There's no leap year this year, so this is my final post for February

Wow!  What a month!  It's been challenging, but a lot of fun.  And because of the hard work and generosity of all the prompt site creators out there whose word gems and thought-provoking pictures helped to spark my imagination, I've not only written a months' worth of crazy musings, but I've also gotten to (virtually) meet some extraordinarily talented poets and writers along the way.  Thank you so much.

Monday's Child posted a playful illustration by Will Terry...

Where Are We At?

Bunny, Frog, Fox and Cat

said, “We’re lost!  Where are we at?”

Fox told Cat, Frog and Bunny,

“I don’t find this very funny.”

                        

Cat made Fox, Bunny and Frog

turn the map upon the log,

which showed that they were headed west

instead of north, which seemed the best

way to find their trail back to

familiar ground – quite overdue

were they for lunch.  Still maybe they

could get a bite.  But anyway…

Frog, Cat, Bunny and Fox

went home to eat.  Goodbye, sandbox. 

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...and SiS/Few Miles provided a picture prompt that is simply full of metaphor.

 
Not the End of the Line – Train of Thought

…and then it hit me

like a steam locomotive…

I am right on track.

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I'd like to thank the Academy...

Tonight is...The Academy Awards.  

Yes, it is the night of nights when actors, directors, producers and (anyone fortunate enough to be in their entourages) get to strut the red carpet draped from head to toe in the top designers' glittering formal gowns, dashing tuxes and bejeweled formal accessories. These 'outfits' can run the gamut from the utterly brilliant and subtly elegant to (how shall I put this?) bizarre, strange and/or downright ugly. You know what I mean, right?

But then, once inside the Kodak Theatre, all those individuals in the hautest of haute couture will wait with bated breath to see 1.) if Joan Rivers will totally diss their ensembles, and 2.) if they will be the lucky (and of course, most deserving) ones to win one (or more) of the coveted awards.

So, in honor of Oscar, the famed gold statuette being awarded tonight for all the different categories of excellence in film, I am presenting two 5/7/5 haiku based on prompts from Sunday Scribblings (Fire) and SiS/Few Miles (Eternal.)

And the 'ku goes to...

Epic Red Carpet Fail

“Eternal nothingness if fine if you happen to be dressed for it.” ~Woody Allen

On the red carpet

you’ll be eternally damned

for fashion faux pas.

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…And the Oscar Goes to…

Talent is a flame.  Genius is a fire. ~Bern Williams

Which burns more brightly –

actors who win the awards

or those who shoulda?

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And on that note, with just 45 seconds allowed for acceptance speeches, I shall just say thank you - and good night.

At the Improv

"Improvisation is haphazard." -Leo Ornstein

'Jazz Improvisation' by Vahram

Indeed, it is.

Today's theme is improvisation.  You know - like extemporaneous speech, making it up as you go, etc.  Haphazard, but fun.

Writer's Island posted the word 'improvise' as today's prompt, and that was my improvisational jumping off point, so to speak.  SiS/Few Miles posted a wonderful picture prompt, which continues the theme here, and finally, Poetry Tow Truck posted a really cool 'beginning and end' prompt in which writers were asked to choose a poem, take the first two lines, list the first line vertically (word by word) on the left margin and then the second line vertically to parallel the first on the right margin - and then write a poem using the two words in each column as the first and last words in each line of a new poem.  (You'll see what I mean shortly.)

Interestingly enough, because of the nature of that last prompt, I did not write in poetic form of any sort for the last poem, but rather, it's a free verse kind of poem (gasp!) since I was (yep, you got it!) improvising.

Improvise

"Don’t play what’s there; play what’s not there." ~Miles Davis

Create on the fly,

banish your inner critic

and see what happens.

###

I leapt in the air

improvising flight, like birds

in a sunrise song.

