tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41396252675220396832024-03-10T13:51:06.736-04:00Poets UnitedThis is an archive. For our active features, visit Poets and Storytellers United.Rosemary Nissen-Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05913841031559499568noreply@blogger.comBlogger2137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-43541201294023859802021-11-05T00:13:00.002-04:002021-11-05T00:13:00.206-04:00For Our Active Feature, Fly Over to Poets and Storytellers United <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .1in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This blog is an archive. For our
active feature, visit <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i></a>. Our posts go
live every Friday at midnight. </span></p>
Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-20318937983800002872020-02-02T00:01:00.000-05:002020-02-02T00:01:03.690-05:00For Our Regular Prompts and Features, Fly Over to Poets and Storytellers United <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This blog is an archive. Please browse the sidebar, if you wish to
access our active <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/p/prompts-and-features.html" target="_blank">Prompts and Features</a> and the ones that have been archived.
We hope to read you at our new home, <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i></a>.</div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-65241444626629391792020-01-31T00:31:00.000-05:002020-01-31T07:41:57.137-05:00More of a Vent than a Musing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This Friday is Wild<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif;">(er)</span>
than usual. Yep! For her latest Moonlight Musings, our Rosemary tells us
exactly how she feels about “homilies masquerading as poetry”. Do fly over to <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/wild-fridays-4-moonlight-musings.html" target="_blank"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i></a>… and join the shaking of fists. </div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-55935265361700220152020-01-29T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-29T00:01:09.879-05:00New Tricks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For the 4<sup>th</sup> Weekly Scribblings, Rommy would like
us to consider the phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, and express
any thoughts we might have on it in either poetry or prose form. Fly over to<a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/weekly-scribblings-4-new-tricks.html" target="_blank"><i> Poets and Storytellers United</i></a> and join the word-yum. </div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-49967165211601900782020-01-26T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-26T00:01:07.027-05:00Let Poetry and Prose Be Our Break from Catastrophe <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I hope you are ready for another <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/writers-pantry-4-let-poetry-and-prose.html" target="_blank">Writers’ Pantry</a>, because
one awaits you over at <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i></a>. Stop by. And bring your
words. </div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-71425880295694111242020-01-24T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-24T01:01:34.962-05:00Orphan in the Forest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For her <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/wild-fridays-3-thought-provokers.html" target="_blank">Wild Fridays #3: Thought Provokers</a>, Rosemary shares “Orphan
in the Forest” by Tony Page and, tells us a bit about her meeting with the
author of the poem. Do fly over to <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i></a>. Join
the conversation. </div>
</div>
Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-14417068085050182372020-01-22T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-22T01:48:51.791-05:00Salt-water poems<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Over at <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i></a>, for her 3<sup>rd</sup>
<a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/weekly-scribblings-3-salt-water-poems.html" target="_blank">Weekly Scribblings</a>, Sanaa invites us <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“to write poems inspired by the sea.”</span> Do
stop by. Share your sea-words.</span></div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-70771490400503421252020-01-19T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-19T00:01:15.217-05:00Be Warm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It’s Sunday <span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif;">(all
right, so it’s Sunday in my bit of the world)</span> and the <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/writers-pantry-3-be-warm.html" target="_blank">Writers’ Pantry</a> is
open. Fly over to <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i></a>. Let’s delight in words
together. </div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-72707509359717205622020-01-17T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-18T01:16:55.744-05:00Video Poetry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For her <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/wild-fridays-2-roving-web.html" target="_blank">Wild Fridays: Roving the Web</a>, our Rosemary
discusses Video Poetry. Won’t you join the conversation? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-14554203289142194132020-01-15T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-15T00:01:04.311-05:00Myth-Placed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I love reading and writing poetry and prose spiced up with a
bit <span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif;">(or a lot)</span> of
mythology. If you feel the same way, then you will probably enjoy Rommy<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">’s </span> <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/weekly-scribblings-2-myth-placed.html" target="_blank">Weekly Scribblings #2: Myth-Placed</a>. See you <span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif;">(read
you?)</span> there!</div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-79032771495539193582020-01-12T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-12T00:01:06.670-05:00Storms and Stones and Warmth <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The second <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/writers-pantry-2-storms-and-stones-and.html" target="_blank">Writers’ Pantry</a> awaits you, over at <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i>.</a> Come share your new or old poetry or prose. We are waiting for
your words. </div>
</div>
Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-80058777621080497542020-01-10T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-10T16:58:07.938-05:00Wild Fridays #1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlG5dk5ftiMQVg1U5UlQgf9DQnuzxkrIcPXrkqelmlB8uZOcwHsrXpm3tglzNx71ten_f4p1BDZxttbi-Tx8PWIUuePju6OUuh2m1hT7UYkuyzJe1KEBqGzwWpcmXjlNC93RNGuWi2_gy2/s1600/quote+by+Thich+Nhat+Hanh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="1600" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlG5dk5ftiMQVg1U5UlQgf9DQnuzxkrIcPXrkqelmlB8uZOcwHsrXpm3tglzNx71ten_f4p1BDZxttbi-Tx8PWIUuePju6OUuh2m1hT7UYkuyzJe1KEBqGzwWpcmXjlNC93RNGuWi2_gy2/s1600/quote+by+Thich+Nhat+Hanh.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This quote, from Thich Nhat Hanh’s poem, “I Am Back to Open
the Old Pages”, is a glimpse of <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/wild-fridays-1-i-wish-id-written-this.html" target="_blank">Wild Fridays #1: I Wish I’d Written This</a>”, at <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i></a>. Rosemary discusses the poem, shares a bit about
the book it comes from, and invites us to join the conversation.<br />
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-29122328539344239812020-01-08T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-08T00:01:03.242-05:00Weekly Scribblings #1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Greetings, everyone. We have moved, but our prompts and features are still alive
and kicking, at our new home: <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i></a>. </div>
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Today, Sanaa is hosting the “<a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/weekly-scribblings-1-january-is-here.html" target="_blank">Weekly Scribblings #1: January is here, with winds that blow kisses</a>”, where she offers a list of words to
seduce our muses to ink.<br />
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Come join us!</div>
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<a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPK6-ZbaYEbTokUrLFH-ZWoHjF8RzgezrGXGWPJXo_zk-iIMCpV_5S-wWJZnzbxeoHFofuMZBj68AsNd-WaZSQibNxuT_pYAnvBeD8Jh1RwSe2oCslbhtzTXiQTFok7Ex3CKuL_8zdGl6c/s1600/Weekly+Scribblings.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-67114656887560361552020-01-05T00:01:00.000-05:002020-01-11T23:09:30.642-05:00We Have Moved!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We have relocated… but worry not. We’re waiting for you at
our new home: <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Poets and Storytellers United</i></a>. Follow the <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">link</a>, if you
wish to join us in the first <a href="https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2020/01/writers-pantry-1-home-is-people.html" target="_blank">Writers’ Pantry</a> of the year. Read you there.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CjLdf66WCy4dejnEf8c6svWc1K_W6lNPea0BmhEOj0F6SS513Ik3pE4aoaGe3Jo_fH0oM7oJRNdSgulUi9lLU_40SycY6g0zYDqKkWcCId3ex49HBUjIGJW_-YzATOJs1xGPo_DhpOlM/s1600/Karim+MANJRA%252C+on+Unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CjLdf66WCy4dejnEf8c6svWc1K_W6lNPea0BmhEOj0F6SS513Ik3pE4aoaGe3Jo_fH0oM7oJRNdSgulUi9lLU_40SycY6g0zYDqKkWcCId3ex49HBUjIGJW_-YzATOJs1xGPo_DhpOlM/s1600/Karim+MANJRA%252C+on+Unsplash.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif;">Photo by Karim MANJRA, on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/89BHNeBGlms" target="_blank">Unsplash</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: small;">And yes, I totally think every car
needs a potted plant rack.</span></div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-53537488728457675782019-12-22T01:00:00.000-05:002019-12-22T01:00:06.684-05:00Pantry of Poetry and Prose #9: Goodbye 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Greetings, word lovers. I hope this
week finds you healthy, happy, and looking forward to the New Year. In my home,
we are enjoying our Winter Solstice traditions—cooking together, exchanging gifts,
