A Rainy Easter Finds Joy

Winter fades, and springtime weather spouts like seeds on the ground. Easter glory is anticipated. Surprisingly, rain pours down on Easter Sunday. We drive to my little grandgirls, who wait with Easter glee for morning rain to turn to sunshine. In the meantime, the six-year-old starts a conversation about Grandpa in heaven. Will he come back to see us? She wants to know. "You might see him in your dreams like I do." Then, my almost three-year-old asks, "Is Grandpa above? She points to the ceiling, and I smile while the conversation continues during these moments of love and kindness. 

It's time for Easter Sunday Mass. The three little girls are ready to share their fashion show of matching sweater outfits, hairstyles with bows, and small purses. Spring rains start shouting with loud roars. People, like me, dash into the church. The falling rain does not quit; its roar pounds on the roof during Mass. After the beautiful ceremony, people stand in line to have photos taken at Christ has Risen photo op. Then, everyone dashes through the rain to their cars. With family and friends, we drive to our favorite, nearby Italian restaurant for Sunday dinner. "Dad would love this day," my son says as we exit.     

easter love

spreads above

behind clouds

rain drops splash

pour and roar

a surprise

spring dances

advances

small seeds sprout 

©CVarsalona, Easter 2026, tricube poem 

 

Two Writing Teachers, a meeting place for a world of reflected writers.

National Poetry Month-Day 7/30

Invitation to Write Breathings of Your Heart

It is National Poetry Month and I, like many friends, am writing poetry from the heart. Renowned poet, William Wordsworth stated: "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart," reminding me to let my mind and spirit fill the page with heart-felt thoughts. 

This month's annual Poetry Friday community project, the Progressive Poem, organized by slicer Margaret Simon, is centered around a no-choice-need-to-escape from a child's perspective. Are you intrigued?  In this story poem, you will see examples of writers breathing life into their couplets. Each set of couplets is written by a different writer. It is filled with imagery, emotion, and hope so far. When writing Day 14's couple, I reflected on my experience as a reading specialist and districtwide administrator who listened to poignant stories from children. The narratives were full of struggles, hardships, and in many cases flight from their homelands. The children told their stories in person and/or on paper. The Progressive Poem is filled with imagery, emotion, and hope from the eyes of a child. You can read the story unfolding here and continue to read new lines each day until the end of the month.

I enjoy creating galleries of artistic expressions and showcasing the writing of others along with mine. Please accept my invitation as slicers arjeha and Denise Krebs have done. Their work is on the Poetry Parad Padlet. Click here.

INVITATION

Please consider offering one image poem (see arjeha's below)

FOR

I'm off to join Two Writing Teachers Tuesday Slice of Life, a reflective community of worldwide writers. 

Nearing the End of NPM22

I am completely amazed at how fast this month passed. While recovering from my first cataract surgery. I learned to have a deeper appreciation of my one word, appreciate, the combination of medicine and faith. Perseverance stepped in during the journey and my muse visited often as I wrote poetry and read others' work. The healing process was long; I often fell asleep while growing new ideas and/or visiting poetry friends' blog sites. Responses to comments left at my blog or on other blogs were in a very slow mode but I made it through the month with these personal projects and more poetry:

• Proudly posted my Day 9 line in the Progressive Poem and passed the baton to my poet friend, Linda Baie.
• Introduced my NPM22 project, the creation of a Poetryliscious Gallery and a padlet to house a variety of artistic expressions, image poems, photographs, and inspired writing. Thank you to Poetry Friday friends, Linda Baie, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Molly Hogan, Denise Krebs, and Carol Labezztta for offering their work. Others, are in contact but have not placed their work on the padlet. You can see their nature photos and/or image poems on my Poetryliscious Gallery padlet. 
• Organized the artistic expressions offered for my Winter's Embrace Gallery that hopefully will be unveiled while winter still holds court in springtime.
• Wrote my annual Earth Day blog post with poetry and a digital graphic as my focus. 

Thank you, Laura Robb for tweeting the above quote sent to me via Twitter.

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This week in between naps, I wrote drafts of metaphor poems for Taylor Mali's Metaphor Dice Contest and anthology and the Poetry Sisters monthly challenge. I will share my samples, labeled #PoetryPals, as soon as I put the finishing touches on them. 

I, also, created an image poem for Margaret Simon's This Photo Wants To Be A Poem. 

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Thank you Jone Rush MacCulloch for providing a "gathering place for poets and lovers of poetry" this week at the Poetry Friday Round Up. Join me at Jone's blog to read about her good news where she shares works she created.

