Psalm 23 Poetically Paraphrased

June 26, 2018July 17, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

Posted this on my AHYOKA site, but thought you might enjoy it too. You’ll have to follow the “view original post” link to get the complete poem.

POETRY BY AHYOKA

GREEN PASTURES -- ALPINE LAKE -- Tommy_Rau -- PX

I am resting in green pastures,
Quiet waters at my side.
There are enemies surrounding
But I rest here satisfied.
For my Shepherd never leaves me,
Always watchful and prepared;
With His rod and staff at ready,
All my foes need to beware.
And my Lord’s prepared a table
Laden with my heart’s desires,
And my cup is running over;
There is nothing else required.
Every path on which He leads me
Is encompassed with His grace,
And if ever I am fearful,
I just look upon His face.
With His goodness and His mercy,
Daily He restores my soul,
And the oil of His anointing
Heals and makes me fully whole.

Reference: Holy Bible, Psalm 23

photo: Tommy_Rau @ pixabay.com

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Weekend Coffee Share 6/24/18

June 24, 2018July 17, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

Hi, Everyone.
If we were having coffee together today, I’d probably tell you that it’s been a pretty busy and a very stressful week. I did manage to get several things done that needed doing, so I feel good about that. Today was a super busy day with church work. I preached at this morning’s service, and after the evening meeting, a few of us counseled with a young man who has had very serious problems with addictions and all of the attending horrors that go along with that lifestyle. But he gave his heart to the Lord tonight, and I expect he’ll see a great difference in his life from this point on.

This week has been my last week to prepare for my two creative writing classes coming up this term at John A Logan College. I’ll be teaching a writing fiction class and a writing non-fiction class. We always have more people sign up for the writing fiction classes, but I enjoy teaching both equally well. I think a lot of people just don’t have any idea how much fun and creativity is involved in writing non-fiction — or how wide and vast the arenas are for that kind of writing. I wish more people could get excited about it.

I also received a surprise gift of See’s Chocolates this week. Wow. That’s some of my favorite candy, and boy did I need it — with the stress and all. After all, chocolate is the best antidote in the world for stress. And, of course, when you add a great cup of coffee with the chocolate, I am immediately transported to my “happy place.”

I did, however, do one other thing to relieve some of the stress. I often pick up a good book — one that doesn’t require me to get too involved emotionally — to destress, but this week I was in the mood for some old classic science fiction movies. You know the ones I mean — those that came out in the 1950’s and 60’s. They’re the ones that look so artificial now — after all of our real-life space travel and the high-level technology in movie making these days. But there’s something about the artificiality of those old films that re-captures my imagination. Most of them are fairly predictable, of course, but for me that’s part of their charm. I did get onto the edge of my seat once or twice while watching a few of them, but for the most part, they just did a good job of getting my mind off everything else and taking me away from troublesome ‘real life.’

That’s about it for my week. Hope you all enjoyed the coffee and that you have a great week coming up.

Thanks to Eclectic Ali for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share.

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Friends???

June 21, 2018July 17, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

solitude-stickpins

Alas, I’m at odds and at ends.
I’ve upset all my liberal “friends.”
I’m a stickler for truth;
Liberals hate it forsooth.
Only lies will accomplish their ends.

Liberal friends believe every tale told
By the media, brutal and bold
In its efforts to slay
All but Muslims and gays.
And they choose to wear moral blindfolds.

Well, I know that our friendship’s at stake.
But there’s no other stand I can take.
They’ve been drugged into sleep
With the guile and deceit.
But I pray that some day they’ll awake.

Weekend Coffee Share — 6/16/18

June 16, 2018June 16, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

Thanks to Eclectic Ali for hosting the weekend coffee shares.

I’m so glad I have some time to share coffee with you guys this week — because I am really excited to share with you about my newest venture. I have recently created a brand new poetic form. At least, I think I have. With all the searching I’ve done, I’m fairly certain no other poets have this form out there. I’m excited, not only because I loved the challenge of creating a unique form, but also because there is only one poetic form that is generally recognized as being ‘American’ by the poetry world. So this new form that I’ve created — being American myself — will be the second.

