Michele Lee Sefton's Blog, page 36

Sandman visits the Sonoran

Into the morning, I am melting

wildflower honey spread across a canvas, warming

a mind massaged by his magical toes, now rested

shimmering stardust, he sprinkled with each step

under his spell I am, now floating toward the sun, rising

his visits unannounced, but always welcome

Thanks for stopping by. Best to you, wherever you are.

my photos

© 2023 MyInspiredLife

His Letters are Treasures IV (w/audio)

Thank you for listening and for your patience with my reading. Not only does the emotion make these readings difficult for me, my grandfather’s cursive adds extra challenge! As I have written previously, this is an important personal project, made more so by being able to share my grandfather’s words and artifacts with others.

A quick review, for those who may be new to this site: my grandfather, Canadian born Charles L. Wilcox, was a Sergeant (heavy machine gunner) in Co. K 351st Infantry Regiment. Battles and Campaigns: N Apennines, Po Valley, Rome-Arno. Decorations and Citations: Bronze Star, EAMET Ribbon, and Good Conduct Medal. If you would like to read and learn more about this project, please visit my previous posts:

“His Letters are Treasures” February 25, 2023

“His Letters are Treasures II (w/audio)” March 25, 2023

“His Letters are Treasures III (w/audio)” May 27, 2023

A special addition…

In August I read a poem by talented Poet Yasmin, titled “Handwritten,” that beautifully complements this letter writing series. I am honored to include her poem in this fourth grandpa post, with the poet’s permission, of course. If you are not familiar with Yasmin’s engaging and creative work, I highly encourage you to visit her site. Yasmin was one of my first readers over four years ago, and I have been blessed with her poetry and presence since.

Handwritten
by Yasmin

Bedecked
handwritten words
drifting in space
enduring through different time-zones
in the pale of equinox and solstice
serenading to the allure
of vowels and consonants
narrating their saga
words dream
into pages
into eternity
celebrating liberation
rhapsodising a rendezvous
kindling lost memories
nestling
between
pages ..

photos and artifacts are part of my Grandpa WWII collection

© 2023 MyInspiredLife

Gray is golden too

My friend finds it odd that I pause to photograph lifeless things along the trail. “Where is the beauty in that?” she asks. I attempt to explain that dark decay in the foreground with a blue sky in the background makes an interesting black and white photo. The only thing my friend is convinced of, after my brief justification, is how odd I am. She may be right but there is so much more I don’t tell her after our pause in front of a shriveled shrub.

I don’t describe the brilliant contrast between the darkened depths of dying and the vibrant hues of living. And how each has a distinct scent. I don’t tell her the stories that tumble across my mind when I see a fallen saguaro or a charred desert tree. How the saguaro’s aged hollow center, now collapsed, was once a perfect fortress for tiny creatures with spotted feathers or the many birds that may have flown, for the first time, from the arched nook of a sweet acacia tree. I don’t tell her how I sense monsoon storms rising from the disintegration or that I feel the remnants of electricity from lightning or hear the echoes of fierce winds, witnessed. I don’t tell her any of these thoughts as I say a quiet prayer and hold back a tear for the life that once was, along the trail.

I don’t mention that if we fail to honor nature’s transition from gold to gray, how can we celebrate it in ourselves. This beautiful realization, I keep to myself.

Photo 1: my sunflower photo, Oregon Photo 2: me taken by Larissa

© 2023 MyInspiredLife

Silver-Tongued Box (poet spotlight)

Silver-Tongued Box
by Charles Schilling

Please, open my eyes
for I cannot see.
Please, open this cage
for I am not free.
Can you not hear
a sound of my pounding?
You think I wish to remain
with these walls surrounding?

Please, show me the way
for it is so dim.
Please, lead my feet
through the cage so grim.
Do you not know
the ground you now tread?
Do you not know
that awful dread?

Open this cage
I need to get out!
Remove the chains
help me get out!
Do you not know
what lies in the dark?
Do you not know
the road you now embark?

Get me out now
before all is lost!
Open the locks,
don’t think of the cost!
Free me quickly
and don’t delay further!
Your nightmare is here
with tools of chaos and murder!

Free at last!
Finally free to be!
You poor damnable fool,
clearly you cannot see.
Now you’ve opened Pandora’s Box,
and all of hell is comin’ with me!

