Three years have zipped right by & I still love the view from here.
I'm always grateful to have you, my friends, dropping by to visit.
Thanks for being a part of it all!
Happy ( Belated) Birthday Blog!
Three years have zipped right by & I still love the view from here.
I'm always grateful to have you, my friends, dropping by to visit.
Thanks for being a part of it all!
Lather Up!
Bear's Best Blend
Hand-Milled Goat's Milk Soap
Ok, not really poetry, but it's what's been informing my days.
(but I did sneak some alliteration in there. . .)
Cheers!
Literature & Lather
I've just finished unmolding a batch of handmade (my hands) honey-almond-oat soap. I'm trying to keep my hands busy recently as well as my head. I've recently made candles, too. I love the tactile experience of working with wax & soap. But I think it's the connectedness to the past of gardening, making bread, candles, and soap that makes me enjoy these tasks so much. I find more and more that I appreciate tradition and carrying on traditional skills. My boys help some days too-and I find pleasure in watching them learn, too.
Not that my brain hasn't been busy; I've been writing poems, and doing some editing work. I think I've been "under-pressured" for the last year with what I was requiring of myself. I do acknowledge that time out was necessary and the distance from the most difficult parts of my treatment means that I am now able to "recollect in [something closer to] tranquility." I think I'm going to end up with a collection of these poems as well, but I'll honestly say that I'll be happy when they're written and the covers closed. It's a chapter of my life that I hope remains in the past tense.
Not that my brain hasn't been busy; I've been writing poems, and doing some editing work. I think I've been "under-pressured" for the last year with what I was requiring of myself. I do acknowledge that time out was necessary and the distance from the most difficult parts of my treatment means that I am now able to "recollect in [something closer to] tranquility." I think I'm going to end up with a collection of these poems as well, but I'll honestly say that I'll be happy when they're written and the covers closed. It's a chapter of my life that I hope remains in the past tense.
On the Year's Cusp
On the Year's Cusp
By Amy Unsworth
May you be blessed as you wander into the new year,
& find peace along your way and on your doorstep.
May the troubles of the old year linger there,
and the glint of possibilities lead you on.
May you ever be surrounded by those who love you,
and may you love them back despite their shortcomings.
May your hearth be warmed by laughter and light,
may your hands and heart be open to the world.
May the good, the honest, the true be on your lips,
may your interests be never ending in their pleasures.
May you always have wind for your sails, rain for your gardens,
food more than sustenance, and joy, and joy, and joy.
***
Happy New Year!
Live well,
(:o)
Amy
***
ps. I notice a lot of blog searches for "New Year's Poem" or "New Year's Poetry" if you happen to like this one, you may copy it for personal use, but just drop me an email or leave a comment to let me know that you did. Thanks.
***
By Amy Unsworth
May you be blessed as you wander into the new year,
& find peace along your way and on your doorstep.
May the troubles of the old year linger there,
and the glint of possibilities lead you on.
May you ever be surrounded by those who love you,
and may you love them back despite their shortcomings.
May your hearth be warmed by laughter and light,
may your hands and heart be open to the world.
May the good, the honest, the true be on your lips,
may your interests be never ending in their pleasures.
May you always have wind for your sails, rain for your gardens,
food more than sustenance, and joy, and joy, and joy.
***
Happy New Year!
Live well,
(:o)
Amy
***
ps. I notice a lot of blog searches for "New Year's Poem" or "New Year's Poetry" if you happen to like this one, you may copy it for personal use, but just drop me an email or leave a comment to let me know that you did. Thanks.
***
Again
Writing poetry again, thank heavens. Danny (main character of my poetry manuscript) decided to start talking again--which is really good since I felt that there were too few poems in his voice for the arc of the narrative. Did I mention I need a story-- not just poems in isolation. I mean each poem has to be self-contained, but there is narrative too, at least in this manuscript.
I can't believe how expansive my writing has become over the past few years. I used to write 8 lines. Or 12. Now I'm writing poems that are often over a page, sometimes pushing 2 or 3 pages. I wonder if one day I'll just start writing prose? And I'm amazed at times how a poem will go places I didn't Plan for it to go; but this is good. I don't want to just write auto-biographical poems. I need a little creation, that spark, to make me happy.
Happy Holidays, friends, whoever & wherever you might be.
I can't believe how expansive my writing has become over the past few years. I used to write 8 lines. Or 12. Now I'm writing poems that are often over a page, sometimes pushing 2 or 3 pages. I wonder if one day I'll just start writing prose? And I'm amazed at times how a poem will go places I didn't Plan for it to go; but this is good. I don't want to just write auto-biographical poems. I need a little creation, that spark, to make me happy.
Happy Holidays, friends, whoever & wherever you might be.
Stewing. . .
I spent the blackout reading by candlelight some of Barbara Kingsolver's work. I had read The Poisonwood Bible some time ago, but finally read The Prodigal Summer and was really intrigued by the themes running through it. I also read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle during the blackout. Now I've checked out a few more of her books to read over break.
I go for awhile and don't miss academic life too much and then it hits again: an almost painful need to get back to work (work defined as reading, critical conversation, critical thought and writing.) But no one says that I must be enrolled to do these things; I'm perfectly capable on my own.
I go for awhile and don't miss academic life too much and then it hits again: an almost painful need to get back to work (work defined as reading, critical conversation, critical thought and writing.) But no one says that I must be enrolled to do these things; I'm perfectly capable on my own.
Wearing out Welcome
Last Monday night the ice storm rolled through Manhattan Kansas. At 11:24 pm our power went out. Luckily we have a fireplace and the proper cast iron cookware so that we can stay warm and still have warm food to eat. It's now 1:30 on Monday afternoon, and still no power at my house. I've retreated to the local (wonderful) library for warmth and distraction.
I didn't miss winter THAT much. :)
I didn't miss winter THAT much. :)
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