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Memory and Poetry
March 24, 2015
— 3 Comments
shrimp plant
Our memories are not accurate, but serve as a guide to learning more about what might have happened. We fill in the blanks with what we are told or what is presumably common knowledge when we think about the past. This was never so clear to me as when a group of my elementary school friends recalled our childhood together after 50 years. Most of us remembered different versions of the past, with a few striking exceptions. The most hated teacher was remembered in her worst aspects. None of us could recall her being nice at all during the entire 5th grade year. The memories had become more like cartoons than real events, with only a few details sparking us to bring up related stories. The only event we all vividly recalled exactly the same was an incident involving a girl who spewed vomit out of her nose. In the third grade this made a very big impression on all of us. I believe the intense olfactory element of the memory is what made it so specific. We laughed about it, but this was the most memorable shared experience we had from our time in elementary school. She was not present, but she was the center of attention for a while.
Good and romantic memories may be built on delusion or on fables that are repeated and slightly altered by each person who tells them. We recall certain details and omit others to patch together a self-fulfilling story of cause and effect. Our dreams and pastimes create frameworks for the past to become a fairy tale, and our self-image a sport. Time changes our perspective and buries much of the unpleasant reality under a blanket of foggy forgetfulness. We are all in the same memory soup in this sense. None of us is a reliable witness to anything we experienced in the past. Some choose to highlight the suffering, and others feature past success or accomplishment as the anchor to the ship of self-definition. The overriding emotions blur the facts, and that is all perfectly normal.
I remember writing poems and songs when I was very young. I have no examples of any of it, but I am sure I was prolific. I sent poems to magazines for publication. I saved my rejection letters because I was into my role as a poet. I played piano and clarinet when I was very young, but switched to baritone ukulele, then later guitar for my role as teen folk singer. My first job in life was as a singer and a costumer when I was 17 years old. I traveled to North Carolina for the summer theater gig my high school choir director had helped me land. My mother and aunt drove me across Tennessee, stopping at the Grand Ole Opry to see a show. Minnie Pearl was on stage…memorable Minnie. I arrived in Cherokee, North Carolina in high spirits because I was working and living away from my parents. It was my high dive into the deep end, and I was thrilled. “Where am I going with this?”, you may wonder, gentle reader.
I am returning to some kind of remembered roots in this blog for the month of April, 2015. I will participate in #NaPoWriMo and create 30 poems in 30 days right here. I have been enjoying a period of study and immersion into poems and poets, and now will boldly commit to the creative task of being a poet all next month. I have done enough creative ventures in my life to know that there are many different tastes, and therefore room for all kinds of art. After April I will resume my matter of fact writing style. I hope my poetic posting will please you. For me it is a big stretch beyond my present boundaries, and that is why I want to do it. If you send rejection letters I will be perfectly understanding. By publishing I am already moving beyond my childhood limits. I believe it is good to find a new high dive into the deep end from time to time.
yucca
Grow Down 2015 at Tucson Botanical Gardens
March 24, 2015
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- design
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- living room
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- living room
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- water feature
Then Grow Down event is a competition held in the spring each year at the Tucson Botanical Gardens. This year the designers created spaces featuring native plants coordinated with metal, wood, stone, bamboo, brick, and glass. I liked all of them, but my favorite one was the most stark. The copper background wall sets off the large rain chain designed with metal bowls and colored glass sitting in the center of the garden. This installation won no prize, probably because there was no seating provided. The other two entries gave the visitor a feeling of private seating in an outdoor room. The winner has a wonderful water feature that circulates around the space creating a rushing liquid sound.
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- design
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- copper background
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- copper background
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- copper background
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- copper background
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- metal and glass
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- glass and metal
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- metal and glass
The third design used a theme of feng shui. The bamboo divider functions as a wind chime as well as a privacy veil. The seating is cozy around the artful floor with a stone compass made of rounded pebbles. This design felt the most personal to me. It won the people’s choice award.
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- design
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- feng shui
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- feng shui
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- rock work
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- pebble compass
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- bamboo barrier
These contests give gardeners ideas to try ourselves, and introduce us to local landscape designers we can hire when we want something special. The entries this year were less elaborate than in the past, but to my taste they were more artful. They all bring new ways to think about garden spaces that are easy to execute, and not too wildly expensive for a home gardener.
