© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo in the public domain and edited by me.
January 31, 2016
Happy Haiga Day!
Another angel poem for the Sketchbook Project:
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo in the public domain and edited by me.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo in the public domain and edited by me.
January 29, 2016
Poetry Friday--Another Angel Poem
I have two months time in which to finish my angel-themed Sketchbook Project for 2016. I'm putting off filling the sketchbook with the stuff I had planned (bright mixed media pages) due to a basic fear of ART. I have no problem using the computer to manipulate images, it's the art materials I fear. Paint! Pencils! Scissors! Paper! Yikes!
I continue to write angel poems, and if worse comes to worst, I'll print off the poems and glue them into the sketchbook.
So, for today, another "delay tactic" angel poem:
Click on the image to enlarge for easier reading. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Catherine at Reading to the Core will be hosting this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.
I continue to write angel poems, and if worse comes to worst, I'll print off the poems and glue them into the sketchbook.
So, for today, another "delay tactic" angel poem:
Click on the image to enlarge for easier reading. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Catherine at Reading to the Core will be hosting this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.
January 26, 2016
January 24, 2016
January 22, 2016
Poetry Friday--"Nothing"
If you're a regular follower of the Poetry Friday Round-Up, you will know that Michelle Barnes features a poet each month and she asks each one to challenge her readers to write a poem. Michelle collects the poems, posts some during the month, and then gathers them all for what she calls a "wrap-up celebration" post.
January's challenge was provided by poet and artist, Douglas Florian: "My ditty challenge is to write a poem about nothing." Holy cows! For the longest time, nothing came to mind. I was stumped. But then, when I wasn't thinking about it, a line came into my head. I'm not even sure that line survived, but here's the result:
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
It's that time of year again. I'm forcing hyacinths. I've got three in bloom right now and their fragrance about knocks me over when I come in from the cold. I've written about hyacinths before here, here, and here.
I picked three bulbs to start, two with white tunics and one with a purple tunic. I assumed two would be white, and the other would be purple or pink. I have three white ones, albeit one does have a pink tinge, but, if I saw it without the other two, I probably would have labeled it white. This is one of the white ones:
This is the pink one (excuse the quality of the photos, my phone's camera doesn't seem to be as good as everyone tells me it's supposed to be!):
Of course, if I wait a day or two for it to fully bloom, it may pinken up.
I'm sure you've picked out the little takeoff on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "...poetry,--the best words in their best order."
The Round-Up this week is taking place at A Teaching Life. See you there!
January's challenge was provided by poet and artist, Douglas Florian: "My ditty challenge is to write a poem about nothing." Holy cows! For the longest time, nothing came to mind. I was stumped. But then, when I wasn't thinking about it, a line came into my head. I'm not even sure that line survived, but here's the result:
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
It's that time of year again. I'm forcing hyacinths. I've got three in bloom right now and their fragrance about knocks me over when I come in from the cold. I've written about hyacinths before here, here, and here.
I picked three bulbs to start, two with white tunics and one with a purple tunic. I assumed two would be white, and the other would be purple or pink. I have three white ones, albeit one does have a pink tinge, but, if I saw it without the other two, I probably would have labeled it white. This is one of the white ones:
This is the pink one (excuse the quality of the photos, my phone's camera doesn't seem to be as good as everyone tells me it's supposed to be!):
Of course, if I wait a day or two for it to fully bloom, it may pinken up.
I'm sure you've picked out the little takeoff on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "...poetry,--the best words in their best order."
The Round-Up this week is taking place at A Teaching Life. See you there!
January 19, 2016
January 17, 2016
Happy Haiga Day!
A short commentary!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, courtesy Library of Congress.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, courtesy Library of Congress.
January 14, 2016
Poetry Friday--Something New Every Day
I get lots of email from Pinterest inviting me to explore other peoples' boards on topics we share an interest in. One of those emails led me to poetry board, that led me to an Albuquerque Journal article from last spring. The article tells the story of a calligrapher, Kathy Chilton. Kathy would staple little poems to a telephone pole that stood outside her home. For Christmas 2014, Chilton's husband made her a poetry box. In the wooden box are poetry books and a pen and blank pieces of paper.
I'm sure you've all seen the news stories about the "Little Free Library" movement where people take a book and/or leave a book to share. Of course, like every good and generous movement that comes along, there are its detractors. Some municipalities have even taken to banning the free libraries due to "zoning laws" and what have you. I believe the good that comes of such an idea far surpasses any negativity. The Library of Congress awarded Little Free Library its Literacy Award: Best Practices 2015, for "outstanding work in the field of literacy." So there, you naysayers!