watching <i>Star Wars</i> </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">*cough*</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">, and wishing everyone the best 2020.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">2019 has been a year of changes and
endings, as Rosemary shows us in “<a href="https://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/2019/12/wild-fridays-deaths-and-entrances.html" target="_blank">Wild Fridays: Deaths and Entrances</a>”. If you’ve
yet to read it, do go back and take a look-see. The post doesn’t only reflect
on this year’s happenings, but it also offers glimpses of what’s to come </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">(i.e. we are planning to do some housekeeping, mostly
de-cluttering, organizing, labeling… You will see!)</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Did you participate in “<a href="https://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/2019/12/poets-united-midweek-motif-years-end.html" target="_blank">Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Year’s End</a>”, or was I the only one who missed it? </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">*sigh*</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"> Well, if you
share my slightly delinquent status, today is a great day to revisit Susan’s
topic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">So, dear poets, storytellers, worshipers
of words... our pantry is open for poetry and prose </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">(stories, articles, essays… in 369 words or fewer)</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">. Share an old piece or a new one, your choice </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">(our delight)</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #830000; font-family: "ink free"; font-size: 15.0pt;">Note</span></b><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">: When we return, on January 5<sup>th</sup>, this blog will
look different </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">(colors, layout, fonts and such…)</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">. Our love for words will remain unchanged.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Californian FB",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nature crafts the best art.</span></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-71680435317197929672019-12-20T05:30:00.000-05:002020-01-04T22:09:38.517-05:00Wild Fridays: Deaths and Entrances<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSUqHrAyFzwIeTxXDCYoBmSW0Cajxt5DwzwwAnFmi4b7DVhz7q5C1ijpVXEqqoOXM90aRtkMoB-3sV7TKD747rVnSkjZH3PeTnhxeX3wP9Ng6qcDrXztZbguwaHHt76GXS5qSiSq7xwKrB/s1600/IMG-1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="1042" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSUqHrAyFzwIeTxXDCYoBmSW0Cajxt5DwzwwAnFmi4b7DVhz7q5C1ijpVXEqqoOXM90aRtkMoB-3sV7TKD747rVnSkjZH3PeTnhxeX3wP9Ng6qcDrXztZbguwaHHt76GXS5qSiSq7xwKrB/s400/IMG-1920.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>This is the Death card from the Voyager™ Tarot (my favourite deck to read with professionally) along with the beautiful image on the backs of these cards, which is a cross-section of our DNA. (Death, it seems, might be encoded into our DNA ... inevitable. Or is it merely change?)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>This is not the traditional skeleton figure of most Tarots (wielding a scythe or riding a white horse, depending on the deck) but it does show images suggesting profound grief, finality, and even a hint of terror.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>However the Death card doesn't refer to physical mortality; it uses that concept in a symbolic sense to denote the death of an old way of life or an old way of being. Furthermore, the message of the Death card is Rebirth, Transformation. Any drastic change is liable to occasion grief, even when it is self-chosen. We must respect that grief, but we're not supposed to get stuck and wallow in it; we're supposed to come out the other side, into something new. Carrying on the symbolism: we're supposed to be reborn.</i><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>And so farewell, 2019</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As we come to the end of this year at Poets United, we find ourselves facing the ending of some things about the way we have been, as well as the new beginnings that must follow. We contemplate all this with some grief for what is over, the realisation that such changes are inevitable, and the prospect of an exciting new future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Above all, of course, we mourn the departure of four of our staff members. I've been researching our early posts for the little History segment I've recently included (see links at top of page). I've been here a long time but wasn't quite in on the beginning, so even though I greatly value Mary and Sherry's contribution to this community, I hadn't realised the full extent of it. Robert Lloyd, who founded Poets United, credited them with being the backbone of it when he was creating and developing it. When he had to leave his own creation after only a couple of years, he left it in their capable hands. It's they who are responsible for Poets United being the wonderful home it has been for us all over the ensuing years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I came on staff shortly before Robert left. Mary and Sherry made this newbie very welcome and were unfailingly supportive ever after. I've come to realise that they have gone out of their way to encourage many members of our community who needed a bit of personal reassurance. (If you're a new poet starting out, or one who has worked mostly solitary before, jumping in here can feel daunting.)<br />
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Then Susan and a little later Sumana joined our staff, completely aligned with the values we already had, and adding their own unique flavours to the mix. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All these women have looked after us very well! The fact that each is a wonderful poet in her own individual style points to the diversity and inclusivity of this community – as well as its nurturing effect on our skills, allowing us to grow in our craft. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.<br />
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I look back now and think, 'How DID they manage to keep going so long?' And doing such a wonderful job while they were at it! Much as we'll miss their guidance, we can't grudge them time to focus more on their own lives and writings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was fortuitous that Magaly and Sanaa had recently come on board, bringing enthusiastic new energy. Then we twisted Rommy's arm (very gently ... well actually we didn't even have to) and she joined us. All the staff, including those retiring, were unanimous that she was the right choice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Onwards in 2020</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In another sense, we're not losing anyone. Our retiring staff members are not resigning from the community as a whole. We'll look forward to seeing them around, just not in the same capacity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We've been discussing various options as to who does what in future, and decided I'll stick to the Wild Fridays (where you never know beforehand which topic I'll come up with on any particular Friday) while Magaly will look after us on Sundays and Sanaa and Rommy will take it in turns to come up with the Wednesday prompts. It's always been the case that the Poets United team members have each other's backs; so if any of us has an emergency and can't do one of our regular days, we'll yell for help and one of the others will step in.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Elsewhere</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our sister site, </span><a href="http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">'imaginary garden with real toads'</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, was also started by Robert Lloyd and then handed over in 2011 to Kerry O'Connor, who has run it so brilliantly ever since, with the help of several other wonderful poets. I and many others have loved their very creative prompts and the high calibre of poetry to be found there. </span></div>
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Coincidentally that too is now coming to an end – not merely a change of staff but a discontinuation. Kerry has announced that the final post there will be on 30th December. 'All good things ...' as they say. I'm sure many will be feeling sad about that, me for one. I always enjoyed playing there as well as here. Many of you have done the same.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fortunately the site will remain online as an archive. And what a wonderful resource it will be! It has already been a place I've liked to explore when stuck for inspiration. I'm very glad I'll still be able to do that for years to come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(Following their good example, we're going to be getting our own archives into order in the near future, so they may always be revisited.)</span></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Meanwhile ...</b></div>
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We here haven't quite bowed out of 2019 yet. Magaly has a final Poetry Pantry for you this coming Sunday. Then it's holiday time until January 5th, the first Sunday of the New Year, when we welcome you back again.<br />
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Don't be surprised if you see some changes then to the way we look. We've been using this version of Blogger for a long time – and it includes some aspects that aren't even part of Blogger itself, but were brought over from a Yahoo group which our founder Robb Lloyd once administered (the precursor to this community). It's been getting rather clunky behind the scenes; time to update. We have plans to make it sleeker and more pleasing to the eye, while at the same time more navigable: more user-friendly for both staff and participants.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Post-script</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How ironic that at this point some of us (I for one) have been having trouble with the last Midweek Motif, unable to leave comments or access people's linked poems. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I know several of you have been experiencing similar frustrations. </span></div>
