Summer Rainstorm Thoughts

 The storm is an artist: the rainbow is its masterpiece." -Matshona Dhliwayo 

This week, storms were explosive. Although rain was predicted, darkening clouds became the indicator that sent me scrambling to pick up my decorative pillows. The rains continued. The knowledge that my plants were being watered was a blessing.  That night, I watched in surprise. The night storms were like a show in themselves. Sudden and strong lightning bolts jolted me. All sightings were mesmerizing. I wanted to write to describe what I saw so I took a photo of my flowers enjoying their soaking. They may not look like the rains were showering them but they were tossed around quite a bit. 

 Let the rain touch my soul.

Let the rain splash my flowers with cooling drops.

Let the rain sing me to sleep.

The rain makes puddles of hope in my garden.

The rain makes loud splashing sounds on the patio.

The rain meets lightning and strikes through cracks in the sky at night-

And I watch in fascination.

©CVarsalona, draft

The mentor text I used to create this poem is April Rain Song by Langston Hughes. There is a lovely short video shot by the NY Botanical Garden that can be accessed on You Tube.

🌦🌧☔

I continue to add poetic offerings to my Poetryliscious Padlet for another gallery af artistic expressions. Lester Laminack, children's author, was honored to join the gallery as in the past. I gratefully uploaded his inspirational image poem. Please add a poem or artistic inspiration to the padlet please do.

Today is Poetry Friday and Elisabeth Norton is our host at Unexpected Intersections. She shares an original poem written while challenging herself to break routine and change directions. Her site is alreading filling with offerings of poetic goodness.

Heart Sense

Valentine's Day, a day filled with love, is coming soon. My family celebrated early since the little grandgirls were with us for five days. There was a good deal of heartfelt love spread around during the grandparenting sitting time. 

The little grandgirls bubbled with happiness from the moment they entered. Love was in the air during conversations. Hugs and high fives were exchanged and imaginative play offered time to observe loving interactions. Even the girl's dollies got their share of love. Hearts were full. 

Using Joy Harjo's poem For Keeps as a mentor text, I pen a poem for the little girls. Soon, it will be tucked into their valentine cards and placed in the little mailbox we decorated for Valentine's Day. 

Morning sun opens a new day.

We listen for the birds.

None are heard. 

The house is warm and cozy,

This is where I want to be,

Close to you, sharing love.

At night's edge, we say goodnight.

Love surrounds us. 

Twinkling lights on the

little Charlie Brown tree glow.

I urge both of you

to stop talking,

listen to the night.

"Hush", I whisper

knowing that dreams will surface

and we will be one

for keeps.

©CV, 2022, draft

💗

Thank you, Elisabeth Norton for hosting Poetry Friday and leaving a light on so I can sneak in and place my post among the others in the community.

Sweet Summer Surprises

This summer there have been many wonderful gifts that bring joy: grandchildren frolicking, nature walks along a creek, new friends, and the soft sounds of poetry flooding the corridors of my heart. It's a new beginning in a new surrounding and quiet blessings come with sweet surprises along the way.

SURPRISE #1: After a nature walk with my grandgirls, I designed a digital collage of photographs I took during our walk. I blended them into a postcard similar to the turn-of-the-20th century ones I have in my collection. My thoughts are in the form of a dodoitsu but I took creative license in only using 4 syllables instead of 5 for the last line.

SURPRISE #2: The long-awaited, face-to-face meet-up with my next-town neighbor, Poetry Friday poet-librarian, Linda Mitchell. I was running late when the doorbell rang but that was fine. We hugged as old friends would after Linda extended an unexpected housewarming gift.

Lunch, chitchat, plans for future poetic outings, and meet-ups were part of the afternoon fun. Linda left with two boxes of professional texts for her teachers, Wonderopolis swag, and books for her library. I happily said goodby knowing that two more boxes were removed from my stack of unopened items. 

SURPRISE #3: Linda devised an on-the-spot poem swap for us. I would send her some photos of my antique collection of early 20th-century prints by the famous illustrator, Harrison Fisher. She would write ekphrastic poetry for each print. She suggested that I write about her cookie, brownie, and cupcake treats. I added in the digital artwork, and a selfie of us (which I call an ussie when it is more than one person). A story-poem evolved from the above picture prompt.

SURPRISE #4: I created memories that were encapsulated in digital art and poetry while Linda shared her poetic thoughts through ekphrastic skinnies that you can find at her blog post, Poetic Luncheon. 

SURPRISE #5: I happened upon the following quote by a 20th Century poet, Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

"Poetry is eternal graffiti written in the heart of everyone."

Perhaps, Ferlinghetti meant that graffiti is a form of visual communication and poetry is the format to communicate the richness of what we see and feel. 

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

Join me for the Poetry Friday Roundup at EFL teacher and writer Elisabeth Norton's blog, Unexpected Expectations. There's a party of poetic thoughts going on.