© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
December 1
the pot of turkey chili
finally gone
November 28, 2017
Haiku Sticky #436
This is wishful thinking. I'm hoping to be finished by December 1 with the large batch of turkey chili made with the Thanksgiving turkey carcass! (Actually, some went into the freezer, so it may be months!)
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
December 1
the pot of turkey chili
finally gone
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
December 1
the pot of turkey chili
finally gone
November 26, 2017
Happy Haiga Day!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
first morning walk
the expectation of
meeting a cat
November 24, 2017
Poetry Friday--"America = The Bottom Line"
On Sunday, I came across a Facebook post from Paula Poundstone:
Paula has a point. Americans are gullible consumers. This led me to thinking about how corporations can change Americans' thinking about what is good and what is good-for-you. They wheedle us into thinking that what is good can also be good-for-us. For corporations, it's all about the bottom line. They exist to make money, not to make us healthy. If they make a product cheaply, sell it to a gullible population, and get that population to crave the product so that they buy more, then the corporations' bottom lines increase.
When I was young, not many outside of immigrant communities had ever heard of yogurt--a fermented dairy product. In New York where I grew up, Dannon made simple yogurt products--plain, strawberry, prune (don't turn up your nose, it was my favorite), and that was about it. Then in the 1980s yogurt started to take off. Flavors were added. Its popularity grew. One day, 8 oz. containers turned into 6 oz. containers and were sold for the same price. Then 6 oz. was reduced to 5.3 oz. The flavored yogurts soon came to include choices with chocolate bits, candies, crushed cookies, and other add-ins. A whole new market was added for even smaller, "baby-sized portions" for babies and toddlers made with "organic" ingredients. When the initial yogurt market was saturated, "Greek-style" yogurt came to light. Twice as much in price, but Americans were getting more protein! Any potential protein benefit, though, was negated by upping the sugary add-ins.
As I said, corporations are out to make money. So, here we are, you're privy to yet another rant. I've also ranted in poetry, below, and you can blame it on Paula Poundstone!
The Black Friday edition of the Poetry Friday Round-Up is taking place at Carol's Corner. Be sure to stop by!
Paula has a point. Americans are gullible consumers. This led me to thinking about how corporations can change Americans' thinking about what is good and what is good-for-you. They wheedle us into thinking that what is good can also be good-for-us. For corporations, it's all about the bottom line. They exist to make money, not to make us healthy. If they make a product cheaply, sell it to a gullible population, and get that population to crave the product so that they buy more, then the corporations' bottom lines increase.
When I was young, not many outside of immigrant communities had ever heard of yogurt--a fermented dairy product. In New York where I grew up, Dannon made simple yogurt products--plain, strawberry, prune (don't turn up your nose, it was my favorite), and that was about it. Then in the 1980s yogurt started to take off. Flavors were added. Its popularity grew. One day, 8 oz. containers turned into 6 oz. containers and were sold for the same price. Then 6 oz. was reduced to 5.3 oz. The flavored yogurts soon came to include choices with chocolate bits, candies, crushed cookies, and other add-ins. A whole new market was added for even smaller, "baby-sized portions" for babies and toddlers made with "organic" ingredients. When the initial yogurt market was saturated, "Greek-style" yogurt came to light. Twice as much in price, but Americans were getting more protein! Any potential protein benefit, though, was negated by upping the sugary add-ins.
As I said, corporations are out to make money. So, here we are, you're privy to yet another rant. I've also ranted in poetry, below, and you can blame it on Paula Poundstone!
America = The Bottom Line
"Sugar gave rise to the slave trade; now sugar has enslaved us." Jeff O'Connell, Sugar Nation
The corporate monster,
spying a borderline
healthy food, rejiggers
it with sugars and corn syrup.
Markets it as good-for-you.
The food, in a mere
twinkling, has been turned
into candy--highly addictive.
Highly profitable.
Breakfast cereal was
marshmallowed, dried
fruits gummy-beared.
Irresistible to kids.
The granola bar was
festooned with caramel,
spangled with chocolate bits.
Reintroduced as The Energy Bar.
Sugar too, has a new first
name--Organic. Therefore,
it must be good for you!
Cravings need not be denied.
America loves it!
The Bottom Line loves it, too.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
The Black Friday edition of the Poetry Friday Round-Up is taking place at Carol's Corner. Be sure to stop by!