###

Improvisation 10 by Wassily Kandinsky

Improvision

You think, I don’t really know my lines. Not well enough, anyway.  A

'watch time' guard is glaring at you. You feel a bit ghostly

yourself, but you figure

I will just improvise and carry on.

Watch the crowd.  Their reaction is what counts. The…

the…the crowd seems to like you!  It’s an applause garden!

Watcher-dude is also clapping.  Emotion reverberates off each wall,

too.

Take a bow.

###

Where the third poem came from:

By the Round Pond by Wendy Cope, from her book If I Don’t Know

                                         

You watch yourself.  You watch the watcher too –

A ghostly figure on the garden wall.

You	a
watch	ghostly
yourself	figure
you	on
watch	the
the	garden
watcher	wall
too

Hazy Holidays

Image courtesy of Space.com

Yeah, I know I did the holiday thing a few days ago, but Big Tent Poetry wants to see holiday-ish (or anti-holiday-ish) writings for today.  What’s a girl to do?

Add to that the fact that SiS/Few Miles gave the hazy, crazy prompt of ‘haze,’ and you can see where this is all going.  Or maybe not, since it really is a bit hazy right now, but anyway...

So, first, I'm posting some more 5/7/5 Haiku poems (see stuff below) and then afterward, I’m gonna check out all the nice comments I’ve gotten in the last couple of days, which I haven’t been able to do due to a hectic schedule and other stuff (am I being too hazy about this?) – and then I'll do the return visit thing, too.  But in the meantime...

Haze Affirmation

The sky is filled with stars; invisible by day. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

If I look beyond

the haze of the commonplace

I can see the stars.

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Now let’s tackle the holidays.  I checked my sources (see Holiday post) for weird celebrations.  Since this is the start of a weekend, I decided to list holidays for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which means you're gonna get a 5/7/5 Haiku for each of the three days. Wow.  Just.  Wow.

Friday the 25^th

Pistol Patent Day (Samuel Colt)

Go Bowling Day

Renoir was born today in 1841

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

If Renoir painted

bowling balls, alleys would have

striking impressions.

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Saturday the 26^th

Open that Bottle Night

International Sword Swallowers Day

Carnival Day

Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Ring Finger Day

For Pete’s Sake Day

National Pistachio Day

American Birkenbeider Race (according to Birkie, it’s a mondo crazy race for outdoor fitness enthusiasts)

 Sunday the 27^th

Polar Bear Day

Flip a Pancake Day

No Brainer Day

Longfellow was born today in 1807 (and now you know why I used the quote in the Haze Haiku)

 

Image courtesy of Biomes

It’s Polar Bear Day

and if you mess with this bear

it’s No Brainer Day.

###

Have a nice weekend...and celebrate!

 

Picture 'Ku

Continuing on a Haiku high, here are two more 5/7/5s, inspired by SiS/Few Miles (pencil) and Theme Thursday (lighthouse.)  Thanks for stopping by!

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Yes, we have no bananas, but we're bananas about Haiku!

Image courtesy of Kaboodle

Today's prompts are just chock full of sibilants.  Ah yes, that famous fricative 'Ssss' sound.  And what are these 'S'-ish words?  We Write Poems' prompt is Safe place, SiS/Few Miles' prompt is 'Scintillate' and Three Word Wednesday's prompt is 'figure, juicy and StreSS.

So, I decided to write a bunch of 5/7/5 Haiku for the occasion - and then I titled my post 'Bananas...' because I realized we're we're out of bananas here.  (That's what happens when you write a shopping list and a blog post at the same time.) But just so you know, this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with any of my poems, except I kind of went bananas with the 5/7/5 stuff.  But anyway...

The Haiku Collection of Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

Dangerous Puddles Ahead

Way I figure it,

slipping on spilt Juicy Juice

could cause stress fractures.

Anagrams of Scintillate

Elastic Lint is

one example.  So are these:

Titanic Sell and

Lilac Tints I and

La Insect Lit.  Pretty weird

take on the prompt, huh?

