PPL

Merry Christmas to Robin and all of her Pensieve friends!

Here are my contributions for the month:

#1
Pregnant grey clouds hang
Temperatures sharply drop
Snowflakes gently drift

#2
The heavens explode
Angels and seraphim sing
Salvation is ours

#3
A young boy’s belief
In the existence of Claus
Cherish and press “pause”

Pensieve Pies

Pensieve Pies

The combination of rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and vanilla transports me back in time to my mother's kitchen, to a pie cooked in her mother's old pie tin, from her mother's recipe.

The very slight joining together of my grandson's toes, just barely sort-of, almost but not quite webbed, like his mama's and her mama's and my ma's as he stands on tiptoe to watch the pie cooling.

The chocolate, peanut butter and cream cheese flavors of "the pie" which I cooked from a recipe so that my child could share with her child the recipes of her other grandmother and their traditions.

The metallic clang of a pie tin hitting the floor and the slurping of a very large dog tongue separating pie filling from the shell.

The soft white fur of the slobbery, white beast tickling the back of my hand as I grasp the dog's collar to shove her arse out the front door.

PPL - Haiku

This month's topic is "Spring" and the poetic form chosen by Robin is Haiku. I pulled the rules I remembered out of my childhood and here is the result.

Fragrance fills the air
Cherry blossoms everywhere
Breezes lofting fair

Bags of steer manure
Roses, fuchsias, bulbs galore
Feeding future dreams

Sprinklers on the lawn
Droplets sparkling in the air
Shaking dogs drenching

PPL - March Limericks

Our assignment this month was a limerick. Robin gave us a list of target words in honor of March, Spring, and St. Paddy's Day.

This first one is in honor of my grandson who, bless his heart, loves Spam. His mom? Not so much. It is also in honor of this 1/4 Irish, 1/4 Italian, 1/2 German child who swears by all that is holy that she is Irish. Just Irish.

There once was a lass named O’Brien
Who, in March, set green eggs afryin'.
She cooked up some ham
‘cause she just hated Spam
Which set her little man to cryin’.

Pensieve's Poetic License - Sonnets

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This month, our assignment was an English Sonnet for something we love.


I have traveled to the Hudson Valley
And ridden with my friends.
I have sat with the O’Malley
To discuss political trends.
I have nestled in the arms of God
Safe and warm and hidden.
I have strolled through Yale, across the quad
With thoughts and dreams unbidden.
I have sailed on seas and through the stars
On pirate ships and dragon’s wings.
I’ve had tea with czars and shopped bazaars
In Rangoon and Persia and Beijing.
My refuge has always been a book
Whether fiction or prose or even cook.

and, in the kind of irony that I adore, at the Post Office today was the cook book that I won from Robin! I love God's sense of humor. Thanks, Robin, and I will post about it later.

It Is Much Harder

A couple of months ago, I signed up to participate in a monthly poetry carnival. Since then, I have discovered several things:

• there are an amazing number of good poets participating


• it is much harder to write poetry sober


• it is much harder to write poetry now that I have outgrown the angst-ridden portion of my life


• it is much harder to write poetry, now tht I am happy, that doesn't sound like a bad halllmark card


• it is much harder to write poetry


• it is much harder to write


• it is much harder


• I still love writing

Thanks, Robin. Of course, if I turn to alcohol, throw my husband out on the street, submerse myself in self-inflicted drama all in the interest of improving my poetry, I take full responsibility.

PPL - Beginnings

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January: Form~Terza Rima Theme~Beginnings OR Favorite Snack Foods (in honor of the New Year and the Super Bowl)Post poem Thursday, January 17



This month's poetry challenge was just that for me - a challenge. I am still not satisfied with this but here it is.


Beginnings

We began in flirtation and lust,
In laughter, with secrets chased ,
Combined satisfaction a must.

We began in selfishness and haste
With little regard for convention,
With reputation and time to waste.

All held together by tangible tension,
The unfettered joy of uncaring souls;
Thank God for divine intervention

We continue with lives made whole;
Reputations repaired, trust regained,
Each other’s love we each extol.

Pensieve's Poetic License the First

Want this button? Robin, the Pensieve genius, invited us all to participate in the once a month poetry blog. Once a month? I may actually stand a chance of making it. Her first assignment was a Thanksgiving limerick. Here are mine:
There once was a November holiday
That always fell on a Thursday
A rehearsal of sorts
Trifles, puddings, and torts
All to prepare for His birthday


A day to give thanks for our blessings
With turkey and yams and dressings
Kith and kin gather round
Special food does abound
Thanksgiving, with nobody stressing.