© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
immigrant city...
signs of a continuum
ever present
February 26, 2017
Happy Haiga Day!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
immigrant city...
signs of a continuum
ever present
February 23, 2017
Poetry Friday--"We Sing"
I've been participating in Laura Shovan's annual February poem-a-day challenge. This is year five and we're writing from recent news articles selected by participants. Ten words are selected from each article. Ideally, they all should be used in the poem.
Being as 2017 has been a difficult year, news-wise, I try to move my poems away from the current political scene. (It's a survival thing.)
The ten words from this past Sunday were:
oath
soulful
ceremony
allegiance
photogenic
symbolically
hopes
climactic
anthem
victory
The words came from a photo-essay published by CNN; see it here.
I managed to work nine into my poem. I was pleased with the results and the fact that it had illustration possibilities.
Click on the image to enlarge. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
The Poetry Friday Round-Up is being hosted by Karen Edmisten*.
Text:
We Sing
Songs of a spring robin,
the songs of a whale,
or a wolf or a mouse.
Nature sings in warning.
ceremony, allegiance,
seduction, or pure joy.
We, too, sing our way
through life. Our songs
reflecting our history.
The victory ditties of the 40s.
The soulful tunes of the 60s.
The 90's teen anthems.
Symbolic of the climactic
finish to intense drama or
uncertainty; the hopes of each
generation. A noble oath to
the future. We sing! We sing!
We resoundingly sing!
Being as 2017 has been a difficult year, news-wise, I try to move my poems away from the current political scene. (It's a survival thing.)
The ten words from this past Sunday were:
oath
soulful
ceremony
allegiance
photogenic
symbolically
hopes
climactic
anthem
victory
The words came from a photo-essay published by CNN; see it here.
I managed to work nine into my poem. I was pleased with the results and the fact that it had illustration possibilities.
Click on the image to enlarge. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
The Poetry Friday Round-Up is being hosted by Karen Edmisten*.
Text:
We Sing
Songs of a spring robin,
the songs of a whale,
or a wolf or a mouse.
Nature sings in warning.
ceremony, allegiance,
seduction, or pure joy.
We, too, sing our way
through life. Our songs
reflecting our history.
The victory ditties of the 40s.
The soulful tunes of the 60s.
The 90's teen anthems.
Symbolic of the climactic
finish to intense drama or
uncertainty; the hopes of each
generation. A noble oath to
the future. We sing! We sing!
We resoundingly sing!
February 21, 2017
February 19, 2017
Happy Haiga Day!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
the duality
of our friendship
February sun
February 16, 2017
Poetry Friday--"The New Peppermint Bay"
This has been a busy, busy week, and one of the notable things about this week is that the Cybils Award Winners were announced on Tuesday. Poetry Friday regular, Laura Shovan, won the 2016 Cybils Award for poetry for her debut novel-in-verse, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. Congratulations, Laura! Congratulations to all the winners and finalists.
I thought I'd look back to what I was doing writing-wise in February a few years back. In 2014, I took part in Tabatha Yeatts' "Directory of Imaginary Poems" project.
This poem wasn't the one I submitted to Tabatha for the Directory, that one you'll find here.
Peppermint Bay was originally featured in this song sung by Shirley Temple:
Be sure to stop by Michelle H. Barnes' Today Little Ditty where it's my turn as a guest blogger. And you should definitely stop by Check It Out where Jone is hosting this week's Round-Up.
I thought I'd look back to what I was doing writing-wise in February a few years back. In 2014, I took part in Tabatha Yeatts' "Directory of Imaginary Poems" project.
The New Peppermint Bay
Come sail your good ship to the all
new Peppermint Bay Hotel and Resort.
Peppermint Bay is proud to have been
named Lush Magazine's "Ultimate
Vacation Destination" for the year 2014.
No lollipops, bon-bons, or lemonade here!
Exotic native-dressed waitstaff will serve you
locally distilled mango, banana, fig, coconut,
or, our signature Peppermint Bay schnapps.
And for those who "harbor" fond memories
of the original Peppermint Bay, we also carry
devil's food cake and caramel flavors, too!
After dancing the night away to the music
of Cracker Jack's Steel Drum Band enjoy
a relaxing dip in an all natural bay water
pool, then hop into our boat-shaped beds
...and dream away!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
This poem wasn't the one I submitted to Tabatha for the Directory, that one you'll find here.
Peppermint Bay was originally featured in this song sung by Shirley Temple:
Be sure to stop by Michelle H. Barnes' Today Little Ditty where it's my turn as a guest blogger. And you should definitely stop by Check It Out where Jone is hosting this week's Round-Up.
February 14, 2017
February 12, 2017
Happy Haiga Day!
