Around My Table

"The world begins at a kitchen table."

Joy Harjo, from Perhaps the World Ends Here

While Tropical Storm Isaias raged like a lion last week on Long Island, we spent four days huddled around our kitchen table grateful for hurdling another dark stormy event in our lives. The darkness and sweltering heat surrounding those days left my family and friends breathless, isolated, and far away from reality as we functioned without power, electricity, hot water, and the internet. Little did we know of life outside our neighborhood that was strewn with heavy branches fallen from massive trees. It was the kitchen table that brought us together with electric candles as we talked and began the cleaning-out-the-freezer process. 

I think back on all the years the table served as a hub for family life and am grateful to have found Joy Harjo's poem to ponder. It became a catalyst for me to write using her line, "The world begins at a kitchen table," as a prompt. Her poem is full of the beauty of kitchen life. At the end of October, my family will leave our Long Island home of thirty-eight years for a second chapter of family life. My table memories will fill my life with joy.

We start each day in our hub, the

kitchen, with a revolving world

of conversation. Life begins

with a daily gathering at

dawn where a  

litany of thoughts flow from the kitchen.

Evenings sing of gratitude around our sturdy table,

washed with years of joyful and sorrowful tears.

©CVarsalona, 2020, Long Island

I missed Poetry Friday last week due to the storm but am happy to backtrack and connect with my writing friends. Connections are important in this world during quarantine life because they keep spirits high. Thank you to my poet friend Laura Purdie Salas who was last week's host. She has an original poem and a wonderful, information graphic on "Why aren't you writing a poem?" Although I am late to join the roundup, I feel that this poem needed to be written and sent out.

A new kitchen waits for me here in Virginia.

In Need of Quiet Time

In the course of life, there comes a time when quiet and reflection are needed for self-contemplation. On Monday night in the stillness before the storm I realized that the hectic pace of summer days preparing for a major move did not afford me what I needed to balance my life. Taking a deep breath, I tried to reclaim quiet but unlike the quiet scene above by South African photographer, #chazchaz, nighttime noises interfered. Outdoor creatures wailed, birds chirped at strange times, and air passed by untypically. Nature seemed off-key. 

Little did I know that the next day Tropical Storm Isaias would turn Long Island upside down leaving a path of destruction. In its fury, Isaias raged like a lion downing telephone lines, toppling majestic trees, breaking huge branches, and throwing debris across lawns as it moved from street to street and through towns. By the end of its path, it left 300,000 Long Islanders without electricity, air conditioning, and hot water. 

In addition, there was no internet but endless hours of sweltering heat. It felt like a cruel blow while we Long Islanders were still enmeshed in the pandemic and quarantine life. During the four days of clean-up, people were powerless to turn their lives around. in my neighborhood, we spent days worrying while waiting for clean-up crews to pick up huge branches and trees that littered streets and homesites. We needed time to rest our minds. Because of faith and a spirit of believing, days later we rose to a new dawn. 

Now in the quiet of midday, I can listen to a hauntingly beautiful instrumental, Shaun by Nightnoise, and write. Grateful for the sounds flowing through the computer and the light powering my office space, I join, albeit late, my fellow Spiritual Journey Thursday community of friends.

Teacher poet, Margaret Simon, leader of our writing community, chose the topic of spiritual art to explore. In response, I searched for images, photographs, and music to quiet my restless spirit. The above photos and music share the beauty and emotional power of nature at rest. With these as prompts, I reflected and wrote a skinny poem*. 

Sometimes, my mind wanders-

resting

in

quiet

thoughts-

resting

in

nature's

peace-

resting,

my mind sometimes wanders.
©CV, 2020

Throughout this week, while waiting in the dark for morning light, I turned to prayer to quiet my mind.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. (Psalm 37:7)

Through photographic art I found a sense of quietude and peace -

 what I waited for this week.

*A skinny is a short poem form that consists of eleven lines. The first and eleventh line can be any length. The eleventh and last line must be repeated using the same words from the first and opening line. The second, sixth, and tenth lines must be identical. All the lines in this form, except for the first and last  lines, must be compromised of only one word. Skinny poems can be about any subject, although the form generally reflects more serious concerns facing humankind. 

