Library Matters: #FreeVerseFriday

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Free Verse Friday #12 December: Celebration

Last January, I joined Beverly A Baird & Linda Schueler in a "year long poetry practice – on the first Friday of each Month," when they, and anyone else who joined, wrote a poem based on the theme of the month and a photo taken relating to that theme.

You can find out more about this here.

I really enjoyed participating in this project with these two remarkable women. I appreciated the framework. I want to spend more time writing, but I have a lot of projects (of all kinds) on the go, all the time. This gave me a focus and forced me carve out time to write. I am especially thankful to not have the stress of having to do this everyday, like when I participate in the April Poem a Day challenge.

The first time I participated, I didn't get the photograph first bit. I let the theme percolate throughout the month before posting and the poem more or less wrote itself. When I realized my mistake, I sent a half decent draft of it to my partner, Randy Rotheisler, and a friend, Ron Peace, both gifted photographers, asking for images to accompany it. We continued this process, except of course for the last couple of months when they sent me images and I wrote poems based on those.

This month I'm back on track for writing the poem first and sending it off to my two favourite photographers for an image to accompany it.

image by Randy Rotheisler

these days,

dark
comes early

last night
we turned
the christmas lights on

these bright bulbs
clinging to the eaves
across the seasons,
wait

to remind us that

small things

bring beauty and light

into our lives

Christmas Lights on the Spirit of Summerland 3716 by Ron Peace

In case you are interested, the above photographs can be purchased from the photographers. Let me know if you want their contact information.

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #10 October: Shadow (Part 2)

I've joined Beverly A Baird, Linda Schueler and others in a "year long poetry practice – on the first Friday of each Month," when they, and anyone else who joins, will be writing a poem based on the theme of the month and a photo taken relating to that theme.

You can find out more about this here.

I usually write a poem and send it off to my two favourite photographers to come up with an image to accompany it. I didn't have anything to send to them this month, and begged for help. My partner, Randy Rotheisler, sent me his so I wrote a poem for him first. I said that If Ron Peace sends me something, I'd write a poem for him too. He did. Here is his contribution and the poem I wrote for him. It was a struggle.

by Ron Peace

Shadows

conceal
unknown
untold
mysteries

dystopian histories

strewn across

the plains of time

only

the moldering bones

of memory

remain

Maybe it's because I've been reading about the history of Indigenous people here in Canada, that this image reminded me of buffalo and their deliberate slaughter.

In case you are interested, the above photograph can be purchased from the photographer. Let me know if you want their contact information.

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #9 SEPTEMBER: AUTUMN

I'm joining Beverly A Baird, Linda Schueler and others in a "year long poetry practice – on the first Friday of each Month," when they, and anyone else who joins, will be writing a poem based on the theme of the month and a photo taken relating to that theme.

You can find out more about this here.

I forgot about writing this til September 30th, so I begged my photographers Randy Rotheisler, and Ron Peace, to send me inspiration. They told me it didn't work like that. I scribbled off a draft and sent it to them.

by Randy Rotheisler

Autumn

if Spring is the midwife,
and Summer, an indulgent mother,

then Autumn,
Autumn is the death doula,

ushering Earth's weary players

to the ends of their season

across cinematic pigments of glory

and into Winter's waiting embrace

by Ron Peace

here's one from me

The first time I participated, I didn't get the photograph first bit. I let the theme percolate throughout the month before posting and the poem more or less wrote itself. When I realized my mistake, I sent a half decent draft of it to my partner, Randy Rotheisler, and a friend, Ron Peace, both gifted photographers, asking for images to accompany it. We have continued this process.

In case you are interested, both these photographs can be purchased from the photographers. Let me know if you want their contact information.

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #8 AUGUST - VACATION

You can find out more about this here.

I'm in the middle of a family reunion, so I forgot to post on Friday. The good thing about being the earliest one up is that I can clean up the house a bit and it stays that way for a little while, and two, I get a bit of time just for myself, and catching up on things I missed, like this.

For me, retirement is mostly a never ending vacation punctuated by volunteering and the occasional day of paid work. Getting away from home is the closest to a holiday/vacation that exists for me. I scribbled this one just after we returned from the Vancouver Island Music Festival.

Tom Wilson of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings

hanging out
at a music festival
is liberation
from ordinary life

letting ourselves get
lost in a montage
of marvels

of reverberations

of sensation

of raconteurs spinning stories
from words and melody

of applause and cheering,
punctuated by
intoxicating silence
as one voice
ushers us across

time and place
into sacred space

of hot sun
hot rhythms
hot bodies

of dancing our hearts out
amid a throng of similar souls

of grooving to tunes
rendered on an acoustic guitar
by a fifteen year old blues prodigy,
who’s picking those strings
like he’s in a contest with the devil himself

Horizon over main stage at Vancouver Island MusicFest

Here's the website of the young blues prodigy referenced in the poem.

The first time I participated, I didn't get the photograph first bit. I let the theme percolate throughout the month before posting and the poem more or less wrote itself. When I realized my mistake, I sent a half decent draft of it to my partner, Randy Rotheisler, and a friend, Ron Peace, both gifted photographers, asking for images to accompany it. We have continued this process.

In case you are interested, both these photographs can be purchased from the photographers. Let me know if you want their contact information.

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #7 JULY - HOT

You can find out more about this here.

June was cooler than usual. I longed for the heat, even though I know that when it comes I will moan about that. Today's poem is a reminiscence on the hot, dry, summers of my youth. In the Southern Okanagan Valley here in BC, we live in a semi desert. In summer especially, rain is a rare and special treat!

