NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 24

Lunch with Mom today because Wednesday is Greek Food Day at our Alexis Diner! Then home and the light was nice and it wasn’t too chilly so I sat out and watched the front yard change.

Yellow light slanting
in afternoon across lawn
blue shadows sap green

red wine seems chilly
afternoon shadows deepen
with glints of sunset

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 24

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 23

I have no idea what prompts were offered today. I messed around with bird feeders (one crook totally fallen apart, one squirrel baffle undone, hummingbird feeders hung albeit early). I transplanted the cheery little tulip ahead of a visit from the propane company. And indeed, he showed up today. Time will tell if the tulip survives.

it’s ok to be silent
to wait for something
to happen by
here is some sunlight
over there one red tulip
in the tree, many birds
it’s ok to be here waiting
being quiet amidst the birds
many clad in brown and gray
but there goes a cardinal
now the coffee is gone
and soon I go too.

And now, obligatory black cats.

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 23

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 21

Ventured out to see Mom, get sunflower seed for the birdies, get katfüd for the kitties and have some dinner. Amazing the changes in the world in a week plus. Although it was quite nippy today, sp many flowers and trees in bloom!

closed my eyes briefly
now the hills are fringed in white
lacy wild cherries

magnolia and
weeping almond and cherry
line my mother’s street

in my own garden
the first of the daffodils
are fading

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 21

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 19

I sat outside even though it wasn’t particularly sunny this afternoon. The daffodil season is short in the scheme of things.

sitting with daffodils
no words from either of us
I painted, they glowed.

eventually
drops of rain fell on my work
all yellow washes

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 19

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 15

Little bit going on in the world today, but the sun was out and my head was a little clearer so I went out to sit in the sun, with my paint kit!

sitting in the sun
while the world is full of news
and daffodils

three yellow paints
gradually become a
page of daffodils

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 15

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 14

The NaPoWriMo prompt was to write using anaphora, a repeated word or phrase at the beginning of each line of a poem. When I read it ‘don’t forget the rain’ popped into my head and I guess I let it rest there. Been a gray rainy day here in downtown East BeeJeesus and that’s about all there is to report.

don’t forget the rain
don’t forget the rain makes things grow
don’t forget that autumn comes
don’t forget that things dies in season
don’t forget that it gets cold
don’t forget that frost settles in
don’t forget that winter comes
don’t forget that snow covers the garden
don’t forget that everything is waiting
don’t forget that everything is waiting
don’t forget that the world will warm again
don’t forget that spring will come again
don’t forget the rain.

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 14

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 12

Happy Friday the Twelfth! Very gray and rainy day here which makes the front daffodils look fluorescent out there. I do wonder sometimes about the people who drive by – I hope they bring some happiness to others every April. The bulbs may be here for a very long time.

outside in the rain
this year’s tree buds holding a
single silver drop

wind-scattered raindrops
gravity will make them
fall again

Forty year old bulbs
every year a yellow
wonder – daffodils

If I ever win the lottery, maybe I could spread more daffodil joy!

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 12

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 10

Today has been an… interesting… day with a few fucking plot twists. (Please note that I did not say “unexpected” or “surprise” plot twists since by nature, all plot twists are these. It is likely that some do not fall into the descriptive category I chose. So there is that.)

When I went to check the optional NaPoWriMo prompt this turned up on the page of possible inspiration points so I just went with it. More regularly scheduled haiku below the photo.

when I was younger
swearing was forbidden
now it saves lives

sun, wind, rain and clouds
passing through the front yard today
kissing daffodils

head rests on table
not so uncomfortable
as necessary

though not Japanese
i write in haiku format
unabashedly

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 10

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 9

Bright, clear and sunny all day today… of course. We had a blast yesterday though – visiting, nibbling snacks and peering up at the sun and the shadow. Today we return you to our regularly scheduled April event — daffodils. Was it fifty bulbs I planted properly and deep in the mid-eighties? Worth every penny and every hour of shovelling! This afternoon I put out the solar water fountain birdbath. Still a couple weeks from hummingbirds I think

morning sunlight
bright wave across the garden
turning daffodils

today the sunlight
flashing in the bare garden
so strong, so yellow

here and there the sky
resting on the earth, still,
daffodils mirrored

flashing so bright
a truck passes by yellow
early daffodils

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 9

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 7

Woke today to weather maps that promised: “incomplete obscuration of the sun during totality” which of course is the moon’s job. Half of the weather service seems focused on how to describe statistics so you spend enough time trying to figure out what the percentages are describing and what it means to you, perhaps until you lose interest. The other half are apparently celebrating poetry month with seven syllable phrases like “incomplete obscuration”. Here, it’s going to be too cloudy but have a free haiku line.

On the other side
of these clouds
Where we imagine
Our long gone family,
Our cats and dogs, our beliefs,
Some off-screen
Coincidence of sun and moon
And us plays out unseen
These things, like so much
Of each long life that
nightly fills the darkness
With if onlys

After weeks of watching
The hopeful weather reports
Of course it’s cloudy

This time, memory
Of the last eclipse we saw
Will have to suffice

weathermen forecast
incomplete obscuration
clouding the future

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 7