PAD 9 So blank

So Close Yet So Far

Freshman year 1976-1977

Met my husband, got married

Had kids, began raising them

Wrote, moved back east

Helped aging parents

Wrote, moved back west  

Homeschooled kids, wrote

Sophomore year 1996-1997

Built house, wrote books,

Finished homeschooling kids

Junior year 2015-2016

Host home, wrote, travel

Senior year 2016-2017

College graduation this October.

So close, yet so far. 

PAD 8 panic sijo

Don’t Panic, Be Creative

Asked to teach four-year-olds’-class evening church in big city.

Icy streets, old copier, needing handouts, okay wing it.

Performing healing of blind man with thirty-three short actors.

PAD 8 panic

Panic Attack

I can’t say I’ve ever had one,

but I came close.

on a packed plane.

No room to move.

The overhead seemed too low.

I struggled for breath.

I squirmed and wiggled

and played with my laptop

taking it in and out of the back pocket

until the man in front of me growled.

I leaned back, stilled myself

and breathed in my coffin

until they let me out.

PAD 8 panic

Panic

That feeling

of being paralyzed

from the inside out.

PAD 7 discover shadorma

Hiking to

A view seldom seen

Wild flowers

Waterfalls

Fallen log across a creek

Clear lake to dream by

PAD 7 Discovery acrostic

Discovery

D etecting a need is the first place to start.

I nnovation you feed, searching the heart.

S ighting the answer leads to what’s true.

C arefully unearthing the right thing to do.

O ptimistically inventing a way to succeed.

V ictoriously finding the life-giving seed.

E ncountering hope and joy that it brings.

R adically locating new spiritual wings.

Y es! A breakthrough, the day that you flew.

PAD 7 Discovery

When We Discovered You

When I was a teen and

my best friend’s enemy

turned nice, we wondered

what happened to her.

You happened to her.

When we followed up

on an invitation

she extended to us

to go to a Bible Study,

we discovered You, too.

PAD 6 sound rispetto

Springtime Sound

The mower sounds its grumble growl

Now near, now far, it stutters, stops

Reminding me it’s springtime now

The added work, my spirit drops

Persistent rumble fills my brain

It’s time to mow the lawn again

The air is sweet, fresh smells are great

But it’s the yardwork that I hate

PAD 6 sounds nonet

Fame and Fortune

Once I had to work at McDonald’s. 

I cashiered, swept the dining room,

Washed pots, poured pop, made french-fries.

I still know two ounces.

When fries hit the grease

Sounds like applause.

On-stage dreams.

Yay me!

Star.

PAD 6 sounds

Refrigerator Ghosts

My refrigerator is haunted.

Maybe by the ghosts

of all the animals

that pass through it:

chickens, cows, pigs and fish.

Thunks, hums, rumbles taps, moans.

Sometimes I fall asleep in the living room.

I wake up in the dark, startled. What’s that?

I must remind myself,

it’s just my haunted refrigerator.

PAD 5 elements abracadabra

Grandfather

The silver shimmers in his hair

His smile a line-of-wisdom curve

Deserving all respect we give

And tender graces we can share

Gold treasure’s hidden deep within

Let’s mine it now while he’s aware

The stories of his bygone days

Can fill the minutes we can spare

He lived a life to love and serve

Deserving all respect we give

It’s time to show him that we care

PAD 5 elements lune

New glasses

Blue titanium

Hope they last

PAD 5 elements

Treasures of Gold

When my great aunt and uncle

celebrated their 50^th anniversary,

surrounded by gold, glittery things:

goldware, jewelry, candy dishes,  

Aunt Ruth picked up the napkin holder

my cousin made of popsicle sticks

and spray painted gold, announcing,

“This is my favorite!” 

PAD 4 beginning/end Hay(na)ku

 Stop

Think, breathe

Take first step

PAD 4 beginning/end Gogyohka

Beginning

Fresh start sparks excitement

Discoveries

Adventures

New friends

Becomes the new old

PAD 4 Beginning/End 3 haikus

Too Novel

The summer begins

a lengthy, complex novel

Two young people meet

Relationship sparks

Marry, fighting, back and forth

Through all the stages

The winter begins

Learning to let love prevail

Holding wrinkled hands

PAD 3 Blank of love, triolet

A Song of Love

The blue birds chirp along the trail

The children chatter playfully

Miss Kathy stops to tell a tale

The blue birds chirp along the trail

Inside their houses all is well

She shares her land most graciously

The blue birds chirp along the trail

The children chatter playfully

PAD 3 Blank of Love, tricube

Basket of Love

Chocolate

Rose bouquet

Poetry

Earthen mug

Flavored tea

Pink ribbon

Greeting card

Well wishes

Dear Grandma

PAD 3 Blank of love

Pictures of Love

Daddy holding me

on his lap,

listening to me

count to 100,

missing his TV show.