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I fared a little better on my tablet than my laptop. On the tablet </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I can</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> at least access</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> and read everyone's poems.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I still can't leave comments at the PU blog, nor on your poems if you're using Blogger</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. However, I have been able to comment on Wordpress blogs – so it's evidently a Blogger issue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Neither Magaly nor I could find a problem with the html coding, the first place either of us thought to look, nor with Settings etc. We believe it's to do with some updating which we're aware that Blogger is carrying out at the moment, and will shortly be resolved.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thanks for your patience, folks. Hang in there! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><u>Note</u>: </i>Deaths and Entrances<i> is the title of a book of poems by Dylan Thomas, published in 1946, focusing on the conjunction of birth and death. (The title poem and others reference World War II, which had recently ended.)</i></span></div>
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Rosemary Nissen-Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05913841031559499568noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-81846863123816114572019-12-18T07:00:00.000-05:002019-12-19T00:58:41.503-05:00Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Year's End<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>"A
year of ending and beginning, a year of loss and finding and all of you
were with me through the storm. I drink your health, your wealth, your
fortune for long years to come, and I hope for many more days in which
we can gather like this.</i></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b> </b></i></span></span>~<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/3238731-a-year-of-ending-and-beginning-a-year-of-loss"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">C.J. Cherryh</span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><i>Fortress of Eagles</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><img alt="Capricorn zodiac sign, Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, India.jpg" class="mw-mmv-final-image jpg mw-mmv-dialog-is-open" crossorigin="anonymous" height="326" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Capricorn_zodiac_sign%2C_Jantar_Mantar%2C_Jaipur%2C_India.jpg/1024px-Capricorn_zodiac_sign%2C_Jantar_Mantar%2C_Jaipur%2C_India.jpg" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-image: none; border: 0px; color: black; display: block; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: middle; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>Capricorn zodiac sign, Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, India. 18th century CE.</i></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #54595d; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">© </span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Yann" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; color: #0645ad; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" title="User:Yann">Yann Forget</a><span style="color: #54595d; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> / </span><a class="external text" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; color: #0645ad; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. </i></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">~ Oprah Winfrey</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><img alt="Sousse mosaic calendar December.JPG" class="mw-mmv-final-image jpg mw-mmv-dialog-is-open" crossorigin="anonymous" height="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Sousse_mosaic_calendar_December.JPG/1280px-Sousse_mosaic_calendar_December.JPG" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-image: none; border: 0px; color: black; display: block; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: middle; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sousse_mosaic_calendar_December.JPG"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><b><i>December, fragment of a mosaic </i></b></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a class="extiw" href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_arch%C3%A9ologique_de_Sousse" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; color: #3366bb; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.26px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" title="fr:Musée archéologique de Sousse">Archeological Museum of Sousse</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Midweek Motif ~ Year's End</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I nearly left out the apostrophe to speak of Years Ends, but decided to stick with 2019, this year's end, full of trouble and joy, suspense and certainty. </span></span></i></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perhaps you will use your new poem to record the details. Perhaps you will use it to spread cheer and blessings. Perhaps you will write an ode to rest, and its role in creativity. </span></span></i></b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Your Challenge: Let's write to each other in this <span style="color: #e06666;">new</span> poem about the end of 2019.</span></span></b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><img alt="File:Bouquet de roses Suzanne Valadon.jpg" data-file-height="1024" data-file-width="768" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Bouquet_de_roses_Suzanne_Valadon.jpg/450px-Bouquet_de_roses_Suzanne_Valadon.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bouquet_de_roses_Suzanne_Valadon.jpg">Bouquet de roses by Suzanne Valadon</a> (1936)</span></span></i></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><a href="http://a-poem-a-day-project.blogspot.com/2013/12/day-529-years-end.html"><i style="background-size: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </i></a><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://a-poem-a-day-project.blogspot.com/2013/12/day-529-years-end.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Year's End</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>by Ted Kooser</span></span></span></span><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now the seasons are closing their files<br />on each of us, the heavy drawers<br />full of certificates rolling back<br />into the tree trunks, a few old papers<br />flocking away. Someone we loved<br />has fallen from our thoughts,<br />making a little, glittering splash<br />like a bicycle pushed by a breeze.<br />Otherwise, not much has happened;<br />we fell in love again, finding<br />that one red feather on the wind.</span></span></b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://kenyonreview.org/2015/12/old-yearnew-year-poems/">from Matsuo Bashō:</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’ve hit the bottom</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">of my bag of discretion:</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">year’s end.</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/blog/2011/12/07/matsuo-basho-years-end/">another from </a><a href="https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/B/BashoMatsuo/">Matsuo Basho</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="color: #999999;">English version by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Year’s end,<br />
all corners<br />
of this floating world, swept.</span></span></b></span></div>
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<h2 class="comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-heading" id="mntl-sc-block_1-0-19" style="text-align: right;">
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<span class="mntl-sc-block-heading__text"> <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/poems-for-the-new-year-2725477">The Yea</a>r (1910) </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="mntl-sc-block-heading__text"> by Ella Wheeler Wilcox </span></span></span></span></span></h2>
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<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What can be said in New Year rhymes,</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That’s not been said a thousand times?</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The new years come, the old years go,</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We know we dream, we dream we know.</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We rise up laughing with the light,</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We lie down weeping with the night.</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We hug the world until it stings,</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We curse it then and sigh for wings.</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We live, we love, we woo, we wed,</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We wreathe our brides, we sheet our dead.</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And that’s the burden of the year.</span></span></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48597/burning-the-old-year">Burning the Old Year </a></span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span class="c-txt c-txt_attribution">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/naomi-shihab-nye">Naomi Shihab Nye</a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span class="c-txt c-txt_attribution"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Letters swallow themselves in seconds. </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
Notes friends tied to the doorknob, </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
transparent scarlet paper,</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
sizzle like moth wings,</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
marry the air.</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
So much of any year is flammable, </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
lists of vegetables, partial poems. </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
Orange swirling flame of days, </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
so little is a stone.</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
Where there was something and suddenly isn’t, </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space. </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
I begin again with the smallest numbers.</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves, </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
only the things I didn’t do </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
crackle after the blazing dies.</span></span></b></span><br />
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<i><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: small;">"Songs to aging children come / This is one"</span></b></i></div>