We can hope that the poetry box idea grows, too! So many avenues for people to explore!
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
It's funny how related things suddenly seem to find their way into our consciousness at the same moment. The article above I found on the same day as I found a quote by William Butler Yeats, which "spoke" to me. Inspired by the poetry box and the quote, I wrote this:
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
I recommend that you now head down south where Keri Recommends is hosting this week's Round-Up!
"It’s amazing to me how many people have left poetry in the box," she says. "There is something new every day."Chilton, and her husband, are on a mission to share poetry and her neighbors are responding!
I'm sure you've all seen the news stories about the "Little Free Library" movement where people take a book and/or leave a book to share. Of course, like every good and generous movement that comes along, there are its detractors. Some municipalities have even taken to banning the free libraries due to "zoning laws" and what have you. I believe the good that comes of such an idea far surpasses any negativity. The Library of Congress awarded Little Free Library its Literacy Award: Best Practices 2015, for "outstanding work in the field of literacy." So there, you naysayers!
We can hope that the poetry box idea grows, too! So many avenues for people to explore!
It's funny how related things suddenly seem to find their way into our consciousness at the same moment. The article above I found on the same day as I found a quote by William Butler Yeats, which "spoke" to me. Inspired by the poetry box and the quote, I wrote this:
A Perfectly Made Box
A poem makes a sound when it is finished like the click of the lid of a perfectly made box. William Butler Yeats
Perfectly aligned hinges
do not bind.
Its finish is oiled
and polished.
Its scent is reminiscent
of a forest.
It wears the label "art."
It is only when a box
is well used
and showing signs
of wear that
the crisp metallic click
reminds us of
the passion in its making.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
I recommend that you now head down south where Keri Recommends is hosting this week's Round-Up!
January 12, 2016
January 10, 2016
Happy Haiga Day!
A short poem for today in memory of Charlie who flew away much too soon.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Woodcut by Hiroshige.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Woodcut by Hiroshige.
January 7, 2016
Poetry Friday--Winter Swap Delight!
This year my swap partner in the Winter Poem Swap, organized by Tabatha Yeatts, was Robyn Hood Black. Tabatha sent along a prompt to give the swappers inspiration. It is a painting by Claude Monet, "Le train dans la neige" ("Train in the Snow") painted in 1875.
Robyn wrote a lovely ekphrastic haiku:
© Robyn Hood Black, all rights reserved.
Robyn also explained her poem's origins,
She then proceeded to tell me about Bill Bryson's book, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, and Bryson's writing about how iron, and then the process of making steel, basically changed lives in the mid-nineteenth century.
The haiku, although seemingly short, incorporated a whole lot of learning and thought! A difficult task, masterfully done!
To encourage me to explore At Home, Robyn sent me a copy of the book, and a handcrafted bookmark to keep my place! If you don't already know about Robyn's Etsy shop, artsyletters, click here and prepare to be wowed!
Many, many thanks to Robyn Hood Black for the gifts and poem that so perfectly fit me! (The wings are a nod to my Sketchbook Project angels.)
Tabatha Yeatts, whom I mentioned above, is also this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up host!
I'm traveling today, so I may not get to your comments in a timely manner, I apologize ahead of time.
Robyn wrote a lovely ekphrastic haiku:
Robyn also explained her poem's origins,
The bare branches on the right made me think of cross-hatching, and I started wondered about what tracks from wee creatures might be cross-hatched under the snow as well...That got me thinking about how those little animals are still moving themselves around, pretty much the same was they have for thousands of years, while the locomotive depicted in the scene helped lead humanity into a new phase of the Industrial Revolution.
She then proceeded to tell me about Bill Bryson's book, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, and Bryson's writing about how iron, and then the process of making steel, basically changed lives in the mid-nineteenth century.
The haiku, although seemingly short, incorporated a whole lot of learning and thought! A difficult task, masterfully done!
To encourage me to explore At Home, Robyn sent me a copy of the book, and a handcrafted bookmark to keep my place! If you don't already know about Robyn's Etsy shop, artsyletters, click here and prepare to be wowed!
Many, many thanks to Robyn Hood Black for the gifts and poem that so perfectly fit me! (The wings are a nod to my Sketchbook Project angels.)
Tabatha Yeatts, whom I mentioned above, is also this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up host!
I'm traveling today, so I may not get to your comments in a timely manner, I apologize ahead of time.
January 5, 2016
January 3, 2016
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)