Photo © 2018 by V. Nesdoly
Pine boughs
mittened, each finger cuddled
in quilted fleece.
© 2018 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
This morning we awoke to a winter wonderland!
The Capture Your 365 prompt today was “Prompt Free.” How convenient– a perfect invite to capture the snow on a crystalline morning.
I love challenges. I find myself eagerly jumping in to writing and art challenges of all kinds. Keeping up with them is another thing though!
This year my one-little-word is FOCUS, I’m trying to put it into practice by actually imposing some focus on my life. One area of focus is to eliminate some of the extras I get myself into that then end up becoming a burden when life gets busy. Snapping a photo a day and then using that photo as a poem prompt was one thing that I thought perhaps could go. So at the end of January I neglected to download the next month’s list of photo challenges I’ve been using.
I didn’t intentionally not download it—it just slipped my mind. As I started on my walk Thursday, February 1st, I reached automatically for the notebook with the photo list that I keep in my camera bag to see what the prompt was for the day, then realized, there was no point. I hadn’t copied it. In fact, I recalled, I was considering not following it any more at all.
Those thoughts brought on the most surprising feelings. I felt sad, bereft, abandoned, even disoriented. Now what would I look for on my walk? I would miss the mental stimulation of connecting an image with the prompt and thinking of what to say about it.
Then I remembered that I had missed a walk several days earlier and hadn’t snapped something for that prompt. I would do that. I immediately felt better.
The first thing I did when I got home was—you guessed it—downloaded the February photo challenge list. Even FOCUS will not rid me of this little lifestyle habit.
For a while I was sharing these photos and poems every day on Facebook, but it felt a bit much. So I have decided to, from time to time, post some of them here on the poetry blog. No promises, though, so there won’t be any to break!
I’m following the photo challenges from Capture Your 365 (#CY365). The February list is HERE.
Here, are a few photos & poems from last week’s prompts, which was a color week featuring PINK:
Soft intersection
of red and white
Heather confection
Spring delight.
Morning sky
sheets tousled, covers half off
still flushed from sleep.
The pinks of winter are a little blue
from shivering in north and east wind’s strew.
The pinks of winter are a little green
with dreams of leaves to fill the in-between.
The pinks of winter are approaching reds
As spring soft-whispers: “Wake, you sleepy-heads.”
All poems & photos © 2018 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
Last moon of 2017 (photo ©Dec. 31, 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
Welcome to Spiritual Journey (first) Thursday, February edition. Today we’re moodling on the moon.
To tell you the truth, I don’t have much of a relationship with the moon. It’s beautiful, for sure. I do love to see it bulge orange and bountiful over the horizon on a clear evening. I associate moonrises with autumn on the prairie, the thrum of combines and trucks in the background, my dad and uncle taking advantage of every bit of light to gather in the harvest of wheat and oats. But most of the time I feel sorry for the moon staring distant, cold, and lone into the night.
Of course the moon’s prominence, cool beauty, and mystery are impossible to miss. One of my favourite childhood poems was about the moon. You probably know it:
“Slowly silently now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way and that she peers and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;”
Read the rest of “Silver” by Walter de la Mare HERE.
It’s not surprising that the moon has been a worship object in many religions (and probably still is). Its waxing, waning, and connection to tides and seasons surely invest it with mysterious power that is only reinforced by the occasional eclipse. I love the poem “Lunar Eclipse (June 1928)” by D. S. Martin (a poem from his chapbook So the Moon Would Not Be Swallowed—a collection of poems inspired by correspondence from his grandparents who were missionaries in China). In it, he describes the reaction of the Chinese people to the lunar eclipse in June of 1928:
LUNAR ECLIPSE (JUNE 1928)
Yencheng, Honan, ChinaOn Sunday
evening as darkness crept in
the people rushed out
with gongs
& pots & anything to make noise to scare
the heavenly dog
that slowly
very
slowly
ever so slowly
had
placed its jaws about the moon
Read the rest of D.S. Martin’s poem HERE…
My attitude toward the moon has been influenced by my Christian faith and the Bible, which depicts it as one of God’s creations. I love how Genesis describes its beginnings:
“Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night” – Genesis 1:16 (emphasis added).
