Reflecting on the Last Day of #NPM

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God." - Anne Frank 

As the pandemic continues on Long Island and the weather turns to rain and cloudiness, the human spirit longs for connections. During these types of days, I, like others, need to take a walk, smell the fresh air, and be comforted by nature. When this is impossible, I turn to writing, my #quarentainment that lets creativity bubble inside so voice flys.

Highlights of my week of reflecting and writing during National Poetry Month:

Look Into the Future is a video poem I created using Lumen 5. It holds my thoughts about what the future might be. This video poem is constructed with the first stanza of my Skinny poem series offered to Michelle H. Barnes for Today's Little Ditty April challenge.

While reading Fran Haley's blog post with Ode to the Wind, I was inspired by her words to create a Golden Shovel poem based on her quote. "The universe is a writer." From that, I designed my second video poem. You can access it here.

Following my evolving thoughts on the future, I designed an image poem for my #NatureNurtures2020 Gallery using a nature photo taken by an amazing photographer in South Africa, #chazchaz. I thank Al Dhalla, a Twitter colleague, who sent this photo.

In trying times like these facing humanity, nature is a healer. Stepping outside is a break from indoor quarantine life that allows me to find comfort, reflect on the here and now, and future. Hopefully, lessons learned during the pandemic will initiate a new call to action for mankind, increased problem-solving, and creative, innovative solutions to global issues facing humanity. For me, I will continue to write poems of hope to stir minds and hearts.

I am still collecting image poems, nature photographs,

and any other form of artistic expression for #NatureNurtures2020 Gallery.

Quick Challenge:

This inspirational photo by #chazchaz is waiting for poems of hope and haikus for healing to be written. Compose one for the gallery so we can extend poetry writing into May. Ask your students to create as well. Send all offerings to me via a comment below, on Twitter or Facebook.

I'm joining the Poetry Friday community this week at Elizabeth Steinglass's blog site for the Poetry Friday Roundup. Liz is sharing the new videos she was asked to create. Take a stroll over to her blog to hear her reading from her amazing children's book, Soccerverse, and to pick up some creative ideas for #remotelearning.

Quiet Morning

In the stillness of the night, snow quietly entered to cradle a sleepy neighborhood in a blanket of warmth. Not until early morning did I realize the gift of late autumn snow nature presented. My leaf-strewn neighborhood was transformed into a wonder-filled, peaceful scene. I captured that tranquil image, digitized it with the app, MobileMonet, and created a #haikuforhealing/#haikuforhope.

From this image poem, I designed a music collage with the app, PicPlayPost. The music complemented the scene and let the day start with a sense of contentment to embrace the day giving a nod to my one little word for 2019. You can see the music collage on YouTube or below.

Switching my thoughts back to an amazing Thanksgiving/birthday holiday at Hotel Hershey, I started the holiday season with autumn's glow and good cheer. The experience brought out the child in all of us as we celebrated the beginning of the holiday season with my granddaughter.

May the spirit of the holidays bring hope to all!

Now, I am traveling over to Elizabeth Steinglass' site, the host of Poetry Friday, to enjoy some poetry magic. Liz has an original poem about a short word that is so important. 

The World is Full of Poetry

National Poetry Month may be over but for me, poetry is a year-round exploration of words that dance within the images they create. I have gone back in time to work the digital poetry gallery I started designing in autumn so I can share a sneak peek today. Within the gallery halls, earth's majesty gives rise to a chorus of voices singing the praises of poetry in motion. Join me as I paint earth in fiery hues of an autumn day for:

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." (Albert Camus) 

abundant autumn sets no limits

brush-stroking earth with spun-gold colors-

tranquility leaves its calling card

 ©CV, 2019

In a slide presentation below, I offer a sneak peek at Abundant Autumn Gallery of Artistic Expressions. The offerings from some Poetry Friday colleagues illustrate the concept of autumn as a second spring with their brilliant color schemes, imagery, and poetry. You can access this presentation on Google Slides here. The cover to the slide show and the authors are below.

