NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 18

The landline rang tonight and I wasn’t sure what the voice said on the other end and I asked, who is this? And that, friend, is how I got Quinnipiac’d!

Getting Quinnipiac’d

was finally asked:
what is the biggest problem
facing our nation?
or facing the world?
Or facing your female friends?
how will you vote?
seemed so serious
very, strongly, illegal
send more money there
all the big issues
all decked out in black and white
so easy to choose
Somewhere and elsewhere
someone answered completely the
opposite to me.

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 18

The Gettysburg Address

I am reposting this, from 2019 and as far back as 2015, because it still matters, remembering what our nation is about.

Looking back,I first posted these words here in 2015 after an incident in Baltimore triggered violence and looting. I reposted them two years later, a month after this president took office and thinking about what it means to be American and what is worth fighting for.

Today is the anniversary of those words being said overlooking the battlefields of Gettysburg. Two minutes that sum up what is worth fighting for and why we must continue to fight for what we believe.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

The Gettysburg Address

Day 20 NaPoWriMo 2022

There was much on my mind today and I was reminded and tried to remind myself that we can’t all fix all the problems of the world. If you save one life it is as though you have saved the world, Jewish tradition says. We don’t know what we may do that may change the world, or change the world for someone. We can only do what we can and keep going and do it again.

Some of us are probably thinking – hey I thought we were free and clear of all this trouble and life could return to normal but I am pretty sure that’s not going to happen for a long while. So take a breath, enjoy the sun and air when you can, do what you must to be strong for another day. It’s not all your problem to fix. Maybe it’s enough to be an ear for someone, or to look up some information that someone needs, or to stand up to one person and say no, that’s not acceptable. One day at at time. One thing at a time. Whatever you can do here and now.

waiting for sleep
i tell myself – i am
sitting in a slice of boat
long, narrow
gliding down a dark
glowing above with wiggling
glittering below with reflection
the light of everything
everywhere
i am
in a narrow slicing
the sound of a knife
the glint of a blade
i am free

Day 20 NaPoWriMo 2022

Poetry Postcard Fest 2021 – Register Soon!

Just a reminder that a great way to stretch your poetry muscles is to get some daily practice and it’s that time again for August’s Poetry Postcard Fest. Registration ends on July 18, so time is short to sign up but you can do it!

You’ll get a list of 31 other folks and starting just before or on August 1, you’ll write a poem a day, sending it off to each successive person after you on the list. I usually have a short list of possible prompts in case I get stuck but generally once going it’s easier to keep going. Last year as you may recall my biggest problem was a sudden burst of double-sonnets which led to cards with writing on both sides of the postcard. THhere’s no theme or form requirements (there’s talk on the page about composing directly on the card but I don’t do that (although I don’t edit what I write each day in notebook or computer). You do what works for you and what gets the postcards in the mail every day.

The daily commitment is important to both you and your own writing as well as to the folks in your group. Who doesn’t love to get real mail in the mailbox?

Be bold! You can do it! Read more about it and you can sign up here. Small fee supports the Seattle Poetry Lab.

Here’s Harry practicing watching for the mailman. (ok he might be watching chipmunks… but he does watch the mailbox too)

Poetry Postcard Fest 2021 – Register Soon!

NaPoWriMo Day Thirteen

I went outside to sit with the daffodils today. It may snow. That’s right. It may snow. Won’t be the first time the daffodils have been beaten down in their glory but it seemed a good idea to sit with them and paint a bit today… just in case.

For several years I’ve been attached to the news – aggregating it, summarizing it, passing it along, being horrified by it at times. Since January I’ve tried to cut back some. I’ve eliminated a couple subscriptions and try not to spend so much time reading but here we are again needing to put our shoulder to the work. Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was worth a ponder so here you go –

There it is, all above the fold,
large letters announcing the latest
I take a slurp of coffee to prepare
and push my glasses up by habit
I don’t know how they did it
but that idea of all men and women
being entitled to life, liberty,
the pursuit of some sort of happiness –
that seems to have caught on at last.
Legislation accepted, approved, amended,
ratified and sent back
signed sealed delivered
and there it is, held up to the world.
We’re going to try this again
only this time like we mean it.
The caption declares that all
the people in the photo are happy
maybe I think, maybe they are happy
but now our real work begins.
I take another swig of coffee.

We are all equal.
And it’s time to act like it.
we stand together.

NaPoWriMo Day Thirteen

Merry Christmas!

Here’s to getting here and finding the light and appreciating it where we find it.

Northern Exposure End Scene: More Light from Markus Avrelius on Vimeo.

