The Creative Mind is Restless

With my upcoming move, there is so much to do that my mind keeps racing. Sleep is interrupted and the to-do list keeps popping up at all hours. After reading Rebecca Brock, Day 17 prompt at Laura Shovan's 9th Annual February Poem Project, my brain kept churning. The floodgates of creativity opened and from beyond my comfort zone evolved the following poem. 

EARLY MORNING CREATIVITY PROCESS

early morning

brain churns-

waking from slumber

thoughts interrupted-

brain freeze

creative impulses

 searching for words-

no constraints

open the curious mind

to a new day

of imaginative thought.

©CV, 2021

The creative mind is restless. - Rishi Kapoor

The video I created with Lumen 5 is published on YouTube at https://youtu.be/UdF7zzCcARo.

Please visit to see the poem through a different lens.

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Tonight, troubled by Winter Blast #3 and continued COVID broadcasts, I created an image poem for Day 18 of the 9th Annual February Poem Project. Stacey JoyEleven Johnson offered an interesting prompt with a couple of shadow photos and a skinny poem. the poem below  uses the Shadorma format and was created with the FotoJet platform. It was prompted by the third winter blast, COVID-19 broadcasts, and my final dose of the COVID vaccine, all amidst endless packing for my house move to Virginia. 

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With an ample amount of snow covering our neighborhood once again, I toss my anxieties up in the air to enjoy some poetic goodness at Poetry Friday. This week, Ruth Hersey from Haiti, is our host. She is enjoying Carnival Week and creating a Facts of the World poem with facts offered from every Poetry Friday writer. Mine is about a surprising snowflake fact. 

I continue to collect winter photos with poems from across the world. Interested?

Send your offering to my hashtag , @cvarsalona, and #WintersEmbrace2021 Gallery on Twitter, Facebook, or my gmail.

Embraceable Summer Memories Gallery

In a world of masked moments and little travel, summer photos and poetry provide us with global adventures, albeit virtually. Join me in the final Embraceable Summer Gallery Walk. Applaud the beauty of summer and its alluring call. 

Do you remember pre-pandemic, summer concerts or gatherings?

I spent my #QuarantineLife summer without ever stepping in the ocean.

How did you spend your summer months?

To my delight during Summer 2019 and 2020, many digital inspirations were sent to me as gifts from across the globe. They provided an opportunity to relax and drift away into a summer moment while in a staycation frame of mind. 

Enjoy the Embraceable Summer Travels Across the World Google slideshow, here.

Share in the wonder of sunrises and sunsets by clicking on Summer's Enduring Beauty and Summer's Enduring Beauty Part 2. 

#QuarantineLife's motto is reflected in Jessica Bigi's fiery sunset glow.

Remember the steamy heat that had everyone talking.

Click here to watch the video poem, Summer's Steamy Embrace.

View Alan J. Wright's Embraceable Summer Poem here

that accompanied the visual from Australia (below). View the poem here.

Then, take a breath while ready Elizabeth Steinglass' poem.

Taste the succulent September's harvest offered by Janice Scully.

Click below on other segments of the Embraceable Summer Gallery to be dazzled by

various collections with digital inspirations like the one by @lucky_budd from British Columbia.

Introduction to Embraceable Summer Gallery

Unveiling Embraceable Summer Gallery 2019

Sending Summer Goodbys from Embraceable Summer Gallery 2019

September Bidding Summer Godspeed

End-of-Embraceable-Summer Slice

I would like to express my sincerest thanks to all the poets, bloggers, photographers, artists, friends, and colleagues from across the world for their contributions to this evolving gallery. Because of the magnitude of the collection, the gallery has been presented in six segments.

I hope you enjoyed the experience of taking gallery walks of nature throughout the world.

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 Thank you for spending quiet time perusing the final segment of the

Embraceable Summer Gallery. 

Are you interested in writing your own embraceable summer poem or sharing the experience with students?  

Start with the following prompt that offers a child's perspective on summertime, 

or this image of the stillness of sunset,

or observing a butterfly sent by Stephen Kelley

Photo by @ElizaWallace27 from Butterfly Conservatory, Aruba

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 Sending thoughts on love and peace out to all.

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I join Tabatha Yeatts, host of this week's Poetry Friday Roundup. I am excited to read the guest post by author Carole Boston Weatherford featuring her new verse novel about Marilyn Monroe.

I thank @anuj_feedspot and Feedspot for once again featuring my blog, Beyond LiteracyLink, as one of the top 40 Children's Poetry Blogs & Website To Follow in 2020 (updated September 30, 2020).