Thank you to the following Poetry Friday poets for their Abundant Autumn digital inspirations:

Linda Baie, Ramona Behnke, Catherine Flynn, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Jan Godown Annino,

Mary Lee Hahn, Brenda Harsham, Molly Hogan, Michelle Kogan, Jone MacCulloch, Diane Mayr, 

Kay McGriff, Margaret Simon, Jane Whittingham, Christie Wyman.

The world is full of poetry.
The air is living with its spirit;

and the waves dance to the

music of its melodies,

and sparkle in its brightness." 

-James Gates Percival, poet 

Enjoy listening to The World is Full of Poetry from Earthsongs

Stay tuned for the unveiling of the full Abundant Autumn Gallery of Artistic Expressions with digital inspirations from around the globe. In the meantime, I am heading over to Elizabeth Steinglass' blogsite.  She is sharing about her new book, Soccerverse, that inlcudes 22 poems about everything soccer. 

Special Note:

If you are interested in offering an Abundant Autumn #imagepoem to my gallery, send it to me  either at my email (cvarsalona on gmail) or to Twitter under the hashtag, #AbundantAutumn.

Snow Dustings

Dust of Snow

BY ROBERT FROST

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

Perhaps, in this hurried pace of life, 

we could slow down, notice more,

wonder and be inspired

by nature's gifts

to find our greatness.

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

It's Poetry Friday! Elizabeth Steinglass is hosting and offers a "Why I'm Here"

poem for us to read plus an invitation to design one. 

Travel with me to Liz's site. 

Poetry Potpourri

This month I have been writing alongside Laura Shovan and other writers who have dedicated part of their practice to composing poetry for Laura's 2016 Found Object Poem Project. It has been a delightful challenge to create a poem a day (many of which need refinement) geared to the found object prompt. Since some days were filled with other writing, below Day 26 poem, I am providing two more poems to complete the challenge up to now.  

recycled refuse
-slashed, stacked, stored
curbside cardboard collage-
artsy artisan gallery show
preview on trash day

©CVarsalona, 2016

This poem is offered for Day 26 2016 of Laura Shovan's Found Object Poem Project and will be shared at Michael Ratcliffe's Poetry today.

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Market Day is an offering for Day 2 2016 of Laura Shovan's Found Object Poem Project.

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Wonder is an offering for Day 3 2016 of Laura Shovan's Found Object Poem Project.

It feels so comfortable to be caught up with the twenty-nine day poetry writing project. The rewards of being part of an active writing community outweigh the internal pressure to keep up. Now I can relax into the last few days of Laura's poetry challenge.

Digitalized image from a Macy's ad

Now please visit Elizabeth Steinglass' blog for the Poetry Friday Round-up. Elizabeth has two quotes that resonated with me. After providing quote one, Elizabeth goes on to say, "I love the reminder here that producing something anything-is worth the time." The creative process is driven by the pulling of the heart strings of voice that wants to rise from heart to mind to paper. I have found that relaxing in the process helps the voice unwind. 

Gentle Reminder: March 4th is the deadline for submission of digital compositions of combined photographs and poetry for my upcoming gallery, Winter Wanderings. 

Sounds of Silence

For the past two days, I have been mixing words with images while listening to either the reverberation of my breath as my yoga instructors have encouraged or the sounds of winter's icy stillness. Perhaps, this practice has come about because of Laura Shovan's call to create sound poetry. Those who have tried have been quite successful. For me, to engage in this practice, has been a process. 

Since listen is my one little word this year, I have listened intently in silence to the sounds of the earth, sky, and rooms. I've attended yoga classes to declutter my mind and focus on hearing my breath, as my instructors have encouraged me to do. During this process, I have tried to quiet my thoughts to be in synchronization with my breath. What flows are my newly spun words and image that came from this attempt at achieving stillness. 

Listening to the song, Sound of Silence, takes me back to a throw-back decade. Enjoy the listening experience. 

Now travel over to Elizabeth Steinglass' site where she is hosting Poetry Friday with a DIY Recycled Rocket craft and her original poem. Various offerings will be there for your reading pleasure this weekend.