A Winter Sonnet by Catherine Castle

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A Winter's Sonnet by Catherine Castle, Poetry, Winter poems

It’s getting cold! And winter starts tomorrow. So, I’m celebrating the season over at  SMP authors blog today with an original poem I wrote. Come join me to learn about sonnets and read my Winter Sonnet. For a peek at my poem, just follow this link.

A Writer’s Garden–Garden Poetry with Wendy MacDonald

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Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories.

Today’s guest is Wendy MacDonald. I just love the exquisite photos she brings to the blog every year, as well as her poetry. I know you will, too. Welcome back, Wendy!

Gardens Through the Eyes of a Child

Spring in my garden is a magical time of year. Snowdrops, crocuses, and daffodils have naturalized in the lawns and among the ferns, so as early as January, green shoots of promise poke their way through forgotten fall leaves and melting snow to remind me spring is not far to follow.

This February an additional reason to celebrate spring was born—my first grandchild. I’ve been blessed with opportunities to carry him around the garden and introduce him to the beauty of the natural world our Heavenly Father created for us to enjoy.

Spring has doubled in pleasure for me as I watch my grandson enjoy the sight of cedar branches swaying in the breeze with the lovely accompaniment of birdsong. Some days three feathered versions of “Ode to Spring” ring around us, reminding me of another joy—birdwatching. Perhaps my grandson and I may partake of this together when he’s old enough to point and ask, “Look, Grammie, what is that one called?”

As a writer, I find myself daydreaming of children’s book ideas inspired by our visits to my garden and local parks. For I’ve discovered my friends, who were grandparents before me, were spot-on about how spectacular it is to spend time with grandchildren.

A garden shared with little ones casts a spell on grandmother and grandchild alike.

out in my garden

my grandson and I listen

a song sparrow sings

while sun shines through the cedars

giving each of us a kiss

~ wlm

Have you seen your garden through the eyes of a child?

Garden Blessings ~ Wendy Mac

About the Writer/Gardner:

Wendy L. Macdonald is a Canadian, inspirational writer/blogger/podcaster who also loves to photograph nature. When she’s not writing, drawing, gardening, or sewing, she enjoys hiking, with her husband, in the beautiful parks of the Comox Valley. Wendy invites you to visit her blog: www.wendylmacdonald.com, where you will find nature photography and links to her “Daily Bread” style Facebook page and other social media sites. Her passion is inspiring others to walk with faith, hope, and love. You can hear her podcasts at: www.hopestreamradio.com/program/walking-with-hope.

 

2013 Poem a Day Challenge – Hardship Poem

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The other day I stumbled on The Writer’s Digest Poem A Day Challenge while surfing the internet. Robert Brewer, WD’s poetry columnist, is running a poem a day prompt with a contest for a chapbook publication at the end of the challenge. Too late to participate in the chapbook aspect, since the poems are supposed to be written within one day of the prompt posting, I decided to collect the prompts anyway and see what I could come it with for my own benefit.  I’ve posted another PAD challenge poem on the SMP author blog site today. If anyone is interested in reading another of my poems, hop on over by clicking here, and take a look. Today’s selection is a hardship poem.

Mother-in-law

When she called at eleven p.m., sick,

wanting me to hold her head, it was a

hardship.

I did it anyway.

Hospital trips every day to bring her

cheer and keep the doctors in line were a

hardship.

I went willingly.

Bearing her sad eyes and rants when they put

her in the locked door nursing home was a

hardship.

I bore it heartbreakingly.

When she slipped away from us that April

morn and went to be with God, it was a

blessing,

for she was hardship free.

Can you write a hardship poem?

SEASONS — My First Published Poem

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A few weeks ago, I guest blogged at A Splash of Romance in Your Life, and talked about how I got started writing. In that guest blog I mentioned my first published piece was a poem included in a poetry anthology called A Different Drummer. I thought it might be nice to share that poem with my readers.  So, here is the poem … Seasons

Fall in Catherine’s Hillside Garden
Photo by Catherine Castle

                         Seasons ©

In Winter when the north wind blows

madly round the house,

Jack Frost paints the window panes

and I lie bundled on the couch.

