Irene Latham's Blog, page 45

The Butterfly Hours Memoir Project: GYM CLASS

<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> <br />For 2019 I'm running a year-long series on my blog in which I share my responses to the writing assignment prompts found in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Hour... BUTTERLY HOURS by Patty Dann.</a><br /><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-style: normal;"></span></span><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;">I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rZ9pEXdr8h..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="231" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rZ9pEXdr8h..." width="266" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;">In January I wrote about: <i>apron, bar, basketball, bed, bicycle, birthday, boat, broom, button, cake, car.</i><br /><i><br /></i>In February: <i>chair, chlorine, church, concert, cookbook, couch, dancing, desk, dessert, dining room table, diploma.</i></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">March: </span><i style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">divorce, door, dream, emergency room, envelope, eyebrows, first apartment, first job, food, game, garden.</i><br /><div style="font-weight: normal;"><i style="color: #545454; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">April: I took a break to focus on <a href="https://www.irenelatham.com/artspeak.... Happy!</a></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here are the prompts for May: </span><i style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">gloves, great-grandparent, guidebook, gun, gym class, hair, hands, hat, high heels, honeymoon, hood.</i></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"></div></div></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>GYM CLASS</b></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I have never been a sporty gal, so when it came to gym class, I'd pretty much do anything to get out of it. In elementary school I managed to skip playing softball by staying in and cleaning the classroom. This included straightening the book shelves and washing down the chalk board. With what glee I would look out at my classmates through the window! </span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I also managed to get out of PE in high school. The coach was also in charge of the bus schedules, and when he saw I was good at organization, he asked if I might help him. And so I did! I worked on those bus schedules and didn't have to play basketball even once. </span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">But I didn't get out of gym class every time... my 9</span>^{<span style="font-style: normal;">th</span>}<span style="font-style: normal;">grade year and first year in Alabama, I had to endure the horror of dressing out in the PE “uniform,” which consisted of shorts only in team colors (red, gray, or white) and t-shirts specially designed by the school. I never liked the way I looked in this ensemble, and I remember feeling awkward and uncomfortable. </span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The only positive memory I have of gym class is doing quite well in the Presidential fitness test. Fitness has always been important to me – growing up with an obese father will do that to you – and thanks to Grandma Dykes (and those who came before her) I've got “flexibility” in my genes. </span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><br />

A Vital Question & A (D-) Definition of Poetry

originally published 1992Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Margaret at Reflections on the Teche for Roundup.

I'm feeling a wee bit lighter today, as I reached a point in my revisions where I can STOP... and print the book out to read in 7-10 days -- once my brain has cleared a little!

I wish I had more time... alas, I'm on a deadline. The good news this isn't my last chance to improve the book -- there will be another round, or three. :)

While at the Florence-Lauderdale Library last month, I picked up a few books at the used book store. One of them was THE D- POEMS OF JEREMY BLOOM: A Collection of Poems About School, Homework, and Life (sort of) by Gordon Korman and Bernice Korman (son & mother!).

Poor Jeremy. He just can't figure this poem thing out. Ha! I can relate!

Here are two of the poems I really enjoyed:

VITAL QUESTION

If  a poem doesn't rhyme -
How do you know
       It's a poem?

If it's about sunsets and flowers, well okay.

But some of them might be about termites, and rats,
Cockroaches, earwigs, bedbugs
  and silverfish,
Battalions of cooties,
  And are more like the exterminator's report
         Than a poem.

So how do you now it's a poem
   If it doesn't rhyme?

-----

DEFINITION

A poem.

Rhyme salad,
Chopped by the word processor,
Garnished with pictures,
Sprinkled with adjectives,
Tossed by a poet-chef.
Lettuce, onions, tomatoes, images --

A poem.

-----

So Jeremy learned something, didn't he?

If I could talk to him, I'd add... "surprise!" Because surprise is one of my most favorite elements of a poem.

What about you? What would you tell Jeremy?