Progressive Poem 2022 NPM Day 9

Welcome to Day 9 of the Progressive Poem 2022. The tradition of penning a progressive poem started in 2012 by Irene Latham. In 2020, Margaret Simon became the organizer. 30 different poets collaborate during National Poetry Month to pen a poem that is always an imaginative adventure of poetic goodness. The poem travels from blogpost to blogpost. I am excited to take part in this year's collaborative poetry writing experience. So far, the poem has evolved using borrowed lines or lifted thoughts from various sources. Two voices were introduced, a journey is commencing, and Rose Cappelli added a new aspect, singing. You can view the list of writers prior to me and the dates that each added their line to the Progressive Poem 2022.

1  April 1 Irene Latham at Live Your Poem 

2  Donna Smith at Mainely Write
3  Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
4  Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
5  Buffy Silverman at Buffy Silverman
6  Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise 

7  Kim Johnson at Common Threads

8  Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities 

9  Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link   

✍

Evolution of the Progressive Poem 2022

Where they were going there were no maps. (Irene)

"Sorry! I don't want any adventures, thank you. Not today." (Donna)

Take the adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes! (Catherine)

"We have to go back. I forgot something." (Mary Lee)

It's spring, and the world is puddle-wonderful, we'll whistle and dance and set off on our way. (Buffy)

"Come with me, and you'll be in a land of pure imagination." (Linda M.)

Wherever you go, take your hopes, pack your dreams, and never forget - it is on our journeys that discoveries are made. (Kim)

And then it was time for singing. (Rose)

-It's time to reveal my line based on an adventure, two voices, and Disney songs, A Whole New World from Aladdin and Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas.-

Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain, paint with all the colors of the wind, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky?

You can follow the Progressive Poem's journey by clicking on the links below.

 

10  Linda Baie at Teacher Dance Teacher Dance
11  Janet Fagel at Reflections on the Teche

12 Jone at Jone Rush MacCulloch

13 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe

14 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
15 Carol Labuzzetta at The Apples in my Orchard
16 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
17 Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken Town
18 Patricia at Reverie
19 Christie at Wondering and Wandering
20 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
21 Kevin at Dog Trax
22 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
23 Leigh Anne at A Day in the Life
24 Marcie Atkins
25 Marilyn Garcia
26 JoAnn Early Macken
27 Janice at Salt City Verse
28 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
29 Karen Eastlund at Karen’s Got a Blog
30 Michelle Kogan Painting, Illustration, & Writing

Poetryliscious Poetry - NPM 2022

I am pleased to say that I successfully completed the 15th Annual Slife of Life Story Challenge with a comprehensive index poem to catalog my month of daily writing. Two Writing Teachers' challenge is a wonderful writing experience in which I met new slicers and enjoyed blogging alongside writers I've known for years. I am grateful for this special group of educators. 

I am now ready to dedicate April, National Poetry Month, to the writing of poetryliscious poetry throughout this month or capturing the "humanity of the moment" in photos to capture the "humanity of the moment".

incessant rain splashes lawns

washes negativity

away as dark clouds hover

springtime reigns-coldness settles

©CV, 2022

🌧

Slicers, I invite you to join me to wash away any negativity in the air as springtime reigns.

I will create a Poetryliscious Gallery viewing of original artistic expressions, such as photos, image poems, inspirational quotes, poetry, etc. to celebrate National Poetry Month.

If interested, please add your work to the padlet I created at 

https://padlet.com/cvarsalona/q1uymnafyupx3w8c

or

send your work to me and I will add it.

The deadline to send your work is Tuesday, April 26th.

Padlet

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for a meeting place on Slice of Life Tuesday to connect with a community of reflective writers.

Springtime Word Weaving

It's Poetry Friday time to connect with the creative muse so I carve out a writing space amidst the boxes that still line my hallway and study. Next, I recall last weekend's springtime walk with my little granddaughters and start word weaving my thoughts into different types of poetic forms for National Poetry Month. I begin with a photo I took during the walk and then transformed it into a digital inspiration. Using the Prisma app and the fibonicci sequence of a six-line twenty syllables poem, I dedicate the following mathematical endeavor to my little granddaughter who is a nature-lover.  

Child

Blows

Wishes

To the wind.

Dandelion dance,

Springtime wonder for little hands.

©CV, 2021

Be lulled by Bob Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind sung by Kina Grannis.