Summer's Sweltering Heat

I have been watching the weather forecast and sweltering under the rising heat index just like many of my fellow Long Islanders.  Each day, morning greets daylight with steamy heat. A sit on my front porch or patio to listen to the sounds of summer and watch the flowers with their blossoming colors but only for a few moments due to the blistering heat. 

For the past month, I have thought of creating an etheree on summer but not until this week did I put pen to paper or stylus to digital notebook.  The Poetry Sisters/Princesses invited everyone to create an etheree with the theme foresight or summer or both for this week's Poetry Friday edition.  Poet Tricia Stohr Hunt, wrote a blog post on the poetic form and Poetry Sister Liz Ganlon created a video.  My friend/author/poet Laura Purdie Salas, another Poetry Sister, sent me the blurb to join in the fun.  I have never written a etheree so the outcome of my labors is a first.  While sending it out for review and using the #poetrypals hashtag, I know that I need more practice in etheree writing. 

Summer's Steaming Embrace

News:

heatwave

continues!

Steamstorm swelters.

Flowers yearn for rain.

People move at slow pace

under a still, sticky sky

and sharks inch closer to south shores.

Long Island beaches lose their allure.

during steamy times, embrace summer days!

©CVarsalona, 2020, Long Island South Shore Beach

As a #poeticdiversion (hashtag compliments of

I transferred my etheree into a video poem using Lumen 5.

Did you know that sharks like shallow water where swimmers are?  My plan is to stay safe indoors with air conditioning.   I have no desire to see the sharks of summer at my favorite beach site plus, I have the foresight to know how to stay safe at the beach, especially during COVID-19.

Now, I turn my attention to the Poetry Friday Roundup hosted by Catherine Flynn who is sharing an original poem based on a picture from the book, The Imaginaries. 

Recently, I was sent an email of distinction from Anuj Agarwal, #Feedspot Founder of Feedspot.com, a place to keep up with all your favorite blogs, news sites and rss feeds in one place.  

I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog, Beyond LiteracyLink, has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 40 Children's Poetry Blogs on the web. 

 This link accompanied the email: https://blog.feedspot.com/childrens_poetry_blogs/.

Heated Summer Morning

This morning, I sat quietly listening to the sounds of summer. Birds high up in the trees tweeted to one another as cicadas sang their ritual summertime song. Hydrangeas huddled together sharing their space with Black-eyed Susans, looking bright and playful as if they were stretching and spreading toward the light. Nothing moved as the heat kept sizzling so I continued to sit on the porched watching nature unwrap its morning like a gift. Not to forget the hum and sights of the season, I brought the joy inside.

heated morning

unfolded in vibrance

earth watched in awe

©CV, 2020

Summer heat continued all day and into the night. Each time I walk past the flowers, I am reminded of the gift of summer joy nature brings. I send this bouquet to Two Writing Teachers for today is Slice of Life Tuesday.

News:

Recently, I was sent an email of distinction from Anuj Agarwal,  FEEDSPOT, #Feedspot Founder of Feedspot.com, a place to keep up with all your favorite blogs, news sites and rss feeds in one place.  

I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog, Beyond LiteracyLink has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 40 Children's Poetry Blogs on the web. 

 This link accompanied the email: https://blog.feedspot.com/childrens_poetry_blogs/.

Reflecting on Summer

A heatwave is upon us and it isn't even the dog days of August on Long Island.  I step outdoors each day moving from cool air conditioning to the warmth of the sun's rays. Summer's breath is intense.  My pansies on the patio cry out for a spritz of cooling water at noon.  I respond and reflect on summer's embrace.  

My thoughts revert to Salvador Dali 's beautiful, summer day painting on a summer day, Figure at the Window. This scene reminds me of the sublime beauty of Long Island in summer.

She waits.
Thoughts float on by
into restful waters.
Stillness fills empty space
as a gentle breeze sweeps in,
softening the air.
Life rests under
a blanket of
sweet summer's
breath.

