Monthly Archives: April 2015

One Word Photo Challenge: Copper

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The copper vases were all hand raised in Santa Clara del Cobra, near Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico.  I couldn’t find my pictures of artisans at work, unfortunately, but perhaps some day they will magically appear.  The woman is a Tarahumara woman from Copper Canyon, where I didn’t see any copper for sale, but the women make incredible pine needle baskets.  The murals are from the ceiling of a church at the bottom of the Canyon.  Seems like Copper Canyon pictures qualified.  I could have taken the Pepsi bottle out of the picture, but it is more authentic with it.  Pepsi actually made it to Mexico (at least my part of Mexico) before Coca Cola did.  I have a story about that.  Perhaps one day… The bracelets are from Santa Clara del Cobra and Africa.

For more Copper photos, go here:
http://jennifernicholewells.com/2015/04/07/one-word-photo-challenge-copper-2/

NaPoWriMo 2015, Day 7: Filthy Lucre–Dropped Bills, Three Vignettes

Dropped Bill

It falls so easily from open purse or pocket,
unnoticed as you walk away;
and yet to the one who finds it,
such a gift.
A mere surprise, perhaps, baksheesh,
or a next meal they otherwise may have gone without.
Such a small joy for whomever finds it,
whether they pass it on or spend it soon.
Well worth letting a fiver drop by accident,
now and then, like a beneficent God
waiting to see what will happen.


Dropped Bill II

What passes more quickly or more often from hand to hand,
or has more life in it: oil from the fish and chips it purchased,
dirt from the field, lost signs of love?
Everything in life is pressed into the bills we pay
for most of what sustains us.
Yet we call it filthy lucre
as though these signs of life are bad.
Perhaps Shakespeare coined the term, regarding Shylock’s usury.
We’ll look it up after—both you and me.
But even if I’m right, now that I’ve written this verse and you have read it,
Bill Shakespeare may no longer have complete dominion
over our connotation of the term.


Dropped Bill III

King James version of The Bible (Titus 1:10-11), For there are many unruly and vain talkers and     deceivers . . . Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which  they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

Who knew there was a book in the Bible called Titus?
Not me, though I won the prize, week after week,
for learning the most verses in Sunday School.
True, I’ve forgotten much of what I once knew;
but I was a child who loved money,
hoarding my quarter allowance
in a large blue piggy bank,
and so I doubt an allusion to filthy lucre
would have passed me by,
even without Google to look up the word.
Surely some motivated teacher would have defined the word.
Then I would have known that the term “filthy lucre” was Biblical,
and let Shylock off the hook ever after–
applying it, ironically, to those like politicians
who, for the sake of filthy lucre,
do not pass bills.


The Prompt: Write about money! It could be about not having enough, having too much (a nice kind of problem to have), the smell, or feel, or sensory aspects of money. It could also just be a poem about how we decide what has value or worth.

To find out more about NaPoWriMo, go here:  http://www.napowrimo.net/

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/

Fealty

Fealty

When I’m having a fine day
and good fortune comes my way:
that hundredth view, retablo sales,
party talk of special tales,
lottery winnings, publications,
plans for future great vacations,
cute things that my dogs may do,
films especially fun to view,
pounds lost, friends gained, birds I see,
a new fantastic recipe,
or, if perchance I’m feeling yucky,
first person whom I call is Duckie!
And though I know he won’t agree
in granting this last wish to me,
because of all the joy he gives me,
I sure do hope that he outlives me!

The Prompt: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious–You get some incredibly, amazingly, wonderfully fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do?
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/

(Who is Duckie? He often comments here as okcforgottenman. I wrote another poem about him here and talk about him here.)

Sunday Stills: Wildflowers

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https://sundaystills.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/sunday-stills-the-next-challenge-yellow-or-wildflowers/

The Art of Flight

This man is a fine poet, and this is my favorite of what I’ve read over the past two years. In my estimation, a perfect poem and so I must reblog!

robert okaji's avatarO at the Edges

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The Art of Flight

What wings accumulate is not air
but space, an exemplar

of restraint defied. I listen
and hear feathers

ruffling in the shadows,
a vibration that swells

until it becomes flight or
regret, the retrieval of our

bodies from this dream of ascent.
The art of flight is one of

disturbance, of angles and lift
and touching what can’t be seen.

What we hold carries no meaning.
The beauty lies in the gathering.

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Morning Dew and Switcheroo: WordPress Daily Prompt Weds NaPoWriMo

When I’ve Passed A Restless Night

When I’ve passed a restless night,
to once more welcome morning light,
I do not leave a lover’s grasp.
No knitted legs need to unclasp.
What time on waking I can afford
is spent by me, unwinding cord:
the earbud cord around my neck,
my PC power cord from the wreck
of pillows, comforter and sheet
that somehow, now, are at my feet.
My MacBook Air, just by my shoulder
has come unplugged and so is colder
to my touch. It won’t power on.
Then, when plugged in, my poem is gone.

