Monthly Archives: November 2015

Dakota Diction


Dakota Diction

In the little town where I grew up,
instead of “yes,” we all said, “Yup!”
When we removed a soda top,
what we drank was called a “pop.”

When we drove off the road a bit,
we went into the “barrow pit.”
The mud was “gumbo”–rich and thick––
and every creek was called a “crick.”

Breakfast was never labeled brunch,
and “dinner” was what we called lunch.
Therefore, at night, our picker-upper
was never dinner.  It was “supper.”

Highway patrolmen were all “cops,”
and their cars were  “cherry tops.”
On movie nights, we saw the “show”
for just ten cents–which we called “dough.”

We told stray dogs that they should “git,”
and when they scampered off a bit,
the place where they commenced to wander
was what we labeled “over yonder.”

I fear it’s not spectacular,
this prairie states vernacular;
and because our listeners never balked,
we thought it was how all folks talked!

Non-Regional Diction:Write using regional slang, your dialect, or in your accent.https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/non-regional-diction/

The Hummingbird Door: Thursday Doors

The Hummingbird Door

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Remember this image published a few weeks ago? I promised then to tell the rest of the story later, and here it is, below!

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http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=583107

Banana Blossom: Flower of the Day

Banana Blossom

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For more flowers, look HERE.

Split Identity

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San Juan Cosala

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Split Identity

If I had to split my life between two places, it would be my home in the Raquet Club of San Juan Cosala, Jalisco, Mexico and Ubud, Bali. These are two places enough out of the mainstream to give relief from the “sameness” of towns in the states now. Both are the homes of many artists, artisans and musicians as well as the home of gentle people who value the arts.

The only drawback to Bali would be the intense heat and humidity, but perhaps I could acclimate myself.  At this stage of life, however, I am content to just alternate my time between San Juan and La Manzanilla, Mexico. I’ve already rented a house in La Manz for mid-January through mid-March in 2016, but  I’ve been thinking lately that I might try another beach town in 2017.   Any suggestions of other good beach towns in Mexico?  Or elsewhere in the world?

 

The Prompt: A Tale of Two Cities––If you could split your time between any two cities in the world, what two cities would those be? https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/a-tale-of-two-cities/

Soft Focus: A Photo a Week Challenge

 

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Version 2

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The intent of this challenge was to encourage us to soften focus.  I enjoyed playing around with the in-the-dark image of these two white burros, but the results are perhaps too bizarre.

https://nadiamerrillphotography.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/a-photo-a-week-challenge-soft/

Orchid: Flower of the Day,11/21/15

Orchid

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Looking Closer. Do you see an angel or a skull? In the first photo, I see a fish and several birds in addition to the central image shown in all three photos.  Do you?

 

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/11/21/flower-of-the-day-november-21-2015-dahlia-with-setting-sun/

An Incredible Message from Paris

Four Times Three

Four Times Three

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I love how one of the inflatable rafts has a picture of a palm tree on it and how the other has a reflection of a real palm tree on it. The third picture is of a huge alebrije that was carried by the Feria committee in a parade in Mexico City.  It is of the goddess of the lake, Michicihualli, and her two fish companions.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/trio/

Washing Up

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/it-builds-character/

Washing Up

The churning water brings them up.
The grounds of coffee in the cup
rise like saints to water’s top
while water runs, they do not stop.

I read their shapes like tea leaves now.
I see the future but know not how.
They swirl and change, revealing lives––
swarm like hornets from their hives.

The one I wait for comes unstuck,
careening towards his future luck.
The one that’s me caught in an eddy,
stuck for now, but holding steady.

Other remnants of finished meals––
carrot shards, potato peels––
rise up and circle, forming dreams.
Reality, or so it seems.

I see a heart and charm and lies,
a future lover in disguise,
a plane, a knoll, a tree-lined path,
a woman bound in senseless wrath.

She sends out waves that push you here––
the very thing that she most fears.
I know not who or where you are.
Are you near or are you far?

As all goes rushing down the drain,
I feel a sense of loss and pain.
And so I fill the sink again.
Will I see you one time more,
or was my vision only lore?

This poem was inspired by a comment chain on  Jane Basil’s blog. In reply to my last comment, she wrote:”You have just inspired me. When I read your comment I thought about the odd concepts writers come up with. If we didn’t think up strange plots, what would we write about? The answer came in a flash: washing up. We could write about washing up, or hanging curtains, or eating toast. I’m off to try to write a poem about washing up. Would writing about mundane activities make me boring,or odd? And is there something wrong with my thought processes?” I wrote back telling her I’d write a poem about washing up as well. This is mine and HERE is hers!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/it-builds-character/

Airborne

Version 2

Airborne

Way back in our salad years,
our endings were all sealed with tears
as each successive love affair
popped like a bubble into air.

Now that we’ve earned our seasoning,
more endings end in reasoning.
We understand that all things end
as lover, father, daughter, friend

begins to go the way of all
who stumble, falter, fade and fall.
It is the fate that’s given us,
with all our stories ending thus.

Accomplishments, possessions, love
are like the fingers of a glove
that, when all our work is done
peel off each finger, one by one.

Empty-handed, we leave this life–––
its pleasures, loving, stress and strife––
to join the welcoming arms of air.
To discover what awaits us there.

This morning, I awoke to the line, “Way back in our salad years,” running through my mind.  The next lines occurred as I let the dogs out and stumbled back to bed. I completed the poem before I looked at the daily prompt, and although it doesn’t meet the exact prompt, it seems to go along with the title of “Builds Character,” so here it is! https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/it-builds-character/