November 21, 2017
Haiku Sticky #435
Text:
two cats:
their perceived hunger
intensifies
November 19, 2017
Happy Haiga Day!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
a fall poem...
its lines not rhyming
but rimed
November 17, 2017
Poetry Friday--Thanksgiving Rerun
In 2010 I did a post on the women of the Mayflower, and then in 2013, I posted an ekphrastic poem inspired by an iconic painting of the "The First Thanksgiving, 1621" by Jean-Leon Gerome Ferris [circa 1915]. I'm going to post the painting and poem again today so that we don't forget the women of history. Of the 30 adult women who traveled on the Mayflower, only four survived the first winter!
Painting by Jean-Leon Germone Ferris, courtesy The Athenaeum.
Visit Jane at Raincity Librarian for this week's Round-Up.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Dear Mr. Ferris:I have a tee-shirt with "Writing women back into history" on the front. It's something I'm trying to do and I hope you are too. [Note: the shirt was purchased a few years ago from the National Women's History Project. It no longer seems to be available, but there are still "Writing women back into history" posters and banners.]
Re: your painting titled
"The First Thanksgiving, 1621"
We, the women of Plymouth
were not glowing with health.
Nor, were we given to smiling.
Yet, you portray us as robust,
clean, and gracious hostesses.
Rather, viscera from all manner
of wild creatures stained our dress.
Our scarred hands were burned,
swollen, cracked and bleeding.
We silently wept with pain, fatigue.
We cooked and served as was
our lot, while the stink of bear-
greased savages filled our noses
making us gag. Our own men, too,
had a noxious stink about them--fear.
Some may have given thanks
that day, but it was not the women.
Therefore, we write to urge you to
take up brush and palette once more.
Do not give us beauty, give us truth.
Signed,
The four who had the misfortune not to
have perished in the year of our Lord, 1621
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Visit Jane at Raincity Librarian for this week's Round-Up.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
November 14, 2017
Haiku Sticky #434
Text:
nearly Thanksgiving
a feast of roses covered
with snow
November 12, 2017
Happy Haiga Day!
Text:
November morning
cold nose, hands, and toes
but, oh, the frost
November 10, 2017
Poetry Friday--Haiga Gallery Musings
For the month of November, at The Haiku Foundation website, my haiku with illustrations are featured in the THF Haiga Galleries. I want to thank Jim Kacian and The Haiku Foundation for allowing me to share my work with an audience different from my Poetry Friday peeps.
Here's one of the haiga that is a favorite. Why? Because I can imagine a man and his dog, outside after a long winter, meeting up with other fresh-air starved people and dogs. It is a colorful and playful scene that makes me happy!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
On The Haiku Foundation home page the announcement went:
So, how did I win this honor of being featured? I read the following in the Gallery section, "Would you like us to consider your work for a Haiga Gallery? Contact us for details." I had amassed a fair number of haiga, so I thought I'd email and see what was involved. I was certainly surprised when I got a reply that basically said, "we have an opening in two months." OMG! I was only inquiring! Now what? I would need to submit about 30 haiga. Do I turn down the invitation? Right away, the devil on my shoulder started whispering, "What a fraud, you are. The jig is up!"
It sure seemed that the jig was up, but I wasn't going to miss an opportunity that fell into my lap. I told the shoulder guy to put a sock in it!
I've never assembled a collection. How would I organize it? Was there a specific topic I could build upon? Many, many haiku collections are arranged seasonally, but I didn't want that to be the only theme. Could I do one season--autumn--since the collection would be posted in November? Nope, I didn't have enough.
I spent a lot of time going through my files and trying to find something to pin a theme on. After a while, it was obvious--animals. I had cat haiga, dog haiga, bird haiga, bug haiga, etc.
The THF Haiga Galleries collections aren't titled other than with the poet's name, but for myself I titled the collection, "Feline, Canine, Equine, Swine (and More)."
Since it is The Haiku Foundation's gallery, I eliminated small poems, but I did pick a few related forms like tanka and cherita.
I narrowed it down to about 50 possibilities.
I tried to keep a balance of animals, but of course, cats and dogs had a tendency to dominate. I wasn't always successful with the balance in the gallery. In spots you will notice I have two insect haiga together, two bird ones, two ones on walks, etc.
I tried to arrange them following the passage of a year, that is, January to December. That was a little easier, except for the ones that really didn't have a particular place in the year.
I finally asked two co-workers to pick out their favorites, so I could get an idea of what had general appeal.
It was tough making all the decisions needed! I have a heightened appreciation for anthologists like Lee Bennett Hopkins who deal with such decisions on a daily basis!
Make sure you visit Jama's Alphabet Soup and catch this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.
Here's one of the haiga that is a favorite. Why? Because I can imagine a man and his dog, outside after a long winter, meeting up with other fresh-air starved people and dogs. It is a colorful and playful scene that makes me happy!
