Once again, I'm covering two days-worth of poems in one day.  I'm wanting to visit with YOU, my friends, & so am making these poems short!  I am enjoying this poetry challenge so much ... not just writing the poems, but seeing the various ways that others interpret the prompts, too. Thanks again to Val for initiating the poetry month celebration!

On Monday, the prompt was "covered bridge" ... there are many of them in Ohio, where I live, & how I love them! SO I wrote a short poem celebrating the subject.  This bridge is located quite close to where we live; I'm thinking that this might be the one that a boyfriend and I visited when I was in college.  This photo was taken by Chris Light at en.wikipedia.

COVERED BRIDGES

Beauty of antiquity

Structural simplicity

Stirs my heart romantically

Covered bridge -- you speak to me!

© cjj - 2014

ggl

For today, the prompt was "carpet" ... and my poem is a whimsical & and fantasizing offering.

At my very beck and call

(And you never let me fall),

You will take me anywhere

That my heart and mind may dare

To ask of you another ride --

My magic carpet, You will glide!

© cjj - 2014  

Right now I'm going to "fly around" Xanga via my computer keyboard to visit each of you.  :-)   Closing with my quote for the day.           

I had a presentation to give this morning for the children's Sunday school classes, & spent many hours working on a powerpoint (with many pictures) to share with them, so I am just now having the opportunity to write poems to share on my blog - for yesterday's & today's challenges.

Yesterday's prompt was "Tiny Miracles," and I decided to to use the haiku (3 stanzas: 5-7-5 syllables) to express my thoughts this time.

Challenge #5: Prompt:

"Tiny Miracles"

Egg and sperm unite;

Together cause life to form.

Tiny Miracles!

Today's prompt is "Celestial Jerusalem," and for this poem I decided  to use the cinquain.  There are various ways to write a cinquain, but for my purposes, I'm using this one:

Line 1:  Title - one word or two syllables;  Line 2: Description or example of the title - 2 words or four syllables;  Line 3: Action about the title - a 3 word phrase or six syllables;  Line 4: a 4 word phrase describing a feeling about the title or 8 syllables;  Line 5: Synonym for the title - one word - 2 syllables

Challenge #6: Prompt:  "Celestial Jerusalem"

Heaven

God’s Home

Living, Loving, Worshiping

Celestial Jerusalem

Paradise

Today during our worship service a new children's choir called  "Family Ensemble"performed.  The eleven children in the choir all come from five families, and four of the men in the band are dads of the children. Here's  a picture of the little musicians, and a picture of one of the stanzas of the song that they taught the rest of us.  The  final picture is spotlighting one of the youngest members of the  group who amused me throughout the song by exploring the plant, going back and forth between her "spot" in the ensemble and the   front row, etc. (& saying, "Hi Mommy")!

Closing with a great quote, & a wish for my friends to have a great week.  

Extraordinary!

My friends, do you know

of Robert Wadlow?

At the age of twenty-two,

He was known for his big shoe.

But foot infection took the life,

Of a youth whose soul was so rife!

Truly he died rather young,

And his praises are much sung –

By both acquaintance and friend --

For his kind ways to the end.

“Extraordinary!” states the Guinness,

Alton, Ill’s giant known for gentleness.

Growing still when death came -

Eight, eleven, his frame . . .

Though tallest human undoubtedly,

Made him quite extraordinary…

He’d be the most happy for sure,

Of love and respect that endure. 

© cjj: 04-04-14 

My parents home was Alton, IL.  This is the city from where most all of our family hails.  Robert Wadlow is one of Alton's most famous citizens in history.  Most folks of my parents' age (give or take years) knew him or his family.  Mom used to walk to school with one of his sisters. There is a really nice video about him that I own,  & we have taken pics of family members next to his statue & his chair (statue).  If a  6' person sits in that chair, he (or she) looks like a child sitting in it!  I don't have those pictures handy, but here is a famous  one from the Wikipedia article.  He is standing next to his 5'11-1/2" dad.  To find out more about him you can Google him, find him on You Tube, etc.  Here is the Wiki link.

 Have a wonderful weekend!  

Today I decided to use the  7/5 Trochee, created by  Andrea Dietrich.  

 The 7/5 Trochee consists of 2 or more quatrain stanzas with the following set rules:   

 Meter: 7/5/7/5 with the Rhyme Scheme:  a/b/c/b   or   a/b/a/b.

BELIEVE?

“I believe in you,” she spoke.

He asked, “Just how much?”

“I'll trust you for now, no joke!”

Quoth he, “Sure! Not such!”

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

 Do we thus-- with God ‘play trust’…

Belief to no avail?

For while our words say, “We must!”

Our hearts prove we fail.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Short post tonight ~ - Last night for supper, I made two quiches for supper, & served them with a side salad.  Later we had ice cream with fruit toppings.   

Tonight Mom & I went out to eat with some friends whose hubbies (including mine, &  a couple of other guys) were having Bible study & supper at this restaurant. — at Bay Breeze Seafood.  

I am enjoying the poems my Xanga friends are writing.  Today is the theme: Hometown. I chose to write a free verse poem to express my thoughts on this theme.

My Hometown

“What’s your hometown?” people would ask of me.

What would I say: Could it be the place in which my life began?

Or perhaps it’s the town from which my parents hailed?

Or maybe it’s one of the other places which once I called my home?

But after I met my husband, the answer quite easily became –

My home town is here -- where my sweetheart and I are now one!

CJJ, 04-02-14

April is National Poetry Month, & Val has challenged us to write a poem a day using her Scavenger Hunt prompts.   I shall attempt to do this!

 Saying

 It    

Metaphorically:

Poetry

Lathers up

Expressivity!

