June Is...

June is ending today with fanfare since it shares two joyful seasons, late spring and early summer. June's sunrises opened with a centering feeling, a tribute to nature. Sunsets energized watchers, even when the sky was gray. There is vibrancy in the month of June, as if a seamstress dressed it in style.

Click here to listen to the lively song, "June Hymn".

June Is...

June enters like brides

with bouquets of spring florals

nature's peak blooms

June is earth's

love song composed

with nature's hands.

June is spring's 

bountiful gift of love

to spark each day

June is also

summer's turn to join in

with heated glory

©CVarsalona, 2026

The above poem is inspired by Patience Strong's quote:

"June is a love song written by nature."

Click here to listen to the song, "June Hymn".

As June passes by, remember:

June smells like bouquets of vivid blossoms,

is the garland-decorated gateway to summer

that is precious so honor June's entrance.

Hint: Don't forget sun lotion!

On the last day of June, be of good spirit.

The temperature in Virginia is going to create the summer sweat.

It's time to take a summerscape!

On this beautifully lit day filled with sunshine and heat, I offer my blog post

to Two Writing Teachers, a meeting place for reflective writers around the globe.

Stroll Through Spring Seeds Grace April Padlet Gallery

 "Where flowers bloom so does hope" 

- Lady Bird Johnson

 Take a peek into my garden of peace that explodes with joy in June.

Please open the link to Spring Seeds Grace April Padlet Gallery to view the collaborative effort of poets, photographers, and artists who joined me to create a tribute to Springtime. As you enter the gallery of artistic of artistic expressions, click on the slideshow. Then, turn on Vivaldi Four Seasons: Spring La Primavera to stroll through the gallery of artistic expressions. There you will discover some slicers who contributed to my National Poetry Month project. 

I thank those who offered their talents to create a new gallery among the many galleries I have created and shared on my blog since 2014. I also thank my readers for their comments. 

"Spring dances with joy in every flower and in every bud letting us know that changes are beautiful and an inevitable law of life."  - Debasish Mridha

A meeting place for a world of reflective writers. Click here.

Painting a Glorious April Day-The Art of Ekphrasis

Imagine Nature painting a spring sky in yellow, white, and blue, and inserting a tree filled with dainty blossoms. Artists, like Van Gogh, added beauty to a canvas by observing nature's glorious hues.  The beauty of living life is captured in Van Gogh's artwork, Almond Blossom from the Van Gogh Museum. Adding poetry provides another layer of artistic expression. 

A poem transforms a Van Gogh painting from a static image into a multisensory dialogue, adding emotional layers and narrative depth that a frame cannot hold. While Van Gogh used color to express mysterious vibrations, poetry uses language to give those vibrations a voice. The Poetry  Lab 

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While scrolling through Google Arts and Culture, I discovered PoemPostcards, "a playful experience that allows the user to create an art-inspired and AI-generated poem using Google's PaLM 2 Model".  I tried two different formats, haiku and elegy, AI-generated with Google tools.

Pale blooms reach for the sky

Branches dance in azure light

Hope on every bough

AI Generated with Google Tools

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Without AI's help, I created my own Ekphrastic PoemPostcard.

The above ekphrastic poem will be added to my Spring Seeds Grace April Padlet. I encourage my readers to create an ekphrastic poem, nature photo, music, or inspirational quote for the padlet gallery. Enjoy writing by blending art, poetry, and springtime!

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

National Poetry Month-Day 28/30

Holding the Sun

As usual for these winter days, the sun seems to be outshone by gray skies. While this weather pattern seems odd, it is a reality, something that I need to adjust to this season. As I walk the spiritual journey, I always seek shreds of wisdom. It just so happened that Irene  Latham shared her blog poem at Live Your Poem this past Friday. One line resonated with me, and so I kept it in my heart.

"Teach me how to hold the sun when the day is

anything but joyful." 

These lines will stay with me as a reminder to be optimistic in the face of challenges while maintaining hope.

I know how to teach,

but how do I teach me?

Is there a way to understand how?

