NPM 2020 - LOVE Sculpture

Today, versions of Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture can be found all around the world, but it didn't originate as a sculpture. It was actually an image for the MOMA Christmas card in 1965.  In 1970, the first sculpture was made and displayed at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. In 1973, the image appeared on a postage stamp.

LOVE Sculpture outside Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan  

May, 2007

With apologies to the Beatles ...

All you need is love
truth
spoken
and
heard
truth
lived
and
learned
truth
Love is all you need

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - The Great Wall

When I went to China, I was particularly excited to see the Great Wall. About 50 miles from Beijing, this section was built around 1505 and was restored in the 1950s and 1980s. You can imagine the disappointment as we headed out on a rainy and foggy day to make our visit.

Today's poem is a cherita. A cherita is a poem that tells a story and consists of a one-line stanza, followed by a two-line stanza, and then finishing with a three-line stanza.

Badaling section of the Great Wall, Yanqing District, China  

May, 2007

underneath umbrellas

we approached the wall
turn left or right, which path to take?

we skipped the crowds
did not regret
the harder climb

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Roller Coasters

I love roller coasters. My son is often my partner in crime and will ride the craziest of coasters with me. Sometimes I get a bit nervous waiting for the ride, but once it's over, I'm ready to do it all again.

Fahrenheit roller coaster in Hershey Park, Hershey, PA

July, 2018

hold on to your hat
that first drop is a doozy
once is not enough

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Ducklings

In the courtyard of my mother's nursing home is a small pond. A while back a duck and her ducklings took up residence. My mother loved to sit outside and watch them.

Small pond at  St. John's Home, Rochester, NY

July, 2018

man-made pond hosts ducks
off course and out place, but
ducklings bring a smile

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 on Poetry Friday - Poetry Sisters Write Skinny Poems

The challenge this month was to write a skinny poem with the theme of foresight (again) or spring, or both. A skinny poem consists of eleven lines. Lines 1 and 11 can be any length and line 11 must use the same words from line 1, though they can be rearranged. Lines 2, 6, and 10 must be identical. And finally, what makes this poem skinny, is that fact that all lines except for 1 and 11 (the first and last) may be only ONE WORD LONG. You can learn more about the form at The Skinny Poetry Journal.

In my initial drafts I pretty much failed this challenge as it related to theme, but I did manage a few relative to form. I did write a skinny poem for my mom earlier this week with a reference to spring. You can read it in Monday's post NPM 2020 - From the Window.  I did finally sit down to write at least one on point. Here are several offerings.

Skinny 1
I come from
where
mom
knows
best,
where
family’s
first.
Love’s
where
I come from.

University of Richmond campus, April 2020

Skinny 2
My favorite flowers are
tulips.
Brightly
colored
show-offs,
tulips
herald
spring’s
arrival.
Tulips
are my favorite flowers.

Skinny 3
My heart breaks
inside.
Pandemic
isolation
sucks!
Inside
social
distancing,
staying
inside
breaks my heart

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Rebecca Holmes
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Kelly Ramsdell
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon
• Andi Sibley

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Christie Wyman at Wondering & Wandering. Happy poetry Friday friends!

NPM 2020 - By the River

I've mentioned more than once my love for the mountains. As I reflect on the poems I've written so  far this month, more than a few have been inspired by mountain settings. This one is no different. My sweet friend Christen took me to her family's cabin as a birthday treat two summers ago. The river just outside the front door was ice cold, but oh so refreshing.

Today's poem is written in rhyme royal, which is a seven-line stanza in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme a/b/a/b/b/c/c.

Conway River, Standardsville, VA

August, 2018

Such happy hours spent along this bank
two barefoot wading downstream tossing stones
with hands cupped sure we bent and scooped and drank
post hike a dip helped soothe our weary bones
a perfect day without our ringing phones
a day along the river can't be beat
but time spent with a friend is just as sweet 

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Missing Baseball

It really doesn't feel like spring, not without baseball. We've missed the anticipation and excitement of opening day. I miss cheering against the Yankees. I miss attending the games of our local AA team. I miss the clink of a bat hitting a ball and the loudspeaker echoing through the neighborhood as the UR team plays not far from my backyard. I so miss baseball.

Today's poem is a  Zeno. The  Zeno, a form invented by J. Patrick Lewis, is a 10-line verse form with a repeating syllable count of 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1. The rhyme scheme is abcdefdghd.

