#NaPoWriMo 2023 Day Nine

Our Engagement Easter Sunday 1992

Parking Lot Proposal

How shall I compare thee to a summer’s day
When our first date occurred in the spring?
One fine day in April, where now I slay
Poetic verse wearing your wedding ring.
Can I truly write a sonnet of our love?

One year later you asked to marry me.
Not amongst Easter lilies, instead you shove
Your hand in your pocket and clumsily
Proposed when we were in the parking lot
As if our future were an afterthought
An impromptu spot.

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Today, we’d like to challenge you to write your own sonnet. Incorporate tradition as much or as little as you like – while keeping in general to the theme of “love.”

Good afternoon readers and welcome to day nine of #NaPoWriMo. Happy Easter to those who celebrate. Shawn and I actually got engaged the Saturday before Easter back in 1992 because it happened to be the first year anniversary of our first date. He took me to the Buffalo Botanical Gardens to see the Easter flowers. His plan was to propose in the middle of the Easter lilies, but I think he was nervous and forgot. As we were walking back to the car, he did put his hand in his pocket to get the car keys and realized there was a ring there as well. And yes, he proposed to me in the parking lot!

I’m not a fan of sonnets, counting syllables, minding meter and trying to rhyme?! But one of the books Shawn picked up while we were in Oregon (with me in mind) was The Making of a Sonnet edited by Edward Hirsch and Eavan Boland. So I asked Shawn where he put it this morning, hoping it would give me some inspiration and it did. I read The Sonnet Remembering Louise Bogan by Daniel Hoffman and then Voyelles by Arthur Rimbaud translated by F. Scott Fitzgerald and found both poems funny. When I realized today was Easter and what that means in our relationship, I ran with it. The poem is a loose interpretation of a curtal sonnet. I poked fun at my attempts to poetize in April as well as Shawn’s fumbled proposal. I hope it makes my readers smile, because I lack the skills to do a proper sonnet.

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#NaPoWriMo 2022 Day Twenty Seven

Past Summer Days

I am the sum of my parts
graying blonde hair and dimpled smile

Bright dimples appear on wrinkled face
Years spent under cigarette smoke

Childhood memories a smokey haze
Grandpa whistles cheery tune, Heigh-ho

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho it’s off to work we go
Construct a blanket fort in the family room

Watch TV inside cozy blanket fort
Learn kindness from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

Ride bikes down to the neighborhood playground
Catch fireflies on warm summer nights

Spend carefree, warm summer days outside
I am the sum of my parts

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Last but not least, here’s our (optional) prompt. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a “duplex.” A “duplex” is a variation on the sonnet, developed by the poet Jericho Brown. Here’s one of his first “Duplex” poems, and here is a duplex written by the poet I.S. Jones. Like a typical sonnet, a duplex has fourteen lines. It’s organized into seven, two-line stanzas. The second line of the first stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the second stanza, the second line of the second stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the third stanza, and so on. The last line of the poem is the same as the first.

Good morning and welcome to day twenty seven of napowrimo where I took some of what I learned in the poetry workshop I attended last night to write my duplex poem. The workshop hosted by the Virginia G. Piper writing center at ASU was ‘Your Four Strands’ and led by Roanna (Rowie) Shebala. She had us look at our identity through four strands: Mother, Father, Maternal Grandfather and Paternal Grandfather. I started this poem by talking about both my parents and then my paternal grandfather (who I remember more clearly) and it grew from there.

Remembering summer days in Buffalo, NY. This poem was written six years ago. The #HaikuChallenge word yesterday was jar and a lot of people were tweeting about fireflies which made me nostalgic even before the workshop started. My piece yesterday:

Lightning bugs twinkle
Washed out peanut butter jars
Catch their summer dance

Then during the workshop last night, I remembered the one time my dad carried my mom upstairs because Kati and I told him to ‘bring mom upstairs’ after he tucked us in I wrote down two lines of a haiku. I finished it this morning with todays #haikuchallenge word, slice.

Girls bedtime request
Dad carries mom up the stairs
Slice of happiness

#NaPoWriMo 2022 Day Nineteen

Look Forward to Spring

Look at the falling snow
Grass has no chance to grow
The only things certain
in life are death and taxes
April turns bitter cold
Winter keeps a tight hold
Spring begins to shorten
How does eighty-one look?

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our daily (optional) prompt! Today’s challenge is to write a poem that starts with a command. It could be as uncomplicated as “Look,” as plaintive as “Come back,” or as silly as “Don’t you even think about putting that hot sauce in your hair.” Whatever command you choose, I hope you have fun ordering your readers around.

Good afternoon and welcome to day nineteen of napowrimo aka my dad’s birthday. And no it’s not snowing in Phoenix. One of the reasons I moved out here, but I hear the east coast is dealing with a snowstorm. Ugh! Snow in April. No thank you. I’d much rather deal with the high of 97 we are supposed to reach today.

Anyway since my dad is eighty-one today, I thought an eight line poem would be fun. I took inspiration from here not sure I followed it exactly but it was an interesting exercise and I did start the poem with a command even if it is one I may never follow again.

Thank you for reading my contribution today. Apparently I need to go and proofread a couple end of term papers, now. Patricia has uploaded the show notes to yesterday’s podcast, so if anyone is interested in reading those while they listen you can click here and scroll down to the show notes link or the PDF version if you prefer.

Buffalo Day 716

Tuesday was Buffalo Day because the area code for Buffalo, NY is 716. Since Buffalo is called the queen city of the great lakes, I thought it was rather appropriate I attended the Queen & Adam Lambert concert in Phoenix, AZ. Yes, I live far away from the town I grew up in. We have been enjoying the Arizona sun for twenty years now.

