Twitter Poems

Do you use twitter? I do. It’s a great tool for connecting with other writers.  I often see links to blogs that interest me.  Twitter posts contain only 140 characters or less—a challenge for a poet.

#1

A tweet on twitter

Connects me with writer friends

All alone and bored.

#2

Sitting on the front porch

Chocolate cookie in hand

Waiting for my muse

To peek

From behind the clouds.

#3

Caught on the barbed-wire

It fills and flaps in the wind

My plastic bag of dreams

Flash Fiction Fun

It’s WonHundred Word Wednesday! 

The prompt: He hadn’t meant to scare the child 

It was a chilly Christmas Eve in Tucson, Arizona. Officer Tippets sat in his vehicle filling out paperwork when he saw a child in his headlights. She wore only a tiara and a diaper. “Where’s your mommy?” He hadn’t meant to scare the child but now she gagged between sobs. “Don’t cry, little one. I won’t hurt you.” He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. “Come with me. We’ll find mom,” he said, carrying her to the warm police car. He took the emergency teddy bear from the glove box and she hugged it close. “Merry Christmas.”

 Check them out!

Jennifer Lee www.myfam-i-lee.blogspot.com Alison Woods (Peering Into. . .): alisonmillerwoods.wordpress.com Amryn Scott: wildscottkids.wordpress.com Canda Mortensen: candamortensen.blogspot.com Jaclyn Weist: jaclynweist.blogspot.com Laura D. Bastian: www.lauradbastian.com Leah Sanders, inklings: inklings-leahsanders.blogspot.com Lindzee Armstrong/Lydia Winters: lindzeearmstrong.blogspot.com Miranda D. Nelson: www.mirandadnelson.blogspot.com Starimprint http://starimprint.blogspot.com/ Wendy Knight, Author: www.wendyknightauthor.blogspot.com
Jenna Eatough http://mistglenmoon.net/blog/

It's Autumn! Time for a Poem or Two

The maple leaves are beautiful right now! And the aspens are golden yellow patches on the mountainsides. I love autumn. Have you seen this poem by e.e. cummings? He focused on (and imitated) the action of a falling leaf in this  poem.

l(a

le

af

fa

ll

s)

one

l

iness

It might help to see the poem unbroken: 

"l(a leaf falls) oneliness." 

Cummings wrote the sentence so that the action of a leaf falling is actually contained within the word "loneliness." 

I wrote a poem inspired by the first line of a poem by a Canadian poet, Bliss Carman. 

"There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood"

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood

Colder, longer nights,

the smell of wood smoke in the air.

One lonely fly buzzes by

my soup bowl,

                wondering

What happened to summer?

WonHundred Word Wednesday!

Grandpa was old, bent over and blind when I’d sit by his knee and listen to the stories about the old country. They all began the same: before the war, life was simpler. Most vivid amongst the memories of his home town was the old church bell tower. The boys used to swing on the rope and chime the wrong time. How the priest would swear! Tears came to Grandpa's blind eyes. The last time they rang, he said, they warned of Russian bombers. If he ever heard the bells again, he’d know he was home. 

Now check out what the other writers did with this prompt!

Wendy Knight, Author: www.wendyknightauthor.blogspot.com

Kelly Martin, Author: www.kellymartinbooks.blogspot.com

Alison Woods (Peering Into. . .): http://alisonmillerwoods.wordpress.com/

Laura D. Bastian http://www.lauradbastian.com/

Jaclyn Weist  http://jaclynweist.blogspot.com

K.R. Wilburn  http://www.krwilburn.com/my-blog.html

Lindzee Armstrong/Lydia Winters http://lindzeearmstrong.blogspot.com

Canda Mortensen http://candamortensen.blogspot.com

Jenna Eatough http://mistglenmoon.net/blog/

Starimprint: http://starimprint.blogspot.com/

Monday is Poetry Day

“Monday, Monday, so good to me; Monday morning, it was all I hoped it would be.”  Remember the song by the Mamas and Papas? It’s one of my favorites. I always sing along.

Monday actually means moon’s day. We were treated to a supermoon this summer. Did you see it? My son took this picture through his telescope. It’s not a supermoon, but it looks super to me.

Nightlight

The supermoon shines tonight.

Perfectly round,

Like a giant eye

It pierces the dark,

Probing the doings of men.

Oh, close the curtain!

I can’t sleep.

The Night Goddess

Once they worshipped me,

A comforting light in the darkest night,

       A mystery

              Close but unreachable.

