Autumn: The Season for Letting Go

Now that fall has officially arrived, I watch the environment change slowly. It is the season for letting go and breathing in smoky and woody scents. It is the time to sit still, have a cup of spice tea, and agree with F. Scott Fitzgerald that "life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." 

Have you ever reflected on the magnificence of a fall day? I found a digitized photo I created last autumn and began falling in love with fall all over again. The digitized image below is of a "second summer" day, the revised name for "Indian Summer".

"second summer" days

glitter in golden hues

nature's bequeathal

©CVarsalona, 2023, Virginia

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Nature finds its way to transition easily from one season to another. Living in New York State afforded me wonderful venues to witness nature's beauty. I thought those were strikingly appealing and peaceful but now that I am living in Virginia, I find the beauty of Autumn in another state. See below the beauty of the Virginia countryside I was able to capture in 2019 before we moved. 

I added a poem with a challenge presented by the Poetry Sisters. It is called a diminishing poem. I must admit this challenge was a CHALLENGE! You can read more about this poem at Writer's Digest and see samples written by Tanita S. Davis. Her blog post for today's Poetry Friday will point you in the right direction to read other Poetry Sisters' and #PoetryPals poems.

Autumn enters with plans to PLEASE.

Agrees to take an extended LEASE

Designing fall landscapes with EASE.

©CVarsalona, 2023, Virginia, diminishing poem

Autumn is the season of transformational beauty. The scenic vibes allow for peaceful contemplation and restorative feelings. I am ready to "just be" and let go of worries. 

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Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of autumn.” —John Muir in The Mountains of California

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Have you seen my Destination: Summer's End Padlet? This week Michelle Kogan added her image poems and Margaret Simon offered three poems by her students. Please take a look by clicking on the title above. I hope more writers, poets, and students add their artistic expressions to the padlet this week. Thank you, Robyn Hood Black, Linda Baie, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Karen Elise Finch, Patricia Franz, Jane Heitman Healy, Sally Murphy, Janice Scully, Anastasia Suen, for your poetic offerings.

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It is now time for Poetry Friday hosted by the marvelous hostess, Jama Rattigan. Be sure to follow me over to Jama's blog for some satire and poetic goodness.

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What's Coming Soon

Book Review of Amy Ludwig Vanderwater's The Sound of Kindness  published by Magination Press

Book Review of Matt Forrest Esenwine's The Thing to Remember About Stargazing

More poetry!

Goodby Kindergarten

It was a beautiful day six years ago just like today. My husband, son, and I were driving from Long Island to Virginia to arrive in time for the arrival of our first grandchild when my phone started ringing. Sierra  Kathryn was just born and we were still at least two hours away. Fast track to yesterday, Sierra, my oldest granddaughter celebrated her 6th Birthday. Plus, today she finishes her year of Kindergarten. It is difficult to believe that time has past so quickly and Sierra is now ready for 1st grade. Last night, we celebrated with the extended family.  Without further ado, I share snippets of the outside dinner party through a series of photos.

Homemade number cookie I baked for the dinner party

Sierra enjoys her cookie.

She attempts to read her birthday cards.

I am proud to see her trying.

Two sisters enjoy the celebration at Medium Rare.

Recently, I read Amy Ludwig Vanderwater's blogs which spoke about occasion poem and making souvenir poems. Below is my souvenir poem that I will read with Sierra.

Your kindergarten life,

a whole year of delight,

whooshed away

in a fantastic way!

Your sweet teacher was swell!

It's time to bid friends farewell. 

Memories will last

through your summer-life dash.

Then, first grade will come

for more school-life fun.

©CVarsalona, 2023

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Thanks to Anastasia Suen for sparking a poem for her June #smallpoem challenge.

sweetened sangria

delicious and bright

as the birthday girl

raise a glass to celebrate

©CVarsalona, 2023

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Last year, my artist and poet friend, Michelle Kogan created a 5th-year birthday card for Sierra. This week she is hosting Poetry Friday here. You can find much poetic goodness on her site, including the Poetry Friday community blog posts. I look forward to joining everyone this morning.

Logo created by Michelle Kogan

#SOL22 March Musings Day 25: Ekphrastic Dodoitsu

The Poetry Sisters posted their March Challenge asking poetry peeps to create an ekphrastic dodoitsu. Lucky me, I knew what type of poetry that was since Mary Lee Hahn, one of the Poetry Sisters, gifted me during a poetry swap with a deck of handmade dodoitsu cards and original poems she created from the deck. 