My roots take me back to childhood days when I blew dandy wishes to the wind with the dandelions I plucked. Back then, I also watched my Nonnie make dandelion greens for dinner. While I did not continue that tradition, I do love to drink tea made of dandelion roots or herbs but never explored the idea of growing a patch of dandelions in my herb garden. I wonder if they would take over the basil and parsley I intend to grow? I decide to use a different mathematical format to pen equation poems introduced to me by my poet friend Laura Purdie Salas to ponder my streaming thoughts.

dandelion root  x  wish weed puffs = springtime well-being

yellow weed flower + green stem + white feathers = wishes for happiness

About Poetic Forms

creativity + constrained poetic forms = conscious and concise word choice

Because my busy poet friend Matt Forrest is hosting Poetry Friday this week and invited all to try a tricube poem that consists of 3 stanzas, each of which have 3 ines, which each have 3 syllables, I thought I would challenge myself.  Here is my first tricube.

Spring sounds float

Through the woods 

By the creek.

Trees line paths.

Creek babbles.

Wish weeds pop.

Child picks one.

Holds it tight

and blows hard. 

©CV, 2021

Child giggles

as feathers

float through air.

Little fairies

delicately

blow away.

Spring's wish weeds

signal hope's

airborn flight.

©CV, 2021

What fun it is to have some time to myself to create digitals and word weave as a storm cuts across the patio. I hope you join me at Matt Forrest Esenwine's blog site, Radio, Rhythm, Rhyme. You will not only find more poetry but Matt's new success. Congratulations are in order!

Celebrate the close of a funfilled National Poetry Month

All Things New

There is a newness to life. I pause admiring the splendor of earth as I walk alongside my little granddaughters. There is much to be thankful for: a newly built home during COVID time, the arrival to Virginia after an arduous move, a new life journey, two little granddaughters whose smiles and laughter brighten the times I am with them, and faith. Although during the life move, I worried too much and brought on more stress than I should have, I held on to faith that all knots would be untied. 

Tonight, I pause to reflect on all things new and create a sijo of two stanzas ending with a haiku.

March springlike weather in Virginia

⁕

the cacophany of springtime chatter floods morning air

we pause to listen to the lilting music of frogs and birds 

toddler's curious inquiry stirs my imagination

the rapid swooshing of nighttime rain awakens my sleep

I listen to incessant pounding of nature's lament

quick weather changes bring on instantaneous mood swings

I pause to reflect

as nature stirs my thoughts

Easter hope rises

©CV, 2021

This has been a month of change. I longed for the positivity of all things new while trying to sort my feelings among the many stressors of a life move. Were there too many notions of newness amidst the multiple to-do lists? I often thought that I would not be able to make it through the rough patches of my life move. Everytime I tried to take care of one task others crept in making my efforts not reachable. 

Then, came the smile of an almost four-year-old and the laughter of one year old. In their presence, troubles were removed from my thoughts and happiness brought on a new feeling of joy. The newness of being only a half-hour away and being able to Grandma-sit when the baby had a rising fever bout and grandparents-sit when the girls' school was closed. These times melted away the angst of facing the same routine of unpacking boxes and organizing our new home each day. 

Romans 12:2 brought a new thought and a new hope that even in the darkest moments there is a bright light opening a passageway. We only need to look and have faith.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

I am awakened to the call of renewal this Holy Thursday after a period of testing. I am ready to move closer to the Spiritual Guide who brings the peace of Easter joy, making all things new and beautiful. In gratitude for this journey of renewal in a new life, I sought a song to express this feeling of newness and what it means. I found "All Things New" and turned the poetic goodness of one line of the lyrics into a Golden Shovel poem of hope using the strike line: "Hope is found, you are here." 

It is time for hope

to be renewed. It is

the sweetness of goodness found,

the essence of You

who knows where we are

in relation to our past and our presence here.

©CV, 2021

Thank you to Karen Eastlund, our Spiritual Journey host this month for suggesting the prompt

"All Is New" and building a themed blog post around the concept of springtime newness. 

"New life is at our door. It blesses us. We have been given the chance to start over, and start with fresh slate. Anything is possible." -Karen Eastlund

This theme, All is New,  transitions me into a new state of being as I start a brand new life in Virginia. Unfortunately, the past months have weighted me down but the season of Lent has been the right time leading me to a new change of heart, mind, spirit, and location. Join me this month as I once again attempt to write poetry daily for National Poetry Month. 

Thank you also to Mary Lee Hahn for hosting Poetry Friday this week as she begins her National Poetry Month project of a haiku a day. I am blessed to be part of two fine writing communities that are filled with like-minded poets and bloggers who understand the potential of writing for peace and transformation.

Happy Easter!