I am excited to once again share the memorable writing of Charles Schilling, a former stellar student of mine and all-around incredible human. When I first shared his work, Charles was an undergrad at Arizona State University studying History and English Literature. He has since graduated and is now sharing his talents and impressive knowledge in classrooms as an intern and substitute teacher, in addition to continuing his academic pursuits. I am so proud of him and wish I could sit in on one of his classes! Just like when he was in mine, I am sure I would learn a thing or two, in his presence.

I admire this recent poem, “Silver-Tongued Box,” for its dramatic tone, relevance, and concise, yet impactful language. With that established, here comes my humor… I wonder if any of these lines reflect how Charles felt in my classroom? “Get me out now… ”

If you are new to my blog or missed any previous Charles shares, here you go:

“Ode to 2022” “Lifting the Fog” “A Lingering Memory”

Thank you so much for stopping by and supporting a talented poet, dedicated academic, and emerging teacher. His forever grateful teacher, Michele

Photo 1 by Alexandra P.P. Photo 2 by Elena Schweitzer Photo 3 Charles in the classroom

© 2023 MyInspiredLife

Sunday Ride

“Honey, do you want to go for a ride?” Betty asked. “You can sit back and relax while I do all the work.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that,” he said.

Not exactly what Wilbur had in mind.

Click here for the song, Mojo by Ash Grunwald.

Laughter is best shared in good company. Thanks for stopping by. Michele

photo by Everett Collection

© 2023 MyInspiredLife

Creative Steps

3 AM Thoughts

My body is on loan
A soul that is forever mine
Both, I do my best to nourish
Both are gifts from the Divine
Poison, I do my best to not swallow
In its countless and pervasive forms
Easier to digest peace, health, and love
Believing in their power to transform
Each of us in all our beautiful forms
Tiny ripples merging into one

This body I do my best to take care of
So the light in my soul can flourish

If you’ve been reading my blog for a bit, you may know how fascinated I am by the creative process. From the magic of a first thought to the actions one takes to bring an idea to fruition, usually quite different from our original intention. I love learning about the creative process of others, and I am often awestruck by my own. Like these simple lines that woke me at 3 AM – I do my best to listen and oblige, as both a humble creator and benevolent bystander.

Creativity appears in countless forms and the results are as varied as those doing the creating. Thank goodness. My creative juices have been flowing most recently through dance. I’ve selected the two songs that I will be dancing/teaching to later this month as part of a dance fundraiser and both songs have been approved by the organizer. The two songs are different in genre and era and how they were selected, however, both have a smooth soulful vibe. The first song, Aretha Franklin’s, Chain of Fools, came to me quickly, like a bolt of lightning. A surprising thought considering it isn’t a song I normally listen to nor is it on any of my playlists. Perhaps I should thank my mom for giving me an Aretha Franklin 8-track when I was a child. However the song came to me, it immediately felt right.

The second song took more effort. Over a period of several days, I listened to dozens of songs across a variety of genres and sounds before narrowing down my selection to two that then became one. The second song, Earth My Body, by Alice Sea, is just as danceable but the tone is earthy and mystical vs. rhythm and blues. Both songs should appeal to the audience I will be dancing for. With my songs selected, I am now working on the steps.

Thank you for being here and following my fundraising progress. Kind regards. Michele

Click here for Aretha Franklin’s, Chain of Fools

Click here for Alice Sea’s, Earth My Body

Featured photo by Sternfahrer

© 2023 MyInspiredLife

“Samhain” (w/audio)

Samhain
by Annie Finch
(The Celtic Halloween)

In the season leaves should love,
since it gives them leave to move
through the wind, towards the ground
they were watching while they hung,
legend says there is a seam
stitching darkness like a name.

Now when dying grasses veil
earth from the sky in one last pale
wave, as autumn dies to bring
winter back, and then the spring,
we who die ourselves can peel
back another kind of veil

that hangs among us like thick smoke.
Tonight at last I feel it shake.
I feel the nights stretching away
thousands long behind the days
till they reach the darkness where
all of me is ancestor.

I move my hand and feel a touch
move with me, and when I brush
my own mind across another,
I am with my mother’s mother.
Sure as footsteps in my waiting
self, I find her, and she brings

arms that carry answers for me,
intimate, a waiting bounty.
“Carry me.” She leaves this trail
through a shudder of the veil,
and leaves, like amber where she stays,
a gift for her perpetual gaze.