And to make it even more truly American, I borrowed from my own Cherokee culture to give the form a name. I’ve called it Tso’i. That word is pronounced “cho-ee,” and it is the Cherokee word for the number ‘three,’ and I chose it because the syllable count for the 5 lines of the poem are in multiples of three. I’ve posted about the form — along with examples of poems that follow it — in more than one post on my author’s site and my poetry site. So I don’t want to be too repetitious here. But I know there are a few people who read the “Coffee Share” posts who don’t read my others.

That being the case, I want to tell you the details of my new form so that any of you out there who enjoy writing poetry can try it if you’d like. So here’s the scoop:

A Tso’i poem must meet the following guidelines:

It must have 5 lines
Lines 1, 3, and 5 must have end rhyme.

Syllables:
Line 1 has 3 syllables.
Line 2 has 6 syllables.
Line 3 has 12 syllables.
Line 4 has 6 syllables.
Line 5 has 3 syllables.

Lines 1 and 5 follow a dactyl meter.
Lines 2, 3, and 4 follow an iambic meter.

Subject matter and theme are open to the poet’s imagination and preference.

Here’s one example from my own work:

PARAMOUNT KNOWLEDGE

Knowing God:
Oh, what a wondrous thing
To comprehend such pure love; I’m completely awed,
Learning I am priceless
To my God.

If any of you poets out there would like to try this form yourself, please do and leave a copy of it — or a link to it — in the “Comments” section below. And have a great weekend!

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Tso’i: New American Poetic Form

June 16, 2018September 24, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

QUIL PEN AND INK -- LunarSeaArt -- PX Well, I think it’s time to name my new poetic form. I thought about a few possibilities, but since one of the predominant — and most noticeable — aspects of this new form is that the syllable count for the five lines of verse is calculated in multiples of three, that number seemed a good choice to focus on for the name. Also, wanting this form to stand out as a truly ‘American’ creation, it seemed like a fun idea to look to my Cherokee heritage for the proper word. After all, how much more ‘American’ can we get than one of the original tribes of people who inhabited this continent long before any white men set foot on it?

So, borrowing the word for ‘three’ from my Cherokee culture, I am christening this new poetic form with the following name:

Tso’i — pronounced “cho-ee”

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And now for one more example of Tso’i. Just a little something relating to this task of choosing a name.

CHOOSING A NAME

Giving birth
To a new form of verse
Requires a unique name to convey unique worth:
One kind to themes of hope,
Love, and mirth.

I’d also like to extend the invitation again to all my readers: If you’d like to try your hand at writing a poem in this form, please come back here and share it — or the link to it — in the “Comments” section below.

Here are the particulars once more:

The form has 5 lines.
Lines 1, 3, and 5 must have end rhyme.

Line 1 has 3 syllables.
Line 2 has 6 syllables.
Line 3 has 12 syllables
Line 4 has 6 syllables
Line 5 has 3 syllables

Lines 1 and 5 use dactyl meter.
Lines 2, 3, and 4 use iambic meter.

Subject matter and theme are open to the poet’s imagination and preference.

I still find Tso’i a little difficult, even though I created it, but it’s been worth the challenge. It’s definitely worth a try if you love writing poetry. So, come on: try it and have some fun with me.

You’ll find more examples of Tso’i in these Related Posts:
Introduction of the Form
Second Demonstration of the Form

photo: LunarSeaArt @ pixabay.com

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Experiment # 2 in New Poetic Form

June 15, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

I’ve composed a second poem in my new form — as yet un-named. I’ve searched to find any indication that this form has been used by any other poets, but I know I haven’t unearthed all the information. So, as I mentioned in my original post when I introduced this form, if anyone out there knows of it’s being used previously, please let me know in the comments below. Once I’m convinced it truly is a new form, I’ll need to give it a name. So if you have suggestions for that as well, let me know.

Just to review, the form is as follows:

5 Lines.
The first, third, and fifth lines have to rhyme.

Line 1 has 3 syllables
Line 2 has 6 syllables
Line 3 has 12 syllables
Line 4 has 6 syllables
Line 5 has 3 syllables

Meter for lines 1 and 5 is dactyl.
Meter for lines 2, 3, 4 is iambic.

