Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

The Eagle Needed Glasses

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Eagle landing one foot at a time on log in Ronald Bog. Photo by Martin De Grazia.



The Eagles Needed Glasses
by Jean Monce Bryant



The Eagle Needed Glasses

his ego took a hit

To lose his greatest honor 

he liked it not a bit



He'd always been so proud of that

His sight it was so keen

none other in the kingdom

You know just what I mean



He'd got a bit conceited

he thought he was the best

And so he needed humbling

And now it came-the test



Bifocals first were offered

he screeched a loud "NO WAY"

And contacts weren't considered

His vanity ruled the day



But then he got quite hungry

His diving missed its mark

The fish went swimming gaily by

To them he was a lark



And even on a sunny day

He saw a cloudy haze

He'd never had a problem

It left him in a daze



And then he had to choose a frame

He chose a dark black/brown

A tortoise shell to be exact

he felt like such a clown



But lo he now could see his prey

From way up in the blue

And he would come a-rushing down

Just like he used to do



He had to praise the doctor

And offer heartfelt thanks

He understood that others

Had been sickened by his pranks



And still he is the emblem

Of the old Red White and Blue

I think he looks distinguished

And scholarly don't you??




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Hillbillie and the lily

Sunday, August 23, 2020

A cluster of pink flowers with spotted and faintly striped petals - an oblong, closed bud resembles a pink squash. An open flower with five or six petals has tangled stamens with pale green stems and cigar-shaped orange tips. The background is a mass of blurred green leaves. Tiger lily photo by Wayne Pridemore.



She let out a cry that was remarkably shrilly 

All she secretly desired was a bouquet of Tiger Lily

When Billy misunderstood and brought a Water Lily. 


Part of a poem by Caren Krutinger




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Music on a Summer Night

Friday, August 21, 2020

Photo by Martin De Grazia


Music On A Summer Night

Listen!  Do you hear that sound?
Emanating from around somewhere?
Starting very soft and low
I hear it as it builds and grows
Around me.
It now surrounds me.
Lovely music fills the air
Maybe from a car somewhere
With windows down 
To open air.
It doesn't last for long
The music fading
and soon gone.
But I feel wonderful and whole.
A tiny concert for the soul.

Poetry by Jan Pollard



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I am awestruck by such beauty...

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Orb weaver
Photo by Wayne Pridemore


The Beauty of Nature 
Right here in full view
Oh spider I wish
I could do what you do

You are so amazing
A beautiful Gem
Like diamonds or crystal
I say an "Amen"

For Nature is awesome
Your webs are the BEST
Your spinning and artistry
Passes each test

We all need to open
Our eyes very wide
To drink in such Beauty
With You as our guide

I am awestruck by such beauty, poem by Jean Monce Bryant




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Photos / Poetry: Sweet hibiscus

Wednesday, August 12, 2020



Hi Biscus 
You're so sweet
You look good enough 
To eat



When the days
Are warm and sunny
I arrive for
POLLEN HONEY



It's Delicious 
It's the BEST
I'm covered in it
Now I'll rest

Poem by Jean Monce Bryant


Photos by Wayne Pridemore



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Voices in the Forest: Site-Specific Poetry in Shoreline Brings Poems in Six Languages to Your Smartphone

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Poetry in the natural landscape
Photo courtesy City of Shoreline

Just as poets from the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) would write poems about famous landmarks that had previously been visited by poets in the past, Shoreline’s newly completed site-specific poetry project Voices in the Forest offers layers of interpretation orbiting the same location.

The project’s goals include bringing artists, especially artists of color, into the regional and global conversation as primary interpreters of landscape.

After several years of development and planning, the exhibition is open for both in-person (socially distanced) visits as well as armchair listening from home.

The City coordinated with its translation services (Language Link) to create versions in Somali, Tagalog, and Korean; participating poets also provided Spanish and Vietnamese. In the field, a QR code brings up the poems that can be listened to on a smartphone. 