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Lyrics are <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=songs+to+aging+childrebn+come+lyrics">HERE</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><span style="font-family: "script mt bold"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-effects-shadow-align: none; mso-effects-shadow-alpha: 65.0%; mso-effects-shadow-angledirection: 5400000; mso-effects-shadow-anglekx: 0; mso-effects-shadow-angleky: 0; mso-effects-shadow-color: black; mso-effects-shadow-dpidistance: 3.4pt; mso-effects-shadow-dpiradius: 5.5pt; mso-effects-shadow-pctsx: 0%; mso-effects-shadow-pctsy: 0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 5400000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#A54200 9 100000 shade=20000 satm=200000\,78000 \#FF8C19 9 100000 tint=90000 shade=89000 satm=220000\,100000 \#FFF1E9 9 100000 tint=12000 satm=255000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: .15pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: flat; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: none;">~~~~~</span></i></span></span></span></span></b></span>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Please share your </span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">new </span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">poem
using Mr. Linky below </span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">and visit others in the spirit of the community—</span></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Best wishes for this year's end and the new years to come! </span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<link href="//www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" media="all" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=scorpiorlr&postid=12Dec2019&meme=11631" type="text/javascript"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-2036681829825996622019-12-15T01:00:00.000-05:002019-12-15T01:00:00.390-05:00Pantry of Poetry and Prose #8<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAg4ErW0CkAI8ofIyIOsVxpGPPDUX3TIBBPNBJalhAf2ytLoOuM-raYDwV7begXYv9QMqNSSWE-dykOUVJH_hrQtKD_sBG39FcJywSn6vmkT6hVe4W_xmbMmJ3XWy8nnIQVZSz-TyyGo/s1600/36f3f80f1d69e56b648f9af7bc3df4c5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="437" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAg4ErW0CkAI8ofIyIOsVxpGPPDUX3TIBBPNBJalhAf2ytLoOuM-raYDwV7begXYv9QMqNSSWE-dykOUVJH_hrQtKD_sBG39FcJywSn6vmkT6hVe4W_xmbMmJ3XWy8nnIQVZSz-TyyGo/s640/36f3f80f1d69e56b648f9af7bc3df4c5.jpg" width="418" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chelsea Cake Photography, <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/365706432241896704/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily
existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to
us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts.” – K.T. Jong </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I woke to a plethora of birthday wishes and with a huge smile on my face. Thank you so much everyone for making my day so special! This is Sanaa and I am back with another exciting Pantry of Poetry and Prose this Sunday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This week, Sumana gave us the opportunity to pour our hearts out with her Midweek Motif, "A/The Moment," to which there were several great responses! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rosemary delighted us with "Wild Fridays: Roving the Web," where she shared various links and posts to enjoy during the holidays. Do scroll back and check it out in case you have missed it! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For now, <b><span style="color: magenta;">I invite you to share your entry, as Poets United welcomes both poetry and prose </span></b>(i.e. stories, articles, essays) feel free to link anything new or old and relish in the works of others. Also, if you opt to share prose then please keep it to 369 words or fewer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Optional:</b> For those of you whose muse desires something, here is <a href="https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/and-the-days-are-not-full-enough/" target="_blank">a beautiful poem by Ezra Pound,</a> remember to give credit if you decide to write inspired by it.</span> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGJ1ErB7sIiVD4r1QQRyrm0DxT4aZKd97z1M1_lYh95NJ5J_PDLuXqHQI4wM3xGwLlXIRmC3LeDG2ivhZM-cRPrZ5qQMd8b0Ks1lFLoZOWWlR-tCSfmKpoHapwVoxiOMYTXjgjZTwC7k/s1600/pierre-bamin--ltjzTfhpCI-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGJ1ErB7sIiVD4r1QQRyrm0DxT4aZKd97z1M1_lYh95NJ5J_PDLuXqHQI4wM3xGwLlXIRmC3LeDG2ivhZM-cRPrZ5qQMd8b0Ks1lFLoZOWWlR-tCSfmKpoHapwVoxiOMYTXjgjZTwC7k/s400/pierre-bamin--ltjzTfhpCI-unsplash.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="_2aPXR">Pierre Bamin, <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/-ltjzTfhpCI" target="_blank">Unsplash</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Next week Susan's Midweek Motif will be ~ <span style="color: red;"><b>The Year's End</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And now, without further ado, let us dive into the Pantry! Looking forward to reading you all with a steaming mug of coffee. See you on the trail!</span> 🍰☕</div>
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<link href="//www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" media="all" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=MGBlog&postid=12Dec2019&meme=13063" type="text/javascript"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-83059082453020353932019-12-13T05:30:00.000-05:002020-01-04T22:09:57.106-05:00Wild Fridays: Roving the Web<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Advance notice – we're going on vacation! (Not immediately, but soon.) </span><br />
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What that looks like may depend on where one lives.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-jz26FB_MOTPJQ1hshLNYVPmzCRp9Q8LLvFD4-T8WLSfJ4Ll-0MU8I1RMoYyCzZ38acbV-_41ewk9hjVkunQXmC7owRWcc-wBPQPDjk6d0GEsgz1IRlv3jbWbxTlNSc5KSatnvIW04fb/s1600/pexels-photo-1770310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-jz26FB_MOTPJQ1hshLNYVPmzCRp9Q8LLvFD4-T8WLSfJ4Ll-0MU8I1RMoYyCzZ38acbV-_41ewk9hjVkunQXmC7owRWcc-wBPQPDjk6d0GEsgz1IRlv3jbWbxTlNSc5KSatnvIW04fb/s400/pexels-photo-1770310.jpg" width="295" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpOmbZX-ff5wR2-1pBt_u3YpxGsx3JQqrYekRB77Z436Tcy1gAM73vGLWiR4NcK2kaXIwAqMNSPom-r435ST3LCyN6t6aJg10xLDEwml6442jwmDfIspHFm9G8vA7vP7zzSr8-xg_cr7M/s1600/IMG_3783.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="1241" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpOmbZX-ff5wR2-1pBt_u3YpxGsx3JQqrYekRB77Z436Tcy1gAM73vGLWiR4NcK2kaXIwAqMNSPom-r435ST3LCyN6t6aJg10xLDEwml6442jwmDfIspHFm9G8vA7vP7zzSr8-xg_cr7M/s320/IMG_3783.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>(First image Public Domain, second mine.)</i></span></div>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As usual, we'll take two weeks off over Christmas and New Year. The Pantry on Sunday the 22nd will be our last post for this year. We'll start 2020 with a new Pantry, on Sunday January 5th.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I hope you'll all be too busy enjoying yourselves to have withdrawal symptoms. But just in case, here are some things that might amuse you during the break:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Inventiveness</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My friend Helen Patrice, whom I've <a href="https://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/search/label/Helen%20Patrice">featured here</a> a few times, is both poet and storyteller. She has written poems, short stories, novels, articles and memoir, a lot of them published. At her Blog of a Witch, this <a href="https://witchandworld.wordpress.com/2019/11/07/nanowrimo-left-turn-at-albuquerque/">recent post</a> includes a number of good tips for starting a story and keeping on going with it. Though she refers to prose in this instance, many of them could apply equally well to poetry. You can either skip over the personal stuff they're embedded in, or read it all for the entertainment value. (I always find Helen very readable.)<br />
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Many of you are already familiar with <a href="http://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/">Carpe Diem</a>, the site where Dutch haiku poet 'Chevrefeuille' keeps coming up with innovative new ways to approach the writing of haiku and related forms (though he doesn't tamper with the actual form). He provides prompts, and the opportunity to link our responses. I dip in and out of this site, sometimes forgetting all about it – but if I'm stuck, it's a very good place to go for inspiration. Bonus: I always find a few Poets United friends participating too.<br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b>Good reading</b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><br />
</b></span></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As I have shared in some previous posts, I like my quick fix of daily poetry in the email inbox – from the sites below in particular. <br />
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The first two also take submissions. I keep <i>meaning</i> to send something! If you are not such a procrastinator as me, you might like to give it a try. Or just enjoy reading: a sweet start to the day. (Sometimes familiar names pop up at either of these sites; just recently I was delighted to encounter a one sentence poem by a certain Ron. Lavalette.) </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u><br />