For Valentine's Day, a tanka. Asters symbolize love.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
in the garden or
among a graveyard's stones
asters
overwinter, germinate
unfalteringly present
This is also part of my woodcut project. Here's the original, from a chapbook of riddles:
Don't you love the title: A Whetstone for Dull Wits?
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
in the garden or
among a graveyard's stones
asters
overwinter, germinate
unfalteringly present
This is also part of my woodcut project. Here's the original, from a chapbook of riddles:
Don't you love the title: A Whetstone for Dull Wits?
February 9, 2017
Poetry Friday--"Advice for the Modern Woman in February"
Valentine's Day will be here on Tuesday. I wanted to write a holiday poem, continue with my woodcut print series, and, I was feeling a little snarky. This is the result:
Click on the image to enlarge. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Source of the woodcut illustration.
Text:
Advice for the Modern Woman
in February
If there's snow don't look for love,
for arrows won't fly true.
Wait for hyacinths to bloom
with all their sweet perfume.
Gently bend to take a whiff.
Present Eros with a target.
One that is too broad to miss
by a flying little god-let.
If, perchance, he misses the mark,
love wasn't meant to be.
Sue the god for incompetence,
then earn your Ph.D.
I've been forcing hyacinth bulbs indoors. So far, two have bloomed and two more are shooting up nicely. (I've posted about hyacinths many times in the past, look for the label on the right.) I suppose if the modern woman leans over a bulb being forced on the windowsill, Cupid could take aim. Still, it's nicer to be in love, outdoors, in the spring.
Katie at The Logonauts will be hosting the Round-Up this week. See you there!
Click on the image to enlarge. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Source of the woodcut illustration.
Text:
Advice for the Modern Woman
in February
If there's snow don't look for love,
for arrows won't fly true.
Wait for hyacinths to bloom
with all their sweet perfume.
Gently bend to take a whiff.
Present Eros with a target.
One that is too broad to miss
by a flying little god-let.
If, perchance, he misses the mark,
love wasn't meant to be.
Sue the god for incompetence,
then earn your Ph.D.
I've been forcing hyacinth bulbs indoors. So far, two have bloomed and two more are shooting up nicely. (I've posted about hyacinths many times in the past, look for the label on the right.) I suppose if the modern woman leans over a bulb being forced on the windowsill, Cupid could take aim. Still, it's nicer to be in love, outdoors, in the spring.
Katie at The Logonauts will be hosting the Round-Up this week. See you there!
February 7, 2017
February 5, 2017
Happy Haiga Day!
&3169; Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Click here for the source of the illustration.
Text:
feet up
the lure of a tale
this winter day
February 2, 2017
Poetry Friday--Postcard Exchange
When the annual New Year's postcard exchange for haiku poets never came together in late 2016, Jone MacCulloch took a chance and suggested a poetry postcard exchange for Poetry Friday participants. She set up groups and gave the participants the entire month in which to send out card. For me, that meant every day in January held the prospect of bringing a ray of sunshine! (Believe me, between the actual winter and the "winter of our discontent," which began on January 20, I really needed the sunshine!) I want to thank everyone who took the time to share their artistic and poetic talents with me in the P.F. postcard exchange: Joy Acey, Linda Baie, Ramona Behnke, Robyn Hood Black, Mary Lee Hahn, Brenda Harsham, Penny Klostermann, Bridget Magee, Jone MacCulloch, Linda Mitchell, Margaret Simon, Donna Smith, Kim Urband, Sylvia Vardell, Carol Varsalona, Tabatha Yeatts (If I have missed anyone, please forgive me!)
I discovered that some haiku poets still had the list of names from prior exchanges and sent out postcards (thank you Gillena Cox, Ane Drobot, and Mary Stevens). They came from NY, Trinidad & Tobago, and Romania! And, I've been taking part in a Spark postcard exchange organized by Amy Souza! Those of us in the Spark exchange had the month of January to create an art postcard, and they should be arriving any day now.
Am I lucky or what?
The following are the postcards I created for the Spark group. Since January is National Hot Tea Month, I decided to use a tea theme for my postcards and wrote haiku that I added to digitally created images:
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Penny is hosting the Poetry Friday Round-Up at A Penny and Her Jots. She's waiting for you...
I discovered that some haiku poets still had the list of names from prior exchanges and sent out postcards (thank you Gillena Cox, Ane Drobot, and Mary Stevens). They came from NY, Trinidad & Tobago, and Romania! And, I've been taking part in a Spark postcard exchange organized by Amy Souza! Those of us in the Spark exchange had the month of January to create an art postcard, and they should be arriving any day now.
Am I lucky or what?
The following are the postcards I created for the Spark group. Since January is National Hot Tea Month, I decided to use a tea theme for my postcards and wrote haiku that I added to digitally created images:
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Penny is hosting the Poetry Friday Round-Up at A Penny and Her Jots. She's waiting for you...