Nationals Park, Washington,  DC 

September,  2016

Bottom of the ninth, need one out
wind up, fast ball,
strike one!
Crowd
roars approval.
Batter
cowed,
strikes two and three!
Fans stand
proud.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Studio Row

I've written before about my love for Nimrod Hall as a writer's retreat. Each of my experiences there occurred during an artist's retreat. On the final night of retreat, the artists open their studios and rooms and showcase the work they have done throughout the week. Now, I have not done any painting since elementary school art class, but in recent years it's become something I'd like to try.

   

Studio Row at Nimrod Hall,  Bath County, VA

July, 2019

mountain
retreat beckons
ignites the artist's zeal
to set to canvas, color, light,
and life

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - From the Window

On Easter Sunday my brother and his wife, my niece and her husband, and my grand niece stood in the park across the street from my mother's nursing home while holding signs and waving. I'd give anything to be in that park right now.

   

The view of Highland Park from St. John's Home (6th floor), Rochester, NY

April 2018 and March 2019

A Skinny Poem for My Mom

She sees you.
It’s
her
favorite
view.
It’s
spring
outside.
Today
it’s
you she sees

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

Here's the Easter Sunday view from the park. That's my mom looking out. (Thanks to Cathy Stohr for the photo.)

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Rooftops

In 2007, I traveled with faculty colleagues to Taiwan, China, and Tibet. The trip was life-changing. I met so many kind people, saw so many incredible historical places, and had experiences I won't forget. Even in some of the grandest places, my eyes were drawn to features and minor details that can sometimes be overlooked.

The Forbidden City, Beijing, China

May, 2007

all over China
my eyes were drawn
to rooftops
but no more so than in
the Forbidden City
the golden eaves
the dragons
all declared
this space was not for
ordinary people

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Desert Cactus

After many years of teaching about desert ecosystems and the adaptations of the plants and animals that live there, I finally get to experience the wonder and beauty of the desert for myself.

Prickly Pear at the Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix, AZ

February 2020

Who knew there was so much beauty
in a humble prickly pear?
The colors beg you draw nearer,
while the spines warn you away.
Live a little!
It's worth the sharp sting
to taste the sweet and tart.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 on a Poetry Friday - In the Garden

I  love gardens. I suppose that's because  I have a black thumb and am enamored of things  I can't grow.  When I travel, I particularly like to visit botanical gardens and take in the local flora  (and sometimes fauna as well).  I'm  also quite fond of the gardens in my own backyard. Not my literal backyard, but my city.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, Richmond, VA

February, 2020

field trip in February

sweet and silly eight year olds

undeterred by rain

smiles all around

and love--big, big love

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Molly Hogan at Nix the comfort zone. Happy poetry Friday friends! 

NPM 2020 - Golden Gate

A few days after my high school graduation I was in the hospital having reconstructive surgery on my ankle (gymnastics injury). Shortly after I came home, I got on my first plane (Continental Airlines) and flew to San Francisco. My aunt and uncle living in Walnut Creek, CA sent me the plane ticket as a graduation gift. While there I took in everything I possibly could. I remember being incredibly disappointed that it was so foggy on the day of our visit to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA

July, 1983

rising through the fog
orange vermillion towers
span the golden strait

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - The Castle

I have mixed feelings about castles. I love to see them from the outside, admire the architecture and  design, wander the grounds and gardens. However, once inside I find I'm disturbed, even disenchanted, by the opulence.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany

June 1990

Walt's inspiration
this schloss upon a hillside
Disney's can't compare

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Mosiacs

When I travel, I like to look beyond the tall buildings and "standard" attractions (though those can  be wonderful), to look at the art and architectural nuances that catch my eye. Yesterday it was murals. Today it's mosaics.

River Walk Mosaic, San Antonio, TX

August, 2000

Strolling the River Walk

following the crowds

you miss them

these magnificent birds

their tails with one hundred eyes

watching you pass by

in a needless hurry

never really seeing

the beauty in 

extraordinary details

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Murals

I'm fascinated by murals, what they are expressing, and what they say about the artist and the place they are found. The  first time I  saw this one,  I couldn't get Yggdrasil and mythology out of my mind.