Survived a night with roaring winds and rain so I might be a little droopy later but there is good everywhere. Soak it in, revel in it! Strength friends, for what’s ahead!

Merry Christmas!

November 6, 2020 – Letter to my elected reps

November 6, 2020

Dear Elected Representative,

We are in the last moments of this election and still holding our collective breath. While we are hopeful of the outcome, the thought still is there: how can “these people” feel so strongly in ways that are against what our nation stands for?

I had a moment while looking at the county breakdown of voting in this election. Most of my “blue state” was red. The signs and banners and trucks certainly indicated this to me previously but the voting didn’t lie. The only thing that kept the state blue was the concentrated votes in the populated areas. My moment wasn’t one of “thank goodness” but – how do we find common ground again? Rural areas (where I live) are the mirror of inner cities – little work opportunity, often poor education at all levels, poor pay, poor health care, food scarcity and insecurity, few cultural offerings. If we want to join together with our neighbors again we can’t dig in and WIN. We must find ways to offer ways to live better and to make room for caring for everyone so that anger subsides and being open to each other can begin.

This isn’t a new state of affairs, but a sure decline of urban and rural areas for many generations. And it is true for many of the “blue” states.

I live in an old house in a rural area. The center of the economy to those driving through here is all about cars. Old cars, a race track for racing cars, a NAPA store or two in every village. We have had minimal internet service, at times not reliable phone or electrical service. Where I live there’s no cable TV offerings at all because it’s not economically interesting to the cable companies. There are no grocery stores nearby, just convenience stores where you can pick up milk, bread and eggs with your gas fill up. In season we have farm stands.

I saw all the red signs. I heard a lot of the muttering and talk. I saw all the people who wouldn’t wear masks from the start and do so now minimally only because our local shops won’t let them in without one thanks to our governor’s strong guidance.

I see the local school whose newsletter touts the sports teams but doesn’t mention the academic results because they’re pretty bad.

There are people from downstate buying up property that was once farmland because they have the money to buy it and pay taxes on it. They rarely do much for the economy in terms of offering new industry or employment.

Why am I painting this view for you? Because to get back on track and start to push our country forward we can’t be US vs THEM. We have to make sure that opportunity is there for anyone who wants to try for it. That education is good and free at local schools and affordable to those who want to go on, and that this education prepares people for good-paying jobs that allow them to live well. That an unexpected illness or accident won’t destroy a family because of medical costs. That medical care and services are available everywhere to anyone who needs them.

I think of my childhood – all the little moments of a child’s oblivious growing up – and realize how we were not worried. We weren’t worried about losing our house or car or job, losing family members because we couldn’t get them health care. That’s privilege that comes from economics more than anything else. I grew up thinking if I worked, and it might be hard work, I could keep going and live an all right kind of life. I could take care of myself and my family.

I could be relaxed about the future, not worried and angry with worry and fear. I could save for retirement and someday not have to work.

How can we extend a better life with a sense of that to everyone? Health care, education, job training and opportunities, everyone pulling their weight to make things move for everyone?

This is what I ask of you, my elected representatives going forward. Stop catering to the billionaires and the mega-corporations and start – and finish – with the people you represent in the cities, the suburbs and the rural communities. We need your support to make the American dream of possibility and hope a reality for everyone so we can be one nation and one community again.

Mary Beth Frezon

November 6, 2020 – Letter to my elected reps

The Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The Gettysburg Address

World Watercolor Month Day #6

Just a quick paint tonight – it poured all day on and off in big loud gushes and was still raining but with more temperance as I came home. Stopped for dinner and started some laundry and then did this:

World Watercolor Month Day #6

Shoulder to Shoulder

The March of the Women (Shoulder to Shoulder) from Wild Love Music on Vimeo.

This video was produced to remind us of the brave women of the Suffragettes/Suffragists, both in the UK and the USA. It is also dedicated to the women millworkers of Bridport, Dorset, who came out on strike for better pay/conditions in 1912 and marched through the small town singing suffragette songs, including "The March of the Women".

"The March of the Women" (Shoulder to shoulder) was composed by Dame Ethel Smyth in 1910 (words by Cicely Hamilton). Dame Ethel was a leading figure in the women's suffrage movement and dedicated the anthem to the WSPU.

The anthem is sung here by "Werca's Folk", a women's choir based in Northumberland, under the direction of Sandra Kerr, their website is http://www.wercasfolk.com

There will be a recreation of the photograph of the strike in Bridport, West Dorset on 14.2.15, we will be singing this anthem as we march through the streets with our placards!