My poem today was inspired by Psalm 19 (where the moon isn’t mentioned specifically, but we know it is a part of the created heavens).
“The heavens declare the glory of God
And the firmament shows His handiwork.” – Psalm 19:1
“God’s glory is on tour in the skies …
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere” – Psalm 19:1,4 The Message
The stars are reciting
galaxies rhyming
the language of eons
in speed-of-light timing.
The Sun’s dialect
of dangerous rays
is inflected with angles
defining our days.
The Moon serenades
tide, lover and season
chanting its charms
with quarterly reason.
The Heavens are dancing
Truth, Beauty and Wisdom.
The tickets are free,
Earth attendees are welcome!
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All Rights Reserved)
(Glory Tour was first published on Laurel Archer’s 2017 Advent blog.)
Be sure to visit our Spiritual Journey First Thursday hostess, Donna at Mainely Write for links to more moon meditations.
I wasn’t going to join in on Poetry Friday today, then went to Linda’s roundup, found her post on Adelaide Crapsey and the cinquain form, and decided to put something up after all.
The cinquain is one of the short forms I’ve written in when composing poems in response to the daily photography prompts I’ve been following. Here are five (in honor of the cinquain’s five lines) that I’ve written in the past few months. They’ll take you back to spring and onward. (Title is the photo prompt word or phrase.)
Policeman’s helmet (Photo © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
just washed
smell of laundry
policeman’s helmet grows
riotously beside the stream
fresh pink
McBurney Lane art piece (Photo © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
Teamwork
Community
Get involved, Lend a hand
Support, Help out, Volunteer, Care
Give back.
My viewing deck on eclipse morning (Photo © 2017 by V.Nesdoly)
Eclipse—
protect my eyes:
box, tin foil, white paper
pinhole camera in my hand.
Viewed safe.
Bug on a fence (Photo © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
After
stone-bottom burrow
this sleek white thoroughfare
is a bug’s sci-fi fantasy
new world!
Street vendor sugar bowl (Photo © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
Silver
imperfections
can’t hide your sweet intent
like grey hair, wrinkled face of our
Granny
All the above © 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
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This post is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today by Linda at Teacher Dance.
I did it! I wrote a short poem for every day of the summer. A notebook in my Evernote app called “2017 Summer Shorts Poems” now holds 93 of this summer’s daily photos and their accompanying verses.
That I even completed this amazes me. But that I enjoyed it to the last day amazes even more. I think the secret of finishing was that my expectations were low. The poems are all short. I didn’t write every day but did take daily photos and then caught up with the poem-writing when I had the time and the inspiration. And I never got too far behind.
Today I share with you yesterday’s photo and poem of farewell to summer. The photo prompt was “Goodnight Moon.”
Capture Your 365 photo for September 21, 2017: “Goodnight Moon” (© 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
Goodnight moon of blushing gold.
Farewell drowsy heat of noon.
Mornings now are crisp and cold
falling leaves and frost come soon.
Autumn’s winds and rains are bold
I would love a summer rune.
Through these lines your charms I’ll hold
till you come again next June.
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
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This post is linked to the Poetry Friday, hosted today by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm where on Tuesday she celebrated the actual birth day of her new book Read! Read! Read!
My last Summer 2017 Poetry Swap parcel arrived this week and I was quite bowled over by it. Linda Baie sure knows how to pack a lot of goodies into a little bubble mailer!
She sent me—a pocket! How perfect for a habitual walker who is always grabbing for a tissue or a notebook or a camera out of her pocket!
This pocket was packed with: a personal note, a notebook, a Pilot pen (even the brand name seems perfect), mints, a (real cloth embroidered) hankie, a couple of pine cones along with a legend about them (perfect to entertain my grands!), a piece of petrified wood, a poem bookmark, and the most darling little black feather you ever saw!
Pocket treasures from Linda B. – Summer 2017 Poetry Swap (Photo by V. Nesdoly)
And this poem… (Linda, you are amazing! – Thank you!!)
Linda, you’ve tied it up perfectly with those last five lines: “doing art … gathering bouquets of images … a crystal vase of ideas.” I’m totally inspired!
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This post is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today by poet and photographer Jone at Check It Out.