The Butterfly Hours Memoir Project: GUN

<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> <br />For 2019 I'm running a year-long series on my blog in which I share my responses to the writing assignment prompts found in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Hour... BUTTERLY HOURS by Patty Dann.</a><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;">I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rZ9pEXdr8h..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="231" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rZ9pEXdr8h..." width="266" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;">In January I wrote about: <i>apron, bar, basketball, bed, bicycle, birthday, boat, broom, button, cake, car.</i><br /><i><br /></i>In February: <i>chair, chlorine, church, concert, cookbook, couch, dancing, desk, dessert, dining room table, diploma.</i></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">March: </span><i style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">divorce, door, dream, emergency room, envelope, eyebrows, first apartment, first job, food, game, garden.</i><br /><div style="font-weight: normal;"><i style="color: #545454; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">April: I took a break to focus on <a href="https://www.irenelatham.com/artspeak.... Happy!</a></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here are the prompts for May: </span><i style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">gloves, great-grandparent, guidebook, gun, gym class, hair, hands, hat, high heels, honeymoon, hood.</i></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>GUN</b></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">My father was a collector, and for a while he turned this sensibility toward guns. His collection was displayed in a glass-fronted solid-oak gun cabinet that sat in the foyer of our home. While he didn't do a lot of shooting or hunting -- I do have some stories he wrote about some big hunting adventures with business associates during our Louisiana years -- he believed wholeheartedly in the 2</span>^{<span style="font-style: normal;">nd</span>}<span style="font-style: normal;">Amendment and for as long as I can remember was a proud member of the NRA. </span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Because our household included five children, Papa took it upon himself to educate us about guns. I remember our “gun classes” where he taught even reluctant-to-even-look-at-a-gun me about how to hold a gun, how to shoot, how to clean, store, etc. He said, “gun safety is about education,” and these classes were mandatory. I remember the weight of a pistol in my hand, and how different it felt from a rifle. I enjoyed the challenge of aiming – how each gun required something different: a slight shift to the left or right, or, with this model, you've got to aim it dead-on. My heart pounded so hard it hurt when it was my time to shoot – and when the shot was fired, I remember before any other feeling the relief of it being over. </span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I'm grateful my father took the time to do this with us, even though at the time I didn't want to. He showed me what it was like to be a responsible gun owner, and a responsible parent.</span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>*I just realized that a gun (or guns) show up in both my middle grade novels, and in the one I am currently revising (coming 2021). Clearly this is a subject my writer-heart is still exploring.</i></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><br />

The Butterfly Hours Memoir Project: GUIDEBOOK

For 2019 I'm running a year-long series on my blog in which I share my responses to the writing assignment prompts found in THE BUTTERLY HOURS by Patty Dann.

I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead? In January I wrote about: apron, bar, basketball, bed, bicycle, birthday, boat, broom, button, cake, car.

In February: chair, chlorine, church, concert, cookbook, couch, dancing, desk, dessert, dining room table, diploma.March: divorce, door, dream, emergency room, envelope, eyebrows, first apartment, first job, food, game, garden.

April: I took a break to focus on ARTSPEAK: Happy!
Here are the prompts for May: gloves, great-grandparent, guidebook, gun, gym class, hair, hands, hat, high heels, honeymoon, hood.


GUIDEBOOK
The first guidebook that pops into my head is WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING. I wore that book out! But that's an adult answer. It took me a little longer to remember a guidebook from my childhood. 
What I finally came up with was all the books I used in order to learn how to care for horses. I knew SO MUCH about horses and horse care! And my research wasn't limited to just one book or even one type of book. I supplemented the more factual volumes with literature, like the James Herriot books, which I adored. 
I also loved DEAR READERS AND WRITERS by Marguerite Henry. It's basically a book of letters Marguerite received, and her responses to them. Little did I know that someday I, too, would receive letters about books I've written. This book is one of the select few that survived our downsizing adventure a few years ago. It turns out to be not just a guidebook for animals (horses, especially), but also a guidebook for being an author. And there's a page I've sticky-noted – why did I mark this page? For what purpose? I cannot recall. What I can do is share it here with all of you:
Dear Marguerite Henry,Which book has been the most satisfying to you?Mary Rasmussen, Baltimore, Maryland
[MH:] CINNABAR was far and away my most fun book to do. But truthfully, I am like a mother with many children. Each story means something very special to me; so I could no more name a favorite than a mother could say she likes her firstborn best, or her youngest.
The reason, I guess, that Cinnabar's story was the most fun was because I felt as free as Cinnabar. I knew that when it was done, I wouldn't have to ask him, or his vixen, or his cubs, to read it very carefully and sign a paper saying they approved every word I had written about them.