Mom washing Waggles,

my stuffed puppy that I vomited

on in the middle of the night,

drying it on the register

so I could go back to sleep.

Pappap whistling up the driveway

with his pockets full of candy.

And giving us hay rides,

pulling us along in a wagon

with his big red tractor.

My mother-in-law having

a closet-full of toys for my kids

and hot tea and stories of

growing up on Wyoming ranch

for me, after driving all day.

PAD 2 not today sijo

Turn Around

She thinks long on her actions the last few years and sighs deeply.

She regrets the way she’s thrown away the good with the awful.

She will pray, get things right with God, live healthily—but not today.

PAD 2 not today rispetto

Customer Service

The women at the counter talk

while I am waiting patiently.

I’m thinking that it’s time to walk.

I try to smile most graciously.

I lay the items right down there.

I clear my throat, giving the stare.

I’d like to buy a dress and more,

but turn and then I’m out the door. 

PAD 2 Not today

Deadline

Dirty dishes stacked on the counter

resemble a small city.

Floors look like they’re ready for planting.

Bathrooms smell like outhouses.

Yes, I hear my house’s cry,

but my manuscript shouts louder.

PAD 1 reminiscing

Pappap’s Yard

Pappap’s yard served as grandkids’ playground

Up-side-down table submarine

Tractor tire dizzy ride

Hide-n-seek and sardines

Boards turned into stilts

Large croquet field

Badminton

Pretend

Tag

PAD 1 reminiscing

Every year

Spring Easter-egg hunt

Pappap’s yard

Cousins, friends

Hunters become wise hiders

Then birth more hunters

PAD 1 reminiscing poem

Science Class

When I was about ten or eleven,

I developed and aversion to frogs.

With bulgy eyes and hairless skin,

they were the most disgusting

creature on the planet, worse than

bugs, mice, spiders, rats or snakes.

When I learned that in seventh grade

I would be dissecting a frog,

the thought made my skin crawl

and would make me physically ill,

enough to keep me up at nights

figuring out how to get out of it.

The inevitable finally arrived.

I was twelve and facing the

pale stinky frog with probe

and scalpel. But I found that

it was fascinating and not as

nearly gross as I imagined.

My first lesson in thinking

about something can be

far worse than doing it,

beside housework. 

Abracadabra (using r’s)

Contemporary Christian Music

It calms our souls and brings us peace

As we focus on the living God, three in one.

Worshipping Him is what we’re designed to do.

As we worship, we feel release.

Breathing out the bad, breathing in the good,

Knowing we’re His masterpiece.

We bask in soothing or upbeat melodies,

Our joys rise as worries decrease.

It frees us up to have some fun.

Worshipping Him is what we’re designed to do.

We’ll continue, knowing this life will cease. 

Lune 535

Painting masterpiece

From my heart

Surprising myself

Hay(na)ku (1,2,3)

Books

Like food

Satisfy  

Gogyohka (five line poem)

Pick Me Up

Touching my lips

Warm and comforting

Filling my mouth

Liquid and satisfying

Hot tea with cream and sugar

PA music genre Punk Rock

Punk Rock

I couldn’t say I’ve ever listened to punk rock.

So for this poem, I googled it.

As I listened to it I remember

driving by a band that was playing

in an empty lot in town.

And I thought, they’re young, maybe

they’ll learn to sing and play

if they keep practicing. I didn’t know

they were supposed to sound like that.

But some on YouTube didn’t sound too bad.

Others sounded like they were vomiting

out the lyrics or they were playing

boogie men and trying to frighten

small children. Some of their hairdos

reminded me of my sister’s old black wig

we used to wear on Halloween. Some

of them looked cool. None were smiling.

Some of the music sounded like what

we used to call hard rock. I couldn’t tell

what made punk rock punk rock.

So I looked it up on Wikipedia.