</u></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://tinywords.com/">TINYWORDS haiku and other small poems</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.onesentencepoems.com/osp/">One Sentence Poems</a> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://poets.org/poem-a-day">Poem-a-Day</a></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://knopfdoubleday.com/knopf-poetry-signup/">Knopf Poetry</a> also offers a poem a day, but only during the April poetry month – but you could sign up for that now, while you think of it (and I think to suggest it). They are always wonderful, sometimes include free broadsheets to download and/or sound recordings to listen to, as well as referring you to the poet's latest books. Of course, once you click on the site, you can have a good browse right there, right now, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">of the many poems</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"> already shared</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://morningporch.com/">The Morning Porch/Patio</a><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">A blog of sentences by one Dave Bonta, observing the world around him over his morning coffee, particularly the natural world. I find these snippets entertaining in all sorts of ways. They originate as twitter posts, therefore are 140 characters or fewer (regardless of the fact that twitter has now upped its limit to 280). <span style="color: red;">Some people use them as prompts, so if you're having withdrawal symptoms, there's an idea. </span>This used to be called just The Morning Porch – based in his rural home in America (Pennsylvania) – but he now spends part of the year in England, mainly in London, as he is married to a British woman.</span></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Attending to other aspects of life</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">(While you've got some extra time to do that.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://zenhabits.net/about/">Zen Habits</a> is a famous</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"> blog by Leo Babauta, on mindfulness and simplifying one's life. He began this years ago, and so many people found it useful that he has now written books on the principles, and also shares them on facebook and twitter, and even offers some courses in acquiring new habits. You can jump in at the latest post, or go back and explore the archives. It's all good value. Do I put all his good advice into practice myself? Well no, but he's easy to read, makes good sense, and some of it sticks.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.dearearth.co.uk/fordearearth/">Dear Earth: free e-course</a> from Satya Robyn (the woman who invented the 'small stones' way of mindful writing). This is a gentle 28-day way to 'make space for grounding and creativity', 'come into a closer relationship with our beautiful earth', and, if you choose, find out more about the environmental crisis and what you might do about it. But it won't tell you what to do. Satya believes 'change is only sustainable when we allow ourselves to be transformed from the inside out, slowly and gently'. </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">Or, if you prefer, you might skip the course and just enjoy reading Satya's own </span><a href="http://www.dearearth.co.uk/category/3/loveletters/" style="font-family: verdana, verdana, sans-serif;">Love Letters to the Planet</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "verdana" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But we're not quite on holidays yet, so do stick around for the treats still in store right here before the year ends: one more Midweek Motif, one more Wild Friday, and one more Pantry of Poetry and Prose. (And maybe we'll whet your appetites with some hints of what's to come in 2020.)</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Material shared here is presented for study and review. Poems, photos, and other writings and images remain the property of the copyright owners, usually the authors.<br />
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<u>Note</u>: I've had to belatedly remove the photo of feet toasting by a fire </i></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">when it suddenly acquired a 'Copyright' mark across it, </i><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">and replace it with a different fireside image of my own. I thought I'd bought its use but apparently only for a very limited time. I'm annoyed this wasn't made clearer, especially as it was initially listed as Public Domain, but....</i></div>
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<br />Rosemary Nissen-Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05913841031559499568noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-46217715815730141202019-12-11T07:00:00.000-05:002019-12-11T07:13:04.870-05:00Poets United Midweek Motif ~ A / The Moment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <i style="font-weight: bold;">“I like the moment when I break a man’s
ego.”— </i><span style="color: red; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Bobby </span></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Fischer</span></i></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Picture_perfect_moment.jpg/1024px-Picture_perfect_moment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Picture_perfect_moment.jpg/1024px-Picture_perfect_moment.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=picture%20of%20a%20moment&title=Special%3ASearch&fulltext=1&ns0=1&ns6=1&ns12=1&ns14=1&ns100=1&ns106=1#/media/File:Picture_perfect_moment.jpg">SOURCE</a></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">“In any given moment we have two options : to step
forward into growth or to step back into safety.”— <span style="color: red;">Abraham
Maslow</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 24pt;"> Midweek
Motif ~ A / The Moment</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">When we say a/the moment we mean it’s either a
casual moment or a defining one. Your lines might be about any one of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">You can extend it further to a moment of the past,
or even future (to do, to have or to be moment).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">If you wish you can block the history of yesterday,
refuse the dream of tomorrow and choose to live in the present, only being
mindful of what’s happening now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Anything you do it has to be about a moment only.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">A few poems to share with you :<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">The Moment</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;">by Margaret Atwood</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
moment when, after many years</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">of hard work and a long voyage</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">you stand in the centre of your room,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">knowing at last how you got there,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">and say, I own this,</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">is the same moment when the trees unloose</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">their soft arms from around you,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">the birds take back their language,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">the cliffs fissure and collapse,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">the air moves back from you like a wave</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">and you can't breathe.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">No, they whisper. You own nothing.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">You were a visitor, time after time</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">climbing the hill, planting the flag,
proclaiming.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">We never belonged to you.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">You never found us.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">It was always the other way round.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">A Moment of Happiness</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;">by Rumi</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">A moment of happiness,<br />
you and I sitting on the verandah,<br />
apparently two, but one in soul, you and I.<br />
We feel the flowing water of life here,<br />
you and I, with the garden's beauty<br />
and the birds singing.<br />
The stars will be watching us,<br />
and we will show them<br />
what it is to be a thin crescent moon.<br />
You and I unselfed, will be together,<br />
indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.<br />
The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar<br />
as we laugh together, you and I.<br />
In one form upon this earth,<br />
and in another form in a timeless sweet land.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Moment</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;">by Wislawa Szymborska</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">(Translated from the
Polish by Joanna Trzeciak)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">I walk
on the slope of a hill gone green.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Grass, little flowers in the grass,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">as in a children's illustration.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">The misty sky's already turning blue.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">A view of other hills unfolds in silence.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">As if there'd never been any Cambrians,
Silurians,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">rocks snarling at crags,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">upturned abysses,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">no nights in flames</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">and days in clouds of darkness.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">As if plains hadn't pushed their way here</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">in malignant fevers,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">icy shivers.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">As if seas had seethed only elsewhere,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">shredding the shores of the horizons.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">It's nine-thirty local time.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Everything's in its place and in polite
agreement.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">In the valley a little brook cast as a little
brook.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">A path in the role of a path from always to
ever.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Woods disguised as woods alive without end,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">and above them birds in flight play birds in
flight.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">This moment reigns as far as the eye can reach.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">One of those earthly moments</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">invited to linger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Please share your </span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">new </span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">poem
using Mr. Linky below and visit others in the spirit of the community—<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">(Next week Susan’s Midweek Motif will be ~ </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Year's End</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">)</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-55077190727004548552019-12-08T01:00:00.000-05:002019-12-08T01:40:09.644-05:00Pantry of Poetry and Prose #7<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello word weavers and word lovers! Welcome to Poetry United's seventh week hosting the pantry of poetry and prose. Hopefully some of the lucky energy of that number will rub off on us all this week.
