#PoetryPepUp Fun

When the stress mounts, it's time to relax with my digital notebook and create. So that is what I did this week and joined Kathryn Apel, Aussie children's book author and poet at her poetry challenge, Poetry Pep Up. Because I mixed up the times for the first Zoom meeting, I missed that live event. Unfortunately, I will miss the second one because of the time difference but there is always the archived video of the Zoom meet that Trudie Leigo sends from Australia.

So now here is my mini-gallery of this week's attempts to build my writing muscle and spark creativity. It was pure fun as Kat hoped it would be. 

Day 1 Challenge Blog post  - Zentangle Poem Directions from Kat Apel

fragrant messages bloom

in the midst of grass.

Sunbeams filter through foliage,

mellow and golden-

rare dignity,

proudly

set.

©CVarsalona, 2020

Day 3 Challenge Blog post - Tetractys Poem Directions from Kat Apel

   In This Moment

rest

wanders,

finds no place

as upsets mount,

protests, unrest but life moves on with hope

©CV, 2020

Day 4 Challenge Blog post - Write a Poem Inspired by a Photo Directions from Kat Apel

Just for fun, I moved out of my comfort zone and created a Quarantine Life video while outside in my garden. You can see that here.

Thanks, Kat for the enjoyable week writing alongside you. I did miss challenge 2 but plan to pen a poem for Day 5. For now, I am off to sleep but first I need to travel to the Poetry Friday Roundup at Margaret Simon's blog. Here you will find a touching letter poem Margaret penned to her students. 

Quick Note: If you offered a digital inspiration for my #NatureNurtures2020 Gallery collection please place it in the padlet that I created that you can find here. 

#QuarantineLife Musings

The afternoon sun was playing peek-a-boo as I walked around my garden marveling at the blossoms of spring. My lilac bush, full with fragrance, filled the air with a familiar scent from my childhood. I indulged in the freshness of the perfumed air while walking past the brilliance and plentitude of my rose bushes. The garden was still except for the soft music of Yanni's Butterfly Dance. I felt at peace.

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, 

where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike." -John Muir

In this tranquil setting, I stepped out of my comfort zone and created a video of quarantine life. Wrapped in an outdoor mask that I made, I luxuriated in spring's bountiful blessing for a few moments. Then, I quickly shared my passion for writing and designing a gallery of artistic expressions that shares Earth's beauty. Please take a few more moments to visit Nature Nurtures! padlet. 

I hope the short jaunt there allows you to breathe in the freshness of spring while wandering through the collection.

Today is Slice of Life Tuesday so I am traveling to Two Writing Teachers to be quieted by the inspiration of pens scribbling across the page.
See the first piece I found there.

The Art of Words-#PoetryPepUp

Come join me for Aussie poet, Kat Apel's #PoetryPepUp, Day 1, The Art of Words. While I missed the Zoom meeting tonight because of the time difference, I did create a Zentangle poem. You can too by following Kat's explicit instructions. It's fun to express your creativity through the blending of art and literacy. Ready? Start by linking to Kat's blog  here and Day 1's post here.

While I am familiar with blackout poetry, I am a novice with zentangles. The zentangle poem is a form of found poetry using repetitive lines (zentagles) to frame your poem. It is an endeavor in creative play.

I started with a page from a very old book. There is no copyright date in the book but I am guessing that the book is probably from around the turn of the 19th Century by the way it is bound and the color imprint on the cover. I made a copy of the page and started my drawing. You can barely see the words I boxed because the book is so old but you can read the poem I created using the boxed words below. 

Zentangle Poem

fragrant messages bloom

in the midst of grass.

Sunbeams filter through foliage,

mellow and golden-

rare dignity,

proudly

set.

©CVarsalona, 2020

You can join this free week of online poetry challenge led by Central Queensland author and educator Kathryn Apel starting June 1st. Kat is hoping to build our writing muscle and spark creativity. It's pure fun. 

Nature Is a Healer

Since the pandemic started raging, human life has been affected by such emotions as fear, rage, and isolation making the old idiom, cabin fever, an ever-growing concern.  Many people have tried to relieve internal stress through daily walks. I find it soothing and even when I walk the same route, I look for changes because nature does positively affect my mood. 

I am not the only one who feels the power of nature. Blogger Mukesh Mani, states at his blog site, "Just a few minutes of being in nature makes us feel healed and restored. Nature gives us strength, drains away all negative energy and fills us to the brim with positive energy."   Author, Mary Davis, notes, “A walk in nature walks the soul back home.”

