Under Construction

Dear Mind and Body,

I decided that this month, you will be part of an under-construction plan of action. That may seem strange, but I will explain why the logo above is my opening thought. After several weeks of deliberating on my one word for 2026, I chose restore. Of course, I need you, Mind and Body, to challenge myself. I would like to see life differently than just gray skies and feeling forlorn. Did you know that an Arctic Blast has spread across the USA? Today, temperatures are dipping lower than before. Layers of clothing and acceptance are needed. 

I am not ready to shoo away the gray sky of winter, but I am willing to stop feeling like the morning routine is regimented and boring. I need to take a fresh approach to start each day. Last night, I ended the evening by reviewing one of the mounds of paperwork that sits on my desk, table, and bed. All of this is a start to a new year that is not about renewing life but restoring it. I invite you both, Mind and Body, to help me restore my heart and soul with positive intentions, stillness, and less anxiety.

💝It is time now for me to settle in

and be comforted by words that flow.💝

"Heart's Reset"

at day's end,

I sit in silence

surrounded by darkness

my one word, restore,

will guide me to

re-store

my broken heart 💔

to a growing heart 💗

draft  ©CVarsalona, 2026  

💝After a stressful week, I sit here at my computer listening to the music video, Restore My Soul.

The lyrics bring comfort,

especially these words: 

Restore my soul, revive my heart.

Renew my life in every part.💝

A Golden Shovel poem evolved from listening to the song many times. The strike lines for my poem are above.

Time to Restore

2026 is time to restore

what is in my

grieving soul

and kindly revive

what makes me strong - my

mind will open my heart

my faith will renew

me and my 

family's life

there is love within

nature's every

beating part

Amen! 

 draft  ©CVarsalona, 2026 

Thank you for listening.

 Carol

💝

Even though it is late, I am offering my blog post, Under Construction, for the Poetry Friday Roundup, hosted by a dear friend, Jan Annino at Bookseed Studio. Jan is sharing her thoughts on one of the honored leaders of the 20th century, Martin Luther King. Jan's statement on MLK is strong. "This weekend, especially, I wonder where a leader is, who can remind us and begin to renew us, with the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." Let's band together to lift up prayers as Martin would for peace and justice. 

Spiritual Journey to Wholeness/#SOL25

On this day of howling winds, I am pondering the Spiritual Journey Thursday theme of wholeness suggested by our host, Denise Krebs at Dare To Care. I am preoccupied as a caregiver for my husband who is battling a rare form of cancer in the pancreas and liver. I feel unsure of what the days ahead will be like so wholeness is something I would like to strive for.

What is Wholeness?

It is not the charred pieces of prolonged challenges that breaks my hearts. It is not the damaged bits of aloneness or the stirring unsettled pressures of worry and discontent. Wholeness is like a puzzle coming together with patience (another something I need to acquire).

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, wholeness is the quality of being or feeling complete and not divided or damaged. In a spiritual sense, wholeness is the Unseen Hand gathering the broken or damaged pieces of my journey and binding them together. Support is needed to continue my journey of faith and hope and bringing healing moments to the assorted chipped pieces. 

I found this beautiful quote by Maya Angelou and penned a draft poem that moves me from sadness to a renewed outlook. ⬇

Nothing can dim the light that shines from within. - Maya Angelou

Nessessity

healing the dark sadness of nothing

requires a light within that can

not be dim

it must fill the

everyday moments with bright light

slowly opening that

portal which shines

and restores the soul from

unwanted stress to newness within

draft ©CVarsalona, 2025

Golden Shovel from Maya Angelo

A New Day Awakens

on a winter day an azure blue sky looks down on life

whispy cloud-cushions prepare for flight

as angels circulate sprinkling earth with warmth to awaken life

nature floods earth

with the spirit of wholeness

the journey continues 

draft ©CVarsalona, 2025

Photo from Margaret Simon for This Photo Wants to be a Poem

Day 6 of the March SOLSC #SOL25

11 years of Writing Slices of Life

Summer on My Mind

Memories of childhood summers with my Nonnie stir in my heart each summer. The smell of her rose gardens, the flapping sounds of clean wash swinging in the wind, or the snap-crackle sound from shucking peas, plus the walking trips to the library flash in my mind. 

summer on my mind

fragrant, nature-indulged days

slip sliding in peace

©CV, 2022

Thanks to Fran Haley's slice of life, 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 to uncover the true song of summer, a line from her reflective poem.

when July winds breeze through, the

sounds of summer ring true

rain sings her swishing song 

bees swoop into the core of

petunias where they belong-ah summer

sweet, lingering days of summer

I smell the fragrant basil and mint of

lavish gardens lulled by fountain song

I find peace at July's end, the true

essence of summer flows in the

reminders of summers I knew

Continue to play your sweet tune, summer.

