blank of the blank PAD 9-1

 Last Day of the Nebraska Stay

 

A tossed salad of emotions

Last day of the Nebraska stay

Saying goodbye to one sister

With other sis, we’ll go away

 

We pack and repack suitcases

Attempt to fit everything in

We try to keep nervousness down

Adventure’s about to begin

 

A day to tie up the loose ends

And make sure we’ve got all things done

Tomorrow New York then Kenya

Lord willing, we will have some fun

Direction/form PAD 8-3

 

(Lune)

 

Commonality

Getting lost

We five Shannon girls

Direction/form PAD 8-2

 Four Point Pitch

(Alouette)

 

Four Point pitch they said

It’s easy, no dread

So I found myself playing

Thoroughly muddled

Greatly befuddled

Lost at what they were saying

 

Points and trump picking

Bids and some tricking

Shuffling, ranking and dealing

Numbers made no sense

Was feeling so dense

Found the game unappealing

Direction/form PAD 8-1

 Southeast Nebraska

(Ballad quatrain)

 

From Adams North to Lincoln town

To church and to eat out

We went Northeast to Syracuse

And then we shopped about

 

 And then Tecumseh to the east

Explored that dying spot

Beatrice south ‘bout 30 miles

And more stuff that we bought

 

No matter where we went ‘round there

No matter what the name

With all the fields of sprawling land

It all looked just the same

Adaptation PAD 7-3

 

Season and time changes

Throw off my groove

With travel, no time to adapt

Adaptation PAD 7-2

 

My wardrobe adapts

to weight fluctuations

I need closet size-dividers

Adaptation PAD 7-1

 Adaptations of Travel

 

From mountains to deserts to cornfields.

From my hubby and me, add in my kids,

to my sister, her hubby and me.

From mountain, desert, central,

to daylight savings times.

From my cooking, to lots of take out

to my sister’s cooking.

From writing and homemaking, to writing and Canasta,

to writing and playing Quiddler and

thrift shop hopping with my sister.

From family and old friends to family and new friends.

This trip consists of many adaptations

with the biggest one yet to come.

fog Poetic Bloomings

 

Wispy strips of fog

Danced like ghosts

Along the shiny sidewalk

news PAD 6-3

 

Kenya Headline

 

Dead

Zebras

Elephants

And Wildebeests

Amid prolonged drought

Will this affect my trip?

We make plans, God directs steps.

We know little, God knows it all.

I know that You hear and answer prayer.

All good things come from You, please send the rain!

news PAD 6-2

 News

 

Where I’ve been: Cortez, Colorado

Montezuma County Heritage Museum Opens

 

Mesa, Arizona

Monsoon 2022: Dust Storms, Lightning, Floods

 

Where I am: Adams, Nebraska

Fatal Train/Vehicle Accident

 

Where I am going: New York, New York

38 People Injured in Apartment Building Fire

 

Nairobi, Kenya

Stranded Passengers Amidst Pilot Strike

 

I hope I won’t be one of those stranded passengers.

 

News PAD 6-1

 News from Back Home

 

A man I’ve known for a long time died.

My family and his family used to attend

the same church and worship together.

His wife and I were friendly acquaintances.

 

Though I didn’t know them real well,

as I sit in Nebraska on vacation

and think about all the grieving

going on back in my hometown,

my heart aches too.

 

I texted my husband the news.
He replied, “Home free.”

He doesn’t grieve when someone dies,

for he is a bit envious,

especially after his strokes.

 

He’s not suicidal, but he longs for that day.

I do, too, but I still grieve at the loss felt here.

Perils PAD 5-3

Perils of Overeating

 

Even numbers go the sizes

Trying clothes on with surprises

I have to ask God

Why would I fit in odd?

Must get back to the exercises

Perils PAD 5-2

 Perils of Being Directionally Challenged

 

My sis who lived here for years

We laughed until there were tears

To disorientation we yielded

As we were cornfielded

Lost and stuck in the muck were our fears

Perils PAD 5-1

 Perils of Forgetting

 

We play games my sister and I

That is how we make time fly

We forget the rules

And we feel like fools

So we make them up and defy

In the blank PAD 4-3

 In the Middle of Nowhere

 

My niece, her husband

and two-year-old

moved from the edge of nowhere,

where my sister lives

in Adams, Nebraska,

to the middle of nowhere,

miles from the nearest little town.

 

Does it even have a name?

 

We went out there months ago,

before they fixed up the place.

As we approached, I felt lonely,

even with a car full of people.

 

We passed cornfields and junkers.

People seemed to stop caring since few saw it.

At least my niece and her husband are happy.

 

But as they say, “It’s a nice place to visit.”

(which I will do this week)

“But I wouldn’t want to live there.”

In the blank PAD 4-2

 In the Week Before Kenya

 

Excitement and a bit of trepidation mount

as we scramble to do the last-minutes things

such as get some shillings from the bank,

buy some neutral-colored slacks for safari,

correct the mistake on the travel insurance.

 

I’ve already done most of the getting ready

with stops in Mesa and Nebraska first.

