Poetry Friday--"In the Detail"

Click on image to enlarge for easier reading. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. "The Orchard" by Thomas Cooper Gotch (1887), courtesy The Athenaeum.

Here is another in my series of occasional ekphrastic poems (ekphrasis is art about art, in this case, poetry inspired by a painting). The artist, Thomas Cooper Gotch (1854–1931) painted some interesting pictures, a number of which are available for viewing online. One that I find particularly striking is titled, "The Child in the World." What a stylistic difference between it and "The Orchard" above!

Courtesy The Athenaeum.

The Round-Up this week is being held at Poet! Poet!

Haiku Sticky #242

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Happy Haiga Day!

I've been working on a response piece in the latest Spark challenge (#21). I found a window image I liked and have been experimenting with it using various backgrounds and effects. The image below, didn't meet my expectations for the project, but I think it works well with this tanka. The challenge ends on Friday, after which time I will post my piece on the Spark site.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Poetry Friday--"Damn You, February!"

Here it is February 21 and I am done with it--done with winter, done with snow, done with rain, done with cold. The vernal equinox is still a month away, and, as any New Hampshire citizen will tell you, the winter ain't over until ice-out, which could be mid-May! Not much to do, I guess, than to rage against the taunting of late winter.

Click on the image to enlarge. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. "Winter Thaw" by John LaFarge (1874), courtesy The Athenaeum.

It is true that the longer days of sun, and its often blinding brightness, is very reassuring, but, it only makes me crave spring more.

Hang in there. I will, too. Enjoy some sunshine and poetry today at Karen Edmisten's blog.

Haiku Sticky #241

Another one for Laura Shovan's Pantone Poetry Project:

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

My daughter, the 4th grade teacher, is spending the week in Jamaica. Me, the public librarian--I'm spending the week in a library in snowy NH.

Happy Haiga Day!

Can I just say this? I'm damned tired of this winter!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

The blues here are not necessarily colors, but, I'd like to remind everyone that Laura Shovan's Pantone Poetry Project is still in progress. Visit Author Amok and join in!

Poetry Friday--Happy Valentine's Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Vintage postcard courtesy NYPL Digital Gallery.

I can't remember the boy's name, but I do remember the note, it said, "I like you even if you are a witch." I've thought of it many times over the years and wish that I had it today! Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

I'm sure there'll be lots of love poetry this Friday! Linda at TeacherDance is rounding it all up for us. Here's wishing your day is full of love and CHOCOLATE!

And please visit Laura Shovan's blog for the continuing Pantone Poetry Project! I can't wait to find out what next week's colors are!

Haiku Sticky #240

I'm participating in Laura Shovan's Pantone® Poetry Project and one of yesterday's colors was "Golden Glow," which immediately put me in mind of an icy, freshly drawn, wheat beer. The haiku below was not the poem I contributed to the challenge, but it is in the same spirit.

I like it better when the haiku displays on three lines, but I made an exception here!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Happy Haiga Day!

Click on the image to enlarge for easier reading. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Woodcut print by Sekka Kamisaka courtesy NYPL Digital Gallery.

Poetry Friday--Laura Shovan's Pantone® Poetry Project

Last Friday, Laura Shovan challenged everyone to celebrate her birthday month of February with color. I always accept an invitation to be creative, so I wrote several poems with the Pantone® color names listed as this week's prompts. Some of them I also illustrated and these I am sharing today.

This one I wrote pretty quickly, but, I don't know where these dark poems come from, since I've had a very happy youth and adulthood. I guess the treatment of women is on my mind a lot, which should be an indication that I'm spending too much time on the internet!

This one is a bit more upbeat. I suppose I should dedicate it to Cornelius. What do you think, Jama?

I actually received some demitasse cups, saucers, and spoons as a gift many, many years ago. The only thing I've ever used the saucers for was cat food, and not surprisingly, the little spoons are perfect for scooping cat food from those tiny 3 oz. cans. I have no clue where the cups ended up.

It's always good to laugh at one's self, and this I did in spades here! The gravestone is one I photographed way up north in Pittsburg, New Hampshire. Through photo editing magic, I got rid of the grass in the background and the names carved on the stone, and fit the poem in nicely.

With all the illustrated poems I tried to use a background color similar to the color I thought the names described. Laura has swatches on her blog, so you may want to compare. Check out the other submissions that were sent to Laura this week! I had great fun doing these three, and I hope to continue with the project when Laura posts a new batch of Pantone® color names today!

There will be more color and colorful poems rounded up by Renee at No Water River.

Poems © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Haiku Sticky #239

We had a very brief period of warming over the weekend. On the really cold evenings I've been known to go to sleep in 3 pairs of socks, but, that always results in waking up in the middle of the night.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Happy Haiga Day!

Today's not a snow day, actually, this haiku was written three years ago on February 2. I googled the day's weather, and sure enough, it was not good! (Click here for a Boston Globe report.)

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. The snowflakes are adapted from photographs by Wilson Bentley.