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)
August 6, 2016 Photo (Photo © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
Ghostly visible
as winter’s “Fresh Blueberries”
summer’s Christmas scene
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly
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I photographed the Christmas scene above last August when we were visiting the kids up north. I wondered how many times I had passed it and not even seen it. It made me think of other things we see and subconsciously ignore because we know they just aren’t relevant. Is there some psychological phenomena behind that? Probably!
This post is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted this week by Carol at Carol’s Corner.
Though right now I’m giving my main attention to another writing project, daily walks still inspire haiku-length ditties. Experience the season with me…
Back gangrenous snow
approves bitter new day clenched
in freezing’s headlock.
Frigid morning—still
Winter’s hit the snooze button
while we watch for Spring.
(Photos © 2017 by V. Nesdoly)
White quilt melted.
Cover’s off for all to see
baby-Spring pink.
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This post is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today by Carol at her Beyond Literacy Link blog. As usual, there’s a wonderful variety of poetry and poetry-related fare available there!
Ice sculptures form in the creek – Photo © 2017 by V. Nesdoly
Frosted black pavement
Slush hillocks turned ice, packed snow
Slippery when wet
Streetlights spot diamonds
Every street a booby-trap
of black ice
East outflow winds
Harsh, strong, glittering, long
freeze-drying Winter
Puffy Capsize coat
Icebreaker socks, Northside boots
my new best friends
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
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Winter has caught my attention. This year we’ve had particularly long cold spells with snow off and on since mid-December. Then mid-day the temperature warms to just above freezing and for a few hours the snow melts till the temps dip again. The pair of sturdy, warm hiking boots I bought way back in October is getting lots of use. No falls on the ice so far!
This post is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted this week by Keri at Keri Recommends.
Though I haven’t joined in on Poetry Friday for a couple of weeks, I’ve enjoyed reading the #haikuforhealing (Mary Lee Hahn’s idea) that keep popping up in my Twitter feed and various blogs this December.
Today I’m bringing my little haiku side-dish to the potluck.
Image scanned from an old Christmas card
Road choked with cars.
She signals merge—let her in…
That’s the spirit!
Smell of poppycock
on my early morning walk—
only at Christmas.
🎼 Chestnuts roasting…
O come all ye faithful 🎹
I’ll be home. 🎶
Christmas Eve—all here,
lists ticked off, fridge full, feet hurt.
Soak in candlelight.
Trash bins overflow
tissue, Santa wrap, packing…
We are so blessed!
© 2016 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
Now, a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah (or whatever winter, or summer [if you’re down-under] holiday you celebrate) to all!
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This post is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today by Buffy Silverman at Buffy’s Blog.
I unfurl my face to you—
now that it’s almost May.
It was a juicy April
with lots of wet-root days.
To January and February’s sparrows and chickadees
my shriveled red ancestors were food.
Leaves paled and lost their grip
driven crazy by November’s gales.
Ripening in August heat,
hard green hips blushed.
It was a May ago
my forbears smiled their last on you.
My forbears smiled their last on you—
it was a May ago.
Hard green hips blushed,
ripening in August heat.
Driven crazy by November’s gales
leaves paled and lost their grip.
My shriveled red ancestors were food
to January and February’s sparrows and chickadees.
With lots of wet-root days
it was a juicy April.
Now that it’s almost May
I unfurl my face to you.
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The April 28th prompt at NaPoWriMo was to write a story poem—backwards. We saw the first wild rose blossoms on our walk yesterday morning, roses were on my mind, so I decided to write a wild rose story.
The challenge to write a Reverso poem (a poem in which the lines are reversed bottom to top, making a second stanza or an entirely new poem) has also been circulating around the Poetry Friday network. So I tinkered with my story until it worked as a Reverso poem of sorts.
However, there is at least one aspect of a Reverso that my poem doesn’t satisfy. In a genuine Reverso, the meaning changes when you change directions. I know I have not achieved that.
A bit of miscellany today and a poem…
The adult colouring craze has come to poetry via Tweetspeak Poetry. I love coloring so it was a natural for me to follow the links on their weekly newsletter, download the pages and have some fun.
Coloring Page – “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe
Coloring Pages – “Birches” by Robert Frost
Find the collection of poetry coloring page links HERE.
I’ve enjoyed writing with other Poetry Friday poets this week. Using prompts from found-object photos collected by Laura Shovan, each day brings a new photo. It is fascinating to see how these photos take the writers in different directions.
On day 9 (Tuesday) the photo was sent in by Mary Lee Hahn. And the poem that photo inspired in me is below the photo.
Found Object for Day 9 – Photo by Mary Lee Hahn
The animals that passed by here
were very focused and in gear
their noses sharp, following prey
perhaps a mate, or the day’s pay.
And the exhaust-filled oily scent
suggests excessive speed their bent.
The younger of this species, though
lie lazy angels in the snow
their tracks often defined by curve
of laughing play and show-off verve.
Go HERE to read all the Tuesday poems. Laura’s doing this challenge to help celebrate her birthday month. I believe this is the third year she’s writing a poem-a-day in February and inviting others to join her. What a great tradition!
This post is linked to Poetry Friday hosted today by Kimberley Moran at Written Reflections.
Branches in frosty bloom (Photo © 2016 by V. Nesdoly)
Spring chooses apple
quince, cherry, plum trees for blooms
but Winter’s crystals,
indiscriminate, flower
any plant whose arms are raised.
© 2016 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
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Last weekend we had a few days of gorgeous hoarfrost. This is not usual here so I was thrilled to have my camera along on Sunday when we walked the path at Derby’s Reach and the whole place was like a giant orchard in bloom. Our rains are back now and the frost is long gone… but not before I got a few photos and a poem.
This post is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today byTabatha Yeatts at her always intriguing blog The Opposite of Indifference.
“Bring the Christmas life into our lives…” (Photo © 2015 by V. Nesdoly)
Bring the Christmas life into our lives.
Don’t let the hustle-hurry steal our joy
the cashier lineups, traffic jams annoy.
Flood us with peace till Christmas day arrives.
Help us to hear the words of Christmas songs
and let them calm us in the busy throngs.
When beggars hold out hands, help us be wise
to see the poor as Jesus in disguise.
At Christmas feast when some dear ones are missed
help us remember, realize through tears
the treasure they have been to us for years
and through them we continue to be blessed.
Welcome, stunned shepherd and wise man who gives.
Welcome the wonder of a silent night.
Christ child who comes with hope and love and light
please bring Your Christmas life into our lives.
© 2015 by Violet Nesdoly
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I wrote this poem two years ago, as the grace prayer for our poetry society’s Christmas potluck. It has a mentor poem—Wendy Cope’s “The Christmas Life” which, I’m sure you’ll agree, is stunning in its beauty and simplicity.
This post is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today by Buffy Silverman at Buffy’s Blog.
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Violet Nesdoly / poems 