Poetry Friday - In the Night

  

       It's Poetry Friday, and Karen Edmisten is hosting HERE at The Blog With The Shockingly Clever Title! You'll need to visit so you can see just what she's named it! Thanks for hosting, Karen! 

       We all have those special dates that we remember when they come. It's most often a loved one's birthday, and often they have passed on, but I also note the birthdays of extended family, ones I don't see very much anymore.  

         This coming Wednesday, November 20th, is my husband's birthday. He hasn't been with us for eleven years, but I'm sure you know that I will always remember and keep him close especially on his day! This week, Poem a Day shared a poem that touched me deeply. It is new to me and I want to share it, for all of you, and for Arvie, "my love", a Happy Birthday! 

At the head of the table, probably a holiday
long ago! 

At The Mid Hour of Night 

        by Thomas Moore

1779 – 1852

 

At the mid hour of night, when stars are weeping, I fly 
To the lone vale we loved, when life shone warm in thine eye;
And I think oft, if spirits can steal from the regions of air, 
To revisit past scenes of delight, thou wilt come to me there,
And tell me our love is remembered, even in the sky. 

Then I sing the wild song ’twas once such pleasure to hear! 
When our voices commingling breathed, like one, on the ear;
And, as Echo far off through the vale my sad orison rolls, 
I think, oh my love! ’tis thy voice from the Kingdom of Souls,
Faintly answering still the notes that once were so dear.

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on November 9, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.

 You can access the entry here which includes the audio, too.

Poetry Friday - That "Other Side"

 

         Thanks to Irene Latham who hosts this Poetry Friday, at her blog, Live Your Poem HERE. She is sharing news of something exciting coming to writers along with a poem by Pablo Neruda and another by Irene herself, both feel like celebrations of this fall season so many love. 

          It has been quite the challenges in the months behind me - every week a new surprise. Yet, during these Pandemic days, I am grateful for family and friends who've kept me smiling through every week with a new treat of kindness. In mid-summer, my AC needed to be replaced. Then, a week or so ago, my laptop needed repair, and this past week (I have radiators and a boiler), pipes split in the venting, now all need replacing. I know it all could be worse, but having it nearly altogether makes a pile! 

          However, last week in donations at the used bookstore where I volunteer (as all who work there do), this book came in, an old anthology full of fun for children, "best poems" as it says on the cover. Its authors are many you and I know: Frost, Fyleman, Dickinson, Field, Farjeon, Fisher, Carroll, more and more. 

1930 - Whitman Publishing Company

         

       My birthday is next week. My mother used to say that when looking in the mirror, she was surprised at the old woman who looked back at her. Now, it's my turn. The poem says it beautifully.

Growing - Up

 Marchette Gaylord Chute

When I grow up I'll carry a stick

       And be very dignified,

I'll have a watch that will really tick,

My house will be tall and built of brick,

And no one will guess that it's just a trick,

       And I'm really myself inside.

       There are many books of poetry on our shelves. They do not move often but sometimes one customer will be delighted to find a favorite and that there are lots to choose from. FYI - mostly for older teens and adults. There are fewer for children.

        For my birthday, if you wish, send me an email at lindabaie at mac dot com with your name and address that you would love a surprise poetry book in the mail and I will send you one! It may take a week or so to get it all completed, but it will be my pleasure to send a gift to you!

among assorted pleasures

chocolate tastes and times of leisure

words in poems linger longer

Linda Baie ©                          

Poetry Friday - Birthday Special

   Karen Edmisten hosts our Poetry Friday today HERE at her blog, also sharing about birthdays!  Thank you, Karen! 

         

 At this time of year, those born under the sign of Pisces are reigning, celebrating birthdays, so many that it's hard to keep up! I won't list them, but I imagine as you read through the Poetry Friday posts today, you will find quite a few writing about or reflecting upon their special days.

                 Just adding a note! It is NOT my birthday. I'm only celebrating for so many who do have them during this month and into March - those Pisces!

           I've discovered many birthday poems in my Google search, chose one from Lucille Clifton for this celebration. With brief words, a little humor, and some serious thought, the poem is my wish for all the birthday people. I suspect this year those celebrating and all the rest of us are indeed "aching" to know what our future will bring. Happy Birthday to Each One of You!

This is my piece of 'tuxedo cake', wish I could share some with all of you!
I didn't make it, but have discovered it at my grocery! And I managed to
find one birthday candle!

birth-Day by Lucille Clifton

today we are possible.

the morning, green and laundry-sweet,

opens itself and we enter

blind and mewling.

everything waits for us:

the snow kingdom

sparkling and silent

in its glacial cap,

the rest is HERE.