#ROW80 Nourishing Harvest
March 22, 2015
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ROW80
On this last check in to #ROW80 I am taking stock of the bountiful benefits I harvested from this program. I tried it on a lark in order to revive my dead tumblr blog and work on poetry. Results have surpassed my wildest imagination even though I did not fully complete every goal I set at the start. There is the goal, and then there is the spirit of the goal. I am pleased to have established:
- an almost daily poetry writing practice, with emphasis on trying new things
- a weekly trip to the U of A Poetry Center for inspiration
- listening and reading a wide variety of poems from all sources
- making use of exercise time to hear poetry podcasts and ponder
- following and reading poets on tumblr
For me this means I am primed and ready for #NaPoWriMo in April. Taking the plunge into poetry during National Poetry Month is a pleasure. There are poems everywhere, tweeting across the universe at lightening speed, during the month of April. You don’t need to write them to enjoy reading the participants’ creations. If you follow the hashtag #NaPoWriMo you may be inspired to contribute. Last year PBS wrote a group poem on twitter which turned out to be very good. I can’t wait to see what creative events might be in store this year. I find the energy and the generosity of #ROW80 to be similar to the poetry month program. Maybe some of my colleagues from here will migrate, or just pop in to enjoy. It is a non judgmental, creative canvass with major potential for fun.
March happens to be National Nutrition Month, which has made me think about the metaphor of feeding the body and feeding the soul. We need to ingest calories to stay alive, but there are other qualities to nourishment. A home-grown lovingly prepared meal has extra positive energy and support that cannot be found at a drive through window. Joyful play and movement bring circulation to the blood as well as to the senses. We do not live by bread alone. The similarities I see between delicious healthy food and a carefully crafted poem may not be obvious. They are both nourishing to the spirit, and necessary to life. I plan to write some cooking and eating poems in April as I expand my repertoire. Thank you all very much for sharing these 80 days with me.
I will end with a nourishing metaphor by William Shakespeare in his Sonnet 75:
So are you to my thoughts as food to life,
Or as sweet-seasoned showers are to the ground;
And for the peace of you I hold such strife
As ‘twixt a miser and his wealth is found.
Now proud as an enjoyer, and anon
Doubting the filching age will steal his treasure;
Now counting best to be with you alone,
Then bettered that the world may see my pleasure;
Sometimes all full with feasting on your sight,
And by and by clean starvèd for a look;
Possessing or pursuing no delight
Save what is had, or must from you be took.
Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day,
Or gluttoning on all, or all away.
#Weekendcoffeeshare Bad Hofgastien, Austria
March 22, 2015
— 3 Comments
pay with a poem
Today is World Poetry Day, 21 Mar, 2015. If we were having coffee today I would invite you to use your transporter cloak to travel to Austria for a special offer. Bäckerei Konditorei Cafe Confiserie Bauer Mühlbach/Hochkönig in Bad Hofgastein, Austria is one of many coffee shops honoring the day by accepting poems for payment. This lovely town near Salzburg has it all, hot springs, ski area, and a jolly friendly populace. I went there once for Carnival and had more fun than a barrel of monkeys. The video below shows some of the town in costume ready to parade and party for Fasching (carnival). When I was there the costume parade marched around the spa, playing music around the indoor pools. It was hysterical to see from the water, where I was at the time. Later we danced the night away with Austrians and our friends who came down from Germany to meet us. It was one of the most festive occasions I have attended in my life, unforgettable. Make sure you take a dip in the thermal water before you leave. It is wonderful for the body and the soul.
I have been writing, reading, and studying poetry in preparation for April, which is poetry month. I endeavor to write a poem every day in April, and I hoped that some study and preparation would bring better results this year. Once immersed in poems and words, I hardly care if my own writing improves. I just think it is fun and enriching to explore the works of written fancy. I have been learning about the lives of the poets as well, which is maybe the most interesting facet of the study. Poets come from every direction and occupation. There is no common denominator. They start writing at all ages, and are both self-taught and learned. I find this to be inspiring because it means we all have voice, just waiting to be discovered and used. I enjoy the process of developing the sense of poetic timing and sounds, along with subjects that matter. I am learning that it takes time and concentration to create finished works, so I am patient about my own output. It is enjoyable in itself, so I do it for the fun rather than for my own legacy as a writer.