Meditation

Think of warmth, comfort.

Imagine gentle voices

welcoming you home.

Cracker

Put your ear up close,

turn the dial ‘til you hear clicks,

then take out the stash.

Home Safe

He leaned off third base

waiting to hear that kerrrr-ack

which would send him home.

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A Hodge Podge of Thoughts

There really isn't any particular theme connecting the following poems posted today, except for the fact that they were all generated by Tuesday prompt sites...just some random writing.  Some are humorous, others - not so much.  To be honest, I never really know where my muse will take me, but that's a muse, by definition.  Right?

Magpie Tales provided a picture prompt ~

the puzzled pieces

of Christchurch lie in ruins

six point three is dire

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Sis/Few Miles also provided a picture prompt ~

I had a weird thought:

what if wings were a staircase

with cloud banisters?

Should one tap dance up;

slide down to the newel post

or just ponder flight?

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and finally, Carry On Tuesday provided the word/quote prompt of, "Parting is such sweet sorrow..."

Painting by Ford Maddox Brown, 1868-71

 

 

Shakespeare’s Editing Notes From Romeo and Juliet Act II, Scene 2 (as a Luc Bat)

Parting? Doth that be sweet?

Hmmm…How shalt one complete that line?

Who sayeth that?  Define!!!???

Romeo?  Nay.  Assign such speech

to… Juliet! She’d beseech

Romeo to stay  … Each goodbye

for young lovers?  To die!

(This be the crux!) And I’ll direct

them to tragic effect. 

Foreshadowing unchecked, barrow*

shalt they be to’morrow.  

Ah!  Parting is such sweet sorrow…

(*Note: barrow means a large pile of earth over an ancient grave where one or more people are buried.)

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Tea Time

Image courtesy of Metal-Art-Decor

Today's post is all about tea.  Iced tea.  Hot tea.  Sweet tea.  Oolong tea.  Chai latte tea.  Tea & Sympathy.  Tea cup.  Tea time.

SiS/Few Miles proposed the word prompt of 'bliss' and Monday's Child posted a playful illustration by Jessie Wilcox Smith (1914) of a small garden party.

Of course, I thought of tea.  Wouldn't you?

My first poem today is the ubiquitous 5/7/5 haiku and my second poem is a Canzonetta. So...sit back, take a nice comforting sip...and enjoy.

Tea & Books

“Tea and books – Mmmmmm, two of life's exquisite pleasures that together bring near-bliss.” ~Christine Hanrahan

I sippa cuppa

while reading a cozy book.

Ah, what bliss this is.

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Tea Party

Sipping some tea, just my monkey and me,

telling each other cute poems and tales,

pondering things like the crybaby tree

or potpourri - or the song of blue whales

or the word for “dot over ‘i’” (tittle!)

or bats (they turn left, leaving a cave.) ...Or…?

Then, we sip sweet tea, nibble a little.

We munch and we chat – since this we each savor.

Giggling at jokes, just my monkey and me,

telling each other some weird but true facts

like…porcupines float in water, you see

and slugs have four noses (strange to the max!)

I just found out snails can sleep for three years.

We really don’t know which fact is our fave...or…?

We try a new biscuit that’s known as ‘pig’s ears.’

We munch and we chat – since this we each savor.

Cleaning the dishes, my monkey and me.

He washes; I dry.  We put away stuff.

He says, “Under black light, what glows?  Cat pee!”

I laugh ‘til I cry out, “Gaaah, that’s enough!”

Tea with my monkey is always a blast.

I never can guess what might happen...or…?

Next week we’ll hoot once more, at our repast.

We'll munch and we'll chat – since this we each savor.

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Yikes and Yum

Yikes and yum!

Yikes because I still have to do the Poetry Tow Truck poem (see yesterday's prompt), thank the nice folks who dropped by to write sweet comments here and also, visit, read and comment on a whole passel of blogs by the writers and poets whose work I have really gotten into big time in the last few weeks.

