Prompt Nights # 10 – Surely You Jest

This week the ‘Prompt Nights’ challenge offers us the choice of writing either poetry or prose, with a theme that tips its hat to April Fools’ Day. So to celebrate this day of fun and frivolity, I decided to “focus” on a bit of frivolous prose.

 

SEARS CHOCOLATES ONLY close upFOCUS:
A One-Act Play

Place:  A city street
Time: April Fools’ Day

Conversation:

Friend:   “Wow!  Did you see that?”

Sandra:  “I’ll say. I’m salivating even as we speak.

Friend: Oooooh, me too. Makes me feel hungry all over.

Sandra: I know what you mean. That box of chocolates must have held at least 10 pounds.”

Friend:  “The girl who gets that will be over the moon.”

Sandra:  “Mmmmm. That much chocolate candy would definitely make me one very happy lady.”

Friend:  “Huh? – Wait – What?”

Sandra:  “What do you mean, what?”

Friend:  “What do you mean? I’m talking about that drop-dead gorgeous hunk who just passed us carrying the box of chocolates, you dope.”

Sandra:  “Oh, was there somebody carrying the chocolates?”

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NaPoWriMo 2016 – Day 1

NAPOWRIMO LOGO 2016


Cinquain # 1:  Meeting The Challenge

 It’s here:
NaPoWriMo.
The challenge now is this:
A brand new poem ev’ry day.
Begin!

This year for NaPoWriMo, I’m creating a new cinquain every day in April (or at least I’m starting out to do that. I may or may not have 30 when we’re done.) If you’d like to challenge yourself to write a new poem every day during National Poetry Writing Month, hop over to the NaPoWriMo site for some interesting information and prompts. You don’t have to follow the prompts, but they’re worth checking out in case they strike your fancy.

I’m doing cinquain because, although I generally prefer poetry forms that require rhyme and specific meter, I do occasionally enjoy writing in some of the forms that are based on syllable count. And of all those forms, my favorite is cinquain.  It is also the only totally American poetic form — created by the American poet Adelaide Crapsey.  She was inspired by the Japanese forms of haiku and tanka, but cinquain has its own syllabic pattern and its own unique charm. So this time around, rather than follow the NaPoWriMo prompts, I’m going cinquain all the way.

The form requires a 5-line stanza with the syllable count in each line as follows:

Line 1 — 2 syllables
Line 2 — 4 syllables
Line 3 — 6 syllables
Line 4 — 8 syllables
Line 5 — 2 syllables

The basic meter is iambic pentameter. However, there are many variations on the cinquain that Adelaide Crapsey wrote, and as with other poetic forms, each poet adds his or her own personality to the work.

 

 

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National Poetry Writing Month is Almost Here

NAPOWRIMO LOGO 2016

 

Hey, all you poets, psalmists, and songwriters out there, did you know that April is National Poetry Writing Month?  Well, it is, and that means it’s time to focus on our meter, rhyme, and imagery. Maureen Thorson, of Washington, D.C., U.S.A., hosts a website devoted specifically to National Poetry Writing Month — along with a project she has christened NaPoWriMo. That project encourages participants to write a new poem every day for the 30 days of April.

Now, you can write any kind of poem you want — any form — any theme. Or you can visit her site every day to get a prompt from the project itself. The site also offers interesting material from a number of different poets, as well as links to other sites that are poetry specific.

So why not jump in and take part in NaPoWriMo this year. I generally participate, although I rarely manage to write 30 poems. But if we each write even 10 new poems in the month of April, just think how much creativity we’ve unleashed.

This year I’m doing something a little different. I love cinquain, and it is about the only form out there that is uniquely American-made. So this year, rather than follow the prompts on the NaPoWriMo site, I’m going to write a new cinquain for each day. I may borrow from the site’s theme suggestions, and I may not. We’ll have to see. But I hope a lot of you participate and post your links to your poems on the NaPoWriMo site.

 

 

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WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Half-Light

This week’s WP Photo Challenge is a little confusing. The title focuses on the “half-light” periods of the day when we are between day and night, but then the actual challenge calls us to post a picture that is inspired by a particular poem, verse, song lyric, or story — and that picture does not have to be about half-light.  But if we do not have a poem, verse, song lyric, or story that inspires a certain picture, then we can post photos of the world around us in “half-light.”
So …………

One of my favorite songs of all time is “I’ll Be Seeing You,” with lyrics by Irving Kahal.  One of the best remembered lines is at the end of the song and says, “I’ll be looking at the moon, but I’ll be seeing you.”  I’ve had that experience in my own lifetime — looking at the moon but focusing on the man I loved instead of that glowing orb in the sky. In honor of those lovely words, I decided I’d share a collection of my own pictures of the moon. I took two of my moon pics and played around with them in a couple of photo programs, just to see how much fun I could have.  I had LOTS of fun. I hope you find them “fun” to look at as well. And below my pictures, you’ll find a video of the song to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

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Daily Post Daily Prompt – Nerve

Brenda Calvert posted this series of pictures in response to one of this week’s Daily Post Prompts: Nerve. I was fascinated by the idea of a bridge that floats, but I don’t think you’ll find me driving across it. See what you think about it and let me know if you’d drive across it or not.

