Poetry Gifts

There are those thankful moments in life when you stop and reflect on the power of friendship. Writing is one way to keep in touch with friends but over the years the art of writing letters and postcards got lost in the shuffle of tweets, messaging, and text messages. Recently, notecard and postcard writing, a past practice of the 20th century world, is being revived as a non-digital way of communicating with poetry friends. Lately, I have been receiving written poetry gifts from friends through the mail. This is a delightful way to be on the receiving end of kindness.

After celebrating acts of kindness over the past weeks, I sit back to recall the poetry gifts I received that provided moments of joy.

Michelle H. Barnes sent me a copy of Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong's marvelous new Poetry Friday Power Book, Here We Go, with a personal note. Michelle said that I won the book and this pleased me so much because I have been eager to read Here We Go. I have read many reviews on it by other Poetry Friday friends, have been happily reading each of the power packs in the book, and tweeted out my excitement for receiving the book. My quick thought is: Educators, this book is a Must Have for your classrooms and a fun resource to encourage students to write poetry. 

Beside that wonderful gift and card, other Poetry Friday friends sent me poetry postcards from Jone MacCulloch's New Year #PostcardXchange.

Thanks to Linda Baie, Brenda Davis Harsham, Jone MacCulloch, Bridget Magee, Diane Mayr, and Donna Smith for their beautifully-created digital postcards and notes that brightened each day that I received one. 

The last treat arrived a few days ago from my poet friend, Laura Purdie Salas. She has written an imaginative children's book, If You Were the Moon. Keri Lewis's review was the first one I read and I was immediately intrigued. My response to Keri was "Keri, your review of Laura’s book makes science come alive with a poetic touch". You can quickly become immersed in this captivating book that lets you see the moon through the lens of science. Check out the book trailer below. Then, let the book have a prominent spot in your children's bedtime library or in your classroom's library corner.

While I believe what Carl Sandburg said about poetry, "Poetry is a packsack of invisible keepsakes", I have a visible place of honor for all of the poetry gifts I have received. Lasting memories will be stored in my heart. 

Please join me for the Poetry Friday Round-up at Karen Edmisten's site.

Path of Joy

As I meander through the beginning of the year, I search for joy in the small and ordinary places of life. Even paperwork and household reorganization take on a new light when being guided by my one word, joy.  

Walking toward a path of joy is a heart-filled exploration of life.

Quiet places for me to find joy: 

-The original piano composition, The Joy of Little Things by Phantom Pianist 91

-Poetry, such as The Joy of Little Things by Robert William Service

It's good the great green earth to roam,

Where sight of awe the soul inspire;

But ho, it's best, the coming home,

The crackle of one's own hearth-fire!

You've hob-nobbed with the solemn Past;

You've seen the pageantry of kings:

Yet oh, how sweet to gain at last

The peace and rest of Little Things!

You can read the rest of the poem here.

-Quotations like "Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path of joy." ~Sarah Ban Breathnach

-Writing, in this case, a Golden Shovel poem inspired by the above quote

Walking the road to learning,
I reflect on a lesson: to
find time to live
mindfully in
the world, to uncover the
brilliance of the present,
the sparkle of a moment-
a single quest that is
accomplished in part
as I feel the breath of
nature and richness of the
seasons traveling a path,
discovering the power of
one limitless word: joy!
©CV, 2017

-Receiving poetry postcards from from Linda Baie, Diane Mayr, Brenda Davis Harsham, and Bridget Magee at the #postcardXchange, initiative created by Jone MacCulloch

postcard poetry
peaceful words on writers' wings
tranquil messages
©CV, 2017

-Inviting all who are interested in creating digital poetry for my newest gallery, Winter Wonder 17, to access the invitation here.

Today, the Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by my poetry friend,

Violet Nesdoly. I'm off to find joy at Violet's blog,

Violet Nesdoly / poems. Will you join me?  

Thanks Linda Baie for the snowy Poetry Friday logo.

May your path be filled with joy.

Next week, please join me as I joyfully host Poetry Friday.

Joyful Poetry

One of my goals for the start of 2017 is to notice and wonder more about the ordinary, the commonplace, and the small things in life, seek joy, my #OneWord2017, on a daily basis, and share thoughts and feelings on positivity. By searching for joy, I hope to send it out into the world as a reminder that a "joyful heart is good medicine..." (Proverbs 17:22)

What better way to fill my heart with a joyful experience, than to write poetry with Poetry Friday friends and receive gifts of poetry! 

Photo: Laura P. Salas

Every Thursday, Laura Purdie Salas invites all to write alongside her in 15 Words or Less Poems. The photo she took while we were at NCTE in Atlanta was so intriguing and the invitation such "a low pressure way to wake up my poetry brain", as Laura says that I decided to put pen to paper. 

curved passageways

lead me toward

life's careening journey-

hither, thither, 

forward

©CV, 2017

The poem above connects to my 2017 journey with my one word, joy, as my guide. To continue my thinking on one little word, I hosted Spiritual Journey first Thursday, a community of writers that Irene Latham now leads. My topic was "One Word to Guide Our 2017 Journey". You can view my post and the writing of others who linked up here.

I continued writing poetry with PF friends under the hashtag #haikuforhealing created by Mary Lee Hahn and #commonplacemarvels designed by Catherine Flynn. 

 


I created a poetry postcard for Jone MacCulloch Rush's New Year Postcard Exchange. All cards have been sent out in the mail. I will post the original at the of this month because the recipients have not received their poetry postcards yet. You can view Images and tweets at the hashtag, #PostcardXchange, that Jone created for the project.

Next week, I will showcase the poetry postcards that I receive. Thank you Brenda Davis Harsham and Diane Mayr for their lovely postcards. I was so excited when I received them. the exchange is a real treat and a throwback to the days of postcard writing.

"When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy." 

-Jalaluddin Rumi

May the love of poetry bring a joy to your winter months. Please visit my writing friend, Linda Baie's blog here to read her New Year greetings to the Poetry Friday community. Her link-up is already filling up with wonderful posts from many PF friends. Happy reading to all during this cold winter weekend. Note the logo Linda created complete with snow coming in from Linda's corner in Colorado.