I look forward to hearing how your week has gone and what is new in your life, gentle reader. After we catch up on current events we need to sit and create our poems to pay for these fancy coffees. The Austrians invented the coffee-house culture, and they are no slouches when it comes to variety. They always serve coffee with a glass of water, which I have not seen anywhere else in the world. The crystal light fixtures, the formal service, and the perfectly prepared drinks set the right atmosphere for a long luxurious talk about everything and nothing. The view of the mountains is even poetic. It should be fairly easy to create a poem here in this place of beauty to pay for our coffee. Thanks for joining me here for World Poetry Day.
#Weekendcoffeeshare
#ROW80 Plots for Poems
March 19, 2015
— 2 Comments
ROW80
Our 80 day writing exercise has flown by quickly for me. I planned to write a poem every day, but have managed to do so about half the time. I am not at all discouraged by this result because I have also managed to expand my repertoire of subjects and formats in my poetry. Last April I wrote daily and all of my poems were inspired by works of art, ekphrastic in nature. This was fun because I visited artist friends and took photos to use as the subjects. When I began this challenge all of my poems were ekphrastic, but I created the art myself rather than finding it. First I tired making the art followed by the words, then I tried it in reverse. It does not seem to matter which way I do it now, which is sort of silly to me. If you are inspired by it, it seems like it should exist before you write…but I am practicing both ways, trying them both to monitor results.
Lately I am happy because I attempted very unusual subjects and did some slightly representational drawing about them. I wrote about a lady who was ditched by her Euro-spy boyfriend in a restaurant. She was presented with a giant plate of raw meat, steak tartare, and a note saying her boyfriend had never existed. Now this might seem macabre or in bad taste, and perhaps it is. What is interesting is that I finally put a character and plot into a poem. My first attempt at this involved a swarm of ladybugs around a cabin. These might not have come up if I had not been following my fiction writing friends who work on plot and character all the time. My desire to make poems from historical figures and history itself lends itself to this practice. If I want to turn my dead ancestors into epic poems I need to employ some of the devices used to flesh out characters and thicken the plot. Since I endeavor to bring dream images into my poetry my technique will now expand to outlining plots and characters, then working on lucid dreaming to give me some vivid imagery with which to work. I can embellish the true stories of my family in my dreams and use the impressions to create poetic versions of historical events.
As the solar eclipse tomorrow brings us a dramatic illustration of light and shadow, I see a metaphor for the known and the unknown. What is obscured from view is often the most important part of the plot, and revealing it is the point of the story. What I do not know about my ancestors leaves room for invention and fancy. Here are some of the real people I think can become interesting poems:
- Elizabeth Langley, who lived through the Civil War near Selma, AL, then moved to Texas after the war
- Anne Dudley Bradstreet, first woman to publish poetry in English is an obvious one
- Sarah Helena Byrne, whose husband was a bigamist, and whose father came from Ireland
I also have a true contemporary story I want the public to hear and remember. The Emperor’s New Neighborhood Watch is a rap poem about city government running amok. If I do this with rhyme and humor it will be more impactful. A good (digital) friend of mine told me this week that hexameter was the form used by Homer in his classic epics, not because it was great language, but so the actors could easily remember it. I have written about just the facts in this case for years, but what this story needs is some memorable rhyming truth. After the solar eclipse I will start outlining these stories for Poetry Month in April. It is a fun new way for me to paint with words. I am grateful to my fellow writers for teaching my some of their process. Check out the diversity of this group here. There is a lot of talent in this creative group of people. Thanks for sharing these 80 days with a beginner. Your support has been very inspirational. I aspire to be like you.
