Wednesday, July 22, 2015

A young goat herder lived at the top of a hill.
On mornings when the grass sparkled with dew diamonds he'd take the goats out to eat.  While he watched the goats, he'd sit on a rock 
and play his pipe in lonely, haunting tunes.
One morning, he saw someone across the canyon standing, waving an arm 
and the person yelled, "BOY."
The canyon echoed, boy, boy, boy.
The goat herder listened as the words faded out.
The first letter fell off and all he heard 
was the, oy, oy, oy.
So the goat boy yelled back, "Joy, Joy, Joy."
And the canyon echoed, JOY, JOY, JOY.
Joy, Joy, Joy, joy, joy, joy.
All day while the goats ate, the two boys yelled
back and forth across the canyon 
and an echo would reply.
That night the goats gave more milk 
and the goat boy fell asleep feeling great happiness.  And the hill, and the canyon,
and the echo too, rang with great joy. 

   Have you ever thought echoes are happiest when they get to work?  What makes you happy?  Can you write a happy poem today?  Or try writing your own poem about an echo.  Have fun.


Happiness arrives when we are doing work we feel is worthwhile. 

TODAY

Today,
I'll try to
unbutton myself
let my heart
fly free.

Today,
I will let
my imagination
soar like a hawk
searching the skies.

Today,
I will chase
clouds floating above
changing shapes
on a whim.

Today,
I will sing
to the birds
and find happiness
in every flower.

Today
I will have fun
being me.
I will write
this poem
for you.

   What will you do today?  What makes you happy?  What gives you joy? As long as you're living, you might as well live big.  Have fun today.  What can you do to help someone else along their journey today? Now, can you take your answers to these questions and shape them into a poem? Have a grand time writing.

HAPPINESS

I like the look of happiness,
it makes me glad, I must confess.
Your smile full of energy,
it makes me feel mirthful glee.

Your eyes sparkle with an impish shine.
Your laughter I can take.
The joy that glows upon your face
is impossible to fake.


    Your challenge for today is to take an emotion and write a poem about what that looks and feels like.  What does sadness look like?  How can you tell when someone is in pain?  How would fear look?  Have fun writing.

Who is Happy?

The cats jump for joy.
The dogs leap with glee.
Everyone is happy.
What can
the excitement
be?


    What gets you excited?  Can you write a poem about excitement today? Answer the question of this poem to make the next verse.  What are you passionate about?  Do have fun writing your poem.  Happy Tuesday.

SHADORMA

I'm still not back in gear.  I've been trying to get my desk cleared today so I can get down to some serious work.So while I was cleaning I saw a note about the SHADORMA, a six line poems, that may have originated in Spain.  This is a syllabic form with three syllables in the first line
                                                                       five in the second, then three, three, seven syllables in the fifth line, and ending with five syllables in the last line.

Or, 1= XXX
      2= XXXXX
      3= XXX
      4= XXX
      5= XXXXXXX
      6= XXXXX

Our New Year
for 2-0-1-4
happiness
poetry
with peace and blessings to you.
May this be your year.


     Your challenge for today is to try writing your own Shadorma.  Have fun writing.

Happy New Year

Happy 2-0-1-4
may this be the year
you have time
to write more.

May your poems
be delightful
and full of fun.
May the words
seem to roll
right off of your tongue.

May you fill
the world with happiness
in all that you do.
May this be 
a prosperous year
for me and for you.


     I hope you are having a great beginning to the new year.  Are you writing resolutions?  I've been thinking about a few but I haven't gotten around to writing them down.  Your challenge for today is to write one resolution of something you'd like to do this year.  Have a thinking day.  Enjoy.

MY TELEPHONE

My telephone
is really scared,
afraid he'll make
a mistake.
He hates to text
or make a sound,
all he does is
S H A K E.
 

