© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Image courtesy NYPL Digital Gallery.
March 30, 2014
Happy Haiga Day!
Yes, it's almost April, but my advice is to always have gloves in your pocket--at least until May. Although, one year, we woke to snow on May 6!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Image courtesy NYPL Digital Gallery.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Image courtesy NYPL Digital Gallery.
March 28, 2014
Poetry Friday--Another One Bites the Dust
On my last visit, I walked out with a dozen books. One of them is Amplitude: New and Selected Poems by Tess Gallagher. This poem will be a nice way to slide into April, and National Poetry Month.
Refusing SilenceDon't delay further, if you're planning anything special for National Poetry Month, let us know! I'll be posting an ekphrastic poem (a poem about a work of art) on the four Mondays in April. See you on Monday!
Heartbeat trembling
your kingdom
of leaves
near the ceremony
of water, I never
insisted on you. I admit
I delayed. I was the Empress
of Delay. But it can’t be
put off now. On the sacred branch
of my only voice--I insist.
Insist for us all,
which is the job
of the voice, and especially
of the poet. Else
what am I for, what use
am I if I don’t
insist?
There are messages to send.
Gatherings and songs.
Because we need
to insist. Else what are we
for? What use
are we?
Mary Lee at A Year of Reading will be leading us through the Round-Up today!
March 25, 2014
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March 23, 2014
Happy Haiga Day!
Another after-hours photo from Hogarth Country Day School! (See more Hogarth School haiga by clicking here.)
March 21, 2014
Poetry Friday--Poetry-O-Therapy
You've heard of bibliotherapy, and you've probably heard of poetry therapy, too. There is value in poetry's use as a way to healing.
Illustration courtesy Comicartfans.
I've found that I use poetry to work through things that have been prickles, rather than full-blown crises in my life. I refer to it as Poetry-O-Therapy. Case in point is the poem I'm going to share with you today. A little background first: an acquaintance shared some rather disturbing news. This person's very public response, to what I thought was an intensely personal matter, disturbed me. I thought about it for several days, discussed it with a trusted friend, and still it bothered me, so, I decided to write.
At first I laid it all out--what I thought was wrong and why. It was a long rambling brain dump. I didn't want anyone to recognize the circumstances, and I certainly didn't want to make it any more public than it already was, so I rewrote it, and pared it down to very small poem. I took out all the particulars and employed a musical metaphor. Here's the result:
Julie at The Drift Record is our hostess with the mostess for this Friday's Round-Up!
I've found that I use poetry to work through things that have been prickles, rather than full-blown crises in my life. I refer to it as Poetry-O-Therapy. Case in point is the poem I'm going to share with you today. A little background first: an acquaintance shared some rather disturbing news. This person's very public response, to what I thought was an intensely personal matter, disturbed me. I thought about it for several days, discussed it with a trusted friend, and still it bothered me, so, I decided to write.
At first I laid it all out--what I thought was wrong and why. It was a long rambling brain dump. I didn't want anyone to recognize the circumstances, and I certainly didn't want to make it any more public than it already was, so I rewrote it, and pared it down to very small poem. I took out all the particulars and employed a musical metaphor. Here's the result:
TroppoThe poem may not make a lick of sense to anyone but me, but it worked to relieve me of my negative feelings. I think that writing is a great way to stop and put things in perspective. I suppose it would be more accurate to call it therapeutic writing, but that sounds a bit too serious. If you've got something you need to work through, give poetry a try.
Her instrument unfinished
--never polished, never tuned.
It simply would not be played
More's the pity then--they
coaxed a whimper and thus
demanded it be orchestrated.
Note: troppo is a musical term, from the Italian, meaning "too much." © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Julie at The Drift Record is our hostess with the mostess for this Friday's Round-Up!
March 18, 2014
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March 16, 2014
March 14, 2014
Poetry Friday--"March 17th"
Truly, the behavior of Americans around St. Patrick's Day is appalling. The whole first half of the month now seems to be a contest amongst the young as to who can get the drunkest and who can find the most offensive tee-shirt to celebrate the orgy-like holiday. The Americanization of the day is an insult to the people of Ireland. I felt I couldn't let another March 17 go by without commenting.
The Poetry Friday Round-Up is being held today at a blog with a most intriguing name, Rogue Anthropologist.
