The Versesmith

 Poets and Storytellers United Friday Writings #96 The prompt for this week:  Do you too find that your sensual memories of the place you grew up in, when sparked, arouse that kind of nostalgia, at once sharp and comforting? Or did you perhaps live somewhere you couldn’t wait to get away from, to find a more nurturing home elsewhere? I took the prompt a different direction.  I'd love to be nostalgic for my childhood home, where I lived from age 2 until 18, and was only sold after my mother died when I was over 50.  However, the house was remodeled into non-recognition, the yard my father spend decades landscaping (growing much from seed in his lath house, using home made compost before everyone was making compost) bulldozed to flatness.  I can be nostalgic for the old downtown of my youth, but we're talking San Francisco East Bay suburb and progress was inevitable to make it the up-scale community it is now, so all those stores are gone.  I left in 2011 and...

 Tanka Tuesday 24 Seasons Syllabic Poetry Challenge No. 1  The Autumn Equinox (September 22 – October 7) Shubun 秋分  " You must use one kigo word or phrase in your poem.  Please add your kigo word or phrase on your post... You can create a poem from the 24 forms listed. " I chose to use a kigo phrase from the resource found here ,  https://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com , first rains .  This resource is very helpful; I learned that rain itself   is not a kigo.  The first rain of the season happened just yesterday, after a long hot, dry summer in southern Oregon.  The photos accompanying the haiku sequence were taken this morning. right on time first rains usher forth winged termites   first rains bead to flow down petal revive rose petals gleam bejeweled by the first soft rains dampwood winged termites (alates) swarming ©2023 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved #tankatuesday #haiku #24seasonssyllabicpoetrychalle...

 Poets and Storytellers United  Friday Writings #94: Storm, Ink, Love " ...write poetry or prose which includes the words:  storm ,  ink ,  love . " image ©2023 by by son new tattoo fresh ink under my skin your love clouds my judgment a storm of regret tomorrow ©2023 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved #poetsandstorytellersunited #fridaywritings #tattoopoetry #tattoopoem 

 Tanka Tuesday No. 334 Colleen of Tanka Tuesday has provided the following instructions for this week's poetry challenge, as well as a list of kigo words to choose from.  I have chosen, from under Human Affairs, prayers for rain and from Sky and Elements, scorching,  used in a haiku sequence.  It's the story of my August. This week, choose a kigo (season word of seasonal phrase) and write your syllabic poetry using the word of seasonal phrase... Please share your kigo word on your post. stay inside thick smokes blocks the sun pray for rain   wildfire smoke snakes under the door dog sneezes   scorched garden withered Brandywines uneaten   ©2023 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved #tankatuesdayno334 #syllabicpoetry #syllabicpoem #kigo #haiku #haikusequence #summerpoetry #summerpoem 

Whirligig 436 Prompt words in red.  Camilla Comeau / Stained glass sunlight on tiled floor He was kneeling ,  his upturned backside reflecting the glory of God.  A Technicolor image of Moses  parting the Red Sea, reflected  light pouring through the rose window. Angels may weep,  but I’m no angel.  I was filled with escaping laughter ,  sounding to my own ears  like air from a leaky balloon. He turned, slowing regaining his feet,  and after soothing down both  his cassock and his thin white hair,  greeted me with a warm handshake. My recovery was swift. “ Sorry to keep you waiting ,  although it did sound as if you were enjoying your wait.” “ Yes, Father.   As the proverb says,  ‘ A cheerful heart is good medicine .’” ©2023 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

 Somehow I neglected to post Wrath , the last of my Seven Deadly Sins poems until now.  The others date from April 2022 to December 2022.  If you are interested, click the Search at the top of the page and type in "sins." Here's Wrath . We are not to be wrathful, nor actions irrational. Yet, are we not prone to both? We are not perfect creatures, when true anger rages hot. Admonishments do nothing to cool fiery tempered heads. ©2023 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

 Tanka Tuesday Weekly Poetry Challenge No. 332   "This week's challenge invitation is to explore the world of collective animal nouns." "Select one of the animal collective nouns and write your syllabic poem using the collective noun." one more skein of geese black stitches against grey sky honking their way south I glance up to watch them pass harbingers of cool weather ©2023 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved #tankatuesdayno332 #tanka #syllabicpoetry #syllabicpoem #goosepoem #tankapoem