A Year in the Life … revealed …

Hello Dear Ones!

Two years ago today, on the Sunday of Canada’s Victoria Day long weekend of 2009, I stepped onto the retreat grounds of Queenswood and an incredible journey began … leading me to write my first book:

A Year in the Life of a Bus-Traveling Poet

It has been – and is still – a magical journey, one in which you, Dear Reader, took an active role … as one of my dearest inspirations! That’s why I thought to stop by today to share this exciting news with you … my book has been published and is now available for sale!  You can check it out here: http://bit.ly/buspoet (paperback) or here: http://amzn.to/buspoet-k (Kindle version)

And, as a tantalizing little bonus for you, a glimpse of one of my very favourite sections: Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Haiku Galore!

Hello Dear Ones!

If I submitted a tweet for every haiku I write, everyone who follows me would see my smiley-faced avatar umpteen times a day. It also means I’d not have time to do much other than write haiku and enter tweets in to Twitter! I tweet enough as it is without adding an additional load to my followers’ HootSuite or TweetDeck or other such options!

As a result, today’s Poetry Corner will offer a compilation of the haiku and related styles of micropoetry that I have recorded the past week. They are provided here in the order in which they came to me.  Haiku subjects vary moment by moment in topic for me – just the way my mind works and my heart connects to all that is in my life. You’ll notice there is seldom a common theme: with one exception – the Progressive Haiku poems (seen as #progressivehaiku in Twitter) that have an emotional series or chain of thought over several stanzas from sadness to joy.  Enjoy! Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – One Breath Per Line

Hello Dear Ones!

An dear e-friend and great micropoet through Twitter: Tina Nguyen has recently inspired several of us to get into a more extended style of Haiku – known as Gogyohka:

Gogyohka is a new form of Japanese short poetry, founded and pioneered by Japanese poet Enta Kusakabe. Gogyohka is pronounced go-gee-yoh-kuh (the “g”s are hard as in “good”), and literally translated means “five line poem”. Gogyohka is five lines of free verse on any subject matter. There is no set syllable pattern, however the poem should be short and succinct. The goal is to compellingly capture an idea, observation, feeling, memory, or experience in just a few words.

Gogyohka is a fun and easy form, making poetry writing accessible to everyone, including children. Yet it is challenging as a method of practice for self-reflection, contemplation, and distilling one’s thoughts. Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Belief & Inspiration

Hello Dear Ones!

Belief and Inspiration are my topics of choice this week. Starting with the theme of Belief (with more than a mere undertone of Inspiration within it!) , from a web search I found a sweet link to the following :

BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART

Author: Unknown

Believe in your heart that
something wonderful is about to happen.
Love your life.
Believe in your own powers,
and your own potential,
and in your own innate goodness.
Wake every morning
with the awe of just being alive.
Discover each day the magnificent,
awesome beauty in the world.
Explore and embrace life in yourself
and in everyone you see each day.
Reach within to find your own specialness.
Amaze yourself and rouse those around you
to the potential of each new day.
Don’t be afraid to admit
that you are less than perfect;
this is the essence of your humanity.
Let those who love you help you.
Trust enough to be able to take.
Look with hope to the horizon of today,
for today is all we truly have.
Live this day well.
Let a little sun out as well as in.
Create your own rainbows.
Be open to all your possibilities;
all possibilities and Miracles.

Always believe in Miracles.

Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Totally, Poetically Sound

Hello Dear Ones!

Recently I read a wonderfully crazy poem  – a love poem – beautifully crafted and very unique. WoW! I’ve seen poems with weird rhyming patterns, but this one has to take the first prize on the bizarre scale. (This great poem is inset at the end of this post for your enjoyment and perusal.)

With a verbal reading of any poem, the sound of it is essential to add impact, flavour, and mood, plus it enhances the writer’s intent. Most often odd yet rhyming patterns are found in children’s poetry, such as that written by the famous Dr. Seuss. Born Theodor Seuss Geisel, Dr. Seuss used specific rhyming techniques to get the sounds he was seeking: such styles as anapestic, amphibractic, or trochaic tetrameter. These fancy terms certainly required that I research their definition and effect (not to mention their pronunciation!). Here’s the simple and fun version from Wikipedia: Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Poems and Dragonflies

Hello Dear Ones!

Seems that micropoetry (#micropoetry in the Twitter world!) is happily becoming a new past time for me. Short poems, haiku and senryu are all the rage with the folks I follow and who follow me. I wrote about this topic two weeks ago. If you missed that post you might want to take a moment to read it: here.

Just today I discovered (thanks to a new twitter friend) a fabulous website/blog where archives of some of the best twitter poetry are pulled together in the most appealing fashion. Please check out The Dragonfly Collection ~ haiku from Twitter ~ http://dragonflyarchives.wordpress.com/ The site is restful, spiritually nourishing, educational and inspiring! A site definitely worth your time. I’ve now bookmarked them for a daily journey into relaxation and soulful pleasure. Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Poetry in Motion

Hello Dear Ones!

I awoke inspired to inspire!

My intention today is to assist us all in removing the stereotypical structures that we have been rigidly taught. “Poems should be 4-line stanzas.”  “Poems must rhyme.” “There are only so many styles of poetry and one must adhere to those structures.”

Ba – humbug, I say! Today anything goes when it comes to poetic expression! Whatever moves you, go for it! Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Potential

Hello Dear Ones!

Years ago I bought myself a small spiral notebook and pen to keep in my purse. (BTW: Today, the notebook in my purse is about the 25th such writing journal.) On the very back page of this notebook I began jotting down different topics as they came to me randomly – for use as poems, short stories, or as simple paragraphs that might, someday, find their way into a story. It’s a mere list that looks somewhat like this:

Grandmother
Thunderstorm
Mashed bananas
The scent of a baby
Fresh ground/fresh brewed coffee
Candles
Riding a bicycle
Driving a car
The first pickle in the jar
A hug

My list now has about 350 entries of topics I still might write about – someday. Many have already inspired me to write. Some I have written about and yet I have kept the topic on the list as there are so many ways to express the different facets of that same topic – such as thunderstorms! Each and every storm is unique and pulls emotions from within as varied as the storms themselves!

How do I use this Potential Writings list? Continue Reading →

Poetry Corner – Positively Poetry

Hello Dear Ones!

Poetry, for me, is a way of expressing amazement of, for and at life. There was a time when I was in my teens (a few years ago :o) when my life seemed filled with angst. My poetry reflected that time and pain in my life. I am so grateful it was only a short-lived phase.

Today my life is filled with love, joy, delight, hope, inspiration, insight, passion, pleasure, simplicity, playfulness … the list of positives is endless. No, my life is not perfect. Yet it needn’t be perfect for every moment to be savoured and enjoyed to the max! Continue Reading →