Rules for the Dance

Scansion, macron and breve...OH MY!

I'm up to my elbows unlocking the door to reading and writing metrical verse. I know, stop with the sexy talk.

Seriously, this is fun and it involves math and maybe even a little music. Anything that can make me buddy up to math isn't all that bad, considering I've held a grudge against it since the 2nd grade.

"Rules for the Dance", a book by Mary Oliver, is both technical and inspirational.

Not to worry...I'll still be cranking out the free verse, but it's good to stretch the brain and appreciate works from another era.

I wonder though which came first...the rules or the verse?

Untitled

if my heart did loiter
on the pretense
of the metaphor

it was only
for a summer, lost
under the flaming sanguine sky

intent on blistering
where once
there were soft places

reaching,
reaching,
reaching to an other world



Written in response to Read Write Prompt #83

You Know You Live In The Country When...

a grasshopper sets off your car alarm.

Yes, while enjoying an unusually cool summer morning in Middle Tennessee, I heard the sound of a car alarm in the distance. Odd...that's not something you usually hear at the Retreat Center. Up the staircase and out the door, I realize it's my car...hmm. Go back downstairs to get the keys and the alarm thingy that hasn't worked in oh...2 years and go back upstairs. The alarm stops blaring all by itself as I'm half way down the sidewalk, but can see I've left the car window open overnight. When I look inside, there's a very large, very green grasshopper walking on the dashboard looking for a way out. Every time he walks across a sensor on the dashboard, the alarm goes off. Quite a rattling experience for us all, I must say.

Let Them Eat Cake!

My love for tchotchkes has been rekindled by neighbors Joanne and Kathryn. As a thank you for taking care of Mr. Zito, they gifted me with this:

The Marie Antionette Action Figure, with ejectable head!

Whether in her queenly robes or various states of undress she is, in a word, D-I-V-I-N-E.

And don't knock the educational qualities of the blisterboard on which she was packaged. Every inch is filled with fun facts about the beheaded queen (her weapon of choice: cleavage) and bonus guillotine facts, my favorite of which is #8, "It is believed that a victim can remain conscious for up to thirty seconds after decapitation." Yikes!

Thanks neighbors...who needs a stinkin' Barbie Doll?!?

Intuition

when a cloud
eclipses my face
a brow raises, the eyes narrow

so as to see better in the dark

when full lips
stretch into a thin line
the head tilts, slightly to the right

so as to hear the unspoken meaning

you may think
my piercing gaze
the sign of an inquisitive mind

you’d be wrong

it’s the little man,
awakened by your
near truths, your masked emotions

clawing his way to the surface

to get a closer look
so he can touch you, feel you,
taste the air escaping your lungs

his greatest desire

to be birthed
to be fully grown
to live in the light

will never be realized

for what would become
of the whole
without his watchful eye?

little man…intuition

intuition…little man

Written in response to: Read, Write Prompt #82: Ode to Your Homunculus

Clematis Viorna

Say good morning to Clematis Viorna aka the Leather Flower.

This sweet, nodding flower greeted us on the trail as we walked into the woods this morning. Isn't it lovely? A native vine, it's scarce in the lower mountains and I've never seen/noticed it at Penuel Ridge before today. It looks as if fairies might live inside its bell-shaped mouth.

My Personal Declaration of Independence - 2009

The hamster wheel has spun 360 degrees and it's time to take a dive into the recesses of me. What am I looking for? Evidence of things I allow to hold me hostage. It's pretty easy to spot since I put down the tar paper a few years back. I just look for dark, sticky footprints on my insides and follow them till I find the little bastards in the dark crevices of my spirit. The miner's hat with the light on top helps, but I've gotten so good at this I can see them in the dark, smell their stench that singes my nose, like hot tar on a roof in August.

So, what's on the list for 2009?

In 2009, I declare my independence from:

1. Waiting

and

2. Pain

Waiting may seem to be an odd choice as some might confuse waiting with patience. They are not the same. For me, waiting is a legacy I learned from my mother. It means sitting passively by until someone else makes a decision or takes an action that will fulfill me. It's an act of marking time in place, not moving backward, but not moving forward either.

and

Pain of the physical. It's time to manifest wellness and declare NO MORE PAIN that robs me of creativity, energy and compassion.

So there you have it, my personal declaration of independence for 2009. I'm going to need your help so brace up for a year of liberation soldiers!

Double Take

our desire
to be coupled with others
illusory

when all-the-while

our desire is
to be coupled
with ourselves

pairing the best in us
pairing the worst in us
paring of the virulent
through a shrinking lens

How much to cut away
before you get to the truth
of who you are?

Written in response to ReadWritePrompt #81

Photo Prompt Credit: XX by oncle Jim

Haiku Contest

Hello pals of mine! We've been without a contest at Texas2Tennessee for quite some time. I guess I was waiting for the right image to come along and lo and behold it appeared in my garden this very day.

I've offered a haiku to capture my delight in picking the first ripe tomato of the season. Your challenge is to craft one of your very own. Please leave it in comments along with a link to your contact information.

Haiku rules are a 5-7-5 syllable rhythm, i.e. the first line has 5 syllables, second line has 7 syllables, third line has 5 syllables. There are other pesky rules, but I want you to be able to create freely.

The prize...a home baked pie of your choosing. I know you out-of-towners are at a disadvantage but I'll be fair and we'll figure out a way to get a pie to you if you win!

Ok...have at it! The deadline is Monday, July 5th.

first of the season

tomato jubilation

boy, is my face red*

*Is that a tomato in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?

My apologies to Mae West.