     Happy Saturday.  I started to work on a second verse for this poem, but after I got it written, I felt like it was a bad joke that carries on when the teller doesn't trust that you've gotten the punch line the first time.  So, I got rid of that verse and will save it for a second poem.  Have you found that you sometimes do that too?  You push a poem too hard and carry it on past the point when the poem is done?  What do you do when that happens.  Lot's of poems I read would be better as two poems. 
So here is your task today--write a little poem.  Start close.  Is there something in your pocket you can write about?  Is there something you are wearing?  I have a tiny band-aid on my arm from where I got my flu shot.  Maybe you can write about a freckle a scar or a mole.  Do you have a blister?  There are lots of possibilities if you start close.  Have a great day writing your poem and if you'd like to share it in the comments, I'd love to read it.

MY BEST FRIEND JOHN

Knocking at my door

was Monster John

face all white,

waxy and wan.

I was scared.

My cheeks turned red.

Trick-or-treat

was what

Monster John said.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

     See, I'm still playing with this silly rhyme.  This time I've taken the name of my friend and plugged it into the poem.  Do you have a friend who is going trick-or-treating for Halloween?  What costume will he wear?  Can you write your own poem about your friend?

Knocking at my door

was Princess Joy.

She carried a wand,

a children's toy.

I laughed so hard,

my cheeks turned red.

Trick-or-treat,

was what the Princess said.

Happy Halloween.

     All right!  Enough.  But, wouldn't you like to try writing your own Halloween poem and put your name in the poem.  I hope you have a happy Sunday writing poetry.

PUPPY LOVE

My neighbor's dogs
all furry puff balls
run and leap
with joy
when they see me.
Their greeting
a quick dance
filled with sunshine.
Who could not
feel love
to be greeted so?
They lift my spirits
to soar
like the hawks
circling above.

   Do you have a dog?  Do your neighbors?  What dogs do you know?  Is there a dog in the book you are reading?  Can you write a poem today about a dog or cat.  This is a free verse poem.  Can you write a poem today about a dog, or even a cat that you have met?  Think about using your five senses to describe the animal.  Have fun writing.

BE HAPPY

A multitude of small delights constitutes happiness.  Charles Baudelaire


It is time to dance.
It is time to sing.
It is time to notice
the little things.


One single flower
or button, or plate,
can make me feel happy,
can make me feel great.


Today I will notice
all little things
like birds at my feeder
and the songs each one sings.

Today I'll be joyful,
and happy, and glad.
I'll be so dog-gone merry
there's no room for sad.

      It is so cold today that I'm going to work all day at being a happy me.  Can you make a list poem today of all the little things that make you happy?

New Year

Every single day, do something that makes your heart sing.  Marcia Wieder

Happy New Year

Today is January 1, 2013.

I like to say 

2--0--1--3

because this way

it rhymes with

poetry. 

     Happy New Year.  Today marks my 639th post.  Thank you for letting me have so much fun sharing poetry with you.  I'm determined that this is going to be a very joyful year.  So your challenge for today is to do something to encourage joy in your life and to write a poem about it.  You are welcome to leave your poem in the comments below. Have a fun day today and start the new year as you'd like the year to go.  I'm going to try to get some cleaning done, for me this is another way to have a new beginning.  

        And as an extra bonus, here is a poem I received from meeting Welena, a three year-old Hawaiian  girl.

MY KNEES

I was running.

I fell down.

My knees

they hit

upon the ground.   

The rocks,

they bit

into my knees.

It stung.

It hurt.

I cried,

OW-EEE.

I do NOT like  

those rocks.

Those rocks

do NOT like me.

See, the scrapes

that I have got

from falling

on my knees. 

2013 PREPARE FOR JOY

Remember the feeling as a child when you woke up and the morning smiled?  Taj Mahal

2013 is going to be
a year full of
of laughter and fun,

when the earth
will travel once
around the sun.

365 opportunities
to be happy
with joyful poetry.

So let me push away
sadness and fear--
it pulled me down
in the old year.

And let me open
my heart to delight
as I craft my poems
through the night.


     As you get ready for the new year, what things do you wish to leave behind?
Can you write a poem about that?  Please leave your suggestions in the comments below.