NaPoWriMo, Day Thirteen

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Mary Beth Frezon

The best part of monthly “events” like NaPoWriMo and the August Postcard Poetry Festival is that it gets you to sit down at the blank page every stinkin’ day. Yeah, so what if you miss a day. Who cares? I guess I do. It interests me that even if I think I might have to declare a day off because I have no ideas at all in my head, even if I come this close to just pulling the covers over my head without writing a single word… if I start thinking about it on the way home, maybe I can pony up a phrase. If I sit down at the computer with the file open, I type the [***] which for me (please take note future researchers) designates a different day, and then I type something. It might be sketchy. It might be a decent first draft of a poem but it’s something. So that’s what you’re getting here – a sketchy first draft, just like the twelve that came before it. The past few days there has been a definite NON-flowing of words, so I take what I find.

Walking. I’m walking.
in my dream I am walking.
Dark. I am alone.
The moon is behind striped clouds
The trees are leafless.
songs quenching the thirsting rocks
moon glints on river.
wind brushing back wisps of clouds
night tinted silver.

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NaPoWriMo, Day Twelve

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Mary Beth Frezon

Haven’t you heard the effect of peepers zooming by in the night?

I wanted to write you words tonight
driving home from work, after a movie
but I watched the world instead.
The highway rolled by, familiar,
random red dots leading me on,
behind, beads strung across
the mirror, those urging me on.
In town, a sideview glance
confirmed the green as I passed.
Why do I always look?
Then miles more of two lane but
the old car’s rumblings can’t
conceal the Doppler waves of peepers
passing in the springtide.
In the dark driveway,
April uncertainty shrugged off by
Orion, he sits on the rim of the world
pondering his journey while I
fetch the mail and go inside.

Posted in In the neighborhood, life around us, NaPoWriMo, taking time to look, the creative process | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

NaPoWriMo, Day Eleven

Posted on April 11, 2017 by Mary Beth Frezon

Today’s prompt from NaPoWriMo was to write a Bop: “The invention of poet Afaa Michael Weaver, the Bop is a kind of combination sonnet + song. Like a Shakespearan sonnet, it introduces, discusses, and then solves (or fails to solve) a problem. Like a song, it relies on refrains and repetition. In the basic Bop poem, a six-line stanza introduces the problem, and is followed by a one-line refrain. The next, eight-line stanza discusses and develops the problem, and is again followed by the one-line refrain. Then, another six-line stanza resolves or concludes the problem, and is again followed by the refrain. Here’s an example of a Bop poem written by Weaver, and here’s another by the poet Ravi Shankar.”

I have to say that it was a beautiful day. I fixed two plumbing issues. I stripped the bed and did laundry. I finished a landscape which was sort of meh, and did a quick little still life of my favorite brushes. I looked at two watercolor-related books. I shook my head over the news. I watched the daffodils start to yellow up. I opened the bedroom window. But the words… been a hard few days.

A Reminder of Ideas, Just in Case

Before the month started I wrote down this:
A reminder of ideas, just in case –
For those days when words didn’t flow from me
When there’s fresh laundry that needs my folding
and everything looks better than the page.
the list of ideas that might be useful.

Oh spirit of writing, where have you gone?

Practice, perseverance, daily commute
The work of dailyness, the clouds and sky
sonnets and haiku and some limericks
Taking time to look, A box full of paint
No ideas but in things. Just do the work.
Beauty. Coming home. Walls full of paintings.
A wall full of my paintings. Hold to joy.
The color of a lake. The length of days.

Oh spirit of writing, where have you gone?

Tonight this list is a whole universe
tonight the words are somewhere in between
Today I painted, I’d say with success
a still life of my brushes. And I fixed
the washer so it works. I folded sheets.
I reviewed the reminder of ideas.

Posted in deadlines, Do the Work, NaPoWriMo, note to self, sonnet, watercolor | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

NaPoWriMo, Day Ten

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Mary Beth Frezon

Tough day to find that little shred of something to start with. Luckily I got this amazing little book in a pile of “Take These! Free!” books at the library last week – the suede (aka fuzzy cover) edition of _Treasury of Proverbs and Epigrams_. Lord knows, I love a good set of quotes! These are arranged by various topics like “On Some of the Disadvantages Experienced by the Few Who are Energetic and Lovers of Hard Work.” and “On Husbands and Wives — Courtship and Marriage and What is Often Preferred, or Should be — Celibacy.” and “Merciless Truths.” and “Business Men’s Philosophy.”*

Anyway, I went with this quote and the little “affirmation”, if you will, that came out of it.

Say Hello to Fear

Go up to your fears and speak to them,
and they will generally fade away. — A. Maclaren D.D.

Turn around, what’s gaining on you
Turn around, nothing there but fear.
Just stop then, and put out your hand
Just stop then, wait for fear to come
Speak fear’s name, as soon as it’s near
Speak fear’s name, watch it disappear.

* The first entry in this category is:

Special privilege usually assassinates itself in the end. — Anonymous

followed by

Greed always paves the way for the downfall of those that make it the guiding star of their lives.

Want more?

Greed leads to dalliance with dishonor. When other people’s money is in trust greed has no scruples.

Lust for dishonest riches is its own Nemesis. It may fatten temporarily on an apathetic public conscience, but it commits hari-kari because it doesn’t know when to stop.

There is no other standard of public prosperity or private weal [sic] than the simple one of character.

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Proactive vs Reactive

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Mary Beth Frezon

When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it? — Eleanor Roosevelt

Posted in From the Quote Box, good causes, life around us, Ripped from the headlines | Tagged | Comments Off on Proactive vs Reactive