To many, nature has proven to be a healer. Let's take a gallery walk through nature with some of my poet friends to read their poetic perspectives on the theme for my upcoming global gallery of artistic expressions, #NatureNurtures2020.

“Joy is finding the holy in the small and the sacred in the every day,” (Quote by Mary Davis) 

even when winter-like snow nestles into spring days. 

Enjoy a short-sleeve day when the weather turns back to spring.

"The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see." -Mary Davis 

Small clumps of purple flowers pose on a soft green lawn as the sun radiates heat from a cloudless sky.  Standing tall the purple blossoms invite human touch. I lean down to retrieve a few to press in a book as I did as a child. I walk on with my spring treasures breathing fresh air through my mask.

snippets of joy

signs of hope wrapped in my hand -

share  spring's promise

©CV, 2020

You can find more poetry goodness at Nature Nurtures! Padlet here. I will showcase other Poetry Friday poets' work in subsequent blog posts. For now, I am joining the Poetry Friday Roundup at Jama Rattigan's blog, Jama's Alphabet Soup, where she is offering chocolate chip cookies and poetry to celebrate National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. 

If you would like to offer an artistic expression to the gallery, please send it to the padlet and my Twitter handle, @cvarsalona, with the hashtag #NatureNurtures2020.

A Mother's Day to Remember

"Grandma, I love you." A sweet little voice exuberantly greeted me when I popped on a Zoom call. What a touching moment, spontaneously given the day before Mother's Day.  After the call, I reflected on past Mother's Day when my family gathered together and went to church, my mother and I standing at the end of Mass to receive a Mother's Day blessing. 

This year a new normal way of life surrounds Mother's Day. Church bells ring from an empty cathedral and we gather together to view a telecast Mass in our home. The unfamiliar pairs with the familiar-traditional love greetings, flowers, and card, a most welcomed sight from my husband and son.  Yet, we were alone and no sun in sight.

It just so happened that the sun decided to flood the sky with light. It was time for a walk so we sent a text to our friends.  A new idea sprung from the text. We decided to meet later in the afternoon for an outdoor, social distancing gathering.  Masked, we traveled to the other side of town with a tray of homemade cookies, chocolate-covered strawberries, and salad. Five of us sat in the sun at a proper distance away eating, laughing, and enjoying a few hours outdoors. It was a spontaneous act of friendship that turned a day into a memorable event.

I am offering this slice to Two Writing Teachers

for the Tuesday Slice of Life.

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.  

Spring Is in the Air Skinny

Spring is in the air and buds are popping everywhere. The allergy season is sneezing its way into recognition, and kleenex boxes are strategically placed around the house. What is odd this season is that boutique boxes of kleenex are seldom seen on shelves. Quarantine life is fraught with dilemmas, this being a minor one. My husband, the masked wonder, managed to find two multi-boxed packages at Costco so allergy season can continue now that kleenex is close by.

I thought the skinny format would work nicely with a new poem and a nature photo I took a few years ago. I even found a ditty tune I created in 2016 to accompany it. 

Spring is in the air,

budding,

popping

everywhere

with

budding

springtime

wear.

Smell

nature's

budding.

Spring is in the air.

©CV, 2020

Now, please enjoy my invented ditty song, Spring is int he air, created with the app, Ditty. Unfortunately, this app is no longer in existence.

The Skinny poetry format was created by Truth Thomas in 2005. The Skinny Blog explains that "The Skinny" is a short poem that consists of eleven lines. "The first and eleventh lines can be any length (although shorter lines are favored). The eleventh and last line must be repeated using the same words from the first and opening line (The first and eleventh lines can be an; margin: however, they can be rearranged. The 2nd, 6th, and 10th lines must be identical. All the lines in this form, except for the 1st and last lines, must be comprised of ONLY one word." 

Crowdsourced Poem_National Poetry Month

From the quiet corners of three separate shelter-in-place areas, a thought grew into a well-conceived #NYEDChat Twitter chat. With the topic, "Poetry Soothes Souls during Trying Times", in place, questions were created by my guest moderators/poet-authors, Georgia Heard and Rebecca Kai Dotlich, and me to encourage tweeters from across the world to discuss the comfort and joy that poetry can bring. 

On Monday night, April 20, 2020, #NYEDChat aired for a half-hour on Twitter. People poured in from across the states and as far away as Canada and Brazil. They chatted, reflected, responded, and inspired by each others' comments. After 524 tweets, I created a transcript of the chat using Wakelet. In addition, I created a crowdsourced poem from some Question 1 responders.

Question 1: So many people seem to be turning to poetry during these trying times.  

Why do you think that is? 

