April 23 2015
This week I had the opportunity to present a poetry workshop to some homeschoolers at the Avon Free Library. They were an attentive group and lots of fun to work with. They collectively wrote this cinquain about a thunderstorm, choosing this theme because they had all experienced a thunderstorm the night before. Cinquains typically don’t have titles. […]
April 21 2015
Today is the birthday of my twin nieces. I don’t think they’d mind me revealing that their birth year was 1969. This is a poem I wrote several years ago with that birthday in mind. Have a great day, Shelly and Kelly. I love you. 1969 America Left on a Jet Plane Armstrong […]
April 20 2015
My mother was born 99 years ago today. She passed away in 1997, almost 20 years ago, and I still miss her. I wrote this poem for her a couple of years ago. For Mom on Her 97th Birthday Beyond the stars, above the sky, Beyond the what, beyond the why, Beyond […]
April 19 2015
Today’s poem is one I wrote in response to a poetry challenge by Writers Digest. The challenge was to choose a dead poet, take one of his/her poems or just a line from the poem, and write a new poem refuting that poem. I choose the lines “Spring is like a perhaps hand (which comes carefully out […]
April 18 2015
Today I’m going to a baby shower. My gift will be a quilt that I’ve pieced together using fabric blocks saved by my grandmother and great aunt. I don’t know if Simone (I love it that baby already has a name) will be a quilter, but I love passing down this part of my German […]
April 17 2015
Did you know that New York has a state insect? In 1989, coccinella novemnotata, the nine-spotted ladybug, was named New York State’s official insect. Unfortunately this particular ladybug has not been seen in a while. Cornell University is asking kids to send them a digital picture if they find the C-9 ladybug. For more information check […]
April 16 2015
Today is an ordinary day. This poem reminds me to look for the Holy in the ordinary. Welcome Morning by Anne Sexton There is joy in all: in the hair I brush each morning, in the Cannon towel, newly washed, that I rub my body with each morning, in the chapel of eggs I cook each […]
April 15 2015
Today is the deadline for filing our income tax. Have you been stressing to meet this deadline? Even if you are expecting a refund, nobody looks forward to filling out those forms. I don’t have an income tax poem, but I do have a poem about the DMV. The DMV is a little bit like […]
April 14 2015
This month marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination. Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address a year and a half earlier at the cemetery dedication in 1863. I think it’s worth taking the time to reread it today. Some may not consider it poetry, but I do. Gettysburg Address […]
April 13 2015
I’m still thinking of Easter and spring break. Here’s a poem I wrote a few years ago that encompasses both. Pilgrimage The Easter Parade starts early. Lily white Angoras head south on the bunny trail to worship at the House of the Rising Sun. Along the way they collect disciples, folks blown right out of […]