A Budding Artist-Poet

The sky was painted in shades of gray as the rain washed the stones on the patio. Inside, the fireplace burned brightly creating warm tones. Out came the Disney Princess crayons, fat enough for little hands. Eyes opened wide. "Grandma, do you have paper?" With excitement, the toddler entered the creativity zone. 

The first stroke produced a curved line. With permission from the young artist, Grandma added leaves. Sierra decided to color them in with bright tones of spring. Then, she added grass. The flower needed petals so Grandma made a large one and Sierra reproduced it in a smaller size. The daisy was now ready to stand against the rain that was coming down outside. 

"What does your picture make you think of, Sierra?"  She replied, "A rainy day."  "Shall we write a poem?" A quizzical look appeared on the little face. Her thoughts about a rainy day were verbally woven together. Grandma wrote them down and added the word chasing. Since blue is one of Sierra's favorite colors, the poem ended with that thought and a few more strokes of blue. 

Sierra's first image poem was created. Grandpa, Uncle D, and her parents were proud of the work accomplished. Grandma followed up with a blog post and a lacey graphic ready for a blog post presentation.

creativity

sparked by crayoned thoughts-

touch of spring

©CV, 2021

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It's Slice of Life Tuesday this first day of June. My blog post is offered to Two Writing Teachers with permission from my little budding artist-poet. 

Remembering Fallen Heroes

We still remember
as the bell tolls
and names are read.

There's still a sadness in hearts on 9/11.

So Many Stories, So Many Hearts Broken!

Remembering 911's fallen heroes,

numbered in the sky and

honored at the village green.
We still remember.
©CVarsalona, 2018, Rockville Centre, NY

I woke this morning to the broadcasting of the Ground Zero ceremony from New York City. As the ceremonial bell rang, the reading of the fallen heroes' names stopped. A stillness surrounded the structure. Tears were shed. The pause was deafening for so many remembered the day that many lives were lost, fathers, mothers, siblings, relatives, and friends. My NYC suburban village was hit hard. Some who perished on 9/11 worked on Wall Street. Others were fire fighters and police. All become our village's heroes.

The short poem above is a compilation of blog titles I have written over the years. Each one a painful memory. Each one a tribute to those who perished, so I ask, "What is needed in this world?" 

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Sharing Acts of Kindness on September 11th!

All of the words in red are blog posts, either at Beyond LiteracyLink or Wonderopolis' Wonder Ground, that I have written on the topic and gathered here to create a poem.

Besides being Patriot Day, it is the Slice of Life Tuesday at Two Writing Teachers. I offer this solemn tribute to those who are remembering 9/11 and to those who are committed to sharing acts of kindness.