For the month of April, I am marching to the beat of two drummers, NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) and the daily WordPress blog. So, for the fun of it, I’m going to try to write a few poems that incorporate both prompts. The first part of the poem (above) meets the NaPoWriMo challenge that springs from the form known as the aubade. These are morning poems, about waking up, dawn and daybreak. Many aubades take the form of lovers’ morning farewells but the topic was left wide open and so I took a different slant on it.

The second part of the poem (below) segues into the WordPress prompt entitled “Switcheroo,” that asks what blogger I would trade places with if I could. I’ve tried to make the two poems work either as single poems or as one longer poem. Tell me what you think. Does this work or do you prefer them as separate poems?

My Kindle lies upon the table,
still spewing words, if it is able,
from the book by Audible
that I heard was laudable;
so I chose it to listen to
knowing words would be but few
before I gave my thoughts to dreams
in short, imaginary schemes.

In sleep, I’ve pulled the ear cord tight.
It disconnected and tales took flight
into the air and so are gone
and my dreams become the song
whispered in my slumbering ear­­­­­­­­–
all that I dream and hope and fear
coming up to enter thought
revealing to me what I’m not
as surely as what I may be:
a page, a paintbrush and a tree.

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And so as I’m unwound from sleep,
I sit up, my date to keep
with that world I’m connected to
with cyber-nails and blogging glue.
Those who find the world absurd
might give pause to read a word
that I wed with more words ‘til
my dreams have finally had their fill
of eating up my conscious life.

Now that I’m no longer wife,
mother, an employee or
the keeper of a traveling store,
if I wish to spend my days
ensconced in a creative haze,
who is there to bother me?
I live alone. My days are free.

I would not trade with Heather Armstrong,
(Dooce.com) or Huffington,
for though more followers would be nice,
(Any blogger would like a slice),
still it is perhaps excess.
I don’t want so much success,
for much as I’d enjoy renown,
as far as being toast of the town–
I will remain just who I am.
I’ll take my blog without the jam!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/switcheroo/

Cees Odd Ball Photo Challenge 2015, Week 14

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If you live near the beach or in a lake resort area as I do, the lines of traffic during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Mexico cause most of us to just stay home.  But I had a reading I had to go to, so this is what I saw during the 45 minutes it took to negotiate a distance that usually takes 15 minutes. First, the small part that I could see of the miles-long bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Someone in the car in front of me was playing intriguing finger-games similar to shadow puppets with no shadow, and local roadside merchants capitalized on the slow traffic with goods perfect for a hot mineral baths area. Meanwhile, the people in the car behind me could not figure out what in the heck I was doing snapping pictures every few seconds.  You’ll no doubt see some of the others in the months to come.  How photography fills in the otherwise boring hours!!Se

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/04/05/cees-odd-ball-photo-challenge-2015-week-14/

I’m Really Glad It’s Easter!

Just in case she isn’t in your “favorites” list, I thought you’d enjoy this rhyme about Easter excesses from my favorite NaPoWriMo writer, ogginblog.

okeating's avatarogginblog

I’m really glad it’s Easter.
I’ve had enough of Lent.
I gave up eating chocolate
But soon grew to relent.
An apple isn’t quite the same
As a giant Dairy Milk
Or Crunchie bars or Ripples
And all things of that ilk.

I’m really glad it’s Easter
And so are all my kin.
Who knew that giving chocolate up
Would free the beast within.
I’ve long run out of patience,
My fuse has grown too short.
I find I’ve started being more
Sarcastic than I ought.

I’m really glad it’s Easter.
The day has come at last
When I can end my self-inflicted
Chocky goodness fast.
I broke the fast at midnight
And now I’m rather ill.
I’ll never eat the stuff again,
(But – probably – I will!)

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TV Review: Rita

Has anyone else seen a Danish TV show named “Rita?”  It just came on Netflix and it is excellent.  Quirky, flawed characters with heart, a view into a foreign society and universal themes that hold our interest.  Irreverent, smart, modern and plain–the plot, characters and settings are perfectly believable.  I love the blurring of right and wrong in the characters and the shifting of roles between them.  Parent is child and child parent.  Watch this show for a real treat. I especially like the portrayal of the new young teacher.  She reminds me of the young quirky nurse on “Nurse Jackie.”  (I’m terrible at remembering the names of characters in even favorite books, films and tv shows, but if you’ve seen the show, you know who I mean.)  Subtitled, but so well done that you’ll barely notice, and you might learn a bit of Danish!

High Noon With Emily Dickinson

The Prompt: High Noon–At noon today, take a pause in what you’re doing or thinking about. Make a note of it, and write a post about it later.

As it happens, I couldn’t sleep last night and so didn’t actually fall asleep until 5:30 this morning.  Therefore, high noon found me signing on to the NaPoWriMo site to get my day’s assignment. So, at high noon, that’s what I was doing.  The results you may find HERE.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/high-noon/