The cards grace my desk and when inclined, I use the cards to create short poems of four lines with a 7-7-7-5 syllabic pattern on topics of love or work. The one glitch for me is writing a humorous poem as the format asks for. This part is a bit difficult for me. Why? Well, my husband considers me to be a serious type of person, not a humorous one. Since I love to play with the Poetry Sisters each month, I gave it a try. 

This is actually a true story and the photo is an original one of the conference hall. It was a March day with brilliant sunshine but towards the end of the conference, the weather shifted and all that darkness at the top of the digitized photo is the snow that came down and made a sloppy mess.

circle of love welcomes all

enter my year-old abode

with careful steps walk slowly

boxes block passage

©CV, revised 2022

Unfortunately, my house looks like the first few months when we first moved in, cluttered with moving boxes. The boxes that are in my dining room and hallway now are holiday decorations that are being sorted and moved from our attic to the garage that is decked out with new organizational systems from The Container Store (that are still not in the completed stage). 

THANK YOU TO:

Poet-author-teacher, Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, who hosts Poetry Friday this week. I am joining Amy at her blog, The Poem Farm, where she is not only announcing her new National Poetry Month 2022 project, Pick A Proverb, but shares her first proverb poem that will start a full month of writing. Amy invites everyone to write alongside her.

Thank you, Poetry Sisters, for the challenge. #PoetryPals

Two Writing Teachers for this daily meeting place to connect with a community of reflective writers. 

#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." 

2019 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem Continues

Today, it is my honor to continue the journey of the 2019 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem, an annual tradition of our poetry community. At the beginning of National Poetry Month, 30 bloggers, poets, and children's writers joined Irene Latham's challenge to write an original poem. Matt Forrest Esenwine began the process with a creative move. Using found lines from song lyrics, he created line 1 of the Progressive Poem. Other poets followed in suit, adding their found lines from songs that resonated with them, making each line unique.

Each day the Progressive Poem grew, I felt a little bit more nervous. After all, growing up I always enjoyed listening to music but did not know lyrics for sing-alongs. I questioned if I could find lyrics that would fit so I began searching for possible songs, like Chad and Jeremy's A Summer Song and Ella Fitzgerald's Summertime. Song titles from my summer galleries and accompanying lines started filling my digital journal. Then, on Palm Sunday, when the sun peeked out behind the clouds, I decided to take a spontaneous ride to the boardwalk. Christie Wyman just posted her line, "I wanna fly like an eagle, to the sea," so off I went with my husband! The Long Beach Boardwalk was surrounded by a dense fog making the ocean not visible but I could hear the sounds of the sea and sky and smell the fresh salt air. The quick trip energized and inspired me to write.

I woke on Monday morning, looking for day 15's blog by the amazing poet and creative artist, Robyn Hood Black. Her line made reference to the Masters Tournament and a song from a 1985 movie revolving around America's favorite pastime. My immediate thought was "Really Robyn, a tiger!" While I loved the line, I thought of it as an interesting curveball so, with expectation, I took a swing at how I would like the poem to progress. I wanted to keep the summer vibe from a child's eyes. I thought about little ones I saw playing in the sand on Sunday and my grandbaby who loves music and lullabies. It was then that I found Song of the Sea, a lullaby that featured a recurring question and descriptive action. By Monday evening, I decided that the question from "Song of the Sea would be the beginning of line 16 but flipflopped between two Mary Poppin songs and another specific action line from the lullaby. When I reread the stanza orally for one more time, I realized just what I felt I needed. 

Are you ready for line 16?  While it is long, I wanted the end of the stanza to be a visual invitation with action. I offer the line to you now. Please feel free to comment. 

Endless summer; I can see for miles...
Fun, fun, fun - and the whole world smiles.
No time for school - just time to play,
we swim the laughin' sea each and every day.

You had only to rise, lean from your window,
the curtain opens on a portrait of today.
Kodachrome greens, dazzling blue,
It's the chance of a lifetime,

make it last forever-ready? Set? Let's Go!
Come, we'll take a walk, the sun is shining down,
Not a cloud in the sky got the sun in my eyes.
Tomorrow's here. It's called today.

Gonna get me a piece o' the sky.
I wanna fly like an eagle, to the sea
and there's a tiger in my veins.
Oh, won't you come with me waltzing the waves,
                                                                                          diving the deep?