Celebrating A Birthday

          Celebrating with Ruth Ayres and others today. Come visit to see how lovely it is to celebrate all the delights of the week! 

         It feels good to choose the celebrations of the week. I've been home a week from our beach time, and while I'm sorry that our weeks flew so fast, I've also enjoyed the week at home. There are things that make my life good, and the time I have in retirement now helps, too, like time for reading, writing, the bookstore, and family.

         Today, celebrating my youngest granddaughter, Imogene Marie. She is six, a lovely and lively curious young girl. This week, at the museum, Imi chose to return to the rocks and minerals exhibit. She loves learning about the mining and adores the mystery of this special crystal cave. Among many others, we've visited this one several times in the past.

 Enjoy A.A. Milne's "Now We Are Six".

Happy Birthday, Imi!

Celebrating - Good Things

  Celebrating with Ruth Ayres at Discover Play Build.  and linking with others who share their celebrations, too. I am grateful to Ruth for helping us celebrate together!  

I missed last week because I stayed the weekend with Ingrid and Imogene while their parents went away for a couple of days to celebrate their anniversary. I wrote about this "play fest" last Tuesday. 

On Monday, Imi had a day off from school, so she spent a day at my house, and we ended up going to our wonderful Museum of Nature and Science. It is so much fun, and I'm fortunate to live close.

Tuesday was "my day" (I celebrated some down time!), and Wednesday was my birthday, most of the day spent visiting on the phone, then going out to dinner with Sarah, Dave, Ingrid and Imogene. Birthdays come and go rather uneventfully, but I celebrate the joy of the granddaughters when they watch me open my gifts. It helps me remember again how exciting these special days are, and makes me excited too.

It was a great week, and was topped with my son calling last night saying he was sending me a plane ticket to come visit next weekend! I am excited again, to be able to see Carter and his marching band, to help with all the parent volunteer things, simply to "be" together will be cause for celebration all that weekend, too. So I won't be blogging next weekend, but will be celebrating!

A note: Imi loved the rocks, especially the sparkly ones. There was an amazing "floor" movie with sounds of streams running and birds chirping, fish swimming through, Imi with a sweet sea lion sculpture, and always the end: feeding the lion to make it roar. Birthday dinner: the girls were being silly, sliding down, down onto the floor. Isn't that what silly kids do? And that last, with Ingrid on Thursday, running back from getting the mail.

A Special Slice - Grand-Girl Imogene Is Three!

              Time for our Tuesday Slice of Life Sharing at theTwo Writing Teachers blog. Thanks to all who share, and to those who host the community. It's the final slice of July!

            You know I love spending time with my grandchildren and I just returned from a week on the beach with all of them and their parents. The days were such good, good slices to remember. And I could write about that, yet today, JULY 29, is a special day, my youngest granddaughter Imogene’s birthday.

a few days old

          Imogene is three, but she is quite a bit more than the usual three. (Don’t all grandmothers think that?) Having spent all last week with her on the beach, a week’s road trip to Missouri, and about three weeks at my house with her, parents and older sister, in late May, early June, I am in awe with the surprises she has in store for us each day. I wrote about her here, the day she arrived. She was a lovely and quiet, self-contained baby. In a post here I wondered how she would gain attention with her quiet ways.

Celebrating Goodness

        Thanks to Ruth Ayres, we Celebrate each week together! Tweet at CelebrateLu  Link up here!

             There is nothing better than a birthday party. Unfortunately it was supposed to be at the park near my house, and it turned out to be cold and windy. We crammed inside and had a great time anyway. Kids picnicked on a quilt in the living area, adults moved through the rest of the rooms. We did bundle up for a piñata outside! 

Ingrid celebrates being five with friends, and little sister Imi.

Monster cupcakes!

Celebration

Time to link up for Celebration Saturday with www.ruthayreswrites.com!  Thanks for starting this, Ruth.  It'll be fun to see all the different ways to celebrate!

It's lovely to celebrate this week, it was a terrific week filled with good meetings with those I work with at school, some good times with students, reading with a book group and giving a book talk about recent books, starting a Newbery lunch club with our librarian.  Work was good!

I finished a poem started at my Highlights Foundation workshop that I'm so proud of, that was very meaningful to me.  And I posted it on Poetry Friday (yesterday).

The ending-today-it's my birthday, and I received a phone call from my son (who lives in Texas) about 9pm last night to go look on the porch.  I told him I had just arrived home and didn't see anything, but he said to go look anyway.  And there they were, my son, daughter-in-law and grandson Carter!  They flew in to surprise me and to help me celebrate! They're here, now, still sleeping in, a best gift of all!