City of Rochester Public Market, Rochester, NY

July, 2019

for centuries they nailed
an owl to a barn door
to ward off evil
and lightning

but this owl
guards the dryad
living in the tree
that keeps watch
over the market

together they are
worthy sentinels
of this space where
flowers and vegetables
flourish

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Covered Bridges

When I was growing up my parents took me to Washington, DC  several years in a row during spring break to visit my sister. On the way, we took side trips to national parks, antique shops, and roadside attractions. One year we mapped out a route that had us visiting numerous covered bridges in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Utica Mills Covered Bridge, Frederick County, MD

April, 1980

after a while

they all looked alike

narrow and rickety

stretching over creeks and streams

but crossing each one was

an adventure

dad drove slowly across

the single lane bridge

while we nervously held

a collective breath

as the timbers groaned

and tires thumped

the car felt too big

the bridge too small

I could almost stretch

my hand through the window

and touch the passing beams

once safely on the other side

we stopped to celebrate

snap a picture

marvel at the engineering

before unfolding the map

and plotting our course 

to the next covered bridge

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - On the Sea

The more we stay in, the more I want to get out. And not just out, but away. Far, far, away ...

Cancun, Mexico

June, 2011

set sail

blue waves calling

tack and turn through the wind

leave all your cares behind, breathe in

the sea

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 on Poetry Friday - The Beach

On the first day of National Poetry Month, I shared a poem that ended with the line  "I'll take the mountains." Today I'm thinking differently.

Virginia Beach, VA

April 2019

spring sunrise at the beach
quiet winds and birds my friends
waiting for the waves
to wash over my feet
the shock takes me back
to dipping my toes in
a cool mountain stream
in both places
barefoot is best

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm. Happy poetry Friday friends! 

NPM 2020 - Nimrod Hall

During the summer of 2018 I had the opportunity to spend a weekend at Nimrod Hall in Bath  County, Virginia. Established in 1783  as a hunting lodge, it now serves as a place for artists and writers to gather. I was even luckier to  return for  another 5 days  during the summer of 2019. On the Nimrod  Hall property are a number of abandoned cabins from Camp Nimrod, the site of summer camps for boys and girls from the 1930's to the 1980's.

Camp Nimrod Cabins, Bath County, VA

July, 2018

the signs warn trespassers

do not enter

do not approach

so the cabins are 

photographed and painted 

from afar

but I was THAT child

the one that touched wet paint

crawled under fences

climbed over locked gates

the one determined to

turn no, do not, can not 

into yes

each walk past the cabins

took me closer 

filled me with longing to

peer into the windows

tiptoe up the steps

open the rotting  door

but the responsible adult

silenced the inner child

and settled for making memories

from a distance

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Mountain Cairn

I've collected rocks since I was a child. I like to pick them up when I travel as a small souvenir of places I've been. I also like to photograph rocks and rock formations. I find cairns particularly interesting.

Cairn in the mountains of Tibet at 5000 m (16,400 feet)

May, 2007

Genesis 31: 45-46
“And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made a heap..."

It's not much
this heap of stones
made by human hands
marking a trail
echoing a traveler's shout
“I was here!”

I grab a pebble
near the cairn
turn it over in my hand
slip it in my pocket
committing this mountain
this place
to memory

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Natural Bridge

Have you ever seen something that takes your breath away?  That makes you wonder in awe at the power of the natural world? It doesn't need to be on the scale of the Grand Canyon. It can something  as "small" as a 215-foot tall limestone gorge carved out by a creek.

Natural Bridge State Park, VA

August, 2015

In Earth science it's known as
karst topography
textbooks describe it
what it is
how it's formed
but to see the limestone gorge—
undeniable evidence of
the power of water—
is wondrous
and unfathomable

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Back in Time

Sometimes my desire to travel is not to another place, but another time.  And honestly, who doesn't  wish to go back in time every so often?

Vroom Road, Spencerport, NY

Easter Sunday, 1968

that crabapple tree
grew as we did over time
though it never went out of fashion

I'd give anything
to go back in time
to race the dog to the barn
blow bubbles in the yard
recapture the home in my heart

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Written in Stone

Sometimes beauty is found in the most unusual places. Similarly, so is inspiration. For today's poem I wrote a Sedoka. A sedoka is an unrhymed poem made up of two three-line katauta, each with syllable counts of 5/7/7. 

George Washington National Forest,  Nelson County, Virginia

June 2017

beauty abounds

in birds and fragrant flowers

in sea and sky and moonlight

but you don't see it

in yourself, your own beauty

even though it's etched in stone

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - To Market

I adore the farmer's market, so whenever I travel, I make it a point to visit an outdoor market.  These  two markets were vastly different from any other I'd experienced.