Seeking Quietude

Summer is moving on at a remarkable rate closer to my family's moving date.  Quarantine life, a tropical storm, and sweltering heat add to the stress of the clock ticking.  It is no wonder why I seek quiet time this summer.  In honor of finding sacred moments of peace, I  created a video poem using the Lumen 5 platform and a mix of original digital art and nature photos from Unsplash for my Embraceable Summer Gallery collection.  

Quiet time has been on my mind so please kick off your sandals, find a relaxing seat, and watch my brief video poem.  I am joining Two Writing Teachers for the Tuesday Slice of Life. 

Clunker Line Poem

There are three questions that I have been reflecting upon lately. I throw these questions out to everyone to hear how you feel.

1. Do you feel that your "Quarantine Life" is in overdrive? 
2. Is there tension in the air in your household? 
3. Do you need a reminder to stay positive?

I created a poem, Tension in the Air,  from a list of clunker lines that my librarian-poet friend, Linda Mitchell provided at her blog site, A Word Edgewise. I chose #13, Sounds of the pandemic and #15, a script we know by heart. 

Tension in the Air 

   screams of quarantine boredom
   slice through a silent house
   cabin fever woes rise
   too-hot-to-handle heat sizzles
   drenching drip-drops rain down
   pandemic sounds RAGE-
   as a script many now know by heart
         How can we end the maddening sounds?

                                                                                                 ©CVarsalona, 2020

Then, I transformed my poem into a Lumen 5 video poem using the title from the music the site provided that fit well as a title, Tension in the Air.

Now, it is my pleasure to give Linda a couple of unfinished lines to play with: "relentless seeker of life", "golden beam of luminous light" and "rainsoaked blossoms".

Since it is a hot summer day, I decided to bring an ice cream float to surprise my poet friend, Jan Godown Annino who is hosting Poetry Friday at Bookseed Studio. Check out her original poem Float as she reminisces about her mother.

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I am adding the link to Spiritual Journey Thursday where I am hosting. You will find more poetic goodness written by Poetry Friday friends there. Feel free to write a post on balancing your days or the word balance. 

Quarantine Life Video Poem

Yesterday, I wrote a skinny poem series, Look Into the Future, and decided to transform the first stanza into a reflective 38-second video poem. I used the Lumen 5 platform then, uploaded the video to my YouTube channel. You can access the link here.  It's interesting how this quarantine time has left many people pondering what is now and what will be. 

In this new normal place and time, we

find solace in each other's company
in virtual spaces of connection.
We gather to listen to stories,
to be close together 
despite a virus that
spreads and
heightens
fears.
©CV,
2020

Video created with Lumen 5.

I join Two Writing Teachers for the last Tuesday of National Poetry Month.

I am grateful for this writing community of distant friends.

More on Social Distancing_SOLSC 19

Poetry heals the soul in trying times.

 Since the onset of the concept of social distancing, 

poems are appearing giving rise to the collective voice. 

After writing my commentary on social distancing, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my slicer writing friend, Kevin Hodgson, responded poetically to my poem. Several years agao, Kevin introduced me to the video-writing platform, Lumen 5.  In gratitude for his gifts of Lumen 5-created video poems of my work, I am returning the favor. Below is the print version of Kevin's poem. You can view the video poem I created of his response to my poem by clicking on the word preview here. 

Sharing our writing and creative spirit with friends is a way to bring voices together

and soothe the soul.

Do the birds understand

the concept behind
social distancing?

Neither flutter
birds still sing
of coming spring

While we fret
our days away
on the heels of
Winter

I'm noticing
the wire, the
gathering point
of convergence

feathers touching
to remember
the rains

before the presence 
of sound -- it's me, 
after all --
the flock

gone, distancing
the social norm
of the scattering
--a poem response --Kevin Hodgson

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Each year since March 2015, I have engaged in Two Writing Teacher's Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge. Slicing allows me to ponder life, literacy, and learning, capturing small moments poetically through writing, photography, and digital art. Welcome to Day 19 of 31 days of writing with Two Writing Teachers. 

New Life

Countdown began last Tuesday night. 

Anticipation mounted with each breath. 

Then, passed in the silence. 

Wednesday, no relief-

Tick tocking reverberated.

Thursday's drive brought reflection:

Suddenly, a text pinged.

The car exploded with outbursts of joy!
A visual treasure was revealed.

Meet Sierra Kathryn

Friday: new sight, cooing sounds -

instant love.

Saturday, family eagerly gathers.

Baby arrives home.

Video of Baby Homecoming 

Sunday, Father's Day pride shines 
as bright as the sunshine.

Words cannot express the joy of new life. 

(Hermann Hesse)

My weekend was filled with many precious moments, so I'm Celebrating This Week with Ruth Ayres and her community of writers, post-weekend. Thank you to all those who surrounded this birth with their thoughts and prayers.