Tanka
The fields are open
to the moon and falling snow,
an old, well-worn book
the moon reads through shadows
before she drifts off to sleep.
Gratitude List:
1. Sharing lists of favorite books
2. Mary Oliver’s Red Bird
3. That garlicky guacamole my mom made–if that doesn’t send this cold running, I don’t know what will
4. Moments of illumination
5. Fairy Tales
May we walk in Beauty
<Prompt 30: Last One. Write a Disappearing Poem> An interesting piece of synchronicity: someone declared today (Nov. 30) to be the International Day of Remembrance for Lost Species.
One black rhino falls on the Savannah.
Deep in shadowed jungles,
the Formosan clouded leopard
winks out of time.
Poor old Lonesome George,
the last Pinta Island Tortoise,
slowly ages to stone. And gone.
Celia, the last Pyrenean Ibex, taking
one last breath beneath a quivering acacia
on a windswept, sunset plain.
The Japanese river otter. The Liverpool Pigeon.
The Eastern cougar. Javan Tiger. Golden Toad.
The Ivory-Billed. . .don’t say it.
The Ivory. . .no, not yet.
Keep that door open yet a little longer.
Listen for the wheep and cluck
deep in the swamp. Watch
for that flash of white through the mosses.
From the State Museum of PA
Gratitude List:
1. Hope
2. Warmth
3. Light
4. Art
5. This moment.
May we walk in Beauty.
<Prompt 29: Write a Commercial Poem> Oy. I’m tired. Here’s a toss-off:
Face it. You’re not good enough,
not clean enough, not nice enough,
not beautiful.
You need more stuff to fill you up,
to ease your grief, to fit your need,
to fill the hole.
Don’t you feel that blinding ache,
relentless need, the restless urge,
desire’s pull?
Just buy more stuff, just do your part
to keep the Corporation in the black,
to meet our goals.
Gratitude List:
1. Venus! She is so big and bright she makes me want to grab my frankincense, saddle up the camels and slouch off to Bethlehem with the other rough beasts.
2. Day trip to the State Museum of PA. We got a membership to all the state museums for half price, and free parking for the day, to boot. It was wonderful and educational.
3. The Bird People of the Susquehannocks. Carved as glyphs into the rocks into the middle of the river, wings spread and soaring. Carved standing into shell and bone, wings folded, beaked faces watchful.
4. Reading Anne of Green Gables to the boys.
5. You. Have I said that yet? I am so very grateful for you.
May we walk in Beauty.
<Poetry Prompt 24: Write a poem that responds to a statement or quote>
“Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place.” ~ Rumi
Be the spark, the knowingness,
the mother of the moment,
be the dream, the home, and the hope.
Wherever you stand, be the stone
and the wind. Yes, be the wind
in the trees of the soul of a place.
Wherever you stand, be a memory,
a hope of the future remembering
how
once
we all lived together in peace.
Gratitude List:
1. CaringBridge.com –A wonderful communication tool to keep friends and communities updated on the health of someone who is in critical need of prayer and caring.
2. Stories of forgiveness, of grace, of communities and people choosing the higher path. Perhaps when I feel the need of vengeance, I can be inspired to instead follow in their steps.
3. Watching Ellis become absorbed in minute crafting details.
4. Candles and prayer
5. Cornmeal mush
May we walk in Beauty.
<Prompt 13: Write a Self-Help Poem> Oooh. I am tired, but I am loving the wildness of where this one is going. So I will write down what I have and come back to it later.
Once upon a time there lived a golden child
who followed a trail of bright flowers
deep into the heart of the forest.
That’s you, in case you hadn’t picked it up,
and the forest is the life you are wandering in.
This is the story you chose for your own
in those rainbow days before you were born.
Oh, for most of us, and much of the time,
the forest is fairly navigable, and not too scary.
But sometimes we get caught in the brambles,
overwhelmed by the shadows, befriended
by suave and creepy fellows in wolfskin.
We forget how to find our way,
forget that we are the main character,
the child of the glorious day,
forget our identity,
forget our destiny, our star
forget how to follow our guides,
forget who they are.
So step into the clearing, Dearies.
Have a seat by the fire.
Here’s a little advice:
Keep following the flowers,
the butterflies, the little birds,
whatever drew you in here in the first place.
Go ahead and flirt with the wolves,
but don’t give them Grandma’s address.
Breaking and entering is still
breaking and entering, Sweetie,
even if it’s a cute little cottage.
You never know what’s in the oatmeal.
Listen to the doll your mother gave you.
Your mother’s voice inside yourself
will always lead you true.
Beware of riddling with old women.
Always remember your manners,
and always be kinder than necessary.
There’s a happily-ever-after
right around the bend,
but you might have to travel
half a lifetime and complete
three impossible tasks
to reach it.