Durian fruit in a market in Taipei, Taiwan

May, 2007

Market in Lhasa, Tibet

May, 2007

So many unknowns

fragrances like no other

be  brave ... try a bite

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 on Poetry Friday - My Writing Cabin

In September of 2009 I spent a glorious few days in the company of poets. Spending my days immersed in reading, writing, and talking poetry was like finding my people. It was, in a word, heaven.

My cabin at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center, Milanville, PA

September  2009 (before the Barn was built!)

home away from home

you have all the world to write

heart and pen? meet paper

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe. Happy poetry Friday friends! 

NPM 2020 - A Vacant Lot

On trips to visit my mother I like to drive through many different neighborhoods in the city of Rochester, from some of the wealthiest, to some of the poorest. While the rundown areas sadden me, my spirits are always lifted by one vacant lot. Surrounded by boarded up homes, someone still tends to it with love, and seeing it always gives me hope and makes me smile.

Corner of Goodman Ave and Eisenberg Place, Rochester, NY

July 2015

A city blighted
so many broken homes
the old neighborhoods
aren’t the same
yet hope springs eternal
in a vacant lot
filled with the promise
that flowers bring

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

NPM 2020 - Armchair Travelers

My plan for National Poetry Month this year was to focus on poems of math and numbers. However, in this time of COVID-19 and staying at home, I thought a bit of armchair traveling might be warranted. While I don't have photos of all the places I've been, I have a lot of wonderful memories. I hope you'll join me on this journey.

Cashiers Valley in Jackson County, North Carolina

August, 2008

Summer at the shore
sand .. sun .. screaming gulls and crowds
I'll take the mountains

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

That's it for today. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

Poetry Sisters Write Classics

The challenge this month was to write a poem in any form with the theme of classic, or to an image we consider classic.

Life is so hard right now that it was difficult not to focus on the state of the world as I began to write. I  tried to brainstorm some ideas and asked myself, "What is classic?" I immediately thought of the classic cars my father loved and repaired, the "classics" an English major reads, the classics major, and the way my son says "classic" when he listens to his friends talk about their escapades. That short list set me on a familiar path. You see, I've written a lot of poems about my dad since his death, now almost 11 years ago. I'm not sure why, but my heart and poems often seem to find their way to him.  Here's what I came up with.

My Father's Hobby
Worn out shells of classic cars
rusty and forlorn
peaking out from weeds and grass
"Parts cars"
my father called them
culled them for the Fiat
he was rebuilding in the garage
"Junk!"
my mother called them

On Sunday drives we traveled
with the classifieds
stopping to check out
cars for sale
sometimes adding another to the
growing collection of clunkers
each sacrificing a bit of its guts
a carburetor here, a steering wheel there
a stick shift, a parking brake

I often sat quietly on a stool
watching him work
in rain, in cold
hour after hour
his labor of love
in pieces more than whole

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems written by my poetry sisters at the links below.
Tanita Davis
Rebecca Holmes
Sara Lewis Holmes
Kelly Ramsdell
Laura Purdie Salas
Liz Garton Scanlon
Andi Sibley

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference. Happy poetry Friday friends!

Poetry Sisters Look Back - Take 1

In setting our challenges for this year, we decided that we would take time to revisit poems we wrote in previous outings. I  spent way too much  time looking back through old  posts! Seriously,  this monthly  adventure has  generated a lot of writing. I finally settled on our September 2015 challenge  in which we wrote found poems. I experimented with blackout poems and shared a few I strung together to into a story of sorts. When I looked back through my poetry notebook, I found an unfinished and abandoned poem from this prompt and decided it would be my focus for this month. The first thing I  did was change it from a blackout poem to "white out" poem.  This seems a bit easier on the eyes to me. I also played around a bit with the words I chose to include, changing the theme of the poem.

I found this interesting because my original  post  included a poem created from a recipe by Jamie Oliver. This "lost" poem was created from the August 29, 2002 blog entry from The Julie/Julia Project.

Here's my updated poem. You'll probably need to click on the image to see/read it.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems written by my poetry sisters at the links below.
Tanita Davis
Rebecca Holmes
Sara Lewis Holmes
Kelly Ramsdell
Laura Purdie Salas
Liz Garton Scanlon
Andi Sibley


I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Karen Edmisten. Happy poetry Friday friends!