Brenda Calvert's avatarBrenda Travels Solo

The Floating Bridge in Brookfield, Vermont required me to access all the NERVE I had to drive across it in fall of 2006.

IMG_0257 (1) (1)IMG_0253 (1) (1)IMG_0254 (1) (1)

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Prompt Nights – Music

This week’s “Prompt Nights” theme is music. I planned to write a brand new piece for the challenge, but I just kept being pulled back in my own mind to a piece I wrote some time ago. I know I shared a poem I had written previously for last week’s theme as well, and I don’t usually do that on challenges. But this one little poem just keeps tugging at me tonight, so I’m going to let it have a fresh airing for this new prompt.

 

MUSICAL NOTES SWIRLINGREQUIEM

What? You ask how was my keyboard
Torn asunder piece by piece?
I admit it was my doing:
Thought perhaps my pain ‘twould ease.

For I cannot find my music;
Cannot hear the melody.
Cannot feel the beat, the rhythm;
And, of course, no harmony.

Still, my soul keeps searching, reaching;
Won’t believe the gift is gone.
It once coursed throughout my being;
Every breath exhaled a song.

Every heartbeat set a tempo;
Notes cascaded from my mind;
Even in sleep, my dreams invaded —
Nocturnes delicate, sublime.

Now, I’ve only fleeting memories
Of creating symphonies.
Tragedy beyond my bearing:
There’s no music left in me!

 

 

~~~

 

 

 

Recipe for Creative Writing: A Quiet Corner, a Cup of Coffee, & Chocolate

What?  You don’t think I’m serious about this recipe? Well, I assure you that I am. In fact, I’ve been writing — very successfully, I might add — for many years now using these ingredients on a regular basis.

BLACK TYPEWRITER w. quiet1. A Quiet Corner:

I must have quiet when I’m creating.  If I’m simply relaxing — or doing housework — or eating — I often enjoy listening to music, a TV program, or a lesson on a subject that interests me. But if I am intent on creating something with words, I do not want any conversation or music whirling around me. I want to be closed into my own private world — just me and my words — until I have received conception of and given birth to that brand new entity that has been waiting on me to bring it into the world. So this ingredient is a must.

2. A Cup of Coffee:

COFFEE STEAMING - REDMy, there’s just nothing that quite equals the soothing, uplifting aroma of fresh-brewed coffee. And I’m tired of hearing all the uninformed critics out there who try to make coffee drinkers feel guilty because there is an element of caffeine in coffee. I have always maintained that, since the Lord told us in Genesis that He made the seed-bearing trees and plants for us to eat, then we should be able to partake of coffee with a clear conscience and a happy heart. And let’s not forget that God made the coffee bean with the caffeine in it. We human beings did not add the caffeine the way we add so many artificial ingredients into our food. That caffeine must have some good qualities in it, or the Lord would not have put it into the bean in the first place.

Furthermore, there have been numerous medical and scientific experiments done over the past half dozen years that prove coffee has many beneficial qualities for the human body — everything from quickening our brain function to eliminating headaches as quickly as aspirin to protecting the body against several kinds of cancer and heart problems. Naturally, nothing is good for our bodies if we partake of way too much of it, to the exclusion of other important elements. But in moderation, coffee is a great blessing. And considering the fact that, in my family, a good cup of coffee has always been associated with family togetherness, wonderful fellowship, and comforting relaxation, coffee is, for sure, a substantial ingredient in the recipe.

3. Chocolate:

BOX OF CHOCOLATESAs with coffee, the medical field has grown in its understanding over the past decade concerning chocolate. Researchers in the field have learned that chocolate has many helpful — and healthful — benefits for our bodies. Again, we remember that everything we ingest is most helpful when taken in moderation. But there’s one more quality associated with chocolate that we must add to our evaluation of it. We need to consider the connotations associated with that delicious treat — you know: mother’s love, romantic love, comfort, and a little extra surge of energy. Now, given all those positives, why would anyone want to leave chocolate out of the recipe?

Combine all ingredients in whatever ratios make you happy.

So there you have it folks. There’s just no other recipe quite so perfect for the dedicated, committed creative writer. And if you haven’t yet tried this particular recipe, you should. You’ll be surprised at just how well you write when you partake of these ingredients.

 

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Why Travel Alone?

My sister, Brenda Calvert, loves to travel — and she does a LOT of it — both in our home country, the U.S., and around the rest of the world as well. She is also a natural-born teacher, and she has been able to share helpful information and tips with many other people about how single people can travel alone, feel totally secure, and have loads of fun. So we finally convinced her to start a blog where people can visit and enjoy all that she has to share. I hope some of my readers will visit her at her new home on the Internet and welcome her to WordPress.

Brenda Calvert's avatarBrenda Travels Solo

Why would anyone want to go on a vacation by herself? There are many answers to this question. For me, it is mostly about the ability to get the most of what “I” want out of my money and time as I travel.

Traveling with a group or with a best friend can be lots of fun. However, as much as I truly enjoy those trips, I often choose to take most of my larger trips solo. When I travel alone, I can decide exactly where I want to go on the journey — the final destination and points in between. For some trips, I prefer driving, some flying, and some on Amtrak (love train travel!). Making these decisions about where I go and by what mode I travel goes a long way in determining the final cost of the trip.

Paris 2013 (I) 003 Hotel Londres Eiffel

Lodging can also be tricky if…

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