Ducks in a Row

Ducks in a Row

"Plan ahead. Be prepared. Be organized."

We grow up being told to get our ducks in a row,

but plans change, the unexpected happens,

and life gets messy, the further along we go.

Sometimes ducks are stolen by predators,

or they swim away, still in sight, but out of reach.

Sometimes ducks have minds of their own.

They swim in circles going nowhere, 

no matter how hard you preach.

You finally realize that some ducks can't be controlled.

So relax! 

Let them swim and quack. 

Take delight in the brilliant sheen 

of the blue and green 

of  their feathers,

and know that, one way or another, 

eventually, 

they'll get back on track,

(and so will you).

To Write a Book

To Write a Book

It takes courage to write a book,
to accept the challenge, if you dare.
You open your soul, share your heart,
and reveal your thoughts--exposed and bare.
You hope others will understand
what you are trying to say.
That they will nod their heads, cry, or smile
and see life in a new way.
When that book is finally published,
you dance around in a fit of glee,
because your words are there in print 
for all the world to see.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

I have exciting news to share! As you might guess from the poem and photo above, I have written a book! The title of the book is Rainbow Chaser, and it is a collection of my poems. The poems in this book were inspired by: nature and its changing seasons; the gratitude I feel for home and family life; and other observations I have had about the world around us. 

For those who are interested, Rainbow Chaser is now available to order online from the publisher, Booklocker.com, at this link. If you prefer, it is also available to order at Amazon and at Barnes and Noble, as well as at bookstores and other online sites. 

I am thrilled to have this book published and am grateful to Angela Hoy from Booklocker and Todd Engel, who designed the cover, for making this dream of mine come true. If you decide to buy it for yourself or as a gift for a friend, I hope you come back and tell me what you think of it. I appreciate you, my blog readers, for all of the encouragement and support you have given me over the years. Thank you!

Champion

For fun, I decided to use the same list of writer's prompt words from my last post to create another poem. I wanted to see if I could come up with a totally different idea but still use the same words. I got the words originally from the blog, Under the Porch Light by Delores. These are the words: cards, dangerous, flip, glance, sputter, and cowardly. If you need inspiration for your writing, visit Thursday's post at Under the Porch Light. Thank you, Delores, for providing these fun prompts.

Champion

After a quick glance at the judges,
the  skater stepped onto the ice.
She pushed off and began her routine,
spinning, twirling, 
jumping  once, jumping twice.

She knew it was dangerous,
but she had to try. 
She launched herself into a triple flip jump
leaping and reaching, 
meeting the sky.

She nailed it cleanly without a sputter.
Head up, smile beaming.
No one could call her cowardly now.
She glided back to her seat, 
the blades of her skates, sharp and gleaming.

She held her breath and watched.
Nervously she waited
as the judges made their decision.
The cards revealed all tens!
Roses rained down, cameras flashed.
She skated out in victory,
a sparkling. triumphant vision!

Cheaters Never Win

Delores who writes the blog, Under the Porch Light, gives writing prompts for her readers to use as a jumping off spot for their writing. I decided to play along. One of the prompts she gave last week was to use this list of words: cards, dangerous, flip, glance, sputter, and cowardly. I used them in the poem below. I put them in italics so they'd be easier to see. I thought the resulting poem was over dramatic and comical, which was not my intention, but I had fun trying to make the words work for me. If you need inspiration and want to have some fun with your writing, visit Under the Porch Light on Thursdays and try out one of the writing prompts that Delores provides.

Cheaters Never Win 

Smelling of smoke, leather, and whiskey,
five rugged cowhands sit at a bar room table
and hold close the cards they've been dealt.

Jed, with a furtive glance
and a flip of his wrist,
swigs back another belt.

Never known to be cowardly,
he slips an ace from his sleeve, 
lays his hand down, (Jed treads on dangerous ground).

"YOU'RE A CHEATER, JED JONES!" Frank bellows 
as he bangs his fist on the table.
He begins to sputter and swing his gun around.

Jed leaps to his feet and runs for the door.
Frank shoots without blinking an eye.
Jed falls and lies still on the hard, cold floor.

With a sinister grin, Frank drawls,
"Cheaters never win and sometimes...they die.
So long, Jed Jones. Goodbye."

Election Day

Election Day

So much in the future depends
on the decisions made today.
Choosing leaders, passing issues.
Everyone has a say.

Politicians spend their time
trying to prove they are great.
The rest of us consider and try to decide
how they compare, how they rate.

I'm glad I'm not one of them.
Can you imagine how difficult it must be
to guard so cautiously
all that you do 
and all that people see?

Each word spoken 
must be carefully weighed.
Because you know for certain, 
the world will notice if mistakes are made.

So for all of our sakes
and for the sake of our future too,
let's hope the best men and women win.
The fates of many rely on so few.

October Scenes

October Scenes

October, what have you brought to me?

Red velvet leaves drape a row of trees.

A skeleton trapped by spiders 

whispers, "Please, please, set me free!"

Pumpkins and gourds keep watch on who's sneaking around.

Old bones struggle to escape the ground.

A calico naps in the noon day sun.

Zinnias flourish, pretending summer isn't done.

A burst of red and gold peeks out from the green.

A ninja is always watching the neighborhood scene.

The colors of Christmas? No, not already!?

But the colors, oh the colors!

The colors leave me heady!

Everyday Love

Everyday Love

He left a trail of paper clips
and made coffee cup rings
on the envelopes of unopened junk mail.
She followed along behind
and made their home tidy again.

Her hands were bent and twisted.
Ruled by arthritis, they were weak and clumsy.
He opened jars with tight lids for her
and swept up the shattered pieces of drinking glasses
that slipped through her fingers
and crashed on the ceramic kitchen floor.

Together they picked apples,
watched movies and sunsets,
and strolled through the leaves in the park.
He tended the houseplants
when she forgot to water them.
She could always find his keys
and his glasses for him
when he misplaced them 
and left them lying about.

Their love was so simple, so pure,
so real, and so grand,
that others couldn't help but to feel it
when in their presence.
Some of the gestures of love between them
were extravagant and beyond imagining,
but mostly it was the little things 
that bound them together:
a shoulder rub after a long day,
sharing the last piece of apple pie,
holding hands at the theater, 
knowing when to speak
and when to remain silent,
and carrying each other's burdens.

Their love was an everyday love.
Not an ordinary love,
not a boring, tedious, or plain love,
but one that was felt every single day.
It was steadfast, reliable, and unbreakable.

His eyes twinkled and teased,
her smile lit up his world,
and her laughter was his music.