I thank my guest moderators, Georgia and Rebecca,  for their time and willingness to inspire others. Appreciations are also sent out to all those who joined the chat and provided a wealth of resources and thoughts.

It's time to join Two Writing Teachers for Slice of Life Tuesday. I plan on adding the above poem embossed on a digitized scene outside my window #NatureNurtures Gallery. 

Nature Nurtures Neighborhoods

As COVID-19 continues to rage here on Long Island, nature shares its beauty. With a heart full of gratitude, I step outside my home to notice my surroundings and let nature nurture my soul. Tiny buds open with the colors of spring and skies flood earth with glorious rays. Sunrises and sunsets spread their hues of rose tint and sunset orange. 

Step outside.

Neighborhoods come alive

with the scent of springtime.

Please join me at NYEDChat's Annual Poetry Twitter Chat

Monday, April 20, 2020, 8:00-8:30 pm EST

to discuss

"Poetry Soothes Souls During Troubled Times"

Georgia Heard
and
Rebecca Kai Dotlich 
will guest moderate.

Raise your voices with our poetry community to give
the gift of hope through poetic thoughts.

Today, I join the talented photographer poet Molly Hogan at her blog site where she shares the sensory experience of creating bread and then mixing it with poetry. Her poem is sure to bring comfort to readers. As an aside, Molly allowed me to use one of her lovely bird photographs to pair with one of my quarantine life poems. It can be seen here. 

Wednesday Thoughts: Quarantine Life

today
is cloudy, 
as many days are
during quarantine life.
I listen to bird's morning song.
there is a soulful tune to his cooing.
does little bird outside my window feel
earth's sadness or does he sing of hope to come?
©CV, 2020

Molly Hogan, 2020, Maine

a text breaks 

the stillness.

oppressive silence

follows 

filling the air.

trying times far away-

grandbaby's fever rises

incessant waiting...

hope lifts

like little bird's

morning song.
©CV, 2020                                                                                  

From Estonia to NY, Nature Nurtures

When my Estonian writing friend Terje Akke shared the following beautiful photo from her homeland, I sighed

blue-purple bloom,
effortlessly beguiling,
springs forth from earth
burgeoning budding-day calls
bringing hope to the hopeless
©CV, 2020

🌸

and followed with a handmade, paper collage card with pressed dried petals.



If I could go to the Post Office, I would have tucked inside the card a poem
but instead, I send a virtual card with wishes
to stay safe during quarantine life.

It's time to join Two Writing Teachers for Slice of Life Tuesday and 
add my National Poetry Month poems of hope with a special announcement.

Roll the Dice-Create a Poem

Recollecting how intrigued I was at the NCTE Conference with Taylor Mali's demonstration of his Metaphor Dice, I decided to enjoy some #quarentainment fun today. After all, it was a rain-sweeping, wind-howling day and I needed a bit of inspiration. I gently shook my dice so that they would fall gracefully on my desk. The word hope popped out and became the central concept for today's National Poetry Month poem-of-the-day. 

I liked the idea that hope is a gentle songbird so I decided to turn this metaphor into a poem of hope. Since the rain was pelting down and the trees were swaying with vigor, the birds were not singing their songs. Luckily, FotoJet has a library of beautiful photos to use. I chose the photo that inspired me and created a digital inspiration for my #NatureNurtures2020 Gallery of Artistic Expressions. Not only has this poem been added to the collection under the hashtag noted above, but it is showcased at my Nature Nurtures! Padlet. You can find many other digital inspirations on the padlet. Please consider creating your own image poem for the collection. The invitation can be accessed here. 

#NatureNurtures2020 at Poetry Friday

This week has been one of continued daily news blasts, face mask making, and cabin fever, "a real situation" as stated by NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo. He further noted there are positive ways to help with cabin fever feelings. My way is to spend National Poetry Month writing daily poems and curating a gallery of artistic expressions to bring positivity into the pandemic situation. 

With Nature Nurtures as the mantra, I invited people from across the globe to share the beauty of nature and the power of poetry to soothe souls at this trying time. Joining me on this poetic venture, #NatureNurtures2020, are some of my Poetry Friday poet friends with offerings you can see at Nature Nurtures! Padlet:

Jan Godown Annino

Karen Eastlund

Laura Purdie Salas

Buffy Silverman

Liz Steinglass

With Good Friday and the pandemic on my mind (the number of cases in my Long Island hometown has risen), I created a found #poemofhope. It is based on an inspirational message from Father Cedric that I heard on television this morning.

I am traveling over to Poetry Friday led by the amazing poet and author, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm. Amy is sharing her National Poetry Month project and welcoming everyone to Poetry Friday, "our little community's way of sharing."