Poetry Sisters and the LAST Friday of the Month - January Haiku

It seems late to be saying happy new year, but welcome 2020. This year my poetry sisters and I will be sharing our challenges on the LAST Friday of the month instead of the first. I'm grateful for the little bit of added time.

This month the challenge was to write a haiku with the theme or foresight, or the new year, or both. I'll admit I normally write every day, but I haven't written anything in a few weeks. It felt good to sit down and put pen to paper. Yes, that is how I write poetry!

Honestly, I would prefer to wrestle with a sonnet than a haiku. Some folks make haiku look easy, but man, getting it right is hard. Here are a few of the poems I wrote.


New Year's morning
recalling the prior year
fills me with gratitude

Janus minds the door
ushers in another year
humbles us with hindsight




January first
the birds in the trees sing
just another day


this year of foresight
cancel my psychic readings
horoscopes be damned


another new year
calendars out of sync
school's not even half over

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2020. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems written by my poetry sisters at the links below.
Tanita Davis
Rebecca Holmes
Sara Lewis Holmes
Kelly Ramsdell
Laura Purdie Salas
Liz Garton Scanlon
Andi Sibley

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Jone MscCulloch at Deowriter. Happy poetry Friday friends!

Poetry Sisters Write With/In Gratitude

In this final month of the year, our challenge was to write a poem of gratitude in any form. I've been pondering favorite lines  of poetry  and  using them to write my own  poems, so today I'm sharing  a golden shovel that uses a line from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot.

A Golden Shovel for My Poetry Sisters

This is beyond me, myself, and I.
We are friends who have
been tested and measured 
by all that life can throw at us. Out 
of affection and gratitude for my 
sisters, I declare that this life 
would not be the same with-
out you. I am the tea to your coffee,
you are the forks to my spoons.

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2019. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems written by my poetry sisters at the links below.
Tanita Davis
Sara Lewis Holmes
Rebecca Holmes
Kelly Ramsdell
Laura Purdie Salas
Liz Garton Scanlon
Andi Sibley

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Tanita Davis at fiction, instead of lies. Happy poetry Friday friends!

Poetry Sisters Write Villanelles

This month Tanita set the challenge to write a villanelle on a wintry topic. We had the added requirement of including a pair of words (or homonyms thereof) from the following eleven: bleak, draft, gutter, chill, chime, glitter, gust, harsh, rime, nip, thaw.

The villanelle is a nineteen-line poem with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. It is made up of five tercets and a quatrain. The rhyme scheme is aba aba aba aba aba abaa. The 1st and 3rd lines from the first stanza are alternately repeated so that the 1st line becomes the last line in the second stanza, and the 3rd line becomes the last line in the third stanza and so on. The last two lines of the poem are lines 1 and 3 respectively.

As much as I love winter, I tend to get the blues from December through  February. I started thinking about the coming season, the snow projections (more than usual for VA), the prospect of indoor recess, the early placement of Christmas items (before Halloween!), and a number of other ideas. Once I started writing, I realized I'd chosen an odd end word for the "a" rhyme, which made choosing words a bit challenging, but the poem finally came together. Here's what I came up  with.

December's Discontent

December’s onset brings a discontent
a case of blues that lingers into spring
when winter’s snow and chill will not relent

Short days a coda to the heart’s lament
it’s fall’s crisp days to which we madly cling
when December brings a discontent

As autumn turns to winter we resent
the doldrums of the months that clip our wings
when winter’s snow and chill will not relent

The house is bleak, the family in dissent
for cabin fever leads to arguing
December’s onset brings a discontent

Time outdoors brings nothing but torment
as ice and wind assault the cheeks and sting
when winter’s snow and chill will not relent

But we'll hunker by the fire, breathe in its scent
and dream of early thaw and blossoms crowning
December’s onset brings a discontent
when winter’s snow and chill will not relent

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2019. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems written by my poetry sisters at the links below. Kelly and Andi are both on  the mend, so we'll welcome their  return  when  they're both feeling better.

• Tanita Davis
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Rebecca Holmes
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by  Tabatha  Yeatts at The  Opposite of Indifference. Happy poetry Friday friends!

Poetry Sisters Write Pastoral Poems

Rebecca set this month's challenge to write a poem in the pastoral mode. We could choose the form and topic, so this one was wide open. Rebecca shared an excerpt from one of my "go to" books on form, The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. I also found Poetry 101: What Is a Pastoral Poem? to be particularly helpful. Here is an excerpt:

What is the Purpose of a Pastoral Poem? 