I’m still finding this form pretty difficult, but I like a challenge once in a while. If you want to try it and write your own poem in this form, please share it in the comments section or by a link to your own blog.

Here’s this newest effort:

PARAMOUNT KNOWLEDGE

Knowing God:
Oh, what a wondrous thing
To comprehend such pure love; I’m completely awed,
Learning I am priceless
To my God.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

June 14, 2018June 14, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

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Bill’s his name. Talking ’bout Jesus is his game.

Hey, everyone, I’d like to introduce you to a blogging student and good friend of mine: Bill Lewis. He moved into the WordPress neighborhood a short time ago, and he’s about to get the hang of blogging. He is a minister of the Gospel, and he likes to post about Jesus and His love for people. He talks about a few other things on his site as well, but his focus will be on sharing things from God’s Word that will, hopefully, help people in their everyday lives.

I hope you’ll hop over and see him when you get time. He’s still learning some of the ropes, so if you comment on his posts, please don’t feel bad if it takes him a while to answer, since he’s just now getting into that part of the process. But he will appreciate your visits and the chance to get to know you and to visit your site in the near future.

He’s also recently published his first book, which he’ll be talking about on his blog soon.

I’ve told him about how friendly the WordPress bloggers are, and how it’s easy to become sort of a family with a lot of people from all over the world when you blog. So I hope you’ll help me welcome him into our community.

Here’s a link to his site: Sharing Jesus With The World.

Egocentric Cinquain

June 12, 2018June 12, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

Orbit
Around me, please.
Make me your nucleus.
I must know I’m the center of
Your world.

Six-Word Saturday – 6/9/18

June 9, 2018June 9, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

Wishing you a happy dandelion day!

DANDELION

photo: Visions Seen Photography
~

I’m not sure who the host of this challenge is now. The old link doesn’t seem to work, but I can’t find any Six-Word Saturday posts on the new link either. So I’m winging it in the mean time.

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Summer Beauty

June 8, 2018June 8, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

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Just another beauty from my favorite photographer: Terry Valley

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DAYLILY OPEN - BLK BCKGD

New Poetic Form???

June 4, 2018June 4, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

QUILL & BOOK - SEPIA I’ve been experimenting with some unusual, new (I think) poetic forms. The following form is one of my experiments, and I haven’t found any indication that the form has been used previously by any other poets. If readers are aware of this exact form already in use somewhere — anywhere in the world — I’d appreciate your letting me know. This particular form is difficult for me, but I’m working with it as a way of stretching myself and forcing myself out of a too-comfortable rut.

Here are the details of the form:
The poem must consist of 5 lines with the following syllable count:
Line 1 — 3 syllables
Line 2 — 6 syllables
Line 3 — 12 syllables
Line 4 — 6 syllables
Line 5 — 3 syllables

Meter in lines 1 and 5 is dactyl. But meter in lines 2-4 is iambic.
Rhyme scheme: Lines 1, 3, and 5 must rhyme.

Following is one example of a poem using this pattern.

TAKING A SNOOZE

Lullabies
Encourage babies’ sleep.
But often as I sing I also close my eyes,
And sleep myself until
Baby cries.

_________________________________________________

If you’ve come across this pattern previously, let me know. Or if you’d like to try it yourself, leave your own poem in the “Comments” section below — or leave a link to your own site with your poem in a post.

Also posted this on my ‘Ahyoka’ site.

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A Little Bit More of My Shameless Marketing

June 2, 2018June 2, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

PROFESSOR'S EDUCATION FOR AMAZON FRONT ONLY - 2 Just wanted to let readers know that the inspirational novel The Professor’s Education is now selling on Amazon in paperback and digital. Many of you read the novel free right here on this site a few months ago. And many of you expressed your enjoyment of it as well. Thank you again.

Now, here’s my pitch. If you did read it for free here and enjoyed it, how about purchasing a copy for a friend or loved one who enjoys inspirational romance?

Paperback: $7.99
Digital: $2.99

And, by the way, did you know that a lot of men enjoy inspirational romance novels? It isn’t just us gals. I’ve had a number of gentlemen tell me how much they appreciate reading a good Christian love story. Sooooo, girls, why not buy one for your boyfriend or hubby?

And thanks in advance.