Hi Poets!

Is anyone taking part in NaPoWriMo this year?  If you haven't heard of this, the plan is simple:  write a poem every day in April.  The poems can be any form, length, topic, or style you wish - and yes, haikus definitely count!

 I did it last year and am doing it again this year because I love the feeling of giving daily attention to that poem-making impulse in myself.  When I write every day, I feel energized and excited, as though my creative channel were clear and clean and in perfect working condition.  And at the end of the month I have a stack of new poems to share and a great sense of accomplishment.

I don't take a million years writing the poems, either - something on the order of 10 - 20 minutes, much like our Friday poems.  It delights me to discover that even on busy days there really IS time for poetry once I've chosen to make it a priority. And my unconscious mind seems eager to help, too, and often delivers good poem-topics and poem-ideas to me without my having to sweat or struggle.  

Anyone interested in giving this a whirl?  I thought we could mainly cheer each other on and occasionally post a new poem here when the spirit moves us.  What do you think?

And whether you are reading or writing poetry or both these days, Happy Poetry Month!

KateSinging 

Hi KateSinging and everyone,

While I'm not taking part in NaPoWriMo, I'll be here cheering on the poets in the crowd.  I look forward to eagerly devouring the words you put to paper. I just know they will be good!

- chameleon

You're a peach, Chameleon:  bless you and thank you for your encouragement!

Here's a little poem from day 1 about a "cure" I learned from a doctor whose grandmother was an African wisewoman.  It struck me that much of the cure comes from the reconciliation of opposites - the hot and the sweet.  If you haven't tried this cure for cold and sinus problems, it is delicious and effective.

The Cure

The African grandmother knew

how to shake a wintry spirit

by the shoulders

and shock the cold from its core.

Take all at once without quailing

an inch of ginger

smothered in honey

and chew it up.

Beguiled and ablaze, you are

amazed at the volcano in the

boudoir, at the hurricane

waltzing in a velvet dress.

You can’t decide if

the soul is a flaming arrow

or a deep still well of

mead where poets drink.

Ah, she says.  Just such

a problem – the hot

or the sweet? – is how

you know for sure: 

you’re cured.

KateSinging

1 April 2008

 I'm still happy in poem-land.  Anyone else here, even as a partial poem month?  One friend has decided to write a poem every 3 days which, as she says, is still way more than she would have done otherwise.  So if you're tempted, this NaPoWriMo thing can work any way that's best for you.

 Here's a tiny one from this week.

Acupuncture

tiny elves in high heels

clatter through the epidermis,

twist upon the body’s ley lines

and leave you oddly jubilant,

satisfied as a dance floor

at the end of a wild party

KateSinging

8 April 2008 

Hi KateSinging and Artella friends,

I know it's a little hard to hear my voice all the way from Alberta, Canada, but I wanted to firstly congratulate Kate for her continued encouragement of the writers in Artella Land and secondly, to thank her for sharing her own rich poetry that simply explodes with vibrant energy. 

This is all about us as artists, whether writers or visual artists, sharing and creating our work with other like-minded individuals so we can learn and grow in our own artistic journeys.  We all desperately need to give (and receive) feedback and actively participate when we can.  Artella is a safe place for all of us to do those things. 

- chameleon

Alrighty then Kate!  In honor of NaPoWriMo AND Sexual Assault Awareness Month let's just call this my Survivor Series of bent-but-not-broken pieces of poetic humor based on one of my Dictionary.com word of the day inspirations...

NO. 1

One would have thought
Her career as a battered housewife
Would have been an utter waste of a fine mind
But it was precisely her insights
Derived from this lifestyle
That gave her the moral depth and
Sense of fun to keep her coming back for more.
Oh, for Heaven’s sake…
NOT!

I'll be back later with Survivor No.2, Obsequia P. Truckle...

Because I am a firm believer in writing something everyday (as most of you know from my daily blog postings) I also keep a journal that I created called Morning Thoughts. At the end of the previous year, I decorate a composition book cover with all my fun papers and embellies and beginning with January 1, I write a haiku a day, immediately after i wake up- my morning thoughts.

