner out at a luscious Italian restaurant on their outside porch (good thing because we had a torrential storm as we started to go out for dinner). Today we took a nature walk along the creek (hence the name of our community is Creekside). Sierra and I collected artifacts from the walk that will be used in a future collage.

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  10. What a wonderful, creative post! Mary Lee's oracle decks are certainly a gift that keeps on giving!! Also, I'm so sorry about your lost post--that's such an awful feeling--but wow! So much to celebrate in your family!

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    1. The entire weekend was a celebration, Molly. It's always fun have the children sleep over at Grandma's.

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  11. Mary Lee's gift to you is also a gift for us, Carol! I love what you've created with your cards already. And double yowza for your daughter and son! I look forward to your recreated post. :)

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    1. Thanks, Bridget for joining me here. I hope you enjoyed your long vacation to the US. Yeah for the summer poem swap.

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  12. Thanks for this sizzling post in colors and words created by you and Mary Lee's poem swap, it's luscious and jumping right off the page– And congrats to your daughter's triathlon and your son's heroic actions.

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