Friday 5 is a collection of five words for you to write a poem/ story. If you choose to take this challenge come back here and link your work in the comments section below. Happy Writing~
Friday 5
multiplication
necessity
exactitude
blister
quest
Last night our neighbor's kids caught a baby frog and placed him inside this styrofoam cup with a little water. I couldn't resist taking his picture he's was so cute. When my camera flash came on he became curious of the light. I thought he was going to make his debut in my living room instead of on my blog.
Tonight our little guy is somewhere beneath my back porch. Click picture to enlarge.
John Beatty's Navy wreckage (2009)Personally, I knew Captain Beatty back between 1986-1990. I was 9 years old when I first met him. Not a very long time but during that time I spent a lot of time at his house down in Warsaw KY and on overnight trips up and down the Ohio River. One trip was even during a salvage operation back in 1989 when a barge broke loose and hit the L & N Bridge in Cincinnati. The bridge was right next to Riverfront Stadium. It was a 3 week salvage operation, and all of Beatty’s equipment was anchored to one of the bridge piers. I remember sitting in the pilot house of the Clare E. Beatty late into the night and being able to see the beautiful lights from the city buildings glistening on the river. Captain Beatty’s wife, Clare, was in her early 70s at the time and battling some form of cancer. I think it was lung cancer because she was a daily smoker. Despite her illness, she too came along on the overnight trips. She would be the head cook and the galley (kitchen) of the boat was her domain. She made sure she fed everyone great home cooked meals during the trips. She’d cook for like a crew of 10 to 15 people on the boat. I remember she baked a delicious coconut cake and whenever I came to their house in Warsaw she’d always have one ready for me to eat! My most favorite summer trips on that boat was always to Augusta KY where they would hold an annual sternwheel boat regatta. It would take place at Augusta’s landing and about 15 to 20 sternwheelers would beach up at the shore. It would last 4 to 5 days and there would be music, craft makers, a corn roast, fireworks, etc. When I moved back to Cincinnati in 2004 I remember checking the calendar to see if they were still having the regatta but they discontinued them a couple years before. I was very disappointed but it probably wouldn’t be the same without Captain Beatty and Clare anyway. So yes, the Clare E. Beatty boat holds some very special memories for me and I can tell you that when it becomes feasible in the future, I might try to salvage and restore the boat myself.
The Kenton County Library just recently posted 8 pages of photos of Captain Beatty, his wife Clare, and the boat. Click here: http://www.kentonlibrary.org/genphotos/photoList.cfm Just type in the word “beatty” in the photo search.
John Beatty's Navy, oil paintinga living city was buried in
wooded hills and green fields
under great ash heaps.
since that eruption-
sometimes quiet
for a hundred years
men, almost forgotten
thundered out dust
after this mountain
very craggy and wild.
ordinarily the people,
sometimes,
bellows like an ox.
soon casts of cinders.
if these catch a man,
the roofs are crushed by the weight-
the wind, stiff, carried to far countries.
this bellowing comes every hundred years
and the air is pure and healthy.
My first poem for Wave Books, Erasures.
I slip inside eighty plus degrees like a red negligee and pulse the brow of Limestone Landing with my daughter, MyKiah. We're shooting the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge on a cloudy Wednesday afternoon.
A single crow flies like a kite in temperamental patterns around his bloated mate. He can't rinse death from his shoulders. He cries into the day signifying his loss.
Farther down a man sits with a smoke in his right hand watching us sidle closer. He's patient in the cool shade with his paisley printed, navy blue handkerchief tied to his head. When we approach him I say, "hello." He says, "Nice day to be out taking pictures."
We both smile in agreement.
I see the sunken wreckage of John Beatty's Navy in the distance. It looks like a small island all its own. When I turn on my right heel the man who was sitting with his smoke is gone. I wonder where he went so quickly.
Here's the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge at night.
Lissa over at Just Writing Words nominated Poefusion for this award. Thanks so much. It's greatly appreciated.