When you are free, the words kind of sing themselves along. [bolding courtesy of moi, because how true, how true!]
------.... and I have just this moment decided what my summer reading project will be: The Marguerite Henry Complete Collection! I can't wait to get started.

Beach Dog

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Liz (whose SOCCERVERSE is coming very soon!) at Elizabeth Steinglass for Roundup.

It's been another busy spring week here with travel and school visits and revising and other madness... and more to come! I'm excited to be seeing my mom this weekend... big happy Mother's Day to all the moms among us!

And now, just a little something to share from Rosie's first visit to the beach. :)
Rosie at Dauphin Island, 7 months (photo by Eric)
Beach Dog
Look, Dog –sand, waves, shells!
Don't be scared, Dog –driftwood, crabs, gulls.
Go ahead, Dog –Splash!
Watch out, World – All-Wet dog! 

- Irene Latham

The Butterfly Hours Memoir Project: GREAT-GRANDPARENTS

my paternal great-grandmother
and namesake,
Hannah Irene DennisFor 2019 I'm running a year-long series on my blog in which I share my responses to the writing assignment prompts found in THE BUTTERLY HOURS by Patty Dann.

I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead? In January I wrote about: apron, bar, basketball, bed, bicycle, birthday, boat, broom, button, cake, car.

In February: chair, chlorine, church, concert, cookbook, couch, dancing, desk, dessert, dining room table, diploma.March: divorce, door, dream, emergency room, envelope, eyebrows, first apartment, first job, food, game, garden.

April: I took a break to focus on ARTSPEAK: Happy!
Here are the prompts for May: gloves, great-grandparent, guidebook, gun, gym class, hair, hands, hat, high heels, honeymoon, hood.
GREAT-GRANDPARENTS

I didn't meet any of my great-grandparents in person. But I was named after one of them – my paternal great-grandmother Hannah Irene Dennis-- and I have blogged about my name and shared a "Namesake" poem I have always felt great love for this woman, and I do love her name. Once someone asked me if I wasn't named Irene, what name would I choose? I immediately said "Hannah." The other thing I know about my namesake is that my father dubbed her "Bigmama." I love that, too. She had a big heart. She was incredibly loving. And she, along with my other paternal great-grandparents, was a salty pioneer of the pinewoods and swampy rivers of north Florida. That's a pretty amazing legacy, if you ask me.
The only other one I know anything about is my maternal great-grandmother. She lived with my mom and her family when my mom was a teenager, so she had a big impact on my mom's life. She was, apparently, a feisty, little woman – not even 5 ft. tall. She was also an expert seamstress, and my mom learned a lot of craft-y skills from her -- including the classic-to-me "As you sew so shall you rip." From what I can recall, she was able to give my mom love in ways that her mother couldn't... and isn't that often the way it is with grandmothers?

The Butterfly Hours Memoir Project: GLOVES

For 2019 I'm running a year-long series on my blog in which I share my responses to the writing assignment prompts found in THE BUTTERLY HOURS by Patty Dann.

I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead? In January I wrote about: apron, bar, basketball, bed, bicycle, birthday, boat, broom, button, cake, car.

In February: chair, chlorine, church, concert, cookbook, couch, dancing, desk, dessert, dining room table, diploma.

March: divorce, door, dream, emergency room, envelope, eyebrows, first apartment, first job, food, game, garden.

April: I took a break to focus on ARTSPEAK: Happy!

Here are the prompts for May: gloves, great-grandparent, guidebook, gun, gym class, hair, hands, hat, high heels, honeymoon, hood.