Found Lines:
L. 1   The Who, 'I Can See for Miles' / The Beach Boys, 'Endless Summer'
L. 2  The Beach Boys, 'Fun, Fun, Fun'/Dean Martin, "When You're Smiling"
L. 3  The Jamies, "Summertime, Summertime'

L. 4 The Doors, 'Summer's Almost Gone' / Led Zeppelin, 'Good Times, Bad Times'

L.5   Ray Bradbury, 'Dandelion Wine

L6    Joni Mitchell, "Chelsea Morning"

L7    Paul Simon, "Kodachrome," "Dazzling  Blue"

L8    Dan Fogelberg, "Run for the Roses" 

L9    Spice Girls, "Wannabe"/Will Smith, "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It"

L10  The Beatles, "Good Day Sunshine"

L11   The Carpenter, "Top of the World"

L12   Lin-Manuel Miranda, "Underneath the Lovely London Sky" from Mary Poppins

L13   Carole King, "Hi-de-ho (That Sweet Roll)"

L14  Steve Miller, "Fly Like An Eagle"

L15   Don Felder, "Wild Life"

L16   Nolwenn Leroy, "Song of the Sea" (lullaby)

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April Schedule  -  If you are interested in the backstories of each Progressive Poem writer, please visit the sites linked below. 

1 Matt @Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme

2 Kat @Kathryn Apel
3 Kimberly @KimberlyHutmacherWrites
4 Jone @DeoWriter
5 Linda @TeacherDance
6 Tara @Going to Walden
7 Ruth @thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown
8 Mary Lee @A Year of Reading
9 Rebecca @Rebecca Herzog
10 Janet F. @Live Your Poem
11 Dani @Doing the Work that Matters
12 Margaret @Reflections on the Teche
13 Doraine @Dori Reads
14 Christie @Wondering and Wandering
15 Robyn @Life on the Deckle Edge
16 Carol @Beyond LiteracyLink
17 Amy @The Poem Farm
18 Linda @A Word Edgewise
19 Heidi @my juicy little universe
20 Buffy @Buffy’s Blog
21 Michelle @Michelle Kogan
22 Catherine @Reading to the Core

23 Penny @a penny and her jots

24 Tabatha @The Opposite of Indifference
25 Jan @Bookseestudio
26 Linda @Write Time
27 Sheila @Sheila Renfro
28 Liz @Elizabeth Steinglass
29 Irene @Live Your Poem
30 Donna @Mainely Write

Keeping Hope Alive

After hearing the news of the shooting in Florida, I was dismayed, horrified, and disheartened by what is happening in the world. When did hate and ill feelings become the norm? Why are there people continuing to rob the world of joy? 

In a comment to Linda Baie, who hosted Poetry Friday yesterday, I wrote: " Life is short, fragile, and uncertain, as evidenced by today's tragedy. Joy* needs to be found and spread." I was contemplating this when I read April Halprin Wayland's Poetry Friday post about a contest at Six-Word Memoirs that asks how do you keep hope alive in exactly Six Words. This project appropriately fits into my writing for #haikuforhealing. April's poem and her one question, "What is your Six Word Hope in this New Year?", inspired me to respond.

*(My thoughts on joy as my one word for 2017 can be found here.)

Today, I would like to celebrate ways to keep hope alive in 6 word thoughts so that joy can fill the space that surrounds me and inspire others to do the same.

KEEPING HOPE ALIVE

The above beautifully stitched poembird just arrived in the mail from Stitch Buffalo's Refugee Women's Workshop via Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. It will help me keep hope alive.

I Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres each weekend. Please visit Ruth's site here to read her inspirational message and peek in on the other writers in the community. 

Also, please visit #HopeIn6Words and hopefully add your thoughts.

Summer Moved On

Summer moved on 

as school days became the norm.

Summerscape moments floated on by 

as smoky clouds hovered over distant shores.

Lifeguards moved on 

as beaches folded their umbrella stands.

Swimmers moved on

as they traveled back to their daily lives.

While we can't tag along 
as summer passes on,

we can hold summerscape moments

in our hearts. 

©CV, 2016

Summer Moved On by Ah-ha 

Summer moved on

And the way it goes

You can't tag along.

Moments will pass 

in the morning light. 

I found out seasons 

can't last and there's

Just one thing left to ask,

Stay. Don't just walk away 

and leave me another day.

Summer moved on.

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While I can't ask summer to stay, I can linger in its memories as I gather the digital offerings for my summer gallery, Summerscapes.

Please visit Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's blog here for the Poetry Friday Roundup where Amy is celebrating Happy Poetry Friday with her poem that is part of Janet Wong's and Sylvia Vardell's new anthology, YOU JUST WAIT, for middle school students.