Thanks for listening! I’ve been learning about Celtic history and traditions after confirming my Celtic ancestry through DNA testing last year.

More about Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “sow-win”) from History.com: “Samhain is a pagan religious festival originating from an ancient Celtic spiritual tradition. It is usually celebrated from October 31 to November 1 to welcome in the harvest and usher in “the dark half of the year.” Celebrants believe that the barriers between the physical world and the spirit world break down during Samhain, allowing more interaction between humans and denizens of the Otherworld.

Ancient Celts marked Samhain as the most significant of the four quarterly fire festivals, taking place at the midpoint between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. During this time of year, hearth fires in family homes were left to burn out while the harvest was gathered.”

“Samhain” by Annie Finch from Poetryfoundation.org

my nature photos, photo of me by Larissa

© 2023 MyInspiredLife

Bird’s Eye View

Windows let light in

Windows let life in
            from a safe distance

Windows give birds a view
            of you

Living begins when you decide to open

            the window and join them

“I have accepted fear as part of life – specifically the fear of change… I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back….”

― Erica Jong

“A kind of light spread out from her. And everything changed color. And the world opened out. And a day was good to awaken to. And there were no limits to anything. And the people of the world were good and handsome. And I was not afraid anymore.”

― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

my window photo, Muckross House, Ireland

© 2023 MyInspiredLife

Morning writing companion

I once tried to convince myself
that it was romantic to write by candlelight
when my power was turned off
            like Lincoln in his log cabin, I thought

I laughed at myself
as the flame flickered and I ate cold leftovers
            a Chinese dinner that a lame boyfriend brought
he took all but a few more bites
who does that, I thought

I woke too early
to finish a poem about a sunflower –
growing proudly and quietly in a field in Oregon
that I can’t stop thinking about
perfectly outlined with the sky its contrast
making me think about Beat Poet Allen Ginsberg’s, “Sunflower Sutra”

            “the gray Sunflower poised against the sunset,
            crackly bleak and dusty
            with the smut and smog and smoke
            of olden locomotives in its eye—”

Hundreds if not thousands of sunflowers
growing and dying under the Oregon sun
Hundreds if not thousands of ideas
that will become one poem
            eventually

On this morning, the moon won
“Pick me, pick me, pick me,” it said
so I did

It’s golden light in the morning twilight
lulled me in,
pulling me in
to its enchanting hue, it’s cosmic rhythm
a romantic presence that needs no convincing

Easy enough to pluck a rose for a tender love
but sunflowers, standing sturdy and tall, are left alone

Heartbroken over national and world tragedies and feeling melancholy after leaving Oregon, I felt a strong pull to connect with other poetic hearts, so I attended a poetry reading last night that took place on the campus of ASU in a historic building called the Piper Center for Creative Writing. The building is a charming house surrounded by larger university buildings – the perfect cozy venue for poetry readings and talks. Excited to listen to and meet New York based poet Eileen Myles, whose work I was not familiar with prior to last night and whose humanity and creativity I now admire, I couldn’t help but question my decision to sit and listen after noticing the golden moon just above the horizon. I am glad that I resisted my urge to run away from the campus and towards my camera and that the moon found me, once again, in the early hours.

Thank you for reading my, by the light of the moon poem. Be well. Michele

© 2023 MyInspiredLife

Moved to tears

“Her Coastal Cottage: Where Truth & Love Rise” by Michele Lee Sefton

A surprising delight to come across a post that highlights my poetic novella, a story that captured my time and heart. A story I thought I could write, edit, and publish in a few months, while I was querying a longer book project. Ha! I learned a thing or two. I am still learning! For that I am grateful.

Artist Samantha Burgett’s engagement with my story is everything I could ask for and more, as a writer and believer in the power of love. Her beautifully crafted commentary makes the entire process of bringing this story into the world worthwhile. If you have the time and you’re so inclined, I would be most grateful if you clicked through to her gracious post.

Thank you and thanks for visiting. [image error] Michele

P.S. I just caught up with my novella reviews on Amazon. My cup runneth over on this Friday afternoon. A hearty thank you to those who have taken the time to read my story and write a review. A labor of love it truly was.

© 2023 MyInspiredLife