Mother’s cemetery bouquet
Today, September 20, is my mother’s birthday. My Dad and most of his children gathered at Mother’s gravesite tonight, and it was a beautiful time. We siblings put out a big basket of silk flowers and—since we had a notion it might be carried off, as sometimes happens—we put a weatherproofed note deep within the bouquet. It said:
Talk Like a Pirate
I’m putting this on my blog just to preserve a record of it … Continue reading
This is another way poems come…
At a business meeting this week, a friend unwitting said something stunning and I made sure to remember her two key words. Later that day, I retrieved the memory, chose a rhyming word, and—in less than a minute—had this poem:
This is an exercise … maybe even an adventure. I thought I’d invite you along with me as I make a blog post … and, hopefully, a poem. Continue reading
What do you do with the unrelenting procession of thoughts that traipses through your mind? I scan the queue and select the most intriguing candidates for interview and audition.
Tonight’s quick-dinner preps attracted a quirky refrain and, when I cocked an inner ear to listen, it turned into silly lyrics: Continue reading
Viewpoints, Literally
Why I was recalling childhood memories last night, I don’t know. But when I refreshed myself on how it was to be a child, I fondly remembered lying under tables and hiding under beds.
When lying beneath furniture and looking up, I would marvel at Continue reading
Some poems come instantly.
Others come as a spark that has to be instantly kindled. Still others are like sand-castles-in-the-making on a shore; the vision must be held and refined intensely all the while the tide recedes.
Artists (and others) who love their work understand the meditative suspension of time and distraction that occurs in “the zone.” Whole days can be absorbed in that state. Of the two poems that follow, the first came quickly (though not instantly) and the second took a good bit of post-construction. Continue reading
Some key steps I’ve taken so far with this blog (learning the process) are:
Next, I’ll probably start using the “Insert More Tag” so that long posts come up as abbreviated teasers instead of full posts. (The “Readers” setting might accomplish this globally, though.) I’m also experimenting with the “Status” format in this very post, expecting that this message won’t even have a heading. Continue reading
When I started this blog, I researched before taking certain set-up steps. WordPress encouraged Akismet as a spam-blocker and JetPack as a good assortment of plug-ins. Because I encountered many “pro and con” discussions of both items online, I decided to wait before installing either one.
As a result, I soon became inundated with spam comments … and the volume kept escalating. Within a short time-frame today, I accumulated 127 spams and they were cumbersome to delete. Rather than go far afield in researching Akismet alternates, I looked at only the one that sounded like the best option. It was controversial too, subject to bugs and difficulties. So I went ahead with Akismet.
I have a couple of library books checked out about WordPress. As time allows, I’ll delve into that information to learn how certain other plug-in components can help this blog … because it’s pretty bare-bones at the moment, which also means pretty hidden. For now, though, that’s fine with me.
By the way, the top definition of “kismet” that appears in a Google search is “destiny; fate” and the usage example given is: “what chance did I stand against kismet?” I conclude that the Akismet software is aptly named.
♥ ~Jo
P.S. I wish WordPress offered a plug-in that would keep the paragraph font from going wacky sometimes and appearing more bold or condensed. (Sigh.)
P.P.S. It has now been a full day later and I have NO spam comments. Ahhhhh-kismet!
Photo Credit: “Intro” key cropped image from Alvimann at morguefile.com.
These poems are drafts, not final versions and are not meant to be shared outside this website. Thank you.
130831
BEGGAR WOULD RIDE
I don’t ask for a life of luxury
(of cherries and whipped cream)
but I’m jealous of my night-time self
who gets to sleep and dream.
130830
HARD TIMES
barely enough tuition for
the school of hard knocks
130828a
Oh,
it’s such a pity
that my kitty
thinks it’s witty
that her itty-bitty
pads go pitty-pat—
and, moreover,
that her catty
city mistress
wrote a flitty
little ditty
about that.
[Well, I GO to the city often.]
130828c
UNI-VERSE-AL?
The other planet poets—
Who are they?
What do they write?
What is poem-worthy
in their sight?
What, to them, is beauty;
what right or wrong or duty?
The other planet poets—
Do they write with heart?
Do we share a Muse?
Or are we worlds apart?
130828g
SELF SURVEY
Openly
I dwell in stealth.
For all I know,
I dreamed myself.
I have no place to stand—
except in here I am.
130826
WHAT SAY, RENÉ?
“I think,
therefore I am.”
You thought, therefore you were.
You were a man; I don’t refute—
but is a stone’s existence in dispute?
If not, then is it true
that stone thinks too?
130825b
ENCUMBERED
We feel so sure
as we endure,
seeking unremembered bliss,
“There’s more to life than this.”
Yes.
There’s also less.
130823
AT LAST, AT EASE
The trust I bear to Thee
in gratitude deep-growing
turns pangs of old not-knowing
from pain to peace for me.
130820
ALL TOGETHER NOW
(A Spiritual Perspective)
But for space,
we all would be
stuck in the same spot—
yet, if we’re free,
paradoxically
who’s to say we’re not?
130816
“Hugs—5¢”
her t-shirt read.
Five cents a hug!
For that, I dug
and paid the lady’s fee.
“Hugs—5¢”
the hugger said.
And when we’d done,
for love or fun
she bought one back from me.
130815b
I HEAR THE PEOPLE WONDERING
Perfect love casts out fear.
What makes pain disappear?
* * *
Change is scary, no-change worse;
is eternal life a curse?
* * *
In this scheme of good v. sin,
how do animals fit in?
* * *
Imagine that we took a poll—
“What’s your pick: love or control?”
* * *
While we’re learning what is true,
what are we supposed to do?
130813b
WEDDING TOAST:
“Forget all the fables
you’ve been spun—
now it’s two hardheads
instead of one.
130813d
RELAX, BREATHE
Life can seem
so hard and unfair.
Yet every time
I come up for air …
the air is always there.
130809c
SHUNNED
I knew I was unwelcome,
even at first sight.
At my approach, one huffed.
Then they all took flight.
But their leaving left me grateful—
in sheer dear deer delight.
130808
UN-FLAIRY TALE
Once upon a time, the lord and lady
of the manor got dethroned (missed
a balloon payment). Their homestead
was foreclosed upon and they were
forced to move to a shepherd’s hut
where they lived meagerly but happily
ever after, as far as anybody knows.
They could have been eaten by bears.
130805
WAY STATION
You made us
from Your spark—
and a bit of loam.
We travel here in dark;
help us help each other home.
130804
IN GOOD TIME
When does
suffering end?
(When karma’s
known as friend.)
130801b
I have seen
what wasn’t there;
saw it twice,
but didn’t stare.
Don’t know why
it came to me,
unless to show
such things can be.
* * *