Seven one six day
Celebrate Love of My Life
Indeed a great date

Date Night Selfie

Last week I was reading a rejection email for one of my poems, feeling bummed and as I scanned down my list of unread emails I saw one from 95.5 the mountain. I clicked on it and read, Congratulations, you’re a winner! Yes, we were able to go to the Queen & Adam Lambert concert for free. Both Shawn and I loved the concert. Everyone involved put on a great show. Today’s #haikuchallenge word is indeed. I’m a little rusty on the haiku front; haven’t been writing much this summer.

Back from Buffalo

Vacation over
Housework keeps husband busy
while I supervise

 

Okay I did steam mop the bathroom floor and cleaned the shower before doing the hard work of supervising. It’s amazing how dirty floors get leaving three cats alone in a house for a week. I cleaned out the litter box yesterday before watching TV; then went down the hall to scoop out the one in the girls’ bathroom and found Rachael beat me to it. And somehow this morning Gretchen went off to 4 Paws with Rachael to clean more litter boxes. 😉 Actually Rachael says Gretchen plays with kittens more than cleaning.

Meanwhile we are still minus one dog. Nonnie worked yesterday not sure about today, trying to find out as 4 Paws is close to her house and the girls can pick her up on the way home, but haven’t heard anything from Nonnie. It’s strange not having a dog underfoot, but it has made it easier to sweep, mop and vacuum all the hair accumulated in the house by three cats.

In other news before we left on vacation, Rachael started working at the ASU research veterinary clinic and Gretchen finished her summer classes at EMCC. She got a B in Public Speaking and an A in Sociology. Well I should get back to cleaning while I’m still minus a couple children and a dog.

Haiku Winner

Rachael’s birthday present

The birthday dinner

 

No one answers door
rely on neighbor to send
bouquet across street

Since Rachael’s birthday is on a Sunday and she works at 4 paws, she wanted her birthday celebration yesterday. Well yesterday also happened to be graduation day for the high school and the delivery person came when the neighbors were at the ceremony. We got to hold onto the flowers. Of course I had to take a picture of Rachael’s birthday present by all the nice flowers. The flowers behind the present are my Mother’s Day roses and the bouquet in the forefront with the balloons is the neighbor’s. Rachael wanted to have sushi for her birthday, but we found out Friday night trying to make reservations that Blu Sushi is closed. The picture I shared yesterday of Rachael’s 19th birthday was the last time we ate at Blu Sushi without knowing it would be the last time. Rachael decided on Nakama Sushi restaurant. After dinner the gang came over to our house. Shawn was able to go across the street and deliver the bouquet; he came home with a piece of cake for his troubles. The rest of us played Cards Against Humanity. It was the first time we went through the entire deck. Rachael won with 24! cards. It was close though because Karolena got 23. I ended up with 16; Gretchen 15 and Emmett got 12. The poor guy was playing too nice of cards the game is titled against humanity for a reason.

I did win the haiku card 😉

The Big Bang
Some god damn peace and quiet
Geese

The #haikuchallenge word on twitter today is rely so of course I had to tout my victory.

Rely on nature
Cards Against Humanity
End haiku with geese

I found out this morning Shawn is having a solo show at Alwun House later in the summer – August 24-29. Since his brother’s birthday is the opening date, I thought he was doing it as a memorial for Scott; he said no. But now he may include a piece dedicated to his brother. This summer will be Shawn’s first trip back to Buffalo since Scott’s funeral. Maybe he’ll get a chance to photograph some places that remind him of Scott to put in the show. Okay and now that I’ve slipped down a sad road on Rachael’s birthday, I think I’m going to stop typing.

Happy 45

Happy 45! Shawn and me at PF Chang’s Goodyear AZ

 

Black and white photo
celebrates another year
keep on loving life

On Saturday Feb. 25th, we went out to PF Chang’s to celebrate Shawn’s 45th birthday. The restaurant was overflowing, so we decided to dine out in the front, bar patio. No crowd, a lot quieter, and the weather was perfect for outdoor dining. Rachael took this picture of Shawn and me after dinner. The first few shots, the lighting created some strange effects and everyone was laughing. One reason why I like this photo; it isn’t an exact smile but Shawn does look happy. He so rarely smiles in photos. Then photobucket had canvas prints on sale. I was able to get a 10×10 print for $20 (including shipping and handling). The print arrived today. It turned out really nice.

Then On Sunday Feb. 26th, Shawn and I went to the Sabres/Coyotes game with other Buffalo State alumni. We also invited a neighbor from my old street in Hamburg, NY. I was wearing my Hamburg, NY sweatshirt. And when someone walked past me, to get to his seat he said, 1 4 7, no 1 4 0 7 5. At first I was a little confused as to why he was giving me numbers. Then he said, Hamburg’s zip code, right? Lol! Yes, I am wearing a sweatshirt that read, Hamburg, NY the town that friendship built. I kinda forgot – When I was 5.

Speaking of time flying, I can’t believe two months of 2017 have gone by. Right now Rachael is on spring break and next week will be Gretchen’s turn. And before we know it napowrimo 2017 will be here. Hopefully I will be able to write a poem a day this year. I have signed up over at napowrimo.net again.

Another Benefit for a School Friend

Sharing this in hopes any friends in Buffalo, NY will be able to go or just donate to help another of my classmates from Trinity Lutheran. Jim also lived in the Frontier school district so we graduated from high school together as well.

Chaotic lives run
away from us. Don’t forget
appreciate friends!