Rules for passing this award on: I have to name seven favorite things and nominate seven other blogs for this award.
My Seven Favorite Things:
1. Familia (John and MyKiah)
2. Nature
3. Blogging Friendships
4. Sweet Tea/ Cherry Dr. Pepper
5. Bookstores
6. Otters
7. Giraffes
I'm Passing This Award To:
Lisas Chaos
A New York City Life
Blogjem
Crafty Green Poet
Westering
Poetic Endeavors
We Love It Don't We
Note: I had a hard time deciding who to pass this award to tonight. I now have more blogs to choose from than I did when I first started receiving blog awards. If it were up to me I'd nominate everyone I read daily. At that, feel free to copy this award and pass some blog love. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.
A tanka is a japanese form consisting of five lines with a syllable count of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 or thirty one syllables in all.
Here's an example:
hypnotic dandelion
I watch your body
sulk against a summer wind,
hypnotic dand'lion
... your silver afro, loosed ends
drip frenzied, white fireflies.
Saturday night MyKiah and I went down to Maysville's Landing so I could take some night pictures. We arrived to a group of teenagers (some younger) playing hide and seek. Others were fishing along the landing.
It makes me proud that I've raised MyKiah to have some respect of others, pride in herself and her actions. Those teenagers were the most foul mouthed I've ever heard. I won't repeat here what they said but it made the beauty of our surroundings quite glum until the police arrived and escorted them off the premises.
Once things quietened down I took pictures of the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge (above). It stretches across the Ohio River connecting Maysville, KY to Aberdeen, OH. Below you can see the outer edges of Aberdeen. Click to enlarge.
When and with whom was your first kiss? My first real kiss was during my freshman year of high school with W D, my first love.
Do you believe that everything happens for a reason? I guess everything can happen for a reason but I think I'm the kind of person who believes you make your own things happen in life.
What would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? You are forgiven and can pass through the gates to your loved one.
my inner voice slips
into matric'lated thoughts,
gentle repertoire
- I am, again, measureless
patterns of unequal worth.
According to my temperature widget in the sidebar it's now 72 degrees and fair. Earlier this morning it was in the 60's and raining steadily. It's one of those mornings where you appreciate the quiet rains and cooler temperatures.
Today I went into our garage and found our computer's microphone and hooked it up to the computer. I'm still not sure it's working properly. I'll have to let John take a look at it tonight and see if it needs any tweaking.
I also downloaded Skype's free service. Once I get my microphone working correctly I can talk with those Poefusionists who would like to speak with me. You'll also have to have Skype downloaded to your computer to make this happen. I look forward to chatting with you.
My second year blogoversary is coming in 29 days. It's hard to believe I've been occupying this space for that long. I've met so many nice people along the way and want to thank you for taking the time to stop by and comment. It's greatly appreciated. I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones in the years that lie ahead.
I watch your body
sulk against a summer wind,
hypnotic dand'lion
... your silver afro, loosed ends
drip frenzied, white fireflies.
6:50 am. Morning is waking, yawning and stretching beneath this tilting marrow. The sky's pale face isn't blushed properly when I spy a Northern Mockingbird outside my window. He's skittering across my deck banister.
Where he is- center- has fallen into an inquisitor's bitter soil. His tail writes in its circumference. Fog has limited his green landscape rendering him in limbo.
He mocks other birds never knowing his own disjuncted voice. Somewhere between grey and song he withers. His soul forever placed in Poefusion's tomes as a shared memento.
Here's a link at All About Birds to hear the Northern Mockingbird.
Monday Mural will feature a picture/ artwork for you to lend your words (poem or story). What images are provoked here? What words would you use to define this picture? If you choose to write for Monday Mural please leave your comments below. Happy Writing~
Pictured is a dove statue from our Cincinnati Zoo visit. It sits at the Garden of Peace entrance.