An overriding, defining theme of pastoral poems is the idea of an idealized vision of country life, in which humans live simply and in harmony with nature. Other common themes and motifs that characterize the pastoral mode include:

• A beautiful, natural setting

• Shepherds as central characters (who are often used as vehicles for political or religious allegory)

• Religious allegory in pastoral poetry is aided by the common association between Christianity and shepherds/flocks of sheep

• The trope of a return to an idealized Golden Age, when humans lived in complete harmony with nature

• Focus on imagined life in the country, rather than reality

• The working belief that country life is superior to urban life

It was hard to live up to some of these motifs, but I gave it a shot. I have been scribbling random lines of poetry all over my field notes this week. I'm not sure I have a finished poem, but the idea here is to be brave and share our drafts. Here's mine.

On Retirement In a Tiny House 

In dreams I Marie Kondo my life
pack what remains into a tiny house
built from reclaimed barn wood
and church windows
(indoor plumbing be damned)

I put down roots in my very own Walden
find solitude in a wildflower meadow
just beside a copse of trees
or shallow, vernal pool
a bucolic spot to loiter through the seasons
my only neighbors the birds and wild creatures

No television, phone, or radio to distract
from the serenading of the hooting owl,
chirping cricket, chittering squirrel

I've all the time in the world
to tend a garden
read books
write poems
walk and wander and wonder
grateful and thrilled to be alive

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2019. All rights reserved.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Rebecca Holmes
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Kelly Ramsdell
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon
• Andi Sibley

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected at Library Matters. Happy poetry Friday friends!

Poetry Sisters Get Herpetological

Laura set this month's challenge to write a "poem comparing something with a snake — some snake pairing you think has never been done before! 8 lines or less."

Hmmmmm ... my brain has been on overload since I started my sabbatical in earnest 3 weeks ago. I'm going to blame it for my inability to follow the rules in any meaningful way. I did however come up with something that is a close tangent.

What a Herpetologist Sees

That lamp cord, that shoelace,
that bathrobe waist tie,
some pasta just rolled up
jet trails in the sky
Anguiform, serpentine
shapes all around
each place that I look
snakes simply abound

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2019. All rights reserved.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. Kelly will be back with us next time.

• Tanita Davis
• Rebecca Holmes
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon
• Andi Sibley

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected by Sylvia Vardell at Poetry for Children. Happy poetry Friday friends!

Poetry Friday - #DearOneLBH

Today I'm sharing a poem that includes a line from a Lee Bennett Hopkins poem and is inspired by the man himself. He is so very missed.

The line I chose is "He opened the door." It is the first line from the poem entitled Librarian, found in the book School People. Here is that poem.

And here is mine.

Always Opening Doors
He opened the door
to the magic of words
of word play
of metaphor
of poetry
He was pure poetry

He opened the door
for writers of rhythm
writers of rhyme
writers of nature
of space and of time
He was pure poetry

He opened the door
for teachers
for children
for young and for old
for the love of a poem
and the joy that it holds

Lee opened the door

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2019. All rights reserved.

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm. Happy poetry Friday friends!

Poetry Sisters At It Again with Ekphrastic Poems

This month the challenge was to write to one of three photos Sara shared with us. Here's the photo I chose and a few of the poems I scratched out.

Street Art, along the waterfront, Tel-Aviv
Photo by Sara Lewis Holmes

13 Ways of Learning This Landscape

I.
open your heart
open your mind

II.
rely on all your senses
what do you see?
what do you hear?
what do you smell?

III.
start with the sky
the blue
the white
the spaces in-between

IV.
notice the dark
the light
the rising
the setting
the moon and the sun

V.
lower your eyes
to the horizon
where lines blur

VI.
see what rises
out of the landscape
tall and imposing

VII.
admire flora
and fauna
earth and water

VIII.
take your shoes off
sink your feet in the sand
dip your toes in the water

IX.
shift your view
to what man has made
take it in from
every angle

X.
find structures of
concrete and metal
barbed wire

XI.
look for color
for movement
for light

XII.
find it not among
the buildings
but on their sides

XIII.
birds take wing
street art bringing
hope to life

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2019. All rights reserved.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. 

• Tanita Davis
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Kelly Ramsdell
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon
• Andi Sibley

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected by Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe. Happy poetry Friday friends!

