Every Life Needs its Own Mirror

Tags

life, mirrors, pantoum, past. reflect

I’m sharing a pantoum that I wrote yesterday for a prompt from the site formally known as Poetic Bloomings. The amazing poets who contribute to this site have recently voted in a new name: Creative Bloomings because the founding administrators, Walt Wojtanik, Marie Elena Good, and fellow contributing poets are now incorporating flashy fiction and photography and more. Michelle Hed was our guest prompter.

And here is the prompt:

Complete this thought and make that thought the title of your poem.

“Every life needs its own______________”

 

(a pantoum by J.lynn Sheridan)

Every life needs its own burnished mirror
to peer into the far-flung past.
A tool to reflect our trodden paths,
whether wise, resolute, or marred.

To peer into the far-flung past,
then disclose our truths and errs.
Whether wise, resolute, or marred,
Echo-casting of years yet unknown.

Then, disclose our truths and errs
so the future repeats each mended rove.
Echo-casting of years yet unknown,
every life needs its own burnished mirror.

+++

You try!

The Rules for a pantoum are fairly simple.

From Poets.org:

“The modern pantoum is a poem of any length, composed of four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza serve as the first and third lines of the next stanza. The last line of a pantoum is often the same as the first.”

No rhyming!

Now, it’s your turn. Don’t forget to visit Creative Bloomings for more inspiration.

Share your love of poetry

Tags

books, International Book Giving Day, poetry, share

Tomorrow is International Book Giving Day

What better day is there to share your love of poetry than on Valentine’s Day?

I’m sure you have a poetry book or two hidden between the couch cushions or under a bed that someone would love to read.

Here are some suggestions for how to celebrate and share your love from the International Book Giving Day website:

1. Give a Book to a Friend or Relative.

Celebrate International Book Giving Day by giving a child a new, used or borrowed book.

2. Leave a Book in a Waiting Room or Lobby.

Choose a waiting room where kids are stuck waiting and there are few to no good books available. Purchase a good book, and deposit your book covertly or overtly in your waiting room of choice. The goal here is to spread the love of reading to kids, so choose a fun book, nothing controversial.

3. Donate a Book.

Wrap up a box of children’s books that your kids have outgrown and get them in the hands of children who could really use a book or two. Donate your books to your local second hand store, library, children’s hospital, or shelter. Alternatively, donate your books to an organization working internationally to get books in the hands of kids, such as Books for Africa.

Check out the website. They even offer printable book plates, book marks. and posters like this:

I have oodles of books I could share. How about you?

My Song: In the Spring

Tags

Music, poetry, Songs, Spring

 

Today dVerse has us writing songs. I just did this over at my other blog The Slow Forget. But, I didn’t write music. Just lyrics.

At the Poet’s Pub, the theme is Songwriting and its Relationship to Poetry.
I’ve said it over and over, the two are related. Our host, Gay Reiser Cannon,
mentions Pat Pattison at Berklee School of Music. Last year I attended a MOOC
on songwriting and Pat was the instructor. He emphasized Prosody: “appropriate relationship between elements, whatever they may be: melody and words, chords and message, rhyme scheme and emotion . . . .”

I thoroughly enjoyed this class. If you get a chance, I encourage you to take it with him.

The final project for the course was to take all the elements we learned and write a song. I chose to write a ballad. So, for you Pop lover or Rappers, this will put you to sleep.

Click the link. It will take you to my Sound Cloud page and it should just start playing. If not, click on those squiggly lines near the left side. I’m not a pro but I don’t think it will hurt your ears too much.

https://soundcloud.com/jlynn3/js-assignment-6c/s-mgVjc

Here are the lyrics so you can read along:

In the Spring

by J.lynn Sheridan

Once or was it twice
you offered me your ring
and you said
maybe we’ll get married
next year in the Spring.

When the lilies open wide
you’ll be my pretty bride.
Next year in the Spring
you’ll be mine.

Well, a robin seldom tries to
sing on winter’s wing.
And a lady cannot marry
when she has  another dream.

So when the lily buds arrive
I cannot be your bride.
But, next year in the Spring,
I’ll decide.

For there’s a whole world calling me.
There’s a whole world for us to see.
Come with me.
Come with me.

Well, a man he has his pride
and won’t be tied to a string
when his heart desires to marry
next year in the Spring.

So, when the lily blossoms opened wide
you had yourself a pretty bride
and she wore your diamond ring in the
Spring by your side.

I cried the day our love died.
I cried she was your pretty bride.
Now you had your dream in Spring
and I had mine.

repeat.

Working blue

Tags

blue, tomes, Working, writing

Working blue

my fingers
need a home A warm
place to breathe and roam
They trampoline over coal
domes combing letters to grow
a tome of groan or love or poems
to bemoan (oh, woe is me) or
some other overblown
droning on and on
and on
and Oh,
I don’t know . . .
what else I really
can do.

Written for Poetic Aside’s Wednesday Poetry Prompts
Write a poem about work.

14 Words for Love

Tags

challenge, love, share, Valentine's Day

 

Up for another challenge?

This one is fun. I participated last year and was amazed, amused, and awed by the writing power of poets and writers worldwide sharing their fourteen words for love.

“14 Words For Love began last year, with the hope of garnering a few hundred poems to hand out to the homeless, legislators, taxi drivers and teachers–anyone on Valentine’s Day.” Over 3000 poems were collected and distributed.

From their FB page: “It’s time again for 14 Words For Love! Writing a 14-word poem, story or aphorism is a small and fun challenge that hundreds of people–from middle school to assisted living–can do to express love for the world. How does it work? SIMPLE. Experiment here. Write a 14-word valentine.”

 

Go to 14 Words for Love for all the directions.

Share the love.

The Slow Forget–Dementia poetry

Tags

Alzheimers, dementia, poetry, The Slow Forget

In the past I have posted some poems about Alzheimer’s and dementia and many of you have responded that you, too, have a loved one that struggles with this disease.

In order to not spam this blog with dementia poetry and in order to create
a place for sharing, venting, connecting, I have created a new blog specifically for those who want to share their journey with dementia through the avenue of poetry.

I invite you to come visit The Slow Forget.

Next week, I’ll post a prompt at The Slow Forget that hopefully with trigger an emotion, spark some creativity, and promote healing.

It won’t all be grief or misery. There are bright and humorous moments, too.

Connecting is important. I’ll see you over there.