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Beholding Beauty (Day 27 of NaPoWriMo)

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The prompt was to think of a proverb or axiom, to Google it and write a poem inspired by
what you read about that phrase. I chose, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Beholding Beauty

You are more beautiful than you think you are,
but we don’t tell you because
it is such a pleasure to see you unaware of it,
doing everyday things in such graceful ways.

You are the Burmese cat, stepping high
over the small sculptures
on the wall where he is fed,
his tail curving into a delicate hook.

You are vibrating leaves on the hibiscus tree
adding the contrast of green
to the one exquisite yellow bloom
with its fuchsia sunset middle.

You are a child whose violet eyes
open wider to each wonder––innocent,
never knowing yourself to be more beautiful
than what you observe.

You are music, harmonious, played
on the spur-of-the-moment with no rehearsal,
fingerpaints on the wall in an incredibly wild pattern
that could not have been planned.

You are the gourmet meal
made of leftovers from the fridge,
the wonderful costume gathered
from hangers at the thrift store.

You have a beauty
you were not born to––
one that is an amalgam
of every choice you make in life.

Beauty is in the eye
of the beholder, many say,
but it is impossible to imagine
a beholder who couldn’t see it in you.

Our book Lessons from a Grief Diary is now available on Amazon and Kindle. Go to the home page to see details.

Our book is now available on Amazon and Kindle.  If you read it, please comment!  Thanks, Judy

A novel way to celebrate Earth Day!

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I couldn’t get this to download.  It is proof that they are actually raffling off an assault rifle to benefit the food bank in Sheridan, Wyoming.  Unbelievable but true..See this link to see for yourself.

The Earth, Will and I (Day 22 of NaPoWriMo)

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The Earth, Will and I

The noise of birds so loud—
orioles, grackles, seedeaters
and my neighbor’s fighting cock.
You would think they know
it is Earth Day.

In writing about them,
I have not forgotten
that tomorrow
is the anniversary
of Shakespeare’s
birth and death.

I am having my book launch tomorrow.
No competition for Will,
but I am alive,
and I have completed this book
after 12 long years.
I sing to celebrate
both of these miracles,
my backup chorus
fading out behind me
as I warble
my extreme pleasure
in being chosen
to participate
in this wonderful world
and in having the luxury
to write
about
it.

Fortunes for Real Life (Day 21 of NaPoWriMo)

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(The prompt today was to write fortune cookie fortunes:)

A short dark stranger will enter your life and mow your lawn.

Your navy blue jumpsuit will never fit you again.

Your mother was right!

Your friends will all meet for dinner without you, but you will lose three pounds!

People always think that tattoo on your gums is a piece of spinach.

You have come undone.

Study up on the meaning of hand gestures before you use your next one

Your clothes do not send the message you think they do.

Your dog is a good actor. He really resents you.

Your children sometimes play Mexican Train without you.

Your friends think you cheat at cards, even though the fortune genie knows they are wrong.

Everyone wants to be you.

You want to be everyone else but yourself.

Your poetry does not really scan.

It will rain on your parade.

Someone in your neighborhood is waiting for your call.

You have a bad haircut.

Your parents lied. You have a younger brother named Dimitri who lives next to the grain elevator in Radisson, Iowa.

You are not as sexy as you think, but you are way sexier than your spouse thinks you are!

Confucius says go brush your teeth!

You often confuse work and pleasure.

Your gray sweater is unraveling at the elbow.

Your life will fall apart around you, but then new neighbors will rebuild, move in, and you will be the star of the neighborhood.

You will be the lone baby boomer who does not retire in Mexico.

Good news: your friends and family will throw you a surprise birthday party for your next birthday. Bad news: You will be surprised.

Books, books. We have books!

I’m sitting surrounded by books.  We picked them up at the printer today.  Our first book launch is Tuesday and we hope to have the book available on Amazon and Kindle sometime next week.

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I was so busy trying to take a picture of the flames across the lake that I overlooked the fires all along the mountain ridges above my house. At 1:30 in the morning, the smell of smoke has permeated my house and given me a splitting headache.  You can see the size of the flames by  using the tree in the lower right hand corner for scale.  If a person were standing near the flames, they could not be seen by the naked eye.  No, we are not in any danger.  The fires haven’t descended down the mountain and almost every house here has teja roofs and is constructed of stucco, brick or concrete.  There are a few palapa roofs.  Let’s hope the fire stays high on the ridges.

Three Pantuns (Day 15 of NaPoWriMo)

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Today’s assignment was the pantun, which consists of rhymed quatrains (abab), with 8-12 syllables per line. The first two lines of each quatrain aren’t meant to have a formal, logical link to the second two lines, although the two halves of each quatrain are supposed to have an imaginative or imagistic connection.