Perhaps I should reach out  to

winter's doldrums - hold

all that the season offers in the

middle of my hand when the sun

does not shine. When

the sky provides the

the gift of light on a certain day

there is

an expectation that anything

can open my heart, but

only with the spirit of joyfulness.

draft CVarsalona, 2026

Slice of Life

February 24, 2026

Join me as I come into the light on a winter's day.

at

Two Writing Teachers

Secrets Untold Unfold

On Day 9 of Laura Shovan's February Daily Poetry Project, the prompt led me to remember a secret that was untold until I was in grad school. Rachel Patton Toalson chose the theme. secrets stating "I've been thinking lately about how no matter how long you've known a person, there are still aspects of their lives that remain mysterious." I share with you a special story in my life that unfolded when I was a fledging adult.

Secrets Untold Unfold

3rd grade lesson

where are you from

didn’t know so

I asked at home

she did not tell

secret held close

others Irish

family French???

years later, secret

untold opened

mom rode boat to

America

from Italy

a little child

with her mother

father waiting

one family

together grew

American

lifestyle with friends

Italian 

speaking with grand

until age five

moving onward

during grad school

swirling with pride

tale unfolded

told with honor

dressed like old world

childhood stories

pizza fritta

joy provided

where am I from

nonnie and mom 

Rome New York- first

generation

©Carol Varsalona, 2026

Legacy from Nonnie

At a very young age, I learned how to bake in Nonnie's kitchen.

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So you may have realized the secret. Now, I will tell you why there was a secret for so long. My Nonnie believed that her children should be Americanized once she arrived in America, around 1921. Since I was the oldest grandchild born in the United States, I needed to act like an American. That meant speaking English and graduating from college. Life was different in the 20th Century. I did not know that I was a first-generation child of Italian descent until I was an adult. Where are you from?

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Join me as I share my Slice of Life with my Two Writing Teachers from across the globe. Click here.

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Pick a Peck of Apples

Picking apples at the Stribling Orchard in Northern Virginia is an Autumn tradition even when the sky is overcast and the rain drizzles down. As my son and I pulled up to the orchard's entrance, we saw my daughter, son-in-law, and three little grandgirls waiting patiently. 

Every one was eager to start apple picking. With map in hand, my daughter plotted a plan to visit various parts of the orchards. I paused to think of the history of this family-run orchard that began in 1819. For the first time I realized what a distinctive blend of history and fertile farm land had been cultivated to create an ideal apple orchard and grazing fields for raising cattle.

We began the apple picking event with the family. I watched Sierra and Aurora who are now tall enough to get a picking pole pulling down the best apples in each orchard. This year the different varieties of apples were beautiful in appearance. I was happy to join my grandgirls pick the fruit that will turn into apples pies and cookies. Perhaps, I might even have some little helpers bake with me.

I think the delight of the day was watching Little Lila enjoying running through the orchards with tiny apples in her hands. Toward the end of the adventure, we needed to taste some of our treasures and eat a delicious lunch despite the rain that started to dribble from the sky. When the rain started to fall harder, we left with bags of Kettle Corn and smiles. 

Our apple picking adventure brought back wonderful memories of past trips with Grandpa. 

we pick a peck of apples

in a picturesque part

of the Virginia countryside

picking sticks help the girls stretch

to pick the finest apples in the orchard

we cherish our pre-fall family time

©CVarsalona, 2025, cherita poem

This is my slice of life for this week's Two Writing Teachers.

Cherish the Now!

As I read through other writers' posts, I often choose a line or two that makes me pause. Cherish each fleeting now was written by slicer/poet, Molly Hogan. Her thought made me connect to the past and back to the present. If only I knew that my husband's time would be unexpectedly shortened, I might have cherished ordinary days with more intent. The if-onlys in my life still pop-up but I know that I cannot rewrite our history. What I need to learn is how to stop obsessing on what I can't keep up with. I also need to put my energy into what I can do in small amounts each day. I found the following poem by Wendell Berry several times during last week. It made me take a mindful pause. 

Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

The above poem allows me "For a time, to rest in the grace of the world". With this thought, I decided to create a Golden Shovel poem from my heart to my husband's resting place.

The family journeyed along the coast for

nine days ready to celebrate a  

life no longer existing in real time.

My husband  journeyed also. I

honored his love and felt his spirit rest.

The sun opened our hearts in 

layers of clouds and the 

blessings of God's grace 

recycled in a pool of 

ocean waves surrounding the

memories of our world.

I shall cherish each fleeting now!

draft 2025 @CVarsalona

This is my Slice of My Life that will be placed at Two Writing Teachers, 

a meeting place for a world of reflective writers.