Gratitude List:
1. Appearing in a friend’s dream. I feel like my day and night selves are working in tandem.
2. Cozy clothes on a cold day
3. Sourdough bread–I finally got the stuff baked, after two and a half days of proofing and rising and prepping.
4. Coalescence
5. Irridescence
May we walk in Beauty.
<Prompt 12: Two in one–Write a happy poem, and then write sad> I’ve wandered a little far afield with this one. The idea for a Passion/Calm poem started to work on me this morning as I was headed to work, and I decided to follow that rather than the specific happy/sad prompt.
Now I realize that I must fling myself
into the center of my life
with a fierce intensity
and passionate joy
or risk dissipation.
And all while holding the center,
embodying the nature of the tree.
This, too, helps to hold it all together.
That still small place cannot exist for me
without the passion that feeds it.
Nor can I maintain the fire
without the quiet and glowing core.
Gratitude List:
1. Venus. At least I think that’s who it is, like a bright flower, these nights.
2. Warm hen eggs on cold fingers
3. My sourdough starter fluffied up. Tomorrow, sourdough bread. Mean while, my mother’s amazing banana bread. My brother is running a marathon on Sunday, so I am carb-loading for him.
4. John Tavener. May he be finding the deeply spiritual music he always sought.
5. White sage and rehmannia root and lavender and hyssop. Dandelion root and birch bark and whole dried chilis and lemon balm and St. John’s Wort. Peppermint and elecampane root and dried elderberries and hawthorn berries and juniper berries. Chamomile and jasmine and helichrysm blossoms. I weighed and packaged herbs today at Radiance. What a marvelous day.
Blessings on the blossom. Blessings on the root. Blessings on the leaf and stem. Blessings on the fruit.
<Prompt 9: Write a Poem titled “The Other _____”> I feel like this one is only a sort of a beginning, but it will have to suffice for today.
What if the other name of God is Magic?
If the other name for Magic is Science?
Is Wonder, is Awe, is Hope?
What if the other name of Goddess is Art?
Is Music, is wailing, is howling, is bells,
is the sound of the wind in the branches?
What if you call out Oh Beauty! Oh Marvel!
and the Voice Ineffable answers, Yes. I Am.
Or this: What if the other name for Divine is
I Want, is I Need, is I Can’t Take It Anymore?
And you call it out and the Mystery
at the Heart of Everything answers
I Am Here.
Gratitude List:
1. York’s amazing musicians and artists and poets. What an honor it was to share the stage with such intense forces of artistry.
2. How everybody’s secret nests are suddenly so visible, so vulnerable, without the leaf-cover.
3. Betsy’s words about what the farm means. This has been a day to feel deeply honored by the ways people feel a connection to this piece of land.
4. Tomorrow we are buying a family fish, and the boys are anticipating it like Christmas. Thank you, Sandra.
5. Revising, re-visioning
Blessings on the roots.
<Prompt 8: Write a poem about an inanimate object>
Sentinel upon the rooftop,
proud in his green patina,
in his view of the valley’s upper story.
We make up stories about a rooster
who challenged the sun and the wind
with his shiny feathers
and powerful crow, the poor boaster
doomed to tell the changeable mood
of the wind for eternity, screeching
from E to N, to south, to west.
I am inexplicably grouchy and edgy tonight. These are the times when a gratitude list is really hard. These are the times when a gratitude list is really important.
Gratitude List:
1. My fingers and toes are toasty again.
2. Jon Weaver-Kreider. He works so hard, and still manages to keep us all laughing.
3. Rooster Weathervane
4. Schnoogly cats
5. The sharp tang of radish
Blessings on the roots.
<Prompt 7: Write a Hardship poem>
tanka
Such a fragile light
you carry in the blizzard
through the growing dusk
stumbling over the arrows
of the day’s grievous battle
Now you must endure
and slog your way to safety
knowing the struggle
is actually the point
step by agonizing step
Gratitude List:
1. Back to working at Radiance!
2. Lancaster City, even on (especially on) rainy mornings when the gingko trees are yellow (I copied you, Sarah!) and the happy little oak tree on the corner of James and Water is getting all burgundy and I can look in the window and see the light shining on the bookbinder’s hands on the corner of Water and Grant. Little magical bundles of street art nailed to a light post. Artfully painted rain barrels. Crosswalks–people actually stop for you! (I know I am SO cheating here because this one alone is more than five. . .)
3. This one is going to seem strange to you if you know me well and how ranty-ravey I get about the news, but: Tonight’s News. On the way home from work, I heard a story about people fighting to keep recess in their schools, another about a big food manufacturer that is responding to consumer demand and removing the yellow dyes from its products aimed at children and adding more whole grains, and a third about how the FDA is considering removing the Generally Regarded As Safe label from foods containing trans fats. The people are finding their voice.
4. That focused kingfisher sitting on the wire above Kreutz Creek yesterday.
5. Letters of acceptance. Even if I might go ahead and publish the book myownself, it sure is nice to be accepted.
May we walk in Beauty.
Mockingbird’s secret
Mockingbird Chronicles 