I am Poetic Bloomings

Life’s Jigsaw Puzzle

 

Pennsylvania trees and hills

Country neighborhood of mostly relatives

Four sisters, lots of cousins

Pretending the old shows Cinderella,

Gilligan’s Island, Man from Uncles, Batman

Creating games, crafting dolls, playing croquet

Shannon Creek Park, The Sunflower club

Heavy winters with sled-riding,

Sliding around on frozen ponds,

In dowdy rubber boots, calling it ice-skating.

Making snow angels, springs greening up,

The smell of lilacs and apple blossoms

Popping touch-me-nots, making forts in the woods,

Splashing in cold creek water

Beautiful autumns of oranges, reds, golds

Helping Dad bring in the potatoes

And Mom hanging up clothes on the line.

Painting and cleaning house for Pappap.

Mowing large yards with push mowers.

Catching, raking and jumping in leaves.

Eating venison, rabbit, squirrel,

Home-made jelly, canned goods from the garden

The boy next door from worst enemy,

To first kiss, to good friends.

A tall skinny preacher introducing Jesus,

Beginning a church from a bunch of teens.

Singing in a traveling choir.

Four years going steady,  

Surviving a guy with a heavy foot,

Speeding down curvy roads at 110.

College, dating others.

Wyoming, meeting hubby

Living in Nebraska

Marriage, kids, moving, traveling,

Settling and building a house in Colorado

Kayaking, hiking, biking,

Canasta, Scrabble, Splendor

Writing, poeming, writers’ groups

Learning to draw and paint,

And play the ukulele.

Friends, family, church

Caregiving special people

And stroke-survivor hubby.

A series of odd jobs throughout.

One at the nature center

traipsing through the forest

with a pack of kids following.

Like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle

making the picture of me.

bittersweet Poetic Asides

 Pearls

 

To defend against irritants,

marine oysters

and freshwater mussels

secrete aragonite and conchiolin,    

making layers of nacre,

and, over time, form pearls.

Pearls can be silver-white,

orange, green, black or pink.

Rare, valuable, and beautiful.

Some friendships are like that.

opposites Poetic Bloomings

 Boredom/Excitement

 

A boring life’s a wasted life, I say.

We all need more pizzaz, excitement, fun.

But there are things we need to do each day;

Some we don’t like, but keep us on the run.

We can just wait until those things are done.

Or we can learn to like what we must do.

Or do those things we like, make life anew.  

So what is it that makes you feel alive?

Those things that pump your blood and see you through?

Do those things, and more than survive, but thrive.

Possibilities Poetic Asides

 Going for the Gold 

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26 NIV)

After my husband had two pontine strokes,

is it possible for us to celebrate our 50^th

with this October being only 45^th.

With God all things are possible,

so we’re going for the gold.  

Sijo Poetic Bloomings

 

Steep trail up mountainside, junipers, yucca, boulders, lizards

Exhilarating climb, pine scent, feeling alive, feeling like me

I lived here forty years; how did I not know of this path?

Reset Poetic Asides

 Reality Orientation

 

O, something has thrown off my well-fixed groove— 

A trip, a project or hospital stay.

And afterwards, I find it hard to move,

Disoriented and losing my way.

So what is on the agenda today?

In my distraction, with all set aside,

My goals and daily plans had up and died.

I have to stir the to-do pot—reset,  

Attending to things that have been denied,

Recalling dailies, I mustn’t forget.

reset Poetic Asides

 The lights went off last night

Used cell phone for a light

The clocks, I bet

All need reset

Not now, my schedule’s tight