With teapot close at hand,

I wistfully dream of other days,

of surf and sun and sand.

 

In Springtime when the warming sun

removes the winter chill,

the snowflakes turn to gentle rain

and resurrect the daffodils.

As Winter fades away,

I rudely rush the Springtime past

and welcome Summer’s days.

 

And finally after endless wait

blest Summertime arrives,

with sweltering days, humid nights,

temperatures of ninety-five.

With iced tea and a fan

I suffer through the summer heat,

desiring Autumn’s hand.

 

                             by Catherine Castle

 

 What was your first published piece?

 

Carl Sandburg’s Ten Definitions of Poetry

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Recently, we went to visit poet Carl Sandburg’s home in North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains. When Sandburg moved to the mountain farm Connemara, at age 67, he was already a renowned poet, Pulitzer Prize winning author, biographer, lecturer and minstrel. While living at Connemara he completed one-third of his life’s works, including winning a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry.

One of the most intriguing things for me at Connemara, aside from sitting in a chair on the rock where he often penned his poems, was seeing the 14,000 volumes of books that lined most of the home’s walls.

Many of the books had tiny strips of paper inserted between the pages, and I wondered what the famous poet had found interesting enough to bookmark hundreds of pages in thousands of books. Had he marked something that sparked his interest for a new poem, a political reference that supported his socialist stance, a reference or item he wanted to share with family and friends?  Whatever it was, it certainly piqued my curiosity.

For any poetry lovers who read this blog, here are 10 definitions of poetry from Carl Sandburg and a link  where you can find his poetry online.

Ten Definitions of Poetry by poet Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg (1878-1867)

1. Poetry is a projection across silence of cadences arranged to break that silence with definite intentions of echoes, syllables, wave lengths.
2. Poetry is a journal of a sea animal living on land, wanting to fly the air.
3. Poetry is a series of explanations of life, fading off into horizons too swift for explanations.
4. Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable.
5. Poetry is a theorem of a yellow-silk handkerchief knotted with riddles, sealed in a balloon tied to the tail of a kite flying in a white wind against a blue sky in spring.
6. Poetry is the silence and speech between a wet struggling root of a flower and a sunlit blossom of that flower.
7. Poetry is the harnessing of the paradox of earth cradling life and then entombing it.
8. Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away.
9. Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits.
10. Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is seen during a moment.

My favorite definitions are number 7 and 10. What’s yours?

Photos (c) by D. Hershberger

 

A Writer’s Acrostics

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I love poetry and poetic forms. The acrostic is one of my favorite forms. While perusing my blog idea files I came across this acrostic poem I’d written entitled Procrastination, so I decided to do a couple more poems related to writing. Hope you enjoy them

Procrastination

© Catherine Castle

 

Putting a rear in the chair

Requires determination.

Obstinate excuses just

Cause you to vacillate and

Ruminate on proposed

Actions. Take a firm, clear

Stand on your dreams and

Tackle those jobs that

Intimidate you. Allow

No nay saying. You must

Act on your dreams. Don’t

Take the easy way out.

If you do, you’ll never

Overtake your potential, and

No one will know your name.

 

Photo by Jon Sullivan Photo Courtesy PDPhoto.org 

It’s not a computer, but I loved the picture of this old typewriter so much I had to use it with this poem. After all some of the best classic books were pounded out on a typewriter.

The Writer

© Catherine Castle

 

Watching the monitor

Roll I dream of novels as

I struggle with verb

Tenses and phrases

Encroaching on my

Real writer’s block.

 

 

photo by Catherine Castle (c)

Bibliophilia

© Catherine Castle

 

Bibliophilia. I have this bug. An

Infectious disease that knows no

Bounds. I nurse it, fascinated,

Letting it rule me, this overwhelming

Illness that sounds like it should make

Others run from me, screaming and

      Pounding pavement, trying to escape the

 Hellish malady.  It stems from paper,

Ink and words, and is spreading as

  Letters pour from tomes to e-books.

I embrace it, filling up my Kindl

 As an addict fills up his veins.

 

 

Can you relate to any of these poems? Obviously, I can!