Now no longer a mystery,

I’ve been boarded by earthmen.

Poked with a flagpole,

They left footprints in my dust.

Though sullied, I remain

A neighbor, a partner,

A glowing pearl on a black velvet night.

WonHundred Word Wednesday

This week's prompt: 

She had found something that would mean she'd never be poor again--but there was a catch.

Tasanee climbed a mountain of black plastic bags and looked out at a world of rubbish—the Bangkok dump. A sickening stench wafted through the air, but with luck she’d find discarded rice cakes for breakfast. Suddenly she slipped, falling on her back. Her hand broke a bag and rancid grease squished through her fingers. When she pulled out her hand, a ring came with it. Its diamond gleamed in the sunlight. She had found something that would mean she’d never be poor again—but there was a catch. If I try to sell it, they’ll think I stole it.

I'm curious to see what other writers have done with this prompt, aren't you? Check out the links and find out.

Jennifer Lee www.myfam-i-lee.blogspot.com

Alison Woods (Peering Into. . .): alisonmillerwoods.wordpress.com
Amryn Scott: wildscottkids.wordpress.com
Canda Mortensen: candamortensen.blogspot.com
Jaclyn Weist: jaclynweist.blogspot.com
Laura D. Bastian: www.lauradbastian.com
Leah Sanders, inklings: inklings-leahsanders.blogspot.com
Lindzee Armstrong/Lydia Winters: lindzeearmstrong.blogspot.com
Miranda D. Nelson: www.mirandadnelson.blogspot.com
Starimprint http://starimprint.blogspot.com/
Wendy Knight, Author: www.wendyknightauthor.blogspot.com

A Poem and A Picture

Lighthouses are symbolic of hope and peace. Do you have a picture of a lighthouse hanging on the wall? Many people do. This one was drawn by a fifth grader in one of my art classes last year. Lighthouses inspire poets, too. I've included mine--entitled #1 and #2.

#1

A lighthouse stands

            Alone

Sending a beam of hope

across the waves.

Never-failing

            True,

Leading me home.

#2

Wind and rain

Buffet my sails and

And I flounder,

      Adrift.

The rocks loom close

But the light beam

Shows the way

To my safe harbor.

WonHundred Word Wednesday

It's WonHundred Word Wednesday and the prompt is about a fire, so I shared one of my favorite pictures. My son is a wildland firefighter. He took this picture of the crew gazing at the deer this summer. They work very hard--long, fourteen-hour days. The deer seem to be saying, "Thank you." We all say, "Thank you!"

Today's prompt: The fire was getting closer.

Eight year-old Tommy Monson ran to the spigot with a metal pail. His heart pounded and his eyes brimmed with tears as it filled with water. The fire was getting closer. The fire he had started. He only wanted to burn the weeds—clear the field for a campfire that night. But the flames had quickly grown. The dry weeds had ignited as though they’d been drenched in gasoline. Why did I take the matches? Why did I disobey my parents? “Help me, Heavenly Father,” Tommy prayed as he threw water on the flames. “I won’t do it again!” 

Now go check out what everyone else wrote from the prompt:

Wendy Knight, Author: www.wendyknightauthor.blogspot.com

Kelly Martin, Author: www.kellymartinbooks.blogspot.com

Alison Woods (Peering Into. . .): http://alisonmillerwoods.wordpress.com/

Jessica Winn, The Distracted Writer:http://thedistractedwriter.com/

R.K. Grow: http://www.rkgtheauthor.com/

Stephanie Worlton's Kreating Krazy blog: http://stephanieworlton.blogspot.com/

Leah Sanders, inklings: http://inklings-leahsanders.blogspot.com/

Laura D. Bastian http://www.lauradbastian.com/

Jaclyn Weist  http://jaclynweist.blogspot.com

Amryn Scott http://wildscottkids.wordpress.com/

K.R. Wilburn  http://www.krwilburn.com/my-blog.html

Lindzee Armstrong/Lydia Winters http://lindzeearmstrong.blogspot.com

Miranda D. Nelson http://www.mirandadnelson.blogspot.com/

Angela Schroeder http://angelaschroederauthor.blogspot.com/

Ginny Romney http://romneyrants.blogspot.com/

Canda Mortensen http://candamortensen.blogspot.com

Jenna Eatough http://mistglenmoon.net/blog/

Starimprint: http://starimprint.blogspot.com/

Kaye P. Clark: http://kayepclarkwriter.blogspot.com/