I wait for your lazy, hazy days of August

to wash away pressures.

©CV, 2022 draft

🌞

If you also have summer on your mind listen to Summer Breeze by Seals and Croft

It's Poetry Friday and I am celebrating summer with Mary Lee Hahn, our host. She is using a clunker line from Linda Mitchell that recalls memories of her mother cooking green beans. Join me to find more poetic goodness from the Poetry Friday community here.

Collage created by Linda Mitchell

Welcome to Dead End-Poetry Friday Rises!

Have You Ever:

Faced a dead end?

Wondered where life will lead you?

Seen pathways as a bookend

squished between few alternatives?

Brushed away sticky cobwebs and

tangled knots of this and that?

Searched for waves that in sunlight ebb

that lessen the dread?

©CV, 2020

↓

a place where fears rise

as phobias spiral into

a nebulous light of fright

 on Hallow's Eve.

As phobias spiral into

mounting terror

on Hallow's Eve,

moonbeams dance in a spectral mist.

Mounting terror

rises while stars swirl on a broomstick ride.

Moonbeams dance in a spectral mist

and costumed characters ward off fiendish howls.

Rising while stars swirl on a broomstick ride,

crispcool ghouls flash their razor-sharp grins

and costumed characters ward off fiendish howls.

Who seeks refuge in garden graveyards?

   Chrispcool ghouls flash their razorsharp grins

and scare the bravest lad

who seeks refuge in garden graveyards,

a place where fears R I S E.

©CV, 2020, pantoum poem

👻

The following golden shovel takes the strike line, mischiefs that on moonbeams ride, from Hallowe'en by Joel Benton to create a spooky poem. 

Listen to Benton's reading here for a Halloween treat. 

Within the dimness of night, mischiefs

rise as childish pranks spiral into that

vast expanse of fright on

Halloween. In the fractured light, moonbeams

shimmer as witches ride.

©CV, 2020

👻

All of the above images of spooky scenes were shot while walking through my neighborhood, then digitized to create an eery effect.

👻

Join me for the Halloween version of the Poetry Friday Roundup. I can't wait to see what poetic goodness our Denver host, Linda Baie, is serving. Below you will see the digital inspiration, One Halloween wish from Denver, Linda sent me for the "Haunted House Poemtober Journey" collection of my Abundant Autumn Gallery.

Winter Bee Surprise

It was an ordinary winter day. I walked into the kitchen to do ordinary tasks when I saw something from the corner of my eye. I could hardly believe it. Walking on the rim of my large pot was a yellow bee. Quietly, I gasped. I watched in wonder and then, quickly went into fear mode. It sounds odd but it was just seven months ago when I got a big surprise. I encountered a hive of yellow jackets in my backyard-Ouch! 

Fast forward to this week of professional development and I decided to feature my story to stir wonder in others. Why was a bee in my kitchen? I turned to Wonderopolis' Wonder of the Day #51. 

Then, I found Naomi Shihab Nye's poem, chose a strike line, and retold my story throguh a golden shovel poem.

Bees Were Better by Naomi Shihab Nye

In college, people were always breaking up.

We broke up in parking lots,

beside fountains.

Two people broke up

across a table from me

at the library.

I could not sit at that table again

though I did not know them.

I studied bees, who were able

to convey messages through dancing

and could find their ways

home to their hives

even if someone put up a blockade of sheets

and boards and wire.

Bees had radar in their wings and brains

that humans could barely understand.

I wrote a paper proclaiming

their brilliance and superiority

and revised it at a small café

featuring wooden hive-shaped honey-dippers

in silver honeypots

at every table.

Poem copyright ©2008 by Naomi Shihab Nye, “Bees Were Better,” from If Bees Are Few: A Hive of Bee Poems, Ed., James P. Lenfestey, (University of Minnesota Press, 2016). Poem reprinted by permission of Naomi Shihab Nye and the publisher.

From Strike Line:

"I studied bees, who were able

to convey messages through dancing"

To: Golden Shovel

It happened quickly, as I
Was washing dishes. I studied

Him wondering where other bees
Were hidden, those who
Knew how to attack, were
Destined to persist, and able
Enough to target me as food to
Sup on. I slowly approached to convey
My thoughts on his presence. Messages
Were sent out through
Multiple swipings as he continued dancing.
©CVarsalona, 2019

*****************************

Each Friday, I  join my poetry friends for Poetry Friday. Today, children's poet Laura Purdie Salas is the Poetry Friday Roundup host at her blog site, Writing the World for Kids.