Scoring Ribbons

Pick up a book, read,
Take paper, pen, pencil
See what you can create,
Turn on your favorite song,
Loud, if you like,
Sing along, then play others.

If you have a dog, take a walk,
A cat, see if you can give pets,
A ferret, watch how giddy
It can be when roaming loose.

Spend some time with your clothes,
Mix and match for new combinations,
Nix those that no longer hold a fascination,
Develop fresh cuisine for quarantine
Look up new skills you want
On YouTube and work for proficiency.

Avoid the news when you can
You know it is bad already,
If you must watch television
Go for delights that light your life.

Support your friends on-line
With likes and comments,
Now it is especially vital,
Everyone is working hard
To be positive just as you are
Encouragement helps so much.

Being BLUE does not become us
We are survivors, thriving,
We are love, cheering one another,
We are winners, champions,
Only our ribbons are rainbows
Of smiles forever renewed,
After tearful BLUE showers.

Prompted Positive Poetry’s prompt is “Blue.” Think I may have gotten a bit lost, but I am okay, yeah. LOL!

More Than Wishes

We can wish, wish, wish
This gift of life completely
Away,
Because time
Helps us do as we will,
Want,
Not guarding us
Against choices
Poorly made, unwise,
But we have enough power
To set a better
Course,
Leading us to complete,
Accomplish worthy goals set
So we may achieve
Purposes existing
Beyond fond wishes;
Bringing
Happiness and joy
Into every part, aspect,
Of our daily life
Where we become fully
Alive.
Wishing can guide acts
Selected for good outcomes
Sponsored
With positive effort
That permit our grand
Overcoming
Of difficulties which
May present themselves
When along
Our onward progress
We determinedly continue.
Ultimately,
We are gifted
With ample resources
To make
Our dreams into
Reality.

Today’s PAD Challenge Prompt at Poetic Asides is “Wish.” I think it went off on its own path, but I am okay with it.

I hope all of you are well and coping with whatever variety of social distancing you are experiencing. Remember to keep creating. Also, remember you are loved.

Follow Creativity

On the unknown road
Toward futures we traverse
There is only love,
Prayer, faith, creativity,
To lend us needed balance.
Those who we love most,
Prayers we to Heaven post,
Faith we are not lost,
Things we can create to
Help us through those times
It seems we are losing the edge
Of our mental acuity and are
Striving hard to be ourselves
In a world loosed from its moorings;
These we must follow, revere,
For else dismay convinces us
Everything leads to nowhere.
There are times betwixt times
We find ourselves adrift, drowning,
But God knows our battles,
And He is our sword and shield,
He is a fortress to win our wars,
He blest us with ability, ingenuity,
Skill, talent, knowledge, and does
Not leave us unprepared,
He stands with us and coaxes
Us with His gift of creativity
To find our confidence and strength
To move beyond our trouble
And live love out loud,
That we may conquer perplexity.

I went up to get the mail. The silence, the emptiness, it is over two weeks since I went up there, many changes since then.

This is an answer to the prompt “Follow______________” on Poetic Aside for today’s PAD Challenge. The world is changing. I wonder how ready we are.

Creativity Now

If you are fortunate enough to have some extra time in your schedule now, I want to encourage you to spend a portion of your day engaged in a type of creativity:

You might want to write your observations of this time in a journal or create poetry and stories that are entirely unrelated. If you have ever had the ambition to write a book, perhaps this is your ideal time.

Photographers might enthuse themselves with taking photos of a scene over some interval of days, and look at the changes, or use them in layers combined for an HDR effect.

Artists might find ordinary items in the household and anthropomorphize those objects, even working them into a cartoon or short animated movie.

For those who have culinary desires, now might be the perfect time to delve into grandma’s recipes or that book you never opened and do some food magic.

Those musicians who need some practice could try something they have never gotten around to, or write some new songs that would surely receive a warm welcome the first time they are performed.

Computer programmers and other computer geeks, this is your time to code your own project until your heart is content.

Readers, this is the time to explore everything you choose. Go everywhere, everywhen, everyhow, you wish all within the covers of books or the pages of eBooks.

Of course, any of the above could engage children or pets as subjects in work, also involving children so they better understand what can be done creatively is a valuable learning activity.

I am confident if you look at this time from the perspective of opportunity that you will find inspiration and things to explore creatively. Time is only wasted when we fail to recognize its value. These are a few ideas, I am sure you have more if you allow.

Take care, be well, God Bless You!

Short Form – Tanka

The prompt from the Poetic Asides blog by Robert Brewer for the Countdown to PAD Challenge today is a “Short Form Poem.” Playing my game, though he did not mention tanka in his list, I chose it. Tanka are counted syllable poems of 5-7-5-7-7, and I love them.

Priorities

Now this weight gain seems
Definitely less awful,
Like the defiant
Mind, body, invoked wisdom
Choosing protection as goal.

Mirth

Laughter sneaks into
The space between silences,
Frothing out over
The loving cup which splashes
Pleasantries freely abroad.

Okay, so we know I could do these all day long. No one needs me to test my limits.

If you are a poet, writer, or really any kind of creator, I recommend you go to Poetic Asides and jump in with your own brand of creativity.