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This last week Susan brought us some <a href="http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/2019/12/poets-united-midweek-motif-changes.html" target="_blank">Changes</a> in the Midweek Motif. On Wild Fridays, Rosemary celebrated <a href="http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/2019/12/wild-fridays-poems-of-week.html" target="_blank">Susan and Sumana</a> for their contributions to Poets United. What will this week bring us? Get ready to write poetry about "A/The Moment" with Sumana.<br />
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Now's the time where you get to hit us with one of your word wonders.The pantry is open to old and new pieces of poetry, prose, fiction, or nonfiction. But keep prose pieces to 369 words or under, please. Thanks and enjoy the word magic.<br />
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Rommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11810721515248103148noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-19120928159981404692019-12-06T05:30:00.000-05:002020-01-04T22:10:21.957-05:00Wild Fridays: Poems of the Week<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: xx-large;">Celebrating Susan and Sumana</b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">– who have been our Midweek Motif hosts for so long. It's sad to see them step down from that role which they have filled so beautifully, with so much thought and so much heart. Changes in both their lives came coincidentally at about the same time, bringing a need to refocus their energies elsewhere. They generously decided to stay on until the end of the year, after Mary and Sherry's retirement, giving the new team more time to settle in. And they assure us that, although they won't be hosting any more, they will still be writing and posting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How much I've always enjoyed the poems of each of these poets – equally thoughtful, spiritual and life-affirming, yet different in style. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They also, of course, experience marked differences in geography and culture, yet have worked together as a team-within-a-team, preparing and hosting the Midweek Motif prompts with ongoing behind-the-scenes collaboration – another example of how Poets United (the staff and the wider community) has been able to create a harmonious common ground for us all.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Choosing one favourite poem from each of these poets would have been impossible, because there are so many I could include! I picked these first two (both posted to their blogs earlier this year) partly because, in showing their individual yet shared love of life, even in its smallest details, they also exemplify aspects of their different societies and lifestyles.<br /><br /><span style="color: red;"><b>Here is Sumana longing for rain:</b></span></span></span><br />
<b style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">DANCE </span></b><br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>– Sumana Roy</b></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I miss your visual splendour-</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">your kohl-eye, telling stories-</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">your swift pirouettes in the wind-</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">your enthralling foot-work-</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">did your ghungroos (anklet) have hundred bells</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">like the <a href="https://www.culturalindia.net/indian-dance/classical/kathak.html">Kathak </a>dancers?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Wasn’t I mesmerized hearing the dance steps</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">on glossy, green leaves; on metal shades?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the touch of those graceful hands</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">blossomed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolamarckia_cadamba">Kadam</a> flowers-</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">your odhni (veil) of cloud</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">seemed infinite-</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">where are you my pretty, danseuse?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Have we killed you</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">like the colonial British trying to smother</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the Kathak dance</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">calling its practitioners ‘nautch girls’; harlots</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">in contemptuous fun?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In our desert homes</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">we are missing you sorely-</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<span class="s1"><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sumana added in a note:</i><br /><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">[Whatever I try to write now it leads to the rain-less days we are living here. So my Kathak dancer is the monsoon here.]</span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="s1"><i><br /></i></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="s1"><i><br /></i></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="s1">Sumana, we here in Australia can very much relate to such a longing, as we have been suffering a serious drought for a number of years. I know other places around the world, including parts of America, are in a similar plight. I hope your plea may act as a prayer!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;"><b>Then we see Susan enjoying both friendship and solitude:</b></span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">After an Evening with Friends <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;"><b>– Susan Chast</b></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">After fudge and cream on brownies, after</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">the last delicious kiss goodnight,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">after the train deposits you</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">a mere half mile away—</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">you walk. The door opens</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">and closes. Then, </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">do you, too, sigh,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">perk up, rally to spend</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">time with yourself at last,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">to catch up on quiet and joy?</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: normal;">Home’s divine solitude settles</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">like gold dust, surrounds like Bach cello suites.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;">Susan, you take us straight into both feelings with marvellous economy of well-chosen words! I feel with you the pleasures of such an evening of good food with congenial friends, then the bliss of 'home's divine solitude'. Having lived alone for the past seven years, maintaining an active social life yet also relishing my periods of solitude, I can say a big 'Yes!' to both verses. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;">Perhaps the overriding quality I receive from Sumana's poetry is gentleness; from Susan's integrity. For me these are their signature characteristics – but of course no-one can be categorised by just one quality; I don't mean to suggest the poems are not varied. <br /><br /><span style="color: red;"><b>I see both, also, as women of great resilience.</b></span><br /><br />Here is <b>Susan</b> coping with the 'writer's slump' we all experience from time to time, yet using it – with great wisdom – to reconnect with the source of inspiration, in faith that it is indeed so:<br /><b><br />
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</b></span></span><br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What a Writing Slump Is</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A hole I slide into, below</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the surface of consciousness, I say—</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But my body protests:</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It’s a hole you <i>want</i> to dig but can’t.</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">You’re slumping, and haven’t the strength</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">to wield a shovel to break through</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the surface of consciousness.</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The hard ground won’t receive the seed. </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">No, I reply, trust me:</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The seed is there with fledgling roots, </span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">but the hole is too deep for the stem to reach </span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the edge where I could translate through arms, </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">eyes and hands into the light. Instead of floating </span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">over the hole, notebook and keyboard—I am</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">inside, as close to the seedling as possible. </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I slide into the hole, below</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the surface of consciousness, I say—</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and slump there for a long long time.</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And <b>Sumana</b> lifting herself up via the words of the famous Indian poet Tagore, whom she so loves and admires (some of whose work she has translated):</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Tagore</b></span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Your words are the buzz-song</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">of a bee–</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">dripping sweetness unto</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">my tattered soul–</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have morphed into</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">a thousand honeycomb</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">holding your nectar–</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the world isn't all honey–</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s1">whe</span>n it stings I sing your forever song</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">to be lifted up, to fly</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">with my newly grown wings–</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<span class="s1"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Susan replies</u>:</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rosemary, thank you for choosing my poem “After an Evening with Friends” for this sweet feature with Sumana. You, she, and Poets United have been with me many of these luscious evenings. And then, “What a Writing Slump is”! I am not slumping now, but I know the hole, seeds and roots intimately. </span><br />
<span class="s2" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="s2">I love Poets United. I loved working with the old team and look forward to changes the new team will bring. Based on what you have already done, I know PU will continue to nourish poets and writers in exciting ways. Poets United nourished me at a time when my confidence in blogging my poems was flagging. Then you, Mary, and Sherry wholeheartedly invited me to join the team after Kim Nelson's year. The new weekly Midweek Motif built on Kim's success. And just when I was feeling overwhelmed, Mary suggested that I share Midweek Motif with Sumana Roy. I soon became enchanted with her poetry and choices, and we became partners here. I felt my life blessed ever since. </span><span class="s3"> (Truly, Sumana. Poems like your <a href="https://gangulisumana60.wordpress.com/2017/08/30/respect/"><span class="s4">Respect</span></a> from 2017 live in my home. And I want to use your Tagore translations forever!) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now, I hope to put my creative time into writing. In addition, I've come out of retirement to substitute teach, and I am co-leading a spiritual nurture program through my Quaker meeting. I expect to join the poets who blog here quite often. Throughout the years, your poetry and commentary have been good company.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><style type="text/css">
