September Waves Goodbye

"Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul." - Peggy Toney Horton

Today marks the last day of September, the month that says good bye to summer and announces the beginning of autumn. In order to honor the season of fall, the two older grandgirls helped me make a delicious apple pie with a variety of orchard-picked apples. My Nonnie would be proud to have her great-grandgirls learning to bake and carrying on her baking tradition. 

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September, you know the warmth of summer

and the glimmer of early fall

when a cool breeze ushers in autumn

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I cherish your days of autumn

mourn your short time with summer

and honor you as you let go to fall into fall

your timing transitions a green-colored summer

that melds with the beauty of early fall

celebrating the jewels of autumn

farewell summer-like September, as you fall into October's colorful autumn

©CVarsalona, 2025, tritina poem

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My first tritina poem is here.

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As we say goodbye to September, I invite all writers to join me as I create a Mini-Gallery of Artistic Expressions on Summering.

Summering is a state of mind that brings feelings of joy and relaxation. It revolves around the best of summertime and the ability to savor those feelings all year-round. 

I invite poets, writers, photographers, and educators to consider using the prompt to create an image poem, inspirational quote, or a photographn: How do you engage in summering during the summer season? Do you have a special photo, piece of artwork and/or poem to add to the Summering Mini-Gallery that I will create?

Thank you to Mary Lee Hahn, Janet Claire Fagal, and Linda Mitchell for participating with their image poems on summering. You can send your offerings to cvarsalona@gmail.com by mid-October. I  will gather the artistic expressions, create a mini-gallery, and share it on my blog and on social media. 

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This is my Slice of Life for Two Writing Teachers, where it's time to write, share, give.

#PoetryPals September Challenge

Autumn Delicacy

the day before fall arrived

my family drove to the apple orchard that showcased its bounty

despite the ominous darkening of clouds

nature hovered over the farm land and winced at the clouds

ripe and almost ripe apples announced their arrival

my family and I applauded nature and its bounty

as the sky darkened we found a part of the orchard that was bountiful

new apples with juicy sweetness hung below the clouds

my little grandgirls were mesmerized and will never forget arriving

especially since rain arrived with dark bountiful clouds 

draft ©CVarsalona, 2025, tritina

I thank the Poetry Sisters (Tanita Davis, Tricia Stohr Hunt, Mary Lee Hahn, Sara Lee Holmes, Laura Purdie Salas, Liz Garton Scanlon) for their enjoyable September Challenge. This was the first time I tried to write a tritina that was invented by poet Marie Ponsot. The tritina is not an easy poetic format for me but as one of the Poetry Sisters' #PoetryPals I enjoy engaging in their challenges.

Note: By the way, this was the first apple picking event that the sky opened up and provided a few drizzles in the orchard followed by a rainstorm during our outdoor lunch. Now, that is a memory we shall not forget.

It's Friday and time for the Poetry Friday Roundup with our host Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. She encourages us this week to try something new. Join me as I add my blog post to Amy's Roundup. Please read Amy's poem, You Choose You, that you will find here at The Poem Farm. Students will enjoy this poem. 

Celebrate Life-Seeking Wabi-Sabi

As I transfer from a hospital-bound stage to recovery mode, I write this blog as a celebration of life. I look back at the beginning of May when I started writing short pieces that were threads of a worry journal. I thought this would help me chase away the anxieties swelling inside.

As isolated days continued, my brain was consistently on speed dial. Health worries spilled over into stressful moments. I started realizing that anxiety limited my ability to enjoy the moments of life that lay in front of me. 

After I read Tricia Stohr-Hunt's Poetry Friday blog post on wabi-sabi, I researched the topic and found a meaningful quote to inspire me. Beth Kempton, a Japanologist and author of  Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life, writes:

Be grateful for even the tiniest of miracles because they add up to this thing called life. 

Tricia Stohr-Hunt along with her Poetry Sisters invited Poetry Friends (hashtag #PoetryPals) to join their June writing challenge with the topic of wabi-sabi. I was impressed by the array of poems flowing with different formats and content. I wrote my first tritina poem, a modern poetic form with three tercets, three end-words in an ABC, CAB, BCA, and a single final line, envoi, with all three end words.

Seeking Wabi-Sabi

turquoise waters soothe restless thoughts
waves gently meet a school of fish searching for their space
uninterrupted by thick seaweed-two sides of beauty

landscapes unfold to share moments of grace and beauty
color-coded clouds shift across a sky of prepared thoughts
I pause to view nature's perspective and ponder her ideas for each space 
 
instantly nature shifts her weather from a calm to a temperamental space
thunder, lightning and torrential rain encourage people to find beauty
in imperfections and appreciate the transience of nature's thoughts

Will humans see the value of a celebrating each moment in nature's space of revolving thoughts and beauty?
@CVarsalona, 2024, draft

Happy Poetry Friday!

Stay tuned for a a couple more book reviews and a peek inside the
Poetry Parade Gallery of Artistic Expressions at my padlet for now..