reaching higher
Detectives, Clues, and Nancy Drew
March 17, 2015
— 3 Comments
My front yard
I am a fan of many of the British detective shows featuring the clergy and other citizen detectives. Father Brown is lavishly produced and beautifully filmed with all the period details in tact. I like James Bond and the other real detectives on the silver screen as well. Now that I have started to think about story writing and composition of fictional characters I think it might be fun to try my hand at some kind of mystery story, not necessarily a murder. The spy/espionage element is always exciting, and can express certain political sentiments without stating them. I have been turning around some ideas about the end of the Civil War and spies on both sides, perhaps some of them deserting or worse, telling secrets. It might be fun to weave true known historical facts with some fictional spies or detectives. My personal detective skills are needed now for a mundane and not very mysterious task, to catch a petty thief.
scene of the crime
Here in Tucson there is a problem with random vandalism and petty theft. My front yard is small and visible from the street. This week one of my hummingbird feeders was stolen, leaving a shiny track of sugar water leading toward the street. This kind of random theft happens in my yard at least once a year, and usually they haul is more valuable than a single used hummingbird feeder. The most recent act has spurred me to order a surveillance camera to focus on my walkway to catch the next punk who does damage or steals my stuff. Prices have come down significantly and apps support all kinds of functions for home security now. Motion activation and night vision HD capture results in high resolution video to identify culprits. I ordered a deluxe set up from Amazon which will arrive in two days, and works on my home WiFi. When evidence is collected it can be submitted in a report to the cops and shared with our neighbors on Nextdoor.com.
I am not sure why I waited so long to install this camera. I think of myself as Detective Chief Inspector Morse in my own head, although I am much closer to Nancy Drew in reality. I read the Nancy Drew books when I was in elementary school and can remember imitating her while playing. We made up fantasy cases and followed clues, but now I don’t remember any of them. We liked Nancy because she was a girl, and she always solved the case. This was a contrast to Dick Tracy, Superman and the Lone Ranger, men with guns or superpowers, who also solved mysteries. She has made a comeback in modern times once again on the teen detective beat. I believe Nancy would be proud of me for installing my own remote system to watch my yard. I feel once again like my childhood idol. I like the feeling much better than helplessly allowing random petty crime to disrupt my peace and quiet. Do you ever think of yourself as a detective, gentle reader? Which one is your favorite?
#ROW80 Potential and Poetry
March 15, 2015
— 6 Comments
ROW80
We have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but today is overflowing with potential.
Allan Lokos
Through the Flames
This quote by Mr Lokos perfectly describes my current position on my poetic future. By starting to investigate life and learning through poetry I have opened a vast area of artistic and intellectual study that I am just beginning to understand. Turning my attention to it has automatically turned some poets’ attention to me. One or two people post poems on my Facebook wall every day, which adds a social element to the mix. I don’t believe these writers have read any of my poems, but they have decided to share theirs directly to/with me. I follow more poets all the time who blog. Calligraphy with word significance has also come to my attention. This is a wonderful way to make words larger than life and more colorful than just typing. I have not tried it myself but am thinking of doing some writing by hand instead of always on a keyboard. It may stimulate something new.
I have thought about working with my ancestors as characters to create epic poems or stories, and have done a little work in that direction. People work with notes and written outlines, but I have yet to put these to work for me. I still contemplate images in my head for a while before I begin, but think I can benefit from a notebook with handwritten notes and drawings. When this 80 days has come to a full circle I plan to start a notebook and handwriting practice. I want to see if random idea trapping and tracking will help me kill my darlings and move on to deeper subjects. If I start pages for different times in history or branches of my family tree I think I can develop some themes from which to write fiction or poetry. I like mind mapping, but have not employed it to the task of writing. I believe it can unlock a boat load of potential material using this method. I have no idea what I may do with it, but it will be fun to find it.
Allan Lokos was in a plane that crashed and burned leaving him injured. His book was written to help others find compassion and patience in the face of challenging circumstances. His attitude about potential is key because every day is full of potential. Many of our lives contain too much repetition, little true bliss, and a lack of compassion. We are all recovering from something, although normally nothing so severe as an airplane crash. Honoring potential today by writing is a tribute to collective creativity. Rarely do plans for tomorrow work out exactly as we imagined. Writing creates a trail of breadcrumbs for the soul to trace its’ way. Poetry celebrates the way each of us is gifted with our own set of talents and perspectives. Leaving our stories and thoughts recorded for others to read may turn out to be uplifting or helpful to someone. This journey has contributed greatly to my ability to tap into the overflowing potential all around us. I appreciate the chance to interact with magic, words, and power. Cheers, gentle readers!
