NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 17

Sunny and rain. Another April day at the edge of New England. Lately I keep thinking – I enjoy writing haiku, writing in such a small format, trying to snag a moment or an image, but I can’t pretend to be Japanese. Perhaps this is where the idea of American Sentences comes from. I cannot write to satisfy the ancient cultural ideas of a culture that’s not my own. So, bear with me in my haiku/senryu practice.

no cherry blossoms
i am not japanese
daffodil haiku

another day
another two pink lines
more isolation

easy to stay home
a gift of the pandemic
welcome lesson

coffee and take out
chili, spicy and so hot
fragrant car ride home

In other news, I let the two young cats rummage through a laundry bag of laundered toys and balls. This amused them for quite a while and then I heard them move through the house with new jingly noises. I was surprised to find that one of their choices was this big plushy racoon. Only the head is stuffed. This was not just pulled out of the bag, but carried all the way upstairs to the bedroom!

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 17

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 1

Mom and I are having a busy week of appointments and such but tonight we listened to Ada Limon host three other poets: Kevin Young, Patricia Smith and Ilya Kaminsky and an actor, Crystal Dickinson reading from her newly released book (part of her stint as Poet Laureate of the US), You Are Here.

The cat sits on me
pretending to listen as
poetry unfolds

And even better, came home to find three postcards from three wonderful folks that I was just thrilled to hear from!

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 1

Warez MB Been? But Exciting News!

I was doing a 30 day paint thing with a friend and posting more privately so apologies for the gap.

The last few days though I’ve had a little interruption – as two new kittens have arrived. Shout out to Kitten Angels and their fostering network and to Emily of Tiny But Mighty who fostered four black kittens and their black mama! We are taking it slow and steady and today spent some quality time downstairs. The little girl-cat discovered a nice cat bed with a view of a bird feeder and let her brother wander around downstairs giving pitiful wails without so much as a little prrrrt in response. The bed could easily hold four kittens but no – she didn’t feel like sharing or reassuring. I showed him where she was and he wasn’t interested.

So I used the time to update the cat cam. Stay tuned for future adventures with these two! I don’t know if we’ll be able to tell them apart once the collars come off but we shall see. (Names to be determined – in foster they were Maude and Frances.) And I better brush up my photo skills to accommodate two all-black cats.

PS Ginny and Harry are wonderfully ensconced with my Mom – but alas no cat cam there.

Warez MB Been? But Exciting News!

NaPoWriMo 2023 Day 24

this month seems to be flying by with all the haiku and paintings stacking up. Today’s painting is not based in reality, unlike yesterday’s.

morning came too soon
because sleep spent the night
avoiding me

early breaking news
brought giggles to many
and schadenfreude

come out to the sun
in between the rain showers
look for new green shoots

Clouds hurrying past
One potted plant has new shoots
showing finally

NaPoWriMo 2023 Day 24

NaPoWriMo 2023 Day 19

Morning appointment with Mom. Tried to look at an electric car after we’d had some brunch but – sorry – we don’t have any. You could put a deposit on one and when it comes in, see if you like it. If not you’d get your deposit back. That might take six months. I’m short, so I prefer to actually sit in a car to see if I fit and can see everything but thanks. Restocked the freezer on the trip home and here I am. Between all that and the looming brush pile in my driveway, my brain is messy. But it’s that very brief interlude of daffodils and bluebells.

cut down the cedars
which the deer had pruned into
something scrawny

three misshapen shrubs
now piled up by the driveway
please deer, eat them now

defrosted freezer
so clean and strangely empty
fill it, start again.

Update on yesterday’s paint:

The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination. — Carl Rogers

NaPoWriMo 2023 Day 19

NaPoWriMo 2023 Day 9

Two small girls
powered by grapes and candy
leave us all so tired.

Long stretch of trip home
Speed limit sixty-five
no other car lights

Inside the dark car
an audiobook speaking
about emptiness.

NaPoWriMo 2023 Day 9

NaPoWriMo 2023 Day 3

So windy out today – there will be nothing of March or winter for that matter left to see. Cleaned out desk drawer, drew the cat.

Already monday
and i’ve cleaned without coffee
now we’re in brunch mode

cleaning out drawers
the usual dried out pens
paperclips and dust

truth about cleaning
tidiness doesn’t last
without intent

toss junk no mercy
return small memories
to be found again

NaPoWriMo 2023 Day 3

NaPoWriMo is Coming! NaPoWriMo is Coming!

Hey folks – April is upon us so here comes National Poetry Writing Month. Yup – that yearly challenge of writing 30 poems in 30 days. You know you want to. You can write them all on your own and tell no one. There are lots of places that you can find daily prompts. One of them is the founder of the feast, NaPoWriMo where you can also find other poets, reporting in with their responses, as well as a list of their websites and a jolly month-long party!

If you really want to get into the right festive mood, you can take up the challenge of spreading googly-eyes everywhere you can! Use up all your googly eyes, especially the self-stick ones!

And then obligatory cat photos. Or maybe you want to consider a month of cat sonnets or haiku. I find it useful to go in with some ideas and maybe a plan as to form.

NaPoWriMo is Coming! NaPoWriMo is Coming!

Also found: Bill the Cat

This is the photo used for the “Lost Cat” poster in November 1990 when Bill and Maggie made a break for it. Maggie sat on the front porch waiting but Bill was eventually found in the next door neighbor’s barn a day or two later. Nervous times for all. The poster notes that he was about seventeen pounds at the time and get a load of those magnificent toesies! He really was a “best cat”. As a bonus, here’s another version of Bill. That’s right, it’s a cat scan!

Also found: Bill the Cat

Visiting Minions

The cats and I have been staying with Mom while a new furnace is delivered and I have been cleaning up the mess. This week I spent a good chunk of each day going home and doing serious time with the vacuum cleaner and cleaning stuff.

The cats have stayed with Mom before but not for quite a while. This time the adjustment was pretty easy because I stayed too, at least that’s the theory. And they’ve made themselves right at home. This evening Ginny was sitting in the front picture window looking primly at the next door dog Betsy, who was barking her doggie head off. Just proof: Cats rule, dogs drool.

Visiting Minions