snow?!

I bought my first snow shovel yesterday. Getting ready for my first full winter in St. Louis, I realized we’ll need a snow shovel. Weatherpersons predicted “snow showers” yesterday and again today but so far nothing.

So, am I HOPING for snow? Not really. My granddaughters in West Texas have been hoping for enough snow to get a snow day so they can stay home from school to make Christmas cookies. Where they are, where I lived for over 25 years of my adult life, snow is not unusual but it rarely stays on the ground more than a day. Icy roads are more frequent, and more treacherous. I remember only a handful of times my husband had to shovel off a walk or driveway (with a garden spade) — and only one season, when he was stationed in Greenland, that I had to do any shoveling myself.

But serious snow is very likely here in our new home. For the first time in many, many years I live in a house with steps at both front and back entrances — MANY steps up to the front door and six steps off the back porch, down to the walkway leading to the detached garage. We love this old house that has been beautifully rehabbed, but we’re getting older and not looking forward to a hard winter in this late autumn of life. I’ve read that even the postman is not required to get up the steps to a mailbox here if the porch has not been cleared of snow and ice. Whatever happened to “nothing shall stay this carrier…?”

So, I bought a snow shovel, like one carries an umbrella, HOPING not to need it!

best ever

Best part of the Thanksgiving meal is pie!  This year, my sister-in-law's sister made the pecan.  I made the pumpkin and Mother made key lime.  Pumpkin is the only pie I make that I like better than my mother's.  (I use sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated, and heavy spices.) All my mother's cooking is amazing, but her pies are incredible.  She has recently changed the recipe she uses for crust but I prefer the old one she got from her seventh-grade homemaking textbook. The prompt for November 20 was "best ever."  No problem writing about Mother's cooking for that!

Secret Ingredients

Mother's pies

are unduplicateable...
not the recipes –
we have those.
In every perfect bite
we taste the love
she has given us
and helped us give
to each other.

bh
nov 2011

Whatever

nov 21 whenever  was the prompt, but i looked at it once and then ruminated on 'whatever,' so that's what i wrote instead.  not sure it's worth keeping, but if i do, it needs a title.

"Whatever you do,

don't give away the ending,"

we say of books, movies,

the punchline of a joke.

The prize, the crown,

the finish line -- all come

at the end of effort.

Whatever you do

don't let go of hope,

the soul's anchor.

bh

nov 2011

too late

November 18 prompt was 'too late.'  this little poem may not seem too hopeful at first glance. i think it may qualify if we take it as encouragment to be honest in our relationships.

too late

don't tell me
not to worry
i have already seen
your eyes

bh
nov 2011

deadly

the prompt for November 14 was 'deadly/dangerous.'  i didn't have any good ideas until Carrie suggested writing about brown recluse spiders!  unfortuntely, i have direct experience with the same.  i was bitten on my inner thigh by one in 1999, while living in Lubbock.  we saw a few in Shreveport but they didn't seem to be a huge problem, although the piney woods region is prime recluse territory. after moving into this house in March, i began to find a few and first thought they had tagged along in packing boxes from Louisiana.  the exterminator, and later friends, assured me St. Louis is also a favorite habitat.  so, my 'deadly' poem follows. 

Deadly

hiding in dark corners

not large but venomous

having distinctive markings

yet difficult to identify

biding silently until bestirred

then attacking, often unseen

leaving a festering wound

how very like the brown recluse

is resentment

bh

nov 2011

you may wonder how this fits on a blog about 'hope.'  to my way of thinking, recognizing and dealing with our faults is a hopeful thing.  if i'm to move forward in life, in hope, i can't be stuck in unforgiveness.  shine a light on it!

big numbers

the prompt for 11 november was numbers.  not my strong suit, but ...

ten thousand times ten thousand...

and thousands of thousands

singing praise to the Lamb
will not exhaust
the greatness
of His goodness
power and glory.

Let me add one voice,
not to burnish His brightness
but to be in the number,
receiving and reflecting
light of love and life.
Worthy is the Lamb!

Revelation 5

bh
nov 11

i'm only a couple of days behind in writing poems for the prompts.  *puff, puff*

paranormal

'paranormal' was the prompt for the poem-a-day challenge today.  i'll use that for the title of this poem.

I know it doesn't make sense
to be able to sleep well
when there's little money in the bank;
to enjoy a meal with friends
when a family member is dying;
to hum while working
at a dead-end job.
But there is a peace
past understanding.

"You will keep him perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on You,
because he trusts in You."
Isaiah 26:3  ESV

word power

day 2 poem got some good feedback from my critique group, but also some suggestions for reworking, so i'll wait awhile on that one.

the prompt for day 3 was 'sort of.'  my poem is not an original idea, but there aren't any of those, are there?  ;)  i considered using Proverbs 18:21 as an epigraph but decided the poem is pretty short for that.

imago dei

sort of like God
spoke the worlds
into existence
our words
by pen or tongue
call forth life
or wreak destruction

bh
nov 2011

hopeful

been a long time since i tried to blog regularly.  i had a webpage over 12 years ago, before the noun blog or the verb to blog was very current.  i tried to update it about twice a month with a new poem.  and then i had a page on an early 'social media' site called xanga.com, where my niece got our far-flung family involved, and it was a great way to keep up with family doings before we all moved to facebook.

now, i'm supposed to be developing a 'web presence' to 'build a platform' for my writing and editing projects. maybe this will be it.  i know that i always want my writing to have a kernel of hope. so, i chose a part of a poem by Emily Dickinson to be the title of this blog.  i have hope because of my faith. my faith is who i am.  i can say with the Apostle Paul, 'for me to live is Christ.'

i have a group of poet friends with whom i post and critique in email.  some of us are trying to do a poem-a-day challenge in November, with prompts from Robert Lee Brewer, the poetry editor of Writers Digest. i'm hopeful that i can keep up! and as much as possible, i'm going to try to make the prompts serve my personal theme of hope. i may not post every day's poem here, but quite a few of them will likely show up. today's prompt was a choice -- either 'procrastination' or 'getting it done.'  here are my poetry exercises for November 1.

procrastination

there's always plenty of time

to give up
worry makes its own place
no effort required
the path of least resistance
so i'll wait until tomorrow
to despair

******

(untitled)

procrastination

habituation minimalization
obfuscation abdication
isolation stultification

inclination visualization
maturation reunification

cooperation opitimization
hullabalation jubilation

liberation

bh
november 2011