cocktail that wants to be a poem
Irish Soda Bread with Whiskey Butter in Honor of St. Patrick’s Day
March 15, 2015
— 1 Comment
A tasty way to commemorate the day
Irish Soda Bread with Whiskey Butter
Growing up, we had a little book of Irish toasts and poems sitting in our living room. My maternal grandmother, seeing that the strength of the Irish was growing too strong, came over one day very briefly and went into the living room. When she left, we found an Italian book sitting next to the Irish one so her grandchildren wouldn’t forget their mother’s roots. It is with great irony and a big smile that I remember one of the Irish poems, which I read so many times that I have now have memorized it:
Soaking raisins in Whiskey for Irish Soda Bread
St. Patrick was a gentleman
Who through strategy and stealth
Drove all the snakes from Ireland
Here’s a toasting to his health
But not too many toastings
Lest you lose yourself
And forget good St. Patrick
and see all those snakes again.
View original post 508 more words
#Weekendcoffeeshare, Carolina on My Mind
March 14, 2015
— 9 Comments
This week I want to invite you to use the transporter cloaks to travel back in time to Edgefield, South Carolina in 1798. I want you to help me solve a history mystery. My 2nd great grandfather, John Samuel Taylor, was born May 1, 1798 in Edgefield County, South Carolina. He died Mar.11, 1873 in Edgefield County, South Carolina. The town was founded in 1785, and I imagine John’s parents could have been involved. I have not found solid evidence of his birth or his parents, so I am here to find out exactly what happened. Having the name John Taylor is a serious problem in research because there were so many other people with the same name. I might despair of ever finding the truth about which John Taylor’s parents are mine but for a lucky break. Fortunately Edgefield has taken the historical heritage of the area very seriously and probably has the answer.
My life as an ancestry detective was rudely interrupted this week by a claim by my first cousin. Some of you know I do research all the time to learn about my family tree. I have found errors in the past which have caused me to start over from that point. This is painful, like tearing out your knitting. The funny part about it is the attachment I have to these people. For a while after removing some phantom limbs in the past I have missed those people terribly in addition to being vexed at having spent so much time on the wrong trail of data. I had an idea of who they were and how my DNA was built, but I was wrong, all wrong. If my cousin is right, and all the rest of the people on Ancestry.com are mistaken I have done a massive amount of research based on specious evidence. She thinks that John Taylor has a different set of parents than I do. She has no proof, but I don’t either. One of us is correct, and I just have to know which one.
The Southern Studies Showcase is an event that celebrates the history of the town. Prohibition is the theme for the next Showcase in September, and will feature moonshiners, model A cars, and period costuming. The genealogical society is the largest in the state, and prides itself on keeping excellent records. I would have a very good time dressing up in a flapper dress I already own and going to a big history party, so I think I can kill two birds with one stone in September, 2015. I can discover just who the parents of my John Taylor are, and visit a historically significant place that cherishes it’s past. I went to the Somerset, PA Historical Society to do research. I even bought a membership. When I arrived in person I was shunned. Nobody would help me and I had never been in an archive like that, so I found nothing. I had paid them to do some research for me, but that never happened either. I don’t think that will happen in the deep South. I think a trip to The Gateway to Southern History would be highly educational as well as enjoyable. I can solve this ancestry mystery and party at the same time.
The timing for me is intriguing because I recently went to a performance by the Steep Canyon Rangers here in Tucson. They play modern bluegrass music. I became very homesick for North Carolina hearing it. I lived there when I was young, and had a very good time. I bought a couple of their albums and have binged on bluegrass for weeks now. Now I have a really good reason to go to the source. So I hope you will enjoy this visit to the historical South where they do have coffee, tea, lemonade, and RC Cola ( Moon Pies and more). I am going to suggest that this week, since it is digital, we all just pass this jar of moonshine around the table while we sit and tell our tales. I am interested to hear about your week, gentle reader. I sincerely hope you have not discovered possible flaws in your research. If so, not to fret..tomorrow is another day.
#Weekendcoffeeshare
Carolina Moonshine
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