Here are three I dashed off quickly in an hour, after a too-busy day. It would be nice if there were room for poetry in every day, unfortunately that is not always so. NaPoWriMo gives us that additional shove to make some time for it, even if that time is very short.

She grows exasperated with his love.
See how his fingertips caress her face?
The hand that fits too tightly in the glove
Might chafe from the embrace of even lace.

The coat tossed idly over kitchen chair.
Inside the pocket is a diamond ring.
The branch outside the window stark and bare.
One tries in vain to pay the birds to sing.

The window that is your connection with the world,
when darkness falls, shows only you.
The author writes, his characters’ truths unfurled,
but it is he the readers view.

Confessions of a Retired Superheroine (Day 14, NaPoWriMo) (really dumb, I know, but at least I did the prompt!)

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This is the prompt: “I challenge you to write a persona poem — that is, a poem in the voice of a particular person who isn’t you. But I’d like you to choose a very particular kind of person. How about a poem in the voice of a superhero (or a supervillain)?”

Confessions of a Retired Superheroine

What’s happening tomorrow?
the same thing that happens every Friday
since I was forced into retirement last year.
I’m going to go make my collections.

It will be my first day
off the diet
I’ve been on for a week––
and my leathers aren’t at all as close-fitting
as they were before,
so I deserve a small reward.

I’ve washed my hair—
Well, no surprise. I do every day.
A bit OCD on that activity,
but today I washed all of it.
Every inch.
Ears, too.

I can’t remember when I first thought
of the lucrative business
I’ve been opurrrrrrrating since my retirement;
but I do remember that tomorrow is the day
I go from door-to-door doing collections.

I usually dress in leathers,
which I look pretty good in for a mature sex-kitten.
No, not a biker chick.
I am more of a femme fatale
with a haunting and mesmerizing voice.
Everyone says it sends chills down their back–
a sort of backyard Les Mis.

My parking garage is six blocks away,
so I take a shortcut: leaping over walls,
soft-toeing it along the top edge of fences.

Sometimes I crouch in the bushes,
waiting for strangers to pass.
As I do, I sharpen my fingernails—
a weapon no one can take away from me.
Anyway, what good would a gun be
for a woman with no opposable thumbs?
Hey. Don’t feel sorry for me, okay?
I’m Puurrrrrfectly happy with my lot in life.
I’m puurrrrfect without them.

Sushi? Yes.
A trip to the beach? No.
Not unless there is raw fish involved
that I don’t have to catch myself!

I’m a night person.
I sleep for most of the day
and go out every night.

I am sexy, fit and nimble.
I fill out my leathers in all the right places.
I can jump to the ground from a rooftop,
land on my feet and be off before you see
any more of me than a shadow.
I am a thief by birth and inclination, and I
I pre”fur” my daily fare to be purrrrrrloined.

I can take swift revenge and kill mercilessly,
or curl up and enjoy
a long petting session,
as docile as you please.

Actually, I don’t know why I’m giving you this sales pitch.
I usually ignore people,
so when I actually notice them,
they are honored.

The diet? Well, low-protein, low carb and low fat.
That leaves nothing but grass, right?
And the problem with that is that everyone thinks you are sick
and so tries to trick you into a dose of this or that.
The cod liver oil isn’t bad,
but I’ve never developed a taste for Pepto Bismol.
My neighbor sneaked some into my cream a few months ago
and I gagged so hard I coughed up a hare-ball.
Just the nose and whiskers, actually, but it created a sensation, nonetheless.
I was at a party and no one was yet drunk enough
to take it in their stride.

Anyway, I’ve gotten distracted.
I’m just going to smooth my hair a bit
and then go to bed and get rested up
for tomorrow’s collections.

What kind of brilliant female was I to create a job for myself like this?

“Cat Woman Pest Disposal––You trap them, we collect them.”

I actually get paid for going from door to door,
collecting a course here and a course there.
No of course, no matter how hungry I am after my week’s fast,
I will not reward myself in my client’s presence.
I always wait until I get to my catmobile to have my first nibble.
After all, even a retired superheroine has to watch her image.

How do I thank you for stopping by my blog?

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This may seem ridiculous to someone who has been on this blog site for a long time, but I cannot find a way to thank people who stop by or “like” my blog.  If they comment, I can hit “reply,” but if they don’t, I have visited dozens of blog sites of those who have visited mine and can’t find a way to thank them.  I work and play on a mac and I’ve just had this blog for ten days. One day perhaps I’ll be as wise as y’all!  Help.  I feel ungracious and unthankful not thanking you all as it is thrilling each time I’m read.  You remember that feeling?  Please help me thank those who have taken an interest in a new blogger.  Judy