There, Jone challenges us to an Acrostic. Well, I just happen to have one in my Summer Shorts (poem-a-day photo-challenge project). It’s all about the PRODUCE (the August 3rd #CY365 prompt)
Photo for “Produce – #CY365 for August 3, 2017 (© 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
PRODUCE
Parsnip, turnip, bok choy
Rutabaga, beet
Orange carrots in a row
Daikon long and white
Under produce mirror-bin
Cabbage doubles round and green–those
Egos swell as veggies preen
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
My summer poem project has given me a lot of joy… and it’s far from over. As I mentioned yesterday, I’m working on Summer Shorts, a project that combines my love of photography with my desire for poetry to be part of everyday life. Summer Shorts is writing a short poem a day, every day of summer (June 21 to September 21) based on the photo I take from the Capture Your 365 photo challenge.
I actually don’t write every day, but do take a photo every day. On days when I have extra time, I catch up, though often I find these poems practically write themselves during my walk, as words and lines come to me. I always carry a notebook, so I perch myself on a railing or park bench and capture those flighty thoughts mid-walk. Because I’ve promised myself these poems will be short, it’s not intimidating. Who can’t write 3 to 6 lines a day?
Most of the photo challenges are different each day. But a few keep recurring every month. One such is “Where I Stand.” Here’s my “Where I Stand” photo and poem for July 21st. (It happens to be the longest poem in the collection so far… a few over my required 6 lines.)
#CY365 photo for July 21, 2017 – “Where I Stand” (Photo © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
pat a dog,
photo the fog
pick a bloom,
pixel a room
chat with a friend
ponder the bend
follow my nose
to smell a rose
stop for a hare
hopping who knows where
admire the herd
find the lyric bird
be lured to tarry
and munch on a berry
my motto for a summer walk:
“Always be prepared to stop!”
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
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This post is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today by our very talented troubadour Donna at Mainely Write.
“May the magpie of happiness return to roost in our trees” – Chinese saying
Pica pica please don’t fly away
Our smoggy air is not a Four Pest ploy.
For health, good fortune, wedded bliss please stay.
We need your dapper black and white for joy.
So you are thief, rogue, louder than a jay
deceptive, sneaky, flashy, brash and coy.
Bold happy bird don’t disappear in grey.
Without you I won’t be a lucky boy!
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
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Prompt – Inspiration
This is another poem inspired by one of the photos in the Shadows and Silhouettes collection from the Boston Globe. This poem was in response to photo is #24
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This April I’m celebrating National Poetry Month by posting some not-as-yet published poems from my files, along with what inspired them. If the prompt inspires you to write a poem of your own, you’re welcome to share it in comments. Just one more day and we’re done with posting this collection. It’s gone by quickly. Thanks for dropping by!
Collage of Rhododendrons (Photos © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
Polka dots, ruffles
salmon pink haute couture
let’s hear it for Rhodos
sweet, classic, demure,
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All Rights Reserved)
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Prompt – Inspiration:
Around this time of year, the rhododendrons start opening in all their glory around here. This carries on through May. This April 2014 poem was inspired by rhododendrons.
~*~*~*~*~
This April I’m celebrating National Poetry Month by posting some not-as-yet published poems from my files, along with what inspired them. If the prompt inspires you to write a poem of your own, you’re welcome to share it in comments. Whether you write or not, thanks so much for dropping by!
Along the Kicking Horse River – Golden B.C. (Photo © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
“By Your favour, O Lord, You have made my mountain stand strong.” Psalm 30:7
The hill outside my Golden Motel
is a face of barren gravel
nourishing only weeds
though pines grow up
it’s angled backbone—
everyday grace from hard mercy.
The gunmetal peak
rising behind it
appears impermeable, immovable.
Now partly obscured
by morning vapours
it speaks of Your faithfulness
there whether I see it or not.
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
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Prompt – Inspiration
Scene from a window: I wrote this while on holidays in July 2013, looking at the mountain outside our Golden B.C. motel window.
~*~*~*~*~
This April I’m celebrating National Poetry Month by posting some not-as-yet published poems from my files, along with what inspired them. If the prompt inspires you to write a poem of your own, you’re welcome to share it in comments. Whether you write or not, thanks so much for dropping by!
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