On The Haiku Foundation home page the announcement went:
This month’s featured artist is Diane Mayr.This is the first public recognition of my work having been done by an "artist," despite the many times I've said it myself in an effort to boost my confidence. Believe me, the outside acknowledgement is sweet.
So, how did I win this honor of being featured? I read the following in the Gallery section, "Would you like us to consider your work for a Haiga Gallery? Contact us for details." I had amassed a fair number of haiga, so I thought I'd email and see what was involved. I was certainly surprised when I got a reply that basically said, "we have an opening in two months." OMG! I was only inquiring! Now what? I would need to submit about 30 haiga. Do I turn down the invitation? Right away, the devil on my shoulder started whispering, "What a fraud, you are. The jig is up!"
It sure seemed that the jig was up, but I wasn't going to miss an opportunity that fell into my lap. I told the shoulder guy to put a sock in it!
I've never assembled a collection. How would I organize it? Was there a specific topic I could build upon? Many, many haiku collections are arranged seasonally, but I didn't want that to be the only theme. Could I do one season--autumn--since the collection would be posted in November? Nope, I didn't have enough.
I spent a lot of time going through my files and trying to find something to pin a theme on. After a while, it was obvious--animals. I had cat haiga, dog haiga, bird haiga, bug haiga, etc.
The THF Haiga Galleries collections aren't titled other than with the poet's name, but for myself I titled the collection, "Feline, Canine, Equine, Swine (and More)."
Since it is The Haiku Foundation's gallery, I eliminated small poems, but I did pick a few related forms like tanka and cherita.
I narrowed it down to about 50 possibilities.
I tried to keep a balance of animals, but of course, cats and dogs had a tendency to dominate. I wasn't always successful with the balance in the gallery. In spots you will notice I have two insect haiga together, two bird ones, two ones on walks, etc.
I tried to arrange them following the passage of a year, that is, January to December. That was a little easier, except for the ones that really didn't have a particular place in the year.
I finally asked two co-workers to pick out their favorites, so I could get an idea of what had general appeal.
It was tough making all the decisions needed! I have a heightened appreciation for anthologists like Lee Bennett Hopkins who deal with such decisions on a daily basis!
Make sure you visit Jama's Alphabet Soup and catch this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.
November 7, 2017
Haiku Sticky #433
Text:
dashboard clock
wrong for four months
daylight saving time
November 5, 2017
Happy Haiga Day!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
rental restriction
tchotchkes
line her shelves
cross-stitch project
brings another pet home
to the apartment
November 2, 2017
Poetry Friday--Goodbye October
In a flash, October has come and gone. Before we move on into November, I wanted to share the postcards I sent to four people in Amy Souza's October Spark postcard challenge. (To learn more about Spark, click here.)
We were free to create an art postcard of our choosing. No topics were assigned, but, I like to work around a theme. I think I'd have to say that the results are all about ORANGE, although they began as an exploration of the topic of "pumpkins."
A tanka:
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
autumn...
at first light
a breakfast table
laid with a cloth of
orange polka dots
A haiku:
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
November 1
neighbor's compost heap
now with grins
A tanka:
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
grown to fulfil
its holiday destiny
pumpkin
alive tonight with the aid
of an artificial heart
This next haiku was inspired by a favorite old picture book, Mousekin's Golden House, by Edna Miller:
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
November 1
the field mouse's treat
a day late
I hope I haven't hurt anyone's eyes or sensibilities with all the orange! I can guarantee I will never use orange in quantities such as this ever again!
Head over to Teacher Dance where Linda is hosting the Round-Up this week. Linda had posted a photo on Facebook last week of a squirrel nibbling on a jack-o-lantern. Old pumpkins can provide a treat for many little creatures.
We were free to create an art postcard of our choosing. No topics were assigned, but, I like to work around a theme. I think I'd have to say that the results are all about ORANGE, although they began as an exploration of the topic of "pumpkins."
A tanka:
Text:
autumn...
at first light
a breakfast table
laid with a cloth of
orange polka dots
A haiku:
Text:
November 1
neighbor's compost heap
now with grins
A tanka:
Text:
grown to fulfil
its holiday destiny
pumpkin
alive tonight with the aid
of an artificial heart
This next haiku was inspired by a favorite old picture book, Mousekin's Golden House, by Edna Miller:
Text:
November 1
the field mouse's treat
a day late
I hope I haven't hurt anyone's eyes or sensibilities with all the orange! I can guarantee I will never use orange in quantities such as this ever again!
Head over to Teacher Dance where Linda is hosting the Round-Up this week. Linda had posted a photo on Facebook last week of a squirrel nibbling on a jack-o-lantern. Old pumpkins can provide a treat for many little creatures.