Poetry Friday - Choosing Beauty

  

          It's Poetry Friday! Thanks, Tabatha Yeatts-Lonske HERE at her blog, The Opposite of Indifference for hosting and for a 'new' look at poetry that will bring a smile.

           My laptop is back, repaired! And here I am writing one of the shortest posts I believe I have ever done. But, I am weary after these recent weeks of all the political turmoil and now the terrible fires in Hawaii, and on. In varying ways, I am attempting to help those in need. Today I choose to focus on the beauty and the miracles of our world. What wonders there are to adore, to appreciate! I see some of you raising milkweed for the promise of butterflies, and, I think, the promise of a miracle. 

Vecteezy.com

Pretending

 

Caterpillars ride

on grassy stems,

tasting the feel

of the future.

 

Linda Baie ©

 

Free Stock photos by Vecteezy

Poetry Friday - It's Personal

          Jama Rattigan of Jama's Alphabet Soup is hosting today, delighting us with tasty, yes!, donuts! If you do not prefer this sweet or partake only once in a long while, she offers a poem and an entire book of donut poems! Thanks for hosting, Jama!

          As most of you know, Michelle H. Barnes at Today's Little Ditty hosts another poet nearly every month who then offers a poetic challenge to anyone who wishes to write to it. Here is the post for this month and the challenge from Carol Hinz, Editorial Director of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books, divisions of Lerner Publishing Group: Returning to my favorite quote from earlier, I would like your readers to write a poem that finds beauty in something that is not usually considered beautiful. The quote Carol refers to is "It’s startling how I start to see the beauty in things that I was taught not to see beauty in."
                                 —STEiNUNN

      Here is one idea: 

It’s Personal

Denied - appreciation until - the respiration

of a baby’s gasp and cry,

when we wheeze and gulp and sigh,

or in loss, we say goodbye.

We ignore this bashful beauty -

a mistake we shouldn’t make.

Whisper “thank you” when you wake

for every breath you take.

Linda Baie ©All Rights  

photo credit: megan leetz via photopin (license)

Learning Important Things-not just about writing

           Time for the Tuesday Slice of Life Sharing at the Two Writing Teachers blog. Come over to read and enjoy everyone's post!

       I've already written two other times about my poetry retreat last week (last Friday & Saturday), & as you can see from the badge on the right, I've also been writing in an online poetry class in September. I'm trying to focus on several things I can share as takeaways for teaching writing (teaching writers) in the classroom. I've written about happiness in finding one's passion, gratitude for people who really listen, and in this final post, want to emphasize the importance of being surrounded by beauty. Here are some photos, and thoughts about connections to a classroom.

A special space in a classroom can mean much
to a student who needs to be alone to write.

                  Looking out a window for one beautiful thing
among the rest is something writers do.