Poetry Friday - Finding What's Needed

               It's Poetry Friday, and Tabatha Yeatts-Lonske is hosting HERE on her website,  The Opposite of Indifference!   

            Thanks for hosting, Tabatha, hoping you aren't snowed in, yet! 

         I've been reading some short pieces by John Muir recently, and then a few days ago, I was looking through some of the poetry books I own to see if I could give up any of then to the bookstore where I work. Then, I came to a book titled Home, A Journey Through America, illustrated by Thomas Locker, edited by him and Candace Christiansen. It was published in 2000, and has a special introduction by Locker, who shares that his idea of home can be so many things, "For everyone, the place we call home becomes a part of our lives." My colleagues gifted me this book when I moved into Denver back in 2012, with very mixed emotions. The poems range from poets still writing like Jane Yolen, across our history to those well known in the past, like Abraham Lincoln, Willa Cather, Joseph Bruchac, and the poet I chose to share today, John Muir. And Thomas Locker illustrated each poem.

   I'm connecting to what I shared last week, a poem finding solace in the imagination when outside in nature, when many of you shared how much peace and joy came when you went outside! See what Muir wrote! Note: some online says this is not a true poem, but well-known lines by Muir. Still, Locker presents it as a poem. See what you think! 

        Hope you are doing okay if impacted by the storm coming across the US! I'll be watching the news. It was 11 degrees when I rose this morning with a light dusting of snow. We are not supposed to have any more, just cold! 

                   Climb the Mountains

                                        John Muir

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. 

Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. 

The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, 

while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.

My Pleasure -

              It's Poetry Friday, and Jan Godown Annino is hosting HERE on her website,  Bookseedstudio!  She's hosting with a "Love Day 2026" post!

            Thanks bringing the love to us, Jan! 

        I'm sure most of you are watching the news, then shouting out and cringing at what it brings to us, nearly by the hour, and in reality, every day. I watch, or listen. I know I need to keep informed, to learn more ways to act! Yet, having a break is helpful. It's good to put other things on my mind. As some of you share, you go outside. Even around the block is helpful. When I visit the cemetery where my husband is, I talk with him, missing him, telling what's happening in my life, the one he left, the one where changes are happening, grandchildren growing up, and on. 

        On the edges surrounding this lovely place are wooded areas where I walk, looking and listening, feeling they are there just for me! The other day I heard a rustling, saw what I thought was a couple of birds hopping around. I could see movement, but little else showed in the shadows and tangles that the trees and downed limbs made. 

Nature’s tangles bring shelter.

Small creatures find homes.

People create stories

as imaginations roam.

                Linda Baie ©

Poetry Friday - What I Learned

             It's Poetry Friday, and Ruth is hosting HERE on her website,  There Is No Such Thing As A Godforsaken Town!  She's sharing a poem that seems as if it's for our Colorado wintry day, the first after multiple warm days, breaking records! It feels just right, so be sure to read her post!

            Thanks for hosting, Ruth!

The Pleiades 

             

      What I Learned Growing Up

Sometimes I would climb out a window

Onto the roof to watch the stars.

My grandfather taught me not to be afraid –

To look for goodness no matter when or where.

It waited to be found. 

 

Linda Baie © 

Say her name! Renée Nicole Macklin Good 

Pleiades Stock photos by Vecteezy

Poetry Friday - Be Bold!

 

Poetry Friday - For our new year - 2026

               It's Poetry Friday, and Catherine Flynn is hosting HERE on her website,  Reading to the Core!  She shares her poem that one can use as a guide for 2026, lovely to ponder as we start living the year! 

            Thanks for hosting, Catherine!

             I've been thinking about the impact one person can have on lives near and lives far, something that nudged me as I've had a lot of time recently with my grandchildren, Carter, who lives far away, but was here during the holidays, then Ingrid and Imogene who live near, and during "their" vacations, have helped me so much managing the bookstore's donations. It's been a busy time for everything, but donations continue to arrive, and my usual volunteers are busy with their own holidays and families. 

          Margaret Mead's words stay with me: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has." Have the girls and I changed the world? No, yet I imagine they might later in their lives. However, they did change the bookstore's inventory, always needed. 

          Recently, I read a folk story about the robin. Perhaps you know it, but it is new to me. It appears to have some variations if you search for it.

 

         A Tale of Old

                      (to be so bold)

 

Praise this somber feathered friend 

winging home in dark of night.

 

A father and son shivered in their bedding,

fire’s embers weakening as they slept.

Robin noticed its light subsiding,

flew to see what could be kept.

Its fluttering wings returned fire to life, 

adding warmth to the strangers’ beds.

In the deed, it scorched its chest

earning its name, Robin Redbreast. 

                       Linda Baie ©

Stick Stock photos by Vecteezy

Poetry Friday - Celebrating!

               It's Poetry Friday, and Michelle Kogan is hosting HERE on her website, beautiful More Art for All!  She's sharing art from an exhibit by Yoko Ono at the MCA-Chicago, plus adding a poem reflection AND more poems and music, by John Lennon, of course! All awesome! Thanks for hosting, Michelle!

      Time to continue celebrations, whatever you have begun, or to prepare for what's next! 

      I certainly won't ignore the news where darkness is thrown over something every day. Those in power continue to dismantle organizations that have helped people in need all over the world. A short list includes weather science, Americans' health and education, and instilling fear in thousands who have been a great part of making America special. They are missing something very special: doing good for others, for our future. I fight for what I know is right in any way I can.  

Our Next Celebration

 

Our hope lies just ahead–

Praise the sunshiny minutes.

We’ll start the celebrations 

This coming Solstice morn.

 

Each day will linger longer

Each week, then somewhat stronger,

When sunshine and the mail,

Bring fun-shine that’s newborn!

 

No matter if it snows,

Inside, we’ll hip hooray,

For seed catalogs that appear

Show winter’s nearly worn!

 

Linda Baie ©

Happy Holidays!

🎄🎅🎁🌟❄️🦌🔔☃️🕎✡️✨🕯️🕯️🌽🥥🍌

Winter Solstice Stock photos by Vecteezy