But my Nebraska sister is getting in a tizz

and feels for some reason that she needs

to clean her garage first, so we’ll do that tomorrow.

 

And, of course, I have to see my darling

great nieces and great nephew

who happen to be the cutest kids in the world

and give them each a pack of plastic safari animals

so we have objects with which to tell our stories.

In the Blank PAD 4-1

 In the Heat of the Night

 

Thinking of our parents having sex

is a weird thing to do,

like when you’re a kid

hearing a squeaky bed

wondering what was going on in there.

 

I’m glad they enjoyed it

resulting in my four sisters and me.

Though we’re in our fifties, sixties

and seventies, we’re still an important

part of each other’s lives.

 

And living in California, Colorado,

Nebraska and Ohio, it often gives us

places to stop by when we’re traveling.

 

When going back to PA to see the folks,

when they were alive, we in the west,

would wish that one of the Nebraska sisters

would have ended up in Chicago

so we’d save on a motel.

 

But it’s nice to visit two at one time

like I’m doing now.

misguided PAD 3-3

 Misguided Help

 

We were playing Quiddler,

my sister, niece and me.

At the tenth and final round,

my niece puzzled over

the difficult letters she received.

 

So my sister and I loving a word challenge,

in a flurry and a flash,

helped her use all her letters.

Though in last place the whole game,

she won, but didn’t feel like she did.

Misguided PAD 3-2

 Derailed

 

After all day shopping

in Beatrice thrift shops

paying $2 for a purse,

$5 for a pair of jeans,

and $3 for a church blouse

I think we’ve been derailed

by retail marketing.

Misguided PAD 3-1

 When in Doubt

 

The path of misguidance leads to regret.

Deception paints convincing images.

The rocks of misconception firmly set.

Wrongly lead to confusing scrimmages.

 

You have to know and trust your leader well.

So many paths leading to who knows where.

Into nothingness or heaven or hell.

And all may have an opinion to share.

 

When overwhelmed and can’t tell right from wrong

And don’t know what or who will see you through

And when there seems no reason, rhyme or song

Then to yourself and to your God be true.

 

Too many paths wander under the sun

So when in doubt love God and everyone.

sweet PAD 2-3

 

Rattle and Shake

 

I welcome Your sweet presence

as we encounter turbulence

with each rattle and shake

with each breath I take,

I look to You.

Future PAD 12-1

 In the Near Future

 

In the near future (do not laugh)

I may be kissing a giraffe                         

Or, at least, I may cuddle one

There’s many ways of having fun

 

In the near future, here’s the plan

See a museum, if we can

Out of Africa’s Karen Blixen

There’s many ways of having fun

 

In the near future, here’s the plan

We’ll buy some art that’s African

Or taste a sweet African bun

There’s may ways of having fun

Sweet PAD 2-2

 

 

Tea sugared and creamed

Sweet and salty rolled oat bar

Real food sounds better

 

sweet PAD 2-1

 

Sweet

 

S isters greet me at the airport

W ith arms open wide and

E normous smiles on their faces.

E very time I fly, I look forward

T o that the most.

Beginning/End PAD 1-3

 Traveling Again

 

Traveling again, during PAD

So buckle up and hang on tight

O the good times to be had

Traveling again during PAD

May we all avoid the bad

So get ready for our flight

Traveling again, during PAD

So buckle up and hang on tight

Beginning/End PAD 1-2

 

Trip Begins with Halloween

 

In Mesa with my daughter Lori

Outside the house we sit and wait

Playing out the annual story

In Mesa with my daughter Lori

Ghosts reach for the sugary glory  

The greedy ghouls don’t hesitate

In Mesa with my daughter Lori

Outside the house we sit and wait

beginning/end PAD 1-1

 On My Way

 

I checked into my flight today

And now the clock begins to tick

I am headed Nebraska way

I checked into my flight today

And so I will take time to pray

That Sis and I will not get sick

I checked into my flight today

And now the clock begins to tick

Halloween

 

Which is scarier

Ghost and ghouls at our doorstep

Or leftover sweets

Cozy Poetic Bloomings

 Home

I’m at my home away from home. 

Just drove seven hours 

from southwest Colorado to Phoenix

to be with my kids at their house.

I personally wouldn’t have picked

the gold paint for the walls

but somehow the color relaxes me.

And like mother, like daughter.

She decorates her house with crafts

and pictures from our travels. 

A drum from Hawaii, paintings from Ireland,

a framed photo from Maine.

Funny how objects from far away 

can make a home feel more homey. 

Prayer

 Pressing In

 

Pressing in to seek Your face

and receive your grace.

Listening with my spiritual ear,

knowing that you are here.

 

Thank You for the good in my life.

Thank you that is free from strife.

Thank You that I have little pain.

 

Thank you for the sun and rain,

the wind and the snow,

new places to go

and no matter where I go,

You’re with me.

Creepy Poetic Asides

 

Creepy

 

A twig snap on a dark night

A leering eye

Spiders, bugs, squirmy worms

Pandemic germs

Shadows where they should not be

A Fighting Tree

Monsters and malevolent ones

Skeletons

Bigfoot, demons, ghosts and ghouls

Political fools