Dec
31
Haiku Heights – Prompt #99 – Christmas
Christmas memories
precious time with family
last longer than toys
Dec
30
A meme of my own invention: Fire Friday. A time to post pictures of those captivating flames.
I thought the flames looked like a phoenix rising from the fire. Admittedly, I have an active imagination.
Cauldron of Fire
Oaken Circle’s Full Moon Rite
December 2011
Dec
30
Prompt: Review
review class offer
tickets to Jekyll & Hyde
newspaper critique
In the summer of 2002, I took a “Writing the Review” class taught by Christopher Rawson, the local paper’s drama critic. It was an awesome summer with excuses to go to movies, art galleries, theatre, museums, and more, all for school.
Our professor offered everyone in the class the opportunity to go to the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera opening nights with him: free tickets to the show, the chance to write your own review sitting at the computer next to him as he composed the one that would be in the paper the next morning, and a tour of the newspaper offices. Out of a class of around 40, only two of us took him up on the offer (both of us older, nontraditional students). I went to Jekyll & Hyde with him; he even said he added a couple of my comments into the final article.
Also submitted to Thursday Poets Rally.
Dec
29
holiday money
burns a hole in my pocket
shopping for myself
Inspired by the posting of this WIP drum on facebook:
Fox Drum by Lupa at The Green Wolf
Dec
29
Ferns
Winter Flower Show
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
December 20, 2011
taken with the cell phone
Dec
28
Powder Puff Tree
Calliandra haematocephala
Winter Flower Show
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Pittsburgh, PA
December 20, 2011
Submitted to NatureFootstep Flowers #33
Dec
22
A double prompt today:
Sensational Haiku Wednesday offers us Spirit
while Theme Thursday provides Gift
Spirit granted gifts
dreams and imagination
beckoning from space
Continued…
Dec
19
Poetry Picnic Week 18: Snow, December, Winter Vacations, and Wildness
crystalline silence
full moon shadows etched on snow
winter night wildness
photo by Neil Hunt, found on flickr
Dec
18
Here is a short write-up on the local writers group with whom I hang out. They are tremendously helpful and supportive, and a lot better at rhythm than I am.
Dec
18
Theme Thursday for December 15, 2011 – SWEET
neon
ribbons intertwine
candy-colored fractal spirals
dance behind
sleepy eyes finally drift closed
imagination becomes
sweet dreams
Dec
16
Poets United: The Thursday Think Tank # 77 – The City
between cloud and snow
eerie pink glow fills the air
city lights reflecting
Dec
16
For Sensational Haiku Wednesday, this week’s theme is: Preparation
shopping, wrapping, cards
Christmas preparation done
quiet, moonlit snow
photo by Alain Limoges, found on flickr
Dec
14
I ran across several blogs hosting challenges for 2012. Here’s my early commitment to such 
I’ve added the sites to my sidebar as well as created a page for them. The book challenges I’ll keep updated at that page. New challenges may be added at will.
The rules, as copied from the respective sites:
Continued…
Dec
13
This photo was not taken in nor altered to black & white. It was just that dreary of a day.
Lake Erie as seen from
Marblehead Lighthouse
East Harbor State Park
Marblehead, Ohio
December 3, 2011
Dec
12
Covert (noun)
Hunting . a thicket giving shelter to wild animals or game
animals huddle
hidden within the covert
as gunshots ring out
One of the spring fox pups stayed at the farm this year. We often saw him playing in the pastures. If we were working around the barn, he would hunker down in the tall grass and watch us, ears up and bright eyed. He’d chase butterflies and his own fluffy tail in the evening sun. Just past sun set one autumn evening, we saw him bounding down towards the pipeline. Five minutes later, in the darkness, we heard two shots ring out. We never saw that playful spirit again.
I hate small game season.
photo by Mike Baird, found on flickr
Dec
8
Once again the kind folks at the Thursday Poets Rally have presented me with one of their Perfect Poets awards.
In honor of this, I’ve attempted a new form, the cameo. It is a strictly syllabic form with seven lines of 2, 5, 8, 3, 8, 7, 2 syllables per line.
penguins
beneath a blue sky
so formal in their tuxedos
offering
from the Thursday Poets Rally
the Perfect Poets Award
Thank You
I nominate Marit for the next award.
Linked to the Thursday Poets Rally Week 57
Dec
8
Sensational Haiku Wednesday – This week’s theme is: Malice
predator and prey
no malice in their meeting
just circle of life
Dec
7
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
Taken from the southwest shore of Lake Erie, near Port Clinton, Ohio
December 3, 2011
Normally I wouldn’t show this low res of a photograph to anyone. But, on full digital zoom out into the lake, I thought my little Fujifilm FinePix did pretty well. Well enough for me to identify a new life bird for me!
Dec
7
Haiku Heights – Prompt #97 – Space
Curiosity
voyaging across the void
towards the red planet
Curiosity and her little sister Spirit. RIP Spirit
Artist rendition from NASA
Dec
2
2011 NOVEMBER PAD CHAPBOOK CHALLENGE: DAY 29
There are two options for today’s prompt:
Write an evening poem.
Write a day-time poem.
as evening descends
shadows spread into the field
kangaroos browsing
photo by Rachel Tropea, found on flickr
Dec
2
2011 NOVEMBER PAD CHAPBOOK CHALLENGE: DAY 27
For today’s prompt, write a tribute poem. Write your tribute poem for anyone or anything you like–Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Harry Potter, etc. Have fun!
Spirit
aptly named
little rover on Mars
scientific exploration
even six years past her three-month lifespan
still continuing the mission
dragging one foot behind
unbreakable
spirit
Dec
2
2011 NOVEMBER PAD CHAPBOOK CHALLENGE: DAY 26
For today’s prompt, write a good old days poem. Sometimes the good old days were actually good or not, everyone has a good old days poem in them (even if it’s someone else’s good old days story). So dig deep and pull it out.
heavy horses gave
companionship and hard work
replaced by cold steel
Dec
2
2011 NOVEMBER PAD CHAPBOOK CHALLENGE: DAY 30
For this month’s final prompt, write an “against all odds” poem. I often feel like we have to fight against the odds, the elements, the technology, etc., to complete these challenges, but there are so many other scenarios that involve someone or something working against all odds to make something happen.
racing
against all odds
for triple crown glory
young horses pound the track, records
to break
Continued…
Dec
1
2011 NOVEMBER PAD CHAPBOOK CHALLENGE: DAY 28
For today’s prompt, take the phrase “(blank) Story,” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new word or phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem.
dice roll determines
journeys and battles
adventuring quests
party dynamics
the story unfolds
