Reflecting on Springtime Joy

Spring adds new life and new joy to all that is.

-Jessica Harrelson

This year springtime brings fluctuating weather patterns and the burst of blooms earlier than expected. Tree-lined roads share their blossomed branches with passersby. Birds chirp, tweet, and spread their birdsong every morning.  Spring welcomes warmth, color, and the renewal of life.  

I cordially invite you to add your digital inspiration to

Springsations Gallery of Artistic Expressions.

The invitation with all information needed can be found HERE.

The deadline to offer original artistic expressions is April 30, 2023, the end of National Poetry Month.

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I extend a thank you to Bob Hamera and Matt F. Esenwine for contributing their original image poems to my Springsations Gallery of Artistic Expressions Padlet. Their digital artistic expressions will become part of the Springsations Gallery.

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 I also extend a thank you to Marcie Flinchum Atkins and Irene Latham for sending me a postcard for National Poetry Month.

Sent by Irene Latham with illustration by Melanie Mikecz

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Now it's time to stroll over to Jone MacCulloch's blog who is this week's Poetry Friday host. I am eager to visit her National Poetry Month project, Classic Found Poetry Palooza. There are interesting poems created from different classics.

Notes:

Please consider offering a poetic/digital artistic expression for Springsations Gallery. 

Please stop by my blog on April 17, 2023, Day 17 of this year's Progressive Poem will be at my blog.  I am looking forward to reading the line Linda Baie will add to the poem that she will pass on to me.

Beautiful Change

"Spring is a reminder of how beautiful change can truly be."

-unknown author

This Wednesday, Margaret Simon, posted a beautiful rainbow collage collection, Lake Fausse Pointe trail photo that she photographed (see below). You can also see Margaret's draft poem here. She asked those interested to write a small poem and post it on her blog, This Photo Wants to be a Photo.

I started writing #smallpoems to match Margaret's photo with the quick write below.

Photo by Margaret Simon

A Seasonal Unveiling

spring quietly flowered

rainbow colors adorned trails

winter stepped back

new arrivals made their way

©CV, 2023, quick write, small poem

Then, I decided to write etherees for this month's writing challenge from the Poetry Princesses. This ten-line form begins with a single syllable, and each line expands by one syllable until the tenth line has ten. The Poetry Princesses continued with their 2023 theme of transformation. You can find written etherees from the Poetry Sisters and others at Tanita Davis' blog site: fiction, instead of lies!}. They will also be on social media under the hashtag, #PoetrySisters.

Spring

flowered

gracing earth's

well-trodden path.

Winter sighed, stepped back, 

gently passed its baton, 

urging seasonal changes. 

Windsong breathed in freshness; exhaled

softly tossing nature's artifacts.

Spring smiled and prepared to awaken life.

©CV, 2023, etheree poem

I also wrote a modified etheree for last week's Poetry Friday & 16th Annual March #SOLSC! #SOL23 Day 23. You can access that here. I planned on refining it but I never found the time to do so.

Spring is a season of renewal and hope. May springtime 2023  open doors to new possibilities.

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It's time to join Poetry Friday Roundup. Thank you author/poet/educator, Mary Lee Hahn, for hosting Poetry Friday this week. Click here.

Logo by Linda Mitchell

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for providing a meeting place for reflective writers around the globe. I am offering this slice for Day 30 of the 16th Annual SOLSC! #SOL23 March Writing Challenge.

Summer State of Mind

This summer, have you embraced the warmth of the sun's rays or leisurely walked a beach or nature trail? Perhaps, you listened to melodic earth sounds sweeping through the air on a summer day. Nature offers a range of sights from hazy days to sweltering ones with sudden rainstorms washing away heat for moments at a time. While you watch nature's show, do your thoughts float away into the sky like balloons escaping from children's hands? Mine often do. It's the magic of being in a summer state of mind

Today, I recall forty summers by the sea while living on Long Island. Now with no sea close to me, I long for ocean waves and mighty roars. I picture the family digging our toes into the sand, and enjoying barbecues at the beach with friends. I reminisce about past summer days and offer a digital postcard I designed in 2019 and a video, Summer's Steamy Embrace, created in July 2020. 

©CV, 2022

I return home from an exercise class a bit weary but eager to share a day trip that my husband, son, and I took to small towns in Virginia this past weekend.

Down Country Roads

I embrace summer in Virginia, my new home state,

and explore new possibilities with my soulmate.

Life here takes on a different look.

I peruse Virginia is for Lover's guidebook

To seek quaint towns where one can just be.

We go down country roads, not the sea;

Discover rolling hills and tranquil paths;

Search for antiques and cement birdbaths.

Nature displays her countless bounty

In every area throughout the county.

With a zest for exploring new sights,

I continue to photograph highlights

and embrace summer days

while giving nature praise.

©CV, 2022

"I love how summer just wraps its arms around you like a warm blanket." -Kellie Elmore

Embrace summer and sing her praises!

Special Thanks to slicer Fran Haley for her Eternal summer: memoir poem, all the wonder of summer days come flowing back. Her inclusion of sensory details to evoke the spirit of her childhood summer days, set me on a path last week to uncover the true song of summer, a line from her reflective poem. Consider reading, Summer on My Mind, here.

It's Tuesday! Time to Write, Share and Give at Two Writing Teachers! #SOL22

October's Transition

Because nature has brought a sense of peace to troubled times this season, I am grateful. October, the high point of autumn, paves the golden path for November to usher in a slower pace with thankful thoughts. For this transition, I have created my first pantoum.

A pantoum is a poem of any length, composed of four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza serve as the first and third lines of the next stanza. The last line of a pantoum is often the same as the first. 

October's Transition

October ends its stay with slipsliding stride.

Crunching rustling leaves.

Spreading multicolored layers thin.

Preparing a way for more crispcool times.

Crunching rustling leaves,

October's evening blush dims,

Spreading multicolored layers thin

as enchanted evening dreams begin

October's evening blush dims

into a speckled indigo sky.

As enchanted evening dreams begin,

nature golddusts earth with thankful sighs.

Into a speckled indigo sky

November sweeps through like a feather duster

as enchanted evening dreams begin

flowing through crispclean air.

November sweeps through like a feather duster

refreshing late autumn's terrain.

Flowing through crispclean air,

October ends its stay with slipsliding stride.

©CV, 2020

🍁🍂🍃

turns into November thanks

Autumn walks in beauty on days

of lustrous hues, muted skies, and

earth bedecked in dazzling jewels.

©CV, 2020

🍁🍂🍃

To add a more gratitude for a season of grandeur, I honor the work of fellow slicers who write alongside me for my Abundant Autumn Global Gallery of Artistic Expressions.

Pandemic Getaway

Fall

reflects

pensively

on pandemic

woes as it invites

travelers to peaceful

shores filled with wishwells of joy.

Pause to bask in nature's grandeur

during getaways that provide rest

from the stresses of a compromised world. 

©CV, 2020, etheree

May October's beauty transition joyfully

into November's crispcool settling time.

🍁🍂🍃

I am sending this Slice of Life to Two Writing Teachers.

#SOL20

Thank you to the following slicers for offering your artistic expressions on the Abundant Autumn Gallery of Artistic Expressions, Slicers' Edition.

Terje Akke

Ramona Behnke

Fran Haley

Bob Hamera

Kevin Hodgson

Molly Hogan

Margaret Simon