First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my American friends!
On December 11th last year, an apartment complex that I pass on one of my walking routes burned.
Apartment fire – December 11, 2016 (Photo © 2016 by V. Nesdoly)
It wasn’t totally destroyed but has been unliveable these many months as it’s being repaired.
Though it’s not the most beautiful subject, there is something compelling about repairs going on behind curtains month after month and so it has been my photo / poem subject several times in the last while. On July 25th, in response to the photo prompt “Layered,” I took the photo below and wrote about it (in a shadorma):
Apartment repairs – July 2017 (Photo © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
Layered
One afternoon
massive fire engulfed
water wrecked
smoke sullied.
Months later still rebuilding
layer by layer.
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
On October 16th in response to the photo challenge “Deconstruction.” I photographed and wrote about it again (this time in a senryu):
Apartment sheers – October 2017 (Photo © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
Deconstruction
Construction gauze—
band-aids for fire-singed rooms
healing their scars
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
It will be a happy day when all that reconstruction is done and its people can move back in. (And so I’ll probably write about it again.)
I’m adding that last ditty to Michelle Heidenrich Barnes’ November Padlet, where this month’s challenge is to “write a poem that finds beauty in something that is not usually considered beautiful.”
Oh, and speaking of Michelle, she’s just completed the publication of The Best of Today’s Little Ditty 2016. I’m pretty stoked to have a couple of poems in that volume. What a great collection of poems from all the lovely Poetry Friday peeps! Congratulations, Michelle (and committee) for another great book!
(To add icing to that ditty cake–between when I posted this and now, my physical copy of the book arrived! It’s so cool to hold it in my hands!)
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This poem is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today by Carol, at Carol’s Corner.
Violet Nesdoly / poems 
margaretsmn
November 23, 2017 at 10:10 am
I have not heard of this form before. Makes me want to try it. Layer by layer, our lives are put back together. Thanks for sharing.
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Violet Nesdoly
November 23, 2017 at 10:37 am
Thanks, Margaret! I assume you’re speaking of the Shadorma as being a new form to you? It’s really a lovely and versatile form. The only rules, as far as I have found is a syllable count for each line: 3|5|3|3|7|5 = 26 syllables in all.
And yes, that building in reconstruction is rich with imagery!
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Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
November 24, 2017 at 7:28 am
Wow, you are getting good mileage out of this building’s reconstruction, Violet! The senryu is perfect for this month’s challenge—I’m so glad you contributed it to the padlet. Healing is a beautiful and precious thing, indeed. I only wish it was easier to come by. Enjoy your copy of The Best of TLD!
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Violet Nesdoly
November 24, 2017 at 8:05 am
Why, thanks, Michelle! And I am enjoying the book. A lot!
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Brenda Davis Harsham
November 24, 2017 at 7:52 am
This is a good reminder that tragedies aren’t the end. They are a pause, and then life rebuilds.
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Violet Nesdoly
November 24, 2017 at 8:10 pm
What a great way to put it, Brenda: “a pause.” I’ve experienced a few of those and I’m sure you have too. When I am in the middle of them, I recall a favourite quote of a pastor of ours: “No condition is permanent,” (though it seems like it sometimes!).
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Brenda Davis Harsham
November 25, 2017 at 5:48 am
Very true. Every strong feeling eventually passes away, just leaving a lingering ghost behind.
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maryleehahn
November 24, 2017 at 1:56 pm
What a tribute to the life force that heals and repairs and moves on!
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Violet Nesdoly
November 24, 2017 at 8:11 pm
Right on, Mary Lee!
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Buffy Silverman
November 24, 2017 at 3:19 pm
I had not heard of a shadorma either. Interesting form–and I love the layer by layer ending of your poem.
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Violet Nesdoly
November 24, 2017 at 8:13 pm
Thanks, Buffy!
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Michelle Kogan Art, Illustration, & Writing
November 24, 2017 at 4:07 pm
I think the two sets of compound (dashed words) fit so well, they are a stop action as the process goes on. They also seem to fit the tiered layers of the building itself. I await your next poem on the reconstruction’s completion … Thanks Violet! Thanks for sharing the shadorma too.
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Violet Nesdoly
November 24, 2017 at 8:16 pm
Thanks, Michelle! I know I’ll rejoice when all the signs of re-construction are gone from that site. (I feel implicated in its restoration in some strange way.)
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lindabaie
November 24, 2017 at 4:49 pm
We lived in a condo when first in Denver, and one night the building across from us burned. I was able to see inside one of the places-totally gone. They told us it was the chemicals in the carpet that made such a hot fire, burning everything else. I love that you see this re-construction as something beautiful, a new idea for me. Now I’m hoping that they work fast so the dwellers can re-claim their homes. Thanks, Violet, and for the shadorma form too. I guess I missed that when you posted earlier.
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Violet Nesdoly
November 24, 2017 at 8:21 pm
Oh my, Linda, that sounds like a terrifying fire. And yes, with all the chemicals they put in carpets and other building materials these days (not to speak of the hot-burning lithium batteries that are in our computers, tablets and cell phones), I can believe the phenomenon of extra hot fires. It gives me pause, as we also live in a townhouse. That building’s fire was caused by a smoldering cigarette, I believe… such a little thing to cause grief for so many!
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Sally Murphy (@sallymurphy)
November 24, 2017 at 7:17 pm
Love both your poems and the way that this reconstruction is becoming a series. I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
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Violet Nesdoly
November 24, 2017 at 8:22 pm
Thank you, Sally! Maybe one of these days there will be a sequel. I hope it’s sooner than later!
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Linda Mitchell
November 25, 2017 at 3:13 am
Oh, my. I love how you see life rebuilding after the flames…the reconstruction. What positive. What life affirmation is in your photo and words. I think you’ve found a metaphor for a new collection. I always learn something wonderful when I visit you, Violet. Thank you.
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Kay McGriff (@kaymcgriff)
November 25, 2017 at 3:42 pm
Thank you for teaching me a new form. I just learned of it reading Margaret’s post (which she learned from you). I love your focus on the rebuilding and reconstruction that comes from/after the fire.
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Violet Nesdoly
November 25, 2017 at 6:16 pm
Thanks, Kay! So pleased that the shadorma is catching on… and surprised that it’s new to so many. I think i picked it up from another community of poets, and just assumed it was widely used. Happy writing!
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