Poetry Friday and Triolets

Welcome! Poetry Friday is here today. It's also the first Friday of the month and that means the Poetry Sisters are sharing poems for a new challenge. This month we were charged with writing triolets with heat as a theme.

A triolet is an 8-line poem that uses only two rhymes throughout. Additionally, the first line is repeated in the fourth and seventh lines, while the second line is repeated in the final line. Because of this, only five different poetic lines are written.  The rhyme scheme for a triolet is ABaAabAB (where capital letters stand for repeated lines).

My poem was inspired by a memory of my grandmother and the realization that I was complaining and just needed to buck up and do my work. While writing it, I was also reminded of a letter my grandmother wrote to my father during the war. (One page is pictured below.)

If you can't read it, the portion at the beginning says:

We are having lots of fun trying to get butter, so far we have had enough, & now Truman says we have to tighten up our belts, so we can feed the other countries, & we are going to have to eat dark bread, so there was a flour scare on & Sat. I went shopping in the Star Market & the people in there it was just like a mad house & no flour.

So, that's a long introduction to my poem, which isn't really about heat, but uses the word.

Grandma Quoted Truman

Grandma quoted Truman in times of trial

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Would tell tales of Depression and war, if you'd just sit a while

Grandma quoted Truman in times of trial

Made my worries seem so juvenile

I think of her words when I feel like bitchin'

Grandma quoted Truman in times of trial

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2019. All rights reserved.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. (I won't be adding them again to the round-up below, so be sure to visit them!)

• Tanita Davis
• Rebecca Holmes
• Sara Lewis Holmes
• Kelly Ramsdell
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon
• Andi Sibley

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today. I'm rounding things up old-school style, so please leave a comment and I'll add you to the post. Happy poetry Friday all!

***************
Original Poems
At A Journey Through the Pages, Kay shares an original poem entitled Lady Liberty.

Kimberly Hutmacher shares a poem she wrote for a clunker swap (cool idea!). It is entitled Be Changed, Be You.

Molly Hogan shares a "little love song to oatmeal" in her poem entitled Oatmeal.

Linda Baie shares a poem entitled Looking Long. It was inspired by the exhortations of a John Moffitt poem that says "If you would know that thing/You must look at it long."

Michelle Kogan is sharing an acrostic poem for the 4th of July reflecting on American values. She's also sharing "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus.

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is sharing her poem "For A Little While" in the new anthology I Am Someone Else.

Carol Varsalona is reflecting on nature the part it plays in her writing life. She shares some digipoetry and a cherita.

Matt Forrest Esenwine shares a tanka in the form of photo poem. What a lovely window box!

Irene Latham is sharing a number of poems she's written, inspired by LOST WORDS>

Inspired by the word feldgang, Margaret Simon wrote a poem while looking out her kitchen window.

Heidi Mordhorst is cleaning out, going through papers, and sharing some original poems from childhood.

Mary Lee Hahn is showing off her fence beautification project and her poem entitled The Choice is Yours.

Cheriee Weichel is writing about her family history and sharing these inspired poems. Today's poem is entitled Crossing.

Jone MacCulloch is sharing a lovely haiga/haiku.

Poems of Others
Tabatha Yeatts is sharing the poems of Christine Potter and Cambra Koczkur, two poets writing about current events.

Catherine Flynn is honoring her dad and sharing the poem High Flight by John Magee.

Ruth is sharing a lovely collection of thoughts and poems on and by Donald Hall.

Sylvia Vardell is is asking poets to share poems that did not end up in a published collection. One such poem and an interview with Janet Wong are highlighted today.

Little Willow is sharing song lyrics from the Duncan Sheik song She Runs Away.

Poetry Projects and Exchanges
Linda Mitchell is showing off some of the incredible poetry swap goodies she has received.

Talking Poetry and Writing
Michelle Heidenrich Barnes is kicking off a new series of reader highlights. Today she's spotlighting Linda Mitchell, who also set the ditty challenge for the month.

Poetry Books and Other Inspirations
Carol is sharing a review of Kate Messner's middle grade novel, Breakout, where one of the main characters uses mentor poets to write her own poems.

Myra from Gathering Books is sharing thoughts about the collection Standing Female Nude: Poems by Carol Ann Duffy.

Robyn Hood Black shares a link to her artsyletters Summer Letter. There are so many fun things in it. Do stop by for a visit.