Yum because I bought a brand new fondue pot today and - much to my family's delight - made a delish cheese fondue for dinner tonight.

Since Sunday Scribblings wanted us to write about food, I did a poem all about (what else?) fondue.

And since I was in a festive mood about the fondue thing, I kept the spirit going in a 5/7/5 haiku inspired by the photo prompt of Sis/Few Miles.

Here we go!

Image courtesy of Chalet Ticino

O Fondue, I’m Fond of You

Apple slices, cubed baguette,

veggies julienned, and set

on a platter, to be dipped

in a pot that’s been equipped

with some shredded Emmenthal,

Gruyère, white wine, and a small

dash of nutmeg, pepper too,

and some Kirsch and garlic.  Ooooh!

Take a long fork.  Figure eight -

dunk some bread; then on your plate.

If you drop those speared bits - Ooooh!

Kiss the person next to you.

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Honey of an Invitation

Bzzz!  Make a beeline

to Polly Nation’s Party!

Bee there or bee square!

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You never know what you might find...

Poetry Tow Truck has an really unique, interesting idea - watch a TV show, but don't watch the people.  Instead, check out the background on the show, list what you see (or find) there - and write something about that.  Because first, I have to find the time to watch some TV, those thoughts will find themselves in a later post (later today, that is.)

But in the meantime, if you check their pages, you'll be sure to find some cool word prompts at Sis/Few Miles and Writer's Island.  SiS/Few Miles' word today?  Debris.  Writer's Island 's word today?  Foretell.

And with that, let me just add that I hope you find this post entertaining and fun.

Image courtesy of Zazzle

Dumpster Diving

Hate to throw stuff out?

Disposophobia leads

to debris rescue.

(Disposophobia, as the name implies, means fear of throwing stuff out.  And just so you know, I don't actually do dumpster diving...I just thought it was a real find as far as subject matter was concerned.)

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Image courtesy of Hey Miller

The Fortune Teller Speaks

Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future. ~Niels Bohr

I foretell these very things:

earthquake, war and plague,

but also joy and happiness,

since I predict it vague.

The future is uncertain

and that we know for sure.

But cross my palm with silver ~

there’s more ‘nebulous’ in store.

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Books from the World Tree

Two very interesting prompts came down the pike for today.  One was a photo prompt (for the Haiku Challenge) from SiS/Few Miles.  The other was a word prompt from Big Tent Poetry, which essentially said to make a list of 10 titles for one's next book; then choose one of the titles and write a poem from that title.

*Warning:  Shameless Plug Time!  My first (and, at least right now, only) published book of poetry, Mugging for the Camera, (a full length collection of quirky, humorous works) included a poem of the same name, which I wrote especially for the frontispiece of the book.  Cool, right?  (Okay, so buy the book!  Available from Virtualbookworm.com, Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble online, etc.)  End of shameless plug.*

Anyway, both were fun and challenging prompts.  The first poem borrows a bit from Norse mythology.  The second...well, you'll see.  And by the way, for the second poem, the poetic form is called Hymnal Measure.

 

Yggdrasil 

Beneath my old roots

wisdom and fate greet the world…

mythologically.

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Image courtesy of Being Latino

Clever?  Whatever.

In the course of human events,

we try to find the wit.

At times that sway shows little sense;

still humor rocks.  Get it?!

Yes, versifying pun or quip

seems to be most clever.

Life’s just a jolly comic strip

so… let’s laugh it up…whatever.

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My List of Titles 

1.  Laughter is the Jest Medicine

2.  Puny Puns

3.  The Spam Folder

4.  It’s Takes a Sheaf (of Paper)

5.  Random Versifying

6.  Lip Syncing Off-Key

7.  Obtuse Angles

8.  The Font of No-Ledge (Belle Lettres in Sans Serif)

9.  Don’t Stand Downword

10. Clever?  Whatever.

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