This week, poet David Bogomolny offers a special prompt chosen by Jaideep Khanduja. It aptly fits the painful life challenges we share.
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​Interested writers are invited to participate by creating a poem with these directives:

• Theme: contrast between light and darkness
• Form: each line must begin with the phrase "In the shadow of..."
• Length: exactly 7 lines
• Tone: a narrative that transitions or oscillates between obscurity and clarity

This poetic form was a first for me. But with all that is happening in our beautiful world, the words came easily. 

​My poem ~ ~ ~

I hope your week finds needed solace and deep peace. A big virtual hug to all... ❤️

Hello, blog friends ~ 

I've another poem to share, based upon the prompt featured in David Bogomolny post. The theme is "The bittersweet, painful, or unsettling aspects of the past and its hold on the present."

With this theme in mind, I will share a childhood experience and then my poem.  

Dad had both hands when I was a youngster. He was a hardworking farmer, who came home every evening covered in dirt and machinery grease. We children were his delight, and after he had his shower, he'd gather us together for games.

We loved one game in particular. Dad would pull out his handkerchief and make a mouse. We'd shriek with amazement as the mouse moved across his hand. I never understood how it moved - until adulthood. 

This short, 30-second clip demonstrates how you can make a moving mouse. 

When I started grade school, Dad had a terrible accident and lost much of his left arm. He could no longer make the little mouse, nor could he do a lot of other things. At first he did not talk. He just sat and looked out the window, his arm propped up high.

Weeks later, Dad went back to the fields. He never spoke about the amputation or his limitations. And we seven children did not dare to bring up the topic. But Dad's decision to return to work forever imprinted on me how to face life's hurdles.

My poem ~ 

​I hope you have a wonderful week. Stay warm! ❤️

Hello blog friends,

Do you have a favorite photo that helps you escape into another time or a different world? I've several treasures that I keep near. The one below is from a journey to Alaska. I didn't climb the mountains in the picture, but I travel to them in my dreams. I can look at this scene and disappear into the misty wonderment. 

I mention the above because Robbie Cheadle has a poetry challenge involving a photo. Her selected, spin-the-bottle, poetry style is a shadorma - a six-line stanza poem written as 3-5-3-3-7-5 syllables. If you'd like to know more, just click on the link above. 

My poem, which I've entitled The Invitation. I hope you like it. 

​I hope you have a wonderful week. Let's all find time to escape into nature - even a virtual one will suffice. ❤️

Hello blog friends,

Earlier today, I visited poet David Bogomolny's blog site, in which he offers an invitation and a prompt for interested poets. The prompt is hope or renewal, and you can read the details by clicking on the link above. 

I've spent much of my life seeking peace. That quest took me to Japan in 1972. I lived in a small home, much like the one below, for five years. My family and I sat and slept on the tatami mats. We did not have chairs or beds. It was a simple but beautiful life, and the environment itself prompted peace. 

​My poem focuses on finding peace.

Below are a few photos of our years in Japan. Two were taken in the countryside, and one is of Jes standing beside our garden. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend -- filled with sunshine and PEACE. ❤️

Hello, blog friends...

It's been quite a week - winter storms, fires, earthquakes, and so much more. My heart aches for all who are struggling with these natural disasters. Blogger Thomas Wikman dives into these phenomena on his site, Super Facts. I've found his posts very helpful and recommend a visit. 

For the last couple of weeks, we've also focused on mysterious drones. People everywhere are asking what are they, and why are they here? I don't have an answer to either question, but the phenomenon prompts me to share an experience. ​

In 1970, my spouse and I rented a farmhouse in Indiana, just west of Purdue University where we were grad students. Grain fields surrounded the home and barn. 

One evening, my husband shouted for me to come outside. I did and froze at what I saw. A large cylindrical craft hovered over our home. I had never seen anything like it before.

I ran back inside the house terrified and called the police. The officer asked if I had been drinking or if I had taken drugs. Once he was convinced I had not, he told me to call the airport at Purdue. I did. This gentleman asked me similar questions and then referred me to Grissom Air Force Base. I made that third call, and the Airman listened and responded, "No one else has reported seeing this craft." There was nothing more I could do. But, in the morning, local farmers told us that they had seen the saucer-shaped craft. 

​Since 1970, I've known that we are not alone in the universe. I've known that these visitors mean no harm. They are far more advanced than we, and if they wanted to do us harm, they could. I don't know who operates the drones, but I doubt it's aliens.

My simple tanka reflects on the quandary. If you are like me, the night sky beckons. 

I recently listened to a sixteen-year-old sing his own song, What If. The final line is, "If I'm a fool for dreaming, then what is left for me." My heart went out to him and to all our youth. They need to dream, to hope, to love. Listening to this child brought me into the future. You and I are creating that future now. Let's be gentle with it. ❤️ 

​I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week.