©CV, 2020

If it were not for the pandemic, I could visualize me luxuriating in a mud bath of salt water at the shore. But groups of unmasked young people are caught on the news congregating too close together without masks. What I can do is imagine, reflect, and respond to this dreamy photo by art teacher/photographer, Jennifer Graycheck, found at Margaret Simon's blog, This Photo Wants to be a Poem.  

nature's cure

swirled swooshing sounds break at shore 
tranquility's hush
salted-sea mudpacks rise and
dreams floats in ocean's warmth
©CV, 2020

Continuing the urge to engage in peaceful thoughts while caught up in the midst of a next- -chapter-of-life move to Virginia, I found another restful sight. Twitter friend @lucky_budd photographed the Milky Way and I took the opportunity to comment poetically.

For those who want a respite from the news and noise of pandemic life take a jaunt over to Poetry Friday hosted by Margaret Simon. Delve into the essential question, What is Poetry? to unlock more poetic goodness for poetry lets us bathe in summer bliss without traveling to the shore.

News:

Recently, I was sent an email of distinction from Anuj Agarwal,  FEEDSPOT, #Feedspot Founder of Feedspot.com, a place to keep up with all your favorite blogs, news sites and rss feeds in one place.  

I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog, Beyond LiteracyLink has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 40 Children's Poetry Blogs on the web. 

 This link accompanied the email: https://blog.feedspot.com/childrens_poetry_blogs/.

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.

⇓

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. 

Balancing My Days During Quarantine Life

In the midst of COVID-19, instead of life slowing down considerably, it is full of activity. This makes balancing a difficult act at this time. 

The pandemic caused me to reflect constantly. What was happening to life as I knew it? and How can I find happiness in the midst of sorrow? were questions I asked. The following quote by C. G. Jung brought some ideas into focus. "Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness and the word 'happiness' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness." Thinking back on January 1, 2020, I remembered that I started the year with one word, balance, and a renewed spirit of commitment. I welcomed in a new decade with the statement, "Cease the busyness to find evocative moments to savor." That I did when my new granddaughter, Aurora, was born with a sweetness about her and a loving smile that makes any heart melt. Then, the pandemic erupted and threw me off course. 

Fear was everywhere. Sadness increased each day. As the days turned into months shifts in lifestyles occurred. My once-known normalcy was lost but faith and trust lifted me up. "A just balance and scales are the Lord's; all the weights in the bag are His work." Proverb 16:11, shined a light in both dark days and ones filled with a commitment to take baby steps forward. 

Quarantine life continued to focus on finding balance in troubled waters. To be honest, the beginning months were tough. Yoga classes were suspended and unfortunately, my exercise routine dwindled down to nothing. Perhaps, this reasoning will suffice. At the end of February, my husband and I made a leap-of-faith decision to build a new home in Virginia for the next chapter in our life story. This strategic move places me 30 minutes away from my daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters. My sister even decided to jump in and build a home on one of the few homesites left. With hope and faith, I worked virtually for months with the design team to build this new home. 

Arriving home today from a quick-paced 3-day visit with the construction team, design studio consultant, and looking for new furniture has left me exhausted but not as unbalanced as I have felt. The memories of my granddaughters' smiles and laugher will keep me happy and ready to push forward. Follow my story in the weeks to come as I move through the next phase of selling my house and packing decades of memories along with items for the move. Whew! 

Before the Pre-Dry Wall Walkthrough

Tonight and tomorrow, I host Spiritual Journey Thursday with long-distant friends who gather together as a committed community of writers under the new leadership of Margaret Simon. Join me here all day tomorrow for thoughts on balancing our days during quarantine life.

Add your Spiritual Journey Thursday blog post link below.

Balancing My Days

The heat is oppressive today but a quick lunch outdoors on my patio brings a new sense of balance. Flowers are popping, spreading their own brand of sunshine while some long for a cool shower from the watering can or a quick rainstorm. I move from air-conditioned rooms to outdoor living, admiring the summer plants, and their vibrant colors.

Returning indoors, I find a new post and challenge, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, by Margaret Simon, in my email. It centers around a mesmerizing, long-ago photo from the Library of Congress' G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection, titled "The bride" and invites us to write a small poem of 16 words or so.

Still'
  eyes.
Those hands.
This woman knows work.
She is there
gazing into the future
hoping.
Margaret G. Simon, found poem







I chose to write a golden shovel poem, The Young Bride. Look at the ending words of each line to see the strike line, gazing into the future, emerge.