Image courtesy Wellcome Library.
March 11, 2014
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March 9, 2014
Happy Haiga Day!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Original photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1909), courtesy Library of Congress.
March 7, 2014
Poetry Friday--Beyond the Rainbow
It's March, and although I had a super time with Laura Shovan's Pantone Poetry Project, I'm happy to be moving away from color prompts!
I posted three color poems earlier in February, and today I'm going to share ones I created later in the month.
The first color is "Dubarry," which is similar to the color of Du Barry's gown in this painting by François-Hubert Drouais (1770).
Painting courtesy Museo Nacional del Prado.
If you've been following women's issues here in the U.S., I think the above poem may ring some bells. (Everything old is new again.)
The next is a riddle disguised as a poem! The prompt color is "Solar Power."
My current favorite from the project is the following. The prompt color is "Plein Air." The image is from a postcard courtesy NYPL Digital Library. I tweaked the color to correspond with "Plein Air."
I challenged myself to get all the senses into a short poem. I love the word effervescent since, if you think of soda, not only does it have taste, you can hear the fizz, feel the tickle in your nose, smell the gas from the bursting bubbles, and watch the whole thing sparkle!
This next poem is a little odd, I'll admit, but it was in response to the prompt, "Peacock Green." The image is cropped from a photo of a bedraggled peacock I came upon at a park in New Jersey. Many years ago, here in New Hampshire, I would sometimes be awakened on a summer's night by a horrendously loud, unrecognizable cry. It took a long time before I found out it was a peacock in the neighborhood! Peafowl, and other exotic animals, don't belong in NJ or NH!
The last color Laura assigned was "Tandori Spice."
Poems © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
I don't want to end my participation in the project without publicly thanking Laura Shovan and all those who took part. You are all awesome! Margaret at Reflections on the Teche was one of those who wrote color poems and this week she is the Poetry Friday Round-Up host!
I posted three color poems earlier in February, and today I'm going to share ones I created later in the month.
The first color is "Dubarry," which is similar to the color of Du Barry's gown in this painting by François-Hubert Drouais (1770).
Du Barry
The young women's pregnancy had ended badly.
Her child was still-born, dead upon arrival.
Undoubtedly grieving, the woman had failed
to report the child's demise to those in power.
"Guilty of infanticide!" They declared and
demanded she swing from the gallows.
Sometimes men feel the need to play god,
but without a divinity's love and compassion.
"Have mercy on this young woman,"
Madame du Barry wrote to the Chancellor.
And, as it turned out, du Barry's powers
far outweighed those of France's false gods.
Real gods are asexual and du Barry
knew that these men of power were not.
If you've been following women's issues here in the U.S., I think the above poem may ring some bells. (Everything old is new again.)
The next is a riddle disguised as a poem! The prompt color is "Solar Power."
My current favorite from the project is the following. The prompt color is "Plein Air." The image is from a postcard courtesy NYPL Digital Library. I tweaked the color to correspond with "Plein Air."
I challenged myself to get all the senses into a short poem. I love the word effervescent since, if you think of soda, not only does it have taste, you can hear the fizz, feel the tickle in your nose, smell the gas from the bursting bubbles, and watch the whole thing sparkle!
This next poem is a little odd, I'll admit, but it was in response to the prompt, "Peacock Green." The image is cropped from a photo of a bedraggled peacock I came upon at a park in New Jersey. Many years ago, here in New Hampshire, I would sometimes be awakened on a summer's night by a horrendously loud, unrecognizable cry. It took a long time before I found out it was a peacock in the neighborhood! Peafowl, and other exotic animals, don't belong in NJ or NH!
The last color Laura assigned was "Tandori Spice."
I don't want to end my participation in the project without publicly thanking Laura Shovan and all those who took part. You are all awesome! Margaret at Reflections on the Teche was one of those who wrote color poems and this week she is the Poetry Friday Round-Up host!
March 4, 2014
Haiku Sticky #243
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© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
We've had robins around my library all winter long. It breaks my heart, especially now, when the sumac is looking a bit worse for the wear. If you don't know what a sumac bob is, click here.
March 2, 2014
Happy Haiga Day!
I had contemplated using this haiku for the new year postcard exchange.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo by Marjory Collins (1942), courtesy Library of Congress.