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</style><br /><b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><u>And Sumana says</u>:</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I feel so honored to be featured with Susan in your Poems of the Week, here at Poets United, Rosemary. Thank you so much. Yes, it’s been a wonderful journey with you all. I enjoyed my every moment being here. Thematic prompts always motivate me to write my lines and it was so amazing to see all the insightful responses from the poets from all over the world to such prompts. And such a dream team of partners! I can’t thank Mary enough for offering me to be a part of the Midweek Motifs with Susan. Aah…those behind-the-scene chats with Susan for Midweek motifs! And who can ever forget all those sun-shine words from all of you during my cloudy days! I am ever so grateful to each of you for being with me during my hard hours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wish you all my best.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And thank you once again Rosemary for selecting the poem Dance. This poem is definitely a sigh of exasperation only an Indian summer and a forgetful Monsoon could bring about. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am so very obsessed with Tagore! And what a delight you’ve chosen this poem also for this feature. It’s a little tribute to my poet who has become a shelter to me specially after those stormy nights. At present I am reading a memoir of Tagore in Bengali. Name of the book is : Swarger Kachhakachhi by Maitreyee Devi. Meaning of the book title is ‘Close to Heaven’. No title could be more appropriate.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Though now most of my time is occupied with extreme traveling I still have managed some space for reading and diving once again into the translation of Tagore’s songs.</span></div>
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<div class="p1" style="color: #222222;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm sure you'll all be glad (but not surprised) to know that these two exceptional poets, who have become our dear friends through their many months of hosting Midweek Motif, will still be very much engaged with poetry, and that we may continue to see them here sharing their wise and beautiful words.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i><span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Material shared in this post is presented for study and review. Poems, photos, and other writings and images remain the property of the copyright owners, usually the authors.</span></i></span><br />
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Rosemary Nissen-Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05913841031559499568noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-38133410530377389192019-12-04T07:00:00.000-05:002019-12-04T07:00:00.362-05:00Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Changes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img alt="" class="mw-mmv-final-image jpg mw-mmv-dialog-is-open" crossorigin="anonymous" height="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Autumn_In_Lodhi_Garden.jpg/1024px-Autumn_In_Lodhi_Garden.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Autumn_In_Lodhi_Garden.jpg">Autumn in Lodhi Garden, New Delhi</a></span></span></i></td></tr>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US">I am crooning a Tagore
song as I write this prompt ‘Changes’ together
with Susan: </span></span></span></i></span></b></span></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #c00000;">“Fallen leaves, I’m one of you dear.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #c00000;">With much laughter and many a tear</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #c00000;">Phagun* chanted the farewell song into my
core.”</span></span></span></span>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US">(*Phagun / </span><span lang="EN-US">Phalgun </span><span lang="EN-US">is one of the last months </span></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US">of the Bengali calendar.)</span></span></span></i></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US">This year now rolls into its
last month. There is an aroma of change everywhere; in every sphere of life. So
it is in our dearest home Poets United. Mary and Sherry left in October, and both Susan and I are taking leave of
Midweek Motif this December: </span></span></span></i></b></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span>
<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">“The poetry of earth is ceasing
never: </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">On a lone winter evening, when the
frost </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Has wrought a
silence, from the stove there shrills </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Cricket’s song, in warmth
increasing ever, </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> And seems to one in
drowsiness half lost, </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The Grasshopper’s
among some grassy hills.”</span></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our last prompt will be 18 December 2019, though we will continue to write and blog our poetry. We will write more about this change in Rosemary's feature this Friday. So stay tuned, and stay in tune, too, for your
new Wednesday prompt hosts in January 2020.</span></span></i></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Much love, Sumana and Susan </span></span></i></span></b> </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="File:Artgate Fondazione Cariplo - Casorati Maugham Daphne, Rosa bianca.jpg" data-file-height="800" data-file-width="538" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Artgate_Fondazione_Cariplo_-_Casorati_Maugham_Daphne%2C_Rosa_bianca.jpg/403px-Artgate_Fondazione_Cariplo_-_Casorati_Maugham_Daphne%2C_Rosa_bianca.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="134" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Artgate_Fondazione_Cariplo_-_Casorati_Maugham_Daphne,_Rosa_bianca.jpg"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">source</span></a></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Midweek Motif ~ Changes</span></span></span></span></b><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></i></span></span></span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>We try to learn to appreciate change, as it cannot be avoided. We would have to set life in bronze or stone or amber to preserve it. Would it then be alive? Can we then celebrate change, or at least find the words to recognize its power? Adrienne Rich wrote in <a href="https://preludemag.com/posts/the-will-to-change-adrienne-rich-and-the-poetics-of-becoming/">"Images for Godard"</a>:</i></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i> </i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>the mind of the poet is changing<br />
the moment of change is the only poem.</i></span></span></span></span></span><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> </span> </span></span></i></span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What do you think?</span></span></span></span></b></i></span></span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here are more poems to inspire you as you find the poetry in change: </span></span></span></span></i></span></b> </span></span> </div>
</div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/blog/2013/11/22/rainer-maria-rilke-want-the-change/">Want the change</a></span></span><br />
</b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">by <a href="https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/R/RilkeRainerM/" target="_blank">Rainer Maria Rilke</a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;">English version by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Want the change. Be inspired by the flame<br />
where everything shines as it disappears.<br />
The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so much<br />
as the curve of the body as it turns away.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
What locks itself in sameness has congealed.<br />
Is it safer to be gray and numb?<br />
What turns hard becomes rigid<br />
and is easily shattered.<br />
<br />
Pour yourself out like a fountain.<br />
Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking<br />
finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.<br />
<br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Every happiness is the child of a separation<br />
it did not think it could survive. And Daphne, becoming a laurel,<br />
dares you to become the wind.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://emilyspoetryblog.com/2013/04/09/the-journey-by-mary-oliver/"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Journey</span></span></a></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">by Mary Oliver</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">One day you finally knew<br />
what you had to do, and began,<br />
though the voices around you<br />
kept shouting<br />
their bad advice – – –<br />
though the whole house<br />
began to tremble<br />
and you felt the old tug<br />
at your ankles.<br />
‘Mend my life!’<br />
each voice cried.<br />
But you didn’t stop.</span></span></div>
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</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You knew what you had to do,<br />
though the wind pried<br />
with its stiff fingers<br />
at the very foundations – – –<br />
though their melancholy<br />
was terrible. It was already late<br />
enough, and a wild night,<br />
and the road full of fallen<br />
branches and stones.</span></span></div>
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</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But little by little,<br />
as you left their voices behind,<br />
the stars began to burn<br />
through the sheets of clouds,<br />
and there was a new voice,<br />
which you slowly<br />
recognized as your own,<br />
that kept you company<br />
as you strode deeper and deeper<br />
into the world,<br />
determined to do<br />
the only thing you could do – – – determined to save<br />
the only life you could save.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48599/trying-to-name-what-doesnt-change"><b>Trying to Name What Doesn’t Change </b> </a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/naomi-shihab-nye">Naomi Shihab Nye</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Roselva says the only thing that doesn’t change</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">is train tracks. She’s sure of it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The train changes, or the weeds that grow up spidery</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">by the side, but not the tracks.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’ve watched one for three years, she says,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">and it doesn’t curve, doesn’t break, doesn’t grow.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Peter isn’t sure. He saw an abandoned track</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">near Sabinas, Mexico, and says a track without a train</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">is a changed track. The metal wasn’t shiny anymore.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The wood was split and some of the ties were gone.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Every Tuesday on Morales Street</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">butchers crack the necks of a hundred hens.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The widow in the tilted house</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">spices her soup with cinnamon.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ask her what doesn’t change.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stars explode.</span></span></div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-align: right; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The rose curls up as if there is fire in the petals.</span></span></div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-align: right; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The cat who knew me is buried under the bush.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The train whistle still wails its ancient sound</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">but when it goes away, shrinking back</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">from the walls of the brain,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">it takes something different with it every time.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image result for change quotes" class="irc_mi" height="400" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ellevate-app-uploads-production/image_uploads/21459/original/Change1.jpg?1470251729" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ellevatenetwork.com/articles/7572-quotes-to-inspire-you-to-change-the-world">source</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Please share your </span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">new </span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">poem