Paramount Open Space
Photo courtesy City of Shoreline


The site can also be explored from home. With 12 poets and 40 poems, there’s enough material to enjoy for hours. The poems reference specific locations while exploring nature and the challenges of the current moment.

Poets (50% artists of color) include nominees for the State’s Book Award, Stranger Genius Grant, and recipients of the Seattle Mayors Arts Award: Kristin Alexander, Kilam Tel Aviv, Anne Beffel, JanĂ©e J. Baugher, Eileen Walsh Duncan, Mercedes Lawry, Saab Lofton, James B. Moore, Hop Nguyen, Jorge Enrique Gonzalez Pacheco, Shin Yu Pai, and Raul Sanchez.

The site features the poems as well as maps to guide visitors to parks like Hamlin, North City, and Paramount Open Space. The poems rotate every 4-6 weeks, and the overall run is expected to last through 2021.

The project was made possible through a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.




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Photos: Poem Fuzzy Buzzy

Monday, July 27, 2020


Photos by Wayne Pridemore
Poem by Jean Bryant

Fuzzy Buzzy 
Hard at work
ALL THIS POLLEN
I can't shirk


When I get back
To the hive
Into the colony
I will dive


They are quite
A buzzing group
And we do love
That honey soup




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Poetry: Photo - Lavender and bees

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Photo by Wayne Pridemore


LAVENDER and BEES

Haiku from Irina's poetry corner 

Photo by Wayne Pridemore



Spring is well and truly here,


kissed by busy honey bees.


Joyful is my heart.


Photo by Wayne Pridemore





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Poem: Photos - Hummingbirds at work

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Photo by Wayne Pridemore



Messenger by Mary Oliver

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird,
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old?   Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect?
Keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work.

Photo by Wayne Pridemore




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Photos: Poem - Peonies

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Photo by Wayne Pridemore


This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready 
   to break my heart
      as the sun rises,
         as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open...
   pools of lace,
      white and pink
         and the black ants climb over them.

--Mary Oliver

Photo by Wayne Pridemore


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Critters and birds and Ogden Nash

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Photo by Wayne Pridemore


Wayne Pridemore makes sure that his Backyard Bunny eats a balanced diet. In return, the wabbit poses nicely so Wayne can get these delightful photographs.




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Poem: Photo The Rhodora

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

The Rhodora
Rhododendron canadensePhoto by Wayne Pridemore


On being asked, Whence the flower ? 


In May, when sea-winds pierce our solitudes,

I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,

spreading its leafless blooms in damp nook,

to please the desert and sluggish brook.


by Ralph Waldo Emerson 1834

Rhododendron canadense
Photo by Wayne Pridemore




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Haiku and flowers

Saturday, May 9, 2020



Again Shoreline blooms
Post rains and in the full sun
Breathe deep and exhale



Haiku and photos by Zoë M. Harris



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A host, of golden daffodils

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Photo by Wayne Pridemore


Daffodils

by William Wordsworth


I wandered lonely as a cloud

that floats high o'er vales and hills,

when all at once I saw a crowd,

a host, of golden daffodils;

beside the lake, beneath the trees,

fluttering and dancing in the breeze


Photo by Wayne Pridemore



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Flower and poem

Monday, April 13, 2020

Photo by Jan Hansen



The Gardener : Peace My Heart


Peace, my heart, let the time for
the parting be sweet.
Let it not be a death but completeness.
Let love melt into memory and pain
into songs.
Let the flight through the sky end
in the folding of the wings over the
nest.
Let the last touch of your hands be
gentle like the flower of the night.
Stand still, 0 Beautiful End, for a
moment, and say your last words in
silence.
I bow to you and hold up my lamp
to light you on your way.





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Poem: In the Time of Pandemic

Photo by Steven H. Robinson


In the Time of Pandemic
By Catherine "Kitty" M. O’Meara



And the people stayed home.

