For Joy

I never expected to make the journey that pulls you toward helplessness and illness and demands you step up. The journey that structures your life around spoon feedings during Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune and whatever else crawls across the tv while you’re coaxing your loved one to eat. It was a journey of patience and perseverance, of constant advocacy for excellence of care, of schedules and massages, hair brushing and body-turning. It was a journey of acceptance for the inevitable but without a thought of giving up. It was a journey I was honored to travel, one in which I … Continue reading For Joy

Forgotten Woman

If I died alone in a nursing home would anyone notice or would I be just another old lady leaving a bed for another old lady, just another pair of hands to fold over a sunken chest, the heart beneath long ago stilled by loneliness. If I died alone in a nursing home would my spirit have been strengthened by endurance and faith or would sweet relief from long days of bed sores and liquid feedings, from hurried and impatient caregivers be welcomed. If I died alone in a nursing home would anything that went before even matter. ***** Writing … Continue reading Forgotten Woman

The Poet is Highjacked from National Poetry Month

  It’s your fault, New York. You grabbed me by the heart and shook out all the doubts, all the fears, all the hurts and disappointments. You ran your fingers around my brain, pulled out all the murky stuff and replaced it with the brightness of yellow taxis streaking down the avenues, the open-faced grins of locals walking dogs, the clinking glasses and laughter of after-work drinks, children running through spring kissed grass in Central Park. You, New York, you are the reason I forgot about National Poetry Month and didn’t write a single poem for nine days because you … Continue reading The Poet is Highjacked from National Poetry Month

Morning Meditation: Pink Ladies

The Pink Ladies are blooming. I saw the first ones this April morning in between the sidewalk cracks, so fragile in their beauty. But what resilience and strength it takes to grow in the midst of concrete and exhaust fumes. Little flowers, you remind us to make the most of ourselves in an indifferent world. To embrace our lot in life and grow! Continue reading Morning Meditation: Pink Ladies

That Feeling of Drowning

It doesn’t take water to drown. It only takes an absence of air from a shock to the system. That one tiny moment when disbelief dissolves recognition or grief consumes reason. The moment that expands in waves onto your private beach bringing a loss of direction, a losing of way, a distortion of things once solid. Falling into murky silence where everything is muffled, the insulation entices. Just close your eyes and drift. Continue reading That Feeling of Drowning

Hot Reads and Peggy Sue

Peggy Sue April has come and gone and nothing about it turned out as I’d planned. I had to drop out of PoMoSco because life got in the way.  Real life, nuts and bolts and shit happens life. But I did get in a few poems and I think with some editing I’ll have some decent work out of it.  I didn’t even start a poetry online course I’d signed up for, which makes me sad, but at least I did read some good poetry in between all the running around I did before falling into bed each night, usually well … Continue reading Hot Reads and Peggy Sue

And on the seventh day…

she was astonished to have written seven poems, thanks to PoMoSco.  I wrote about my trepidation earlier on joining this project but I needn’t have worried. It’s proving to be a good boost for my creativity plus I’ve “met” some nice people and talented poets. I’ve written about everything from unicorns to the hurricane. Here’s my page, if you care to check it out. The only down side is that I have less time to read my usual sites and blogs but don’t think I’ve forgotten you, bloggers and writers! I’ll be back to visiting and commenting regularly next month. … Continue reading And on the seventh day…

The Dotted Line

Yep. I’ve signed on it, virtually speaking. And now I’m getting the jitters and doubts and semi-regrets because, as much as it pains me to say it, I’m not a joiner.  But recently I’ve agreed to do several things, join things, show up, participate, chime in, stretch. The closer the start time gets, the more I think about pulling out and so I’m trying really hard to convince myself that I can do these things, that I just have to organize and structure my time effectively. April 1 is the beginning of National Poetry Month (NaPoMo) and I’ve signed up … Continue reading The Dotted Line

Writings and Musings

April is National Poetry Month and I have let it slip by without a mention on this blog I’ve dedicated to my own poetic attempts. There are so many talented poets out there in internet-land that I’ve had the privledge of reading and I wish I’d had the time and strength to write about them all here, to share their words with you. I wish I had the time to read the work of those who read mine but I only am able to be online in fits and starts – a few minutes here, an hour there. I’m feeling … Continue reading Writings and Musings