using Mr. Linky below and visit others in the spirit of the community—</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">(Next week Sumana's Midweek Motif will be ~ </span><span style="color: red;"> A / The Moment</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">.)</span></b></i></span></div>
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<link href="//www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" media="all" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=MGBlog&postid=02Dec2019&meme=12989" type="text/javascript"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-9018086633917269602019-12-01T01:00:00.000-05:002019-12-01T16:37:34.614-05:00Pantry of Poetry and Prose #6<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">December greetings, poets and
storytellers! Yes, </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">December. </span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Can you believe it? My joints can feel it deeply, but… the
rest of me is still wondering what happened to November </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">(and the rest of 2019)</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Well, I have no idea where last month
went, but its last Friday was taken by Rosemary’s </span><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="https://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/2019/11/wild-fridays-moonlight-musings.html" target="_blank">Moonlight Musings</a>: Process and Product</span><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">. If you’ve yet to read it, do go back and take a look-see. Next
week, for December’s first Midweek Motif, Sumana and Susan invite us to explore </span><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">“<i>Change</i>”</span><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Speaking of change that affected </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">(and continues to affect)</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">
a lot of souls, 64 years ago </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">(on December
1, 1955)</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks" target="_blank">Rosa Parks</a> refused to sit on the back
of a bus—where Alabama law said she, and anyone with too much honey in their
skin, belonged. Rosa said </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">enough!</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"> and changed the world. If you need a bit of
inspiration, let your words celebrate Rosa Parks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">It’s Sunday at Poets United, so the
pantry is </span><b><i><span style="font-family: "calisto mt" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">open to both poetry and prose</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: "californian fb" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">(stories, articles, essays… in 369
words or fewer)</span></i><span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">. Your entry can be old or new, the writing
choice is yours. And the reading pleasure is all ours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Feed the direct link to your entry to Mr. Linky. Delight in
the words of other poets and storytellers. And have the best of all days.</span></div>
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Magaly Guerrerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295455026184103230noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-17546217548861101462019-11-29T05:30:00.000-05:002020-08-22T02:16:31.499-04:00Wild Fridays: Moonlight Musings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Process and Product</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was having a facebook chat with Jasmine Logan (whom I featured <a href="https://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/2019/11/wild-fridays-with-rosemary-thought.html">here recently</a>) when she accidentally sent me a photo of a whiteboard she was working on, mapping out a new poem. (She only meant to snap it for her own records.) When I say mapping, I mean mind-mapping.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've known of this technique since first encountering it decades ago in the book 'Writing the Natural Way' by Gabriele Lusser Rico. She called it clustering. Here is an example from her book:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7177EZQNvLyX4R9nHX6ewx8mD8szwxK7MBWJDTKeRtTwq73gYvSLqFahuOBm8MzdNea5058OupU3ttF_WzZf6dFSSvUs7FYDaGyDlkCuEqk65wEo0f9jFmHff_Y1zYO2tDpS3OyOMjojf/s1600/IMG_1311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="947" data-original-width="1558" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7177EZQNvLyX4R9nHX6ewx8mD8szwxK7MBWJDTKeRtTwq73gYvSLqFahuOBm8MzdNea5058OupU3ttF_WzZf6dFSSvUs7FYDaGyDlkCuEqk65wEo0f9jFmHff_Y1zYO2tDpS3OyOMjojf/s400/IMG_1311.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since then it's taken off, been used for many different purposes besides writing, and is taught in schools. It's decades since I tried it as a writing tool, and then only briefly. I did the exercises in Rico's book, and they worked, but somehow the method didn't stick. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I guess that's because, when you've been making poems since age seven, by the time you're an adult you tend to fall back on what's already working. (Much as, having learned to two-finger type when I was nine, I never learned to touch-type later. Every time I tried, I became impatient and went back to what I already did quite well enough for my needs.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Nevertheless I exclaimed to Jasmine, 'I love the way you work!' It looked so active and immediate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I find process fascinating – especially the fact that we can have very different processes, yet all of them can produce excellent poems.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For me, poetry tends to occur as phrases, lines, even whole verses already formed. This happens whether they just bubble up into my consciousness, apparently from nowhere, or whether I decide to write on a particular topic (be that a prompt, or something else that engages me). So I start with what comes into my head, and go from there. Those original words usually do form the beginning of the poem, but sometimes they turn out to be at the end of it or somewhere in the middle, and sometimes they don't stay in the finished poem at all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm like the late Australian poet Judith Rodriguez, who was famously quoted as saying, 'How can I know what a poem will say until I've written it?' Even when I work to a prompt, I don't know where it will take me until I get there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've been intrigued to discover that some of my poet friends work quite differently from that. They start with an idea of what they want to write about, and also have a pretty clear idea of what they wish to say on that topic. At least some of them then explore it in prose until it's expressed coherently, and only then begin to shape it into verse. Some very good poets work like that. It puzzles me, but I can't deny that for them it's an effective technique.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then of course there are many other aspects to process. Some people need quiet in order to create. Noise doesn't bother me; I can tune it out. Some people like specific rituals to help them get into a creative frame of mind; others (including me) dive right in. Some find that listening to music somehow helps the words to flow. (Classical music seems to be what works best for them, I observe. Which may be one reason I don't do that, as I prefer other kinds of music which might not be so conducive. Blues could work; not so sure about heavy metal.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some write best first thing in the morning, others late at night. <br /><br />There are those who like to do a lot of thinking before they put pen to paper – even, in some cases, to go for a walk before they start writing, or to sit and meditate. And of course there are plenty of us now who don't put pen to paper any more, but fingers to keys. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are fiction writers who save newspaper cuttings to get inspiration for plots and characters. There are poets who fill notebooks with lists of words that appeal to them. There are people who go out to cafés to write; others who must have their own desk in their own room; others again whose most productive spot is the kitchen table. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All methods work, but only some of them work for a particular individual. What do you favour?<br /><br /><i>Please tell me in the comments. </i></span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">I'd love to know your thoughts, and read your descriptions of your own processes.</i><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Post-script:</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqBqDvZoOUhuUKNr5Qv0mUwVF52kcdHrShAZLmZRpSGnOmIGyzvbFM5vl3I46ykJgCEvUDStJjJGnoqoipd6HLVi3Phtouz-CRa8Rccb8bomU6Wi7TCuFgy0IGtn5f-qDRYyf4lwvzugb4/s1600/51pCQGlRnlL._SX344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="346" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqBqDvZoOUhuUKNr5Qv0mUwVF52kcdHrShAZLmZRpSGnOmIGyzvbFM5vl3I46ykJgCEvUDStJjJGnoqoipd6HLVi3Phtouz-CRa8Rccb8bomU6Wi7TCuFgy0IGtn5f-qDRYyf4lwvzugb4/s200/51pCQGlRnlL._SX344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="138" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm currently (at the time of preparing this post) reading Patti Smith's latest book, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Year+of+the+Monkey&i=stripbooks-intl-ship&ref=nb_sb_noss">Year of the Monkey</a></i>, and just came to the part where she describes herself and her late friend Sam Shepherd, towards the end of his life, working together on revising a manuscript, '... me reading and transcribing, Sam writing out loud in real time.' <br /><br />She says: 'There are several changes and new passages which he verbalizes to avoid the struggle of writing by hand.' </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He's in a wheelchair at the time she writes of, and can no longer play his cherished Gibson guitar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">She says: 'Some time ago he told me that one must write in absolute solitude, but necessity has shifted his process.'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That would be a good place, aesthetically and philosophically, at which to end this. But wait, there's more! It's an important more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">'Sam adjusts and seems invigorated by the prospect of focusing on something new.'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Over to you! </i></span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="color: red; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Material shared in this post is presented for study and review. Poems, photos, and other writings and images remain the property of the copyright owners, usually the authors.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Rosemary Nissen-Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05913841031559499568noreply@blogger.com27