Will I celebrate, yes, the best kind, with family and friends for all the good things this week!

Mixed Feelings

    

        Betsy is our host today for Poetry Friday at her blog, Teaching Young Writers.  Run right over to this blog to read and love so many beautiful words!  

       Today is my birthday, today, October 12th, Columbus Day!
        I don't say that about Columbus Day much anymore, unless I have a lot of time to explain.  When I was a little girl I thought it was really special to have a birthday on a really special day.  By the time I was in high school, I knew a little more about Westward Expansion and the story of American Indians.  In college, I had the pleasure of a poetry class with John Neihardt, poet laureate of Missouri at that time, and the author of Black Elk Speaks, an eye opening book for me.  I dug deeper.  Now, all these past years as a middle school teacher, I've tried hard to help students learn what is the real truth of Columbus and other explorers, or other people who were explorers and took the land.  It's important to inspire the search also for as much truth as can be found when digging deeply.  And, important to examine old books to question and verify.  

To celebrate my son's birthday

The Slice of Life on Tuesdays can be found with Ruth and Stacey at their blog, Two WritingTeachers.  It’s a wonderful group of writers who share pieces of their lives.  Go visit!

My son Nathan, his wife Barb and son (my first grandchild Carter, almost 11) moved to another state over a year ago.  We lived close to each other and saw them at least once a week, and spoke on the phone often.  I had the privilege of picking up my grandson from school once in a while and he spent a night with us on the weekends often.  As I've said in other posts, I miss them a lot.  But one of the good things about people moving away is that it is so exciting when they come for a visit.
       My grandson arrived a week ago to spend time with me, and his parents just came for a long weekend to pick him up, visit a few days more, and see old friends, too.  This is Nathan's first time living in a different city except when he was in college and in an internship in Washington DC.  He’s had some experiences finding his way around through those years and in traveling, but when one has to make a “home” in a new place, with wife and child, and start a new job with many responsibilities, it’s quite different. He has met these challenges with enthusiasm, and I believe it’s been a good time for him.  I’m proud of my son and how he lives his life.  Today is his birthday, so I thought I would write some things about him as one of my gifts to him.

Here are some things I know about Nathan.  Some are qualities I have recognized since he was a young child.  He is such a special person.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATHAN!

Birthday Story - Ingrid is Three

 Second Hand Story-Found Poem

Your birthday’s coming up, Ingrid.

 What, where Mama?  I just see clouds.

 No, Ingrid, I mean your birthday’s coming soon.

A few days-from now.

 Tomorrow?  When I wake up?

 No-in a little while.

 Maybe a big while, Mama?

 Yes, a few days, after school is through this week.

 After school, when we get home?

 No, after more days of school, at the end

of the week.

 What, when is the week end?

 Just wait, Ingrid, your birthday's coming up!

           After:

birthday to celebrate

cupcake monsters, piece of cake

gifts surprised and candles lit

blew them out and made her wish

And-Remember to check on the Poetry Tag Group shown at the right!  And find Jama Rattigan's blog post at Jama's Alphabet Soup  to discover so many Poetry sites in the kidlitosphere doing wonderful things!  Cathy, at Merely Day By Day, is joining Mary Lee, at A Year of Reading in a poem a day this month. Other daily poem writers include Amy at The Poem Farm, and Donna at Mainely Write.  Plus Greg Pincus of Gotta Book has just published his first E-book, The Late Bird.  Now he's celebrating by giving one away.  See the blog that tells all about it  here

My Husband Has A Birthday

       Today is my husband's birthday.  We've been married a very long time, and celebrated many special days.  Each year brings new celebrations-birthdays of children and grandchildren, new grandchildren, and the times that we just arise in the morning, give each other a kiss and give thanks for the day to come.  Here is a poem I wrote a few years ago for my love, and some words randomly brainstormed that remind me of our time together:


      Riding on a mini motorcycle for a few weeks (he helped me get over the fear of it), playing games with dear friends (always served drinks and snacks to all of us), putting up a high swing in a tree (I worried that he would fall, but he did it), climbing mountains together (putting up with my griping about the climb), hiking in Costa Rica (with my students, too-was a special chaperone to certain students who needed extra support), our first baby arriving (taking the 5 am feeding), just the two of us staying at our cabin and listening to coyotes howling (extra hugs and assurances), and on and on...  Our song, Side By Side, says it better than I can.

  My Love Song

Come stay with me

and hug a while;

your arms will only

make me smile.

My days are joyous

with yet one fear—

an empty life

without you near.

Enough of sadness

I’ll live life true;

savoring minutes

spent with you.