For a moment while gazing,
my eyes wander into
a sea of endless thoughts in the 
desert days of my future.
©CVarsalona, 2020

Turning my thoughts back to a hot day in July when I married, I found a beautiful poem, To Be With One Another, by George Eliot and penned another golden shovel poem. This time, it is for my husband to celebrate another anniversary in our lives.

To Be With One Another

by George Eliot

What greater thing is there for two human souls

than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen

each other in all labor, to minister to each other in all sorrow,

to share with each other in all gladness,

to be one with each other in the

silent unspoken memories?

Using the strike line, silent unspoken memories, I wrote the following.

Now I turn my attention to my far-away friend, Ruth Hersey, who is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup from Haiti. I was excited to gift her with a digital journal, Finding Balance in Troubled Waters. May we all balance our days during our Quarantine Life. Stay safe. Love and Peace to all!

"We Need" Pandemic Poem Video

In the moments of quiet contemplation during my #QuarantineLife days, poetry has become my expressive outlet. Knowing that hope and faith are needed in abundance to heal the tragedies and traumatic experiences encountered, I write from the heart, believing there must be a worldwide call to action.

With that intent in mind, I penned a golden shovel poem based on Kitty O'Meara's poem, In the Time of Pandemic. Little did I know about Kitty O'Meara prior to the start of the pandemic. After her poem took international flight in March 2020, I explored to find more information. The Oprah Magazine called her the poet laureate of the pandemic and Deepak Chopra publicized her viral pandemic poem on Facebook. Many others have read, posted her poem, and added their thoughts. I decided to take the poem I wrote for my last blog post and create a video poem using the Lumen 5 online video maker.

I hope my video poem becomes another voice speaking from the heart during the pandemic. You can find my short video, We Need Pandemic Poem, on my YouTube channel.

Hope, Love, and Harmony are needed for the world to unite in peace!

I am offering this post to the Two Writing Teachers community of writers for the

Tuesday Slice of Life challenge.

Poetry Gifts from Kat

How surprised was I when I found in my email that my Aussie poet-author friend, Kathryn Apel, brought greetings and a summer poetry swap gift.  She told me that she wanted to write a solage and an epigram for me since I've said a number of times that I found them tricky during the Poetry Pep Up Challenge. "The trimeric was so much fun, picking lines from poems on your blog. I had only intended to take lines for the first stanza - which repeats through the poem. But then I stumbled on the last line, and couldn’t bear to leave it out. And then, I decided a title from you would be lovely, too… And in the end, I wrote very little!"  In truth, Kat displayed her creative, artistic side and wrote a beautiful epigram and trimeric in the same poem and picture. This is her "first foray into flower watercolour" and it is beautiful. I am including it in my Nature Nurtures 2020 Gallery.

This field of flowers is a lovely present that exhibits a truth.

Kat and I are linked-friends. I am deeply grateful to her for her poetry gifts.

Thank you, Tabatha Yeatts, for organizing the 20202 Summer Poetry Swap.

While teaching my first online graduate course for teachers, Kat sent me her poems. Deeply entrenched into sharing curriculum models for sparking wonder, curiosity, and creativity in learners, I found another pandemic poem that resonated with me. I took two lines from the poem and created a golden shovel poem to send Kat. Day 5 of her Poetry Pep Up asked for a golden shovel poem. I already sent Kat one but when I read the following poem, I was drawn to two lines.

Strike lines from Kitty O'Meara's poem: And the people stayed home (stanza 1) the earth began to heal  (stanza 2)

We started each day with sadness and

ended with prayers of hope for the

grieving world and its fallen people.

We kept our distance and stayed

in. Routines brought sanity. Home

became the center of life in the

early days of COVID.  When earth

needed a gentle cradling, people began

reconnecting and reimagining ways to

find balance and pathways to heal.

©CV, 2020

Because of the rigor of the workload preparing for and teaching my summer graduate poem, I am offering my post to my friend, poet-librarian Linda Mitchell, the host of Poetry Friday. Linda has an original poem freshly written for the 4th of July holiday. She is also sharing her poetry swap gift from another poet-author-teacher friend, Margaret Simon. Join me at the Poetry Friday Roundup here to find more poetic goodness.