Tonight I was talking with John about meeting my blog friends and the conversation diverted to the Eyetoy for Playstation 2. It turns out I can use it as a webcam. The above picture is a sneak preview (acting goofy) from said cam. My plan is to set up a live chat with any regular Poefusionist who would like to talk with me. It will be at least a week or two because I'll have to find our microphone first and find a safe chat room. I'll keep you updated.
Secondly, I began exercising again. Yesterday I walked on my treadmill for 30 min and today I worked out to a prerecorded episode of Cathe. I can't begin to say how much better I feel having started my exercises again. My hope is to get and stay healthy. Now I'm off for a late but nutritious snack before calling it a night.
Name two things you consider yourself to be very good at: cooking is one of my strong points even if I don't always cook every night. I don't know if this counts as something I'm good at or not but seeing beauty in things that aren't necessarily beautiful like an old abandoned house or graffiti.
Name two things you consider yourself to be bad at: gardening. Everytime I try to spruce up our surroundings with flowers I manage to kill them. I either waterlog them or don't water them enough or maybe it's to much sun- not enough. The other thing I'm bad at is dodging potholes. If there's a hole to be hit you can bet I've hit it and MANY times.
Name one thing not many people know about you: If you're a close friend of mine then there isn't anything you don't already know. I'm pretty much an open book. For my blog friends however I think I could share... this.
The school year was 1982- 83. I was in 8th grade at Central Elementary. The spacious room we were in was divided into two classrooms by a bulletin board. Our teacher was up front teaching Social Studies, I think, when I decided I had something to say to my friend. She was sitting in the next row talking to someone else and I couldn't get her attention.
In the minutes that followed I not only got my friend's attention but BOTH classrooms at one time. I could feel it coming on, pressure building. Still, I'm trying to tap my friend's left shoulder. One last attempt. Before. I BURRRRPPPPED out loud. It was the longest burp I had ever let out in my life. Naturally I put my head into my folded arms at my desk and laughed, red faced until I was out of breath. The whole place was a riot in laughter. The teacher however wasn't as amused as everyone else and said, "Who did that?"
Tonight our neighborhood was filled with bombs bursting air so I grabbed my camera, put it onto my tripod and took pictures of the fireworks. The above photo (my favorite) was one of several shots I was able to capture. Here are the words to my haiku in case you can't read them.
fireworks whang night
with brilliant decorations
independence day
Now I lay me down to sleep
Without this headache to keep
If I should sigh before I wake
It's for aspirin I did not take.
I wrote this one day after having a headache for 5 days straight. We were coming back home from Ohio when the classic children's prayer came to mind. I'm reminded of this poem today because I've had a bad headache and thought it would be fun to share it here as a tribute of sorts.
BTW my headache is starting to ease off now because I took some Tylenol. :)
Friday 5 is a collection of five words for you to write a poem/ story. If you choose to take this challenge come back here and link your work in the comments section below. Happy Writing~
Friday 5
October
flamethrower
strained
toes
spine
show So You Think
You Can Dance
episode Ten
date Summer 2009
poem O Fortuna
author Carmina Burana
You can read O Fortuna by Carmina Burana in its Latin and American versions below. I've included the video w/ Latin lyrics by Carl Orff in another post- just follow the Poevies video link (header) above and scroll down.
O Fortuna- Latin
O Fortuna
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.
Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata
et velata
mihi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.
Sors salutis
et virtutis
mihi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!
O Fortuna- American
O Fortune,
like the moon
Stands constantly changing,
ever waxing
or waning;
hateful life
now oppresses
and then soothes
as fancy takes it;
poverty
and power
it melts them like ice.
Fate - monstrous
and empty,
you whirling wheel,
stand malevolent,
well-being is vain
and always fades to nothing,
shadowed
and veiled
you plague me too;
now through the game,
my bare back
I bring to your villainy.
Fate, in health
and in virtue,
is now against me
driven on
and weighted down,
always enslaved.
So at this hour
without delay
pluck the vibrating string;
since through Fate
strikes down the strong,
everyone weep with me!
What are you reading? Share your book title, author name and a brief description about what you are reading. My hope is that Poefusionists can find that next great read.
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