Speaking of metaphors, we had our oldest grandchild (age 9) with us for the weekend a week ago, & we had this interesting conversation with her. (If you saw this on Facebook already, please bear with me!

ME: My ankle is "screaming" at me.
GPA: Tristen, do you hear anything?
TRISTEN (Grade 3): Grandpa!! It's a metaphor! 

Smart grandchildren we have!

I'm feeling better now. Thanks for the encouragement, prayers, & kind words shared!  

   Sickness has been going through the family, & this week it has been Mike's & my turns.  I saw a doctor yesterday, and got some meds... I'm better than yesterday, but definitely not well yet.  She also told me to stay cozy & warm, drink plenty of fluids, & to continue getting lot of rest.

   About the same time that I got sick, I messed up my "home row" of keyboard with a spill. Mike found alternative today using a mouse-driven keyboard on screen. (Just till our computer man returns from vacation ).  :-)        It takes much longer to get things typed, but at least I can get back to reposting, and to visiting you all again!     I HOPE TO SEE YOU TOMORROW ON YOUR  SITES.  :-)  

March 8th! I feel so out of touch with my online friends! I will be coming around to see each one of you to catch up, but thought I would explain my absence.

After the small surgery on March 7th  and recovery,  I am back to my old self again.   On Tuesday,  March 11th through Monday, March 17th we enjoyed a visit from my sister Ruth who lives in MO (near KS). We had such wonderful times together, along with our brother Don who lives about a mile from me, and Mom who lives with us.  We enjoyed special meal times out, as well as some that either Don or I made.  

Saturday Mike and I went to a wedding.  On Sunday evening,  our son and DIL with the three grandkids visited us all. What a special visit that was!  It's been a busy week thus far, and today I decided .... "Enough, already! I'm updating on my blogs, and visiting around!"

So ... a few pictures today, and a few more in the next couple of posts and that should do it!  This first one is of Mom and Ruth visiting together at our home.

First day (Tuesday) .... went out to eat at a seafood restaurant.  It was very yummy.

  Mike and I were too full to finish our meals, so we didn't have any dessert, but I tried a small bite of the coconut cream icing/cake &   of the lemon meringue pie ... and they were tasty!!

The other big eat-out that we did, was when Mike and I treated the family to a delicious Japanese meal, with the grill master/entertainer  providing both an enjoyable program as he cooked our food, as well as sumptuous cuisine!

Now that I have begun my first installment of the catch-up blog, I am eager to come around and visit you all.  

So  I will just close with  one more thing that happened while Ruth was with us.  We received a call that Wednesday from our Aunt in TX. (Dad's sister).  Her older brother - the only other sibling of Dad,  went Home to be with the Lord that afternoon.  Uncle Ray's obituary

Had some minor surgery yesterday ...and have been being spoiled by my mom and husband; plus being helped by my brother (who bought some groceries for us).  We also had some help from friends from church. One lady took us to the hospital and another picked us up later.  Here is a picture of a beautiful basket of flowers sent from the church.

Flowers from the church.
Does anyone see me in the picture? I'm in the reflection of the mirror. My flowers are on my bedside table, and the lamp (& I) are in the reflection of the mirror

Probably most of you wonder - why did someone have to take you and your husband to the hospital and back.... why didn't your husband take you himself? My husband is blind from a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, so I'm the driver of the family, and I had no business being behind the wheel of a car after having had the anesthesia!  

Here is my interpretation of what happened, after talking to the anesthesiologist.  (This is a cinquain poem -- two, in fact, to give my take on the experience.  A cinquain consists of five unrhymed lines with a set number of syllables: 2 - 4 - 6 - 8 - 2.)

Drug Doc:
You will relax.
You will see the surgeon.
Hubby: Surgery's over now.
Me: What?

But how?
Didn't see Doc.
Hub: Yes, you talked to him.
I don't remember anything.
Relaxed!

The following is to my husband's website, which is mainly Bible studies that he writes. However, the link here is to the section of his site which deals with blindness, This own reflections and testimonial re: dealing with it, etc   LINK

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday.    :-)    It will definitely be a day of rest for me ... doctor's orders (& husband, mom, et al)!  

I.  Two of My Photos from This Past Weekend

Saturday, Mike and I went to this play - "The Curious Savage" (by John Patrick) - at Emmanuel Christian Academy. Two gals - seniors in high school -- from our church were in the play - who along with the other actors did a fantastic job!  

We didn't have nearly the bad weather that was being predicted, but these are some pictures that I got from Saturday night through Sunday's snowfall.

II.  Three "Just for Fun" pictures.

           This first one is dedicated to Rusty and his man Frank.

Warning! This is what will happen if we cut down too many trees!

A little humor for my medical friends! And another for my friends who are musicians, baseball players, love a little to drink, or just enjoy the humor.

III.  Two Pics of the Younger Two Grandkids

(Thanks to their mom.)

 Brogan got caught hiding behind the island in the kitchen, eating out of the Nutella jar (for a 2nd time)!

Her mom made the flower on her headband. Can you tell she's "under the weather" with runny eyes, nose, & an earache.  Poor baby.

IV.  Two Original Items

An original poem by me, and a Bible quote that I put on a picture that I took and then with which I "played with effects."

*******************************

I have never done this before, and it looks like fun, so I wrote a trifecta this morning. This was the word: WORM (transitive verb). This is the page with the definition, the rules, and the challenge for each trifecta.

I have a secret,

I know it so well!

A very special secret,

But I’ll never tell!

What? You think you know?

You’re saying, “Wait you’ll see!”

You’ll NOT worm it from me!

 © 2014 Carolyn Justice

HUGS, LOVE, & PRAYERS FOR MY XANGA FRIENDS!