February 28, 2016

February 26, 2016

Poetry Friday--"21st Century Coffee & Repartee"

I have a short illustrated poem for today. The full title of the original illustration is "Coffee and Repartee." I thought it looked to be a friendly place, although none appear to be smiling! I imagine the woman server to be the one with the quick wit--and I'm sure many of her retorts are said under her breath!

I've added a poem of a present day coffee establishment experience:


Click on the image to enlarge for easier reading. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Now stop by Elizabeth Steinglass where there is sure to be poetry and repartee!


February 23, 2016

Haiku Sticky #346


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

February 21, 2016

Happy Haiga Day!

Today, I have an illustrated poem I wrote for Laura Shovan's February "Found Object" challenge, Day 21. I'm not exactly sure if it should be called a poem!

A bit of explanation of how this came about may be in order. The found object is a Singer sewing machine. I did a search on Mr. Singer who made his name synonymous with home sewing machines. His company was I. M. Singer and Company. I. M. Singer got me to thinking of Tom Swifties and the Boys' Life magazine feature. And, in order to get the self-indulgent personal joke, you should know that my last name is pronounced, "mare."


Click on the image to enlarge for easier reading. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

February 19, 2016

Poetry Friday--Found Object Poems Part II

I have illustrated two more of the "Found Object" poems I wrote for Laura Shovan's challenge this week. It was a fun week of photos to work from.

Day 17 was written in the spirit of Valentine's Day. It probably makes no sense without the inspiration photo, so head over to Laura's blog where she has the whole week of prompts posted.


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

For Day 18 I used a photo of the Claes Oldenburg sculpture, "Typewriter Eraser, Scale X," that is in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden in Washington, D. C. I removed the background. For a new background, I added an old typewritten itinerary to go with the "trip" theme.

About a dozen years ago my daughter and I went to D. C. and did the touristy stuff. What a surprise it was to come upon the giant eraser! This poem is semi-based upon that experience.


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Donna at Mainely Write is playing hostess to the Round-Up for today. You're in for a treat because she has outdone herself with an uplifting rhyming poem titled "Halfway to Somewhere."




February 16, 2016

Haiku Sticky #345

It was ten below zero on Sunday! My car battery died. It was just plain miserable. A haiku is not supposed to personify nature, so, to get around that, I wrote an ambiguous "everyone."


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

February 14, 2016

Happy Haiga Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Today's poem was written in response to Laura Shovan's "Found Object" challenge, day 14. The found object was a sign for loaded baked potatoes. I photographed the sign at the Rock'n Ribfest, an annual fundraiser held in June here in NH. Please visit Laura's blog to see the photo, other response poems, and the found objects for the coming week.


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

February 11, 2016

Poetry Friday--Found Object Poems

As I'm sure you've heard, Laura Shovan is once again devoting her birthday month, February, to the pursuit of poetry--and, she's invited everyone along for the fun.

For 2016 the challenge revolves around photos of "found objects"--a new one every day. Most are identifiable, but some are real puzzlers! Participants are supposed to use the objects as poem starters. An additional challenge is to use all your senses!

Since I love to play with images, I made sure to illustrate a few of the poems. Here are the ones that I like the best!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

This next one I illustrated after it was posted for the challenge. I didn't send in the illustrated poem because I had to look through a lot of files to find my tomato photos and it wasn't ready in time for last Friday.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

These next two are from this week's found objects:

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Original photo by Linda Baie, used and altered with permission.

The challenge continues through the month, so there's still plenty of time to participate if you haven't already.

Kimberley at Written Reflections will be playing host to the Round-Up this week. Please stop by!



February 9, 2016

Haiku Sticky #344


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

February 7, 2016

Happy Haiga Day!


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

We had a significant amount of snow fall on Friday. It was forecast to be 2 to 4 inches. HA! Guess again!

February 5, 2016

Poetry Friday--"2016 Antique Mart"

I spent several delightful hours last Saturday at a local antique mart that I never knew existed. It was a real treat! I purchased a few postcards and a hanging thingy to display platters, or perhaps pictures, which I plan to give away. I noticed an abundance of old angel pictures, ones that were popular during the first half of the twentieth century. I remember seeing them in homes I visited during my youth. Instead of purchasing them (I would have loved one of each), I took a photo and wrote a poem to go with it. Naturally, since it is about angels, I can add it to my Sketchbook Project!


Click on image to enlarge for easier reading. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Please stop by Tricia's blog, The Miss Rumphius Effect, for the first Round-Up of February.

February 2, 2016

Haiku Sticky #343


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.