To catch up with the month here and this wonderful thread that KateSinging has begun, I share what I have for the month of April so far:

4-1-08

Cloudy skies

Cool air

What a day to go to the beach

4-2-08

Watching from the window

Morning ocean surf

Calls to me

4-3-08

Walking along the shore

I am touched by the beauty

Surrounding me

4-4-08

Home again

The peace I found with friends

I truly left behind

4-5-08

I wake to the sounds of screaming

Then realize

It was all a dream

4-6-08

How prophetic

That on my anniversary

It rains

4-7-08

Another dark day

Lots on my mind

Fell asleep with a smile

4-8-08

Trying to maintain sanity

By creating projects,

Finishing lists

4-9-08

Feeling overwhelmed

Wishing folks would stop the chit chat

I imagine myself elsewhere

4-10-08

Finally a spring day

I dress like it will last-

Sandals!

4-11-08

Lots to do

No motivation

I'd rather be talking to you

4-12-08

Restless night

Trouble sleeping

Dreamt of you

4-13-08

The worst of it is

I miss you so much

It hurts

4-14-08

The flowers on my desk whither

Their colors still vibrant

Just like the stars in my eyes

4-15-08

Phone conversations

Make me feel closer to you

Your voice and words touching my heart

 Poetic Java, this is SO cool!  I feel like I've stepped into your life for a moment - all the lights and shadows, exultation and yearning.  Hooray for you for writing every day, and thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this with us here!

KateSinging 

 Lori, you are a wonder!  I so respect your willingness to take on this very sensitive subject, and to do so with a bit of cheek - which really highlights the insanity of this awful pattern.  I also love that you included your Q drawing.  Seriously, what can't you do?  To frame that more positively:  I'm thinking you can do just about everything!  Thanks for jumping in -

KateSinging 

 Dear Chameleon, I hear your voice and greet it with joy!  Thank you for getting us going here again.  It means so much to me to feel connected with all of you in these forums, and to have the chance to read and absorb other people's work even as I produce my own.  The spirit of play I find here has made poetry-making even more fun and meaningful.  I'm just grateful to you for your beautiful encouragement and example, my friend among the red deer.

You know, in Scots they called poets and other creators a "Makkar" - a Maker.  I love the spirit of that and I see it in you.

KateSinging 

Thank you KateSinging. I also have to thank Lori for inviting me to join you guys here *hugs* Here is today's morning thought:

Sun and moon

Rise with your voice

Darkness fades with your light

Dear KateSinging and everyone,

Your words touched me deeply, Kate, and I treasure them.  I will gently twirl the idea around of being a "Makkar" - I like that very much.

When likeminded people gather together, something bigger than the individual is aroused – a sense of community and common purpose. Being in a place like Artella, where ideas and insights are freely shared and encouraged, invigorates and refreshes poets and audience.  It is springtime for new poetry - time for creative souls to take up pen, pad and keyboard and rise to the challenge but wait......you are not alone, poets, there is accompainment to your poetry and prose with its' close cousin, visual art. 

- chameleon

 Hi Friends!

    A new one from today - sort of my tribute to all the librarians I admire so passionately.  Where would we be without them?

    hope the poems, pictures, collages, paintings, and everything else is flowing nicely for you-

    KateSinging

The lady at the library

wears a silver turtle pinned to her fleece

glasses with gray pearled rims

pewter hair cut blunt at the chin

She spends days at the desk

making gentle suggestions

tolerating in contentment dumb questions

inviting the small astonishment

            of an inter-library loan

Her sage-colored eyes catalog

each book, leaflet, magazine, and patron

that flows into her temple

or out again.  She is the kindest sphinx.

One could worship her.

KateSinging

18 April 2008

When pressed for time

 I become transparent

Odd that my eye, and aye and I

Should make a difference without knowing it

~copper cat

Obsequious – adj. 1. servilely attentive, compliant to excess, fawning

Somewhere she lives inside
Her once shimmering self
Bending but not yet broken
She hides her creative innocence
Buried deep beneath her pride
Behind the mask of excessive fawning
Flawlessly she delivers up her daily performance
In the face of pernicious power
Transforming servile compliance into a masterful art form
Without a hint of pain or smack of disgrace
Will she ever be discovered?

Next up, Abulia...