Penny J. Johnson's Blog, page 22

Signs: Do Not Enter

Last Friday, I went with my husband to drop off his laptop. It was his last day of employment at the company where he has been working since October 2016. When we entered the parking garage, yellow caution tape stretched across the aisles, and we read the sign stating “Welcome” with an arrow pointing to […]

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

Four Stars Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty is a book I doubt I would have read except for one of my book clubs. (Note: This is one of the reasons to be in a book club–to read books we would never choose on our own.) Although the topic of a mortician’s memoir […]

Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Five Stars I would be remiss if I did not mention Shakespeare during Poetry Month and the week of his birthday (April 23). I’m not going to cite a specific collection because Shakespeare’s work can be easily accessed from a number of sources. I prefer his sonnets over his plays because they are most accessible, […]

Campfires: Kindled

I remember the poetic moment of a smoke-filled cave in Wyoming. I did things on that trip I wouldn’t have done otherwise. Camping in a tent. Painting cabins. Climbing a mountain. Wearing the same clothes for three days. I’ve never done these things quite the same way since that summer when I was fifteen. It […]

Campfires: A Kindling

Write about a memory related to a campfire. I have mixed feelings about campfires. Campfires remind me of camping in our camper. We started with a pull-behind trailer that we never pulled anywhere. We traded that in for a destination trailer we moved three times. During those camping years, I wanted to be sitting around […]

Second Space by Czeslaw Milosz

Five Stars It seems unfair to rate with only five stars books that speak aloud from the page. Second Space is one of those books. It is the final collection of Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz and to read it provides perspective about the suffering of this world and the anticipated joy of the next.

One Odd Object: When Something Belongs

A skull sits on my bookshelf. My sons could be indignant. I never allowed them to buy anything with a skull on it when they were younger. I have little to no control over their purchasing habits now. But, they know not to expect a compliment for such a choice. Why the seeming hypocrisy? That […]

One Odd Object: When Something Doesn’t Belong

Describe one odd item that you have in your purse or wallet right now. When I read this writing prompt, I could not think of one odd item I have in my purse. In my mind, there seemed to be a purpose for everything. After all, I tend to travel light. I carry a small […]

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson edited by Thomas H. Johnson

Five Stars It takes a significant amount of time–no matter how succinct–to read 1775 poems. Take this comment as the truth that I am still reading The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. I am not in a rush, but I am on a distinct course of action to finish my read during this stay-at-home order […]

Appearances: Judging Covers

I have been working on a poetry project for about three years, and I am thrilled to be nearing the editing and formatting stage. Part of this phase is choosing the outward appearance for the book. Although I am capable of completing the editing and formatting on my own, I am choosing to enlist an […]