And they read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still.

And they listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.

And the people healed.

And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.

And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.

~~~~~

About the poem, Snopes.com says:

"O’Meara posted this poem to her blog The Daily Round on March 16, 2020. The poem went viral, racking up thousands of shares as it circulated on social media. On March 19, Oprah Magazine dubbed O’Meara, a former teacher in Madison, Wisconsin, the “poet laureate of the pandemic,” writing:

Kitty O’Meara is the poet laureate of the pandemic. Her untitled prose poem, which begins with the line, “And the people stayed home,” has been shared countless times, on countless backgrounds, with countless fonts, since its first posting. 
It was most widely popularized by Deepak Chopra, and has since been shared by everyone from Bella Hadid to radio stations in Australia. The poem has become shorthand for a silver-linings perspective during the coronavirus outbreak — the hope that something good can come out of this collective state of “together, apart.”



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Clouds that wander through the sky

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Photo by Lee Lageschulte


"Clouds that wander through the sky,
Sometimes low and sometimes high;
In the darkness of the night,
In the sunshine warm and bright.
Ah! I wonder much if you
Have any useful work to do."

--Anonymous




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Poetry reading at Alan Lau show at Shoreline Community College Art Gallery

Wednesday, January 22, 2020


Shoreline Community College Art Gallery presents...​

ALAN LAU

JAN 13 - MARCH 13, 2020
Building 1000, Lobby


Poetry Reading with Musical Guest, Geoff Harper 

Thursday, January 30, 2020 12:30 - 2pm 


Artist Reception following the poetry reading


*All events are FREE and Open to the Public

Shoreline Community College, 16101 Greenwood Ave N, Shoreline 98133, 206-546-4101
Parking Free after 4pm


Alan Chong Lau
Photo by Carina del Rosario

Artist, writer, and community organizer Alan Chong Lau grew up in Paradise, California. In his first book, The Buddha Bandits Down Highway 99, Lau recalls early memories of his grandmother teaching him calligraphy in her kitchen – his first experience with the brush. “She’d guide our hands until they became extensions of her memory, until each character became her own,” he wrote.

Lau earned his BA in Art from the University of California – Santa Cruz in 1976. Post-college, Lau traveled extensively, including several visits to Japan where he studied sumi-e and brush painting at the Nanga School in Kyoto with mentor Nirakushi Toriumi.

After moving to Seattle in 1978, Lau began exhibiting his artwork at Francine Seders Gallery. Lau developed a visual style that was inspired by the traditional brush painting techniques, but unfettered by strict tradition and free in his own interpretations. Primarily working on delicate Japanese rice paper, Lau layers sumi ink, watercolor, pastel, and other media to create abstract works with great depth yet surprising lightness.

Lau is also a published writer and poet. Collections of poetry include Songs for Jadina (1980), which won the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation; Blues and Greens: A Produce Worker’s Journal (2000); and no hurry (2007).

With Lawson Fusao Inada and Garrett Hongo, Lau authored The Buddha Bandits Down Highway 99 (1978). His work has appeared in anthologies such as From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas 1900–2002 (2002) and What Book!?: Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop (1998).



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Poem: Photo - Embrace the Day

Saturday, January 4, 2020

New Year's Sunrise
Photo by Mike Remarcke



Embrace the Day


Embrace the day and hold it dear

Let fresh beginnings bring us cheer

We have only now, the past is done

And all our tomorrows are yet to come

In each moment, where life exists

May we find joy and peacefulness



--By Cynthia Sheridan





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Poem: The table is set

Tuesday, December 24, 2019



Photo by Cynthia Sheridan



The table is set. The stockings are hung.

Everyone’s waiting for Santa to come.

Tis the end of the season, the end of the year

And we gather together with hope and good cheer.

Wishing you comfort and joy, dearest friend

As the sun circles our earth once again!

--Cynthia Sheridan




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