GLOVESSo... I wasn't a debutant, wasn't into baseball.We moved a lot, but seemed to park only in hot climes (Saudi Arabia or  the southeastern US) so I may have had mittens at one time or another, but I don't recall any cold-weather gloves. I maybe could write about work/garden gloves... medical gloves? No... the only gloves I really remember are Grandma's gloves.
Grandma's Gloves
a set of gull's wingstucked inside a nest of tissue paper
smooth and fragileas seashells,so soft we must only
stroke them with our fingertipsand dream of the day
still oceans awaywhen we'll be graceful enoughto slip them on 
- Irene Latham
.... just wanted to add that I've been looking at this project from the eyes of my child-self. Had I written this poem from my adult perspective, I might have included the fact that once I was "graceful enough/ to slip them on," they wouldn't fit my hands! I inherited my mother's wide, capable hands, and Grandma's hands were much thinner. What a disappointment to finally be allowed to try on the gloves only to find... I couldn't get them on after all. Sigh.
And here's a link to a 2016 ARTSPEAK! poem featuring blue gloves from art by van Gogh.

Spirit of Spring

<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> </div>--> <div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hello and welcome to Spiritual Journey Thursday! Big thanks to Carol for rounding us up over at <a href="https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.c... LiteracyLink.</a></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I do love spring... who doesn't? As a kid, the best part was meeting baby animals... chicks, calves, foals. Just this morning I saw a young rabbit nibbling clover in our backyard, and also a squirrel family. Joy! Though we were not so happy about the squirrels invading our screen porch to raid the bird seed – and leaving destroyed screens in their wake. Sigh. How quickly a little bit of wildlife can become too much! </span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xh21g4DFVe..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xh21g4DFVe..." width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosie - 6 months</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We've loved having a puppy in our lives this particular spring. Rosie is growing and learning, turning into a real dog right before our eyes. One day I'll be so frustrated that she won't let me trim her nails, and then the next I am delighted because she actually comes when I call her. Up and down, up and down... mostly up! So, animals with all their joy and hope continue to speak to me of the spirit of spring.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This month is full of family events – a family trip to the beach, a cousin's wedding, a niece's first baby, a nephew's graduation from high school. And Mother's Day, which I'm delighted to be sharing with my mom and my adopted siblings. I will carry the spirit of spring – the newness, the hope, the miracle of green – through all of these gatherings.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wishing all of you inspiration and renewal this season! Thanks, Carol, for this topic and for rounding us up. xo</span></span></span></div><br />

ARTSPEAK: Happy! poem "Yosemite Morning" by Irene Latham

Hello and welcome to the final post in ARTSPEAK: Happy! my 2019 National Poetry Month poem a day project, in which I am responding to pieces of art that make me happy. Read why in my introductory post.

I have loved this series. What a great way to start my day! I look forward to revising some of these, and I appreciate so much all of your encouraging comments along the way. THANK YOU. 
Poems so far in ARTSPEAK: Happy!: Girl in a Yellow Dress  after "A Girl in a Yellow Dress, 1917" by Amedeo Modigliani When the Stars Come to Town  after "Cafe Terrace at Night" by Vincent van Gogh On a Golden Day in May  after "Checkered House" by Grandma Moses Beach Time  after "Children Playing on the Beach" by Mary Cassatt The Weight of Happiness  after "Flower Seller" by Diego Rivera By the Sea  "Coastal Scene with Gulls" by Maud Lewis Sister Song  after an untitled piece by Henry DargerTwo Cows after "2 Cows" by Maud Lewis Girl in Hat  after "Girl in Hat" by Norman Lewis Backstage  after "Dancers in Green and Yellow" by Edgar Degas. "So Many Suns" after Kohbar of Mithila"To an Olive Tree" after Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun by Vincent van Gogh"Three Black Cats" after Three Black Cats by Maud Lewis"When Grandma Reads" after Mrs. Cassatt Reading to her Grandchildren by Mary Cassatt"On a June Afternoon" after Pigeon on a Peach Branch by Emperor Huizong"On the Water" after On the Water by Mary Cassatt"Autumn Prayer" after Red Vineyard at Arles by Vincent van Gogh"Julie Manet with Cat" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir"When a Horse Writes a Poem" after Horse Head on a Yellow Background 1953 by Fernand Leger."Fiddle Song" after The Fiddler by Marc Chagall"A Dream of Yellow" after Tree Against a Yellow Background by Odilon Redon"The Letter" after The Letter by Mary Cassatt"To a Sunflower" after Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh"Only in Summer" after The Yellow Boat by Gustave Caillebotte"Wish I May, Wish I Might" after Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent van Gogh"The Guitarist" after Girl in Yellow and Blue with a Guitar by Henri Matisse"First Day of Autumn" after Wheat Fields with Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh"Anticipation" after Woman with a Yellow Jacket by August Macke"Yellow Irises" after Yellow Irises with Pink Cloud by Claude Monet