Hot

I long for the hot
humid afternoons

of my youth,
hanging out with cousins
at granny’s house

waiting,
watching

dark clouds
congregate on the horizon

the sky above us
looming,
ominous,
thrilling,

a portent of

thunder,
lightning,
and rain,

rain for dancing in

Both have brilliantly captured the nostalgia of times gone by in today's poem.

In case you are interested, both these photographs can be purchased from the photographers. Let me know if you want their contact information.

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #6 JUNE SOLSTICE

I've decided to join Beverly A Baird, Linda Schueler and others in a "year long poetry practice – on the first Friday of each Month," when they, and anyone else who joins, will be writing a poem based on the theme of the month and a photo taken relating to that theme.

You can find out more about this here.

This month it felt like Spring was writing her story through me in this poem. I wonder what Summer will have to say?

The first time I participated, I didn't get the photograph first bit. I let the theme percolate throughout the month before posting and the poem more or less wrote itself. When I realized my mistake, I sent a half decent draft of it to my partner, Randy Rotheisler, and a friend, Ron Peace, both gifted photographers, asking for images to accompany it. We have continued this process. Both have remarked that this poem is dark and that finding images was challenging. In case you are interested, both these photographs can be purchased from the photographers. Let me know if you want their contact information.

Moses by Ron Peace

Solstice

early on

i two stepped

lightly across the land

now my feet,

heavy,

drag across it

the season has been hard

harder than usual

Winter ignored the equinox,

threw white flurried tantrums well into April

now Summer,

always impatient,

blasts heat

well before her time

i’ve heard rumours

those two are getting weird messages from the sun

a story about atmospheric interference

too much carbon or something

frankly, i’m too tired to care

i just want it to stop

under these conditions

it’s exhausting,

almost impossible

to keep

my delicate charges alive,

never mind thrive

thankfully,

my shift

is almost over

soon i get to let go

soon

just as soon

as the solstice arrives

it will be

someone else’s

turn to

worry

about

the world

Descent by Randy Rotheisler

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #5 MAY FLOWERS

You can find out more about this here.

In my mind I have a vision of Spring waking up flowers to join in a wild and raucous celebration of the return of the sun. I started working on it, but it is unwieldy and wants to go on and on. I thought I better prune it down (pun intended) and focus on one aspect of it.

It's blossom time in my neck of the woods, and it is glorious indeed. Unfortunately this poem kept too kept growing. On my walks I keep noticing flowering shrubs and trees that I had overlooked in my poem. I swear they scowl at me and ask, "Hey, What about me?"

The first time I participated, I didn't quite get the photo part right, so I sent a half decent draft of my poem to my partner, Randy Rotheisler, and a friend, Ron Peace, both gifted photographers, asking for images to accompany it. It was fun and they are keen to continue, so that's what we are doing.

Randy Rotheisler

oh so lovingly

spring tickles blossoms

from reluctant trees and bushes

forsythia flounces out first,
leading the parade
in yellow frills,

on the wild slopes

saskatoon branches
adorn themselves in
delicate wisps of white corolla

antelope bitterbrush
burst out in
halos of cream clusters

stately dogwood
announce their presence
in cascades of four petal splendour

citrus sweet clusters

of mock orange

arrive

just in time
for bridal bouquets

in the tamed valley,

fruit trees explode

in florescence

apricot arrives

in a fuss of blush

apple, cherry, pear and plum

hustle bustle around

arrayed in shades of alabaster

cheeky peach

preens and pirouettes

in a profusion in pink

in the gardens and yards of local folk

crimson camellia
carry on with the

magnolia cousins,
strutting their stuff
in sprays of white stars
and marvels of magenta

while lilac arrives
quietly,
in perfumed panicles
of delicate florets

blessed indeed

are we humble creatures

to witness

this divine spectacle of

painted fragrance

Ron Peace

Maybe I should have just focused on arrowleaf baslsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata.) The hills glow golden with their flowering these days.

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #3 MARCH GREEN

Last time, I didn't quite get the photo part right, so I sent a half decent draft of my poem to my partner, Randy Rotheisler, and a friend, Ron Peace, both gifted photographers, asking for images to accompany it. It was fun and they are ready to continue, so I've decided to continue this process.

While drinking my coffee, I stare out the picture window across the valley at the hills. Here in this semi dessert, they are brown almost all year round. The exceptions are when winter snow covers them, and for a brief spate of time, in spring, when fields of bunch grass, balsamroot, and a host of other wildflowers erupt out of the soil.

As I gaze out at this grey brown landscape, I've been musing on this theme of green. This time of year, it's still illusive, more like a dream, or a memory of a dream. I had a poem almost all figured out, and then woke up twice last week to fresh dumps of snow. Enough with the white stuff already!

Anyway, here is today's poem with two images to bookend it.

by Randy Rotheisler

not yet green

in the between of winter and spring

these,
stoic brown hills,

oh landscape

of my heart

wait,
wait oh so,
wait oh so patient

for the just waking up spring goddess

still that old man winter
he just
he just has to have
one last temper tantrum

now, the brooding brown hills
hide, disguised in white

old man,
you’ve overstayed your welcome

step aside

she’s stirring

soon now,

it won’t be long

she will rise

shoots and stalks sprouting
from the soles of her feet
as she strides

across her dominion,

decorating these drab slopes
in an exaltation
of resurrection green

by Ron Peace

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #2 WINTER

You can find out more about this here.

I missed the January poem, so I'm starting in February.

I didn't quite get the photo part, so after I wrote a half decent draft of my poem, I sent it off to my partner, Randy Rotheisler, and a friend, Ron Peace, both gifted photographers, asking for images to accompany it. I was gobsmacked by their submissions! Choosing one from each of them was very challenging!