Today's piece is Valley of the Yosemite by Albert Bierstadt. Yosemite Valley is one of those spiritual places for me... and Paul and I will be visiting Yosemite this summer, so this is coming at a good time for me. :) This poem kind of went in an adult direction, as I remembered my last trip to Yosemite (with my father) but that's okay. Enjoy your virtual trip to Yosemite. :)
<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> </div></div>--> <div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Yosemite Morning</b></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> -</span><i> after "Valley of Yosemite" by Albert Bierstadt</i></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And the sun said, <i>Good morning, mountains</i></span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">and the rock faces blazed to be so acknowledged</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">deer drank from pristine pools of water,</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">bears grazed berries from the thickets</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">and we dared not blink for fear of wasting </span></span></span> </div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">the sun's welcome-to-the-world gaze –</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">a gift given so freely and so often,</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">yet we, caught in webs of our own making</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">so often fail to see –</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">but this morning, tucked in the valley of giants,</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">we praise the maker and the miracle</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">we lift our hearts to the sun,</span></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">we say, <i>burn me</i></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>- Irene Latham</i></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ushHX_8..." width="560"></iframe><br /><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UoWt2GIIax..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="672" height="228" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UoWt2GIIax..." width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Be sure to check in with Donna at <a href="http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/&quo... Write </a>to read our complete Progressive Poem! Yay!</div>

ARTSPEAK: Happy! poem "Yellow Irises" by Irene Latham

Hello and welcome to ARTSPEAK: Happy! my 2019 National Poetry Month poem a day project, in which I am responding to pieces of art that make me happy. Read why in my introductory post.






*If you're looking for today's line (from me!) in our Progressive Poem, please click here.




Poems so far in ARTSPEAK: Happy!: Girl in a Yellow Dress  after "A Girl in a Yellow Dress, 1917" by Amedeo Modigliani When the Stars Come to Town  after "Cafe Terrace at Night" by Vincent van Gogh On a Golden Day in May  after "Checkered House" by Grandma Moses Beach Time  after "Children Playing on the Beach" by Mary Cassatt The Weight of Happiness  after "Flower Seller" by Diego Rivera By the Sea  "Coastal Scene with Gulls" by Maud Lewis Sister Song  after an untitled piece by Henry DargerTwo Cows after "2 Cows" by Maud Lewis Girl in Hat  after "Girl in Hat" by Norman Lewis Backstage  after "Dancers in Green and Yellow" by Edgar Degas. "So Many Suns" after Kohbar of Mithila"To an Olive Tree" after Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun by Vincent van Gogh"Three Black Cats" after Three Black Cats by Maud Lewis"When Grandma Reads" after Mrs. Cassatt Reading to her Grandchildren by Mary Cassatt"On a June Afternoon" after Pigeon on a Peach Branch by Emperor Huizong"On the Water" after On the Water by Mary Cassatt"Autumn Prayer" after Red Vineyard at Arles by Vincent van Gogh"Julie Manet with Cat" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir"When a Horse Writes a Poem" after Horse Head on a Yellow Background 1953 by Fernand Leger."Fiddle Song" after The Fiddler by Marc Chagall"A Dream of Yellow" after Tree Against a Yellow Background by Odilon Redon"The Letter" after The Letter by Mary Cassatt"To a Sunflower" after Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh"Only in Summer" after The Yellow Boat by Gustave Caillebotte"Wish I May, Wish I Might" after Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent van Gogh"The Guitarist" after Girl in Yellow and Blue with a Guitar by Henri Matisse"First Day of Autumn" after Wheat Fields with Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh"Anticipation" after Woman with a Yellow Jacket by August Macke
Today's piece is Yellow Irises with Pink Cloud by Claude Monet.


Yellow Irises - after Yellow Irises with Pink Cloud by Claude Monet
wide-awake bloomsdutifully shineacross brightest hours
but when evening comesthey grab handfuls of purple sky –
a surprise giftfor the next butterflywho happens by
- Irene Latham


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