October Celebrations

October is inaugurated
With the feast of Saint Thérèse,
A shower of roses, when
Many other plants are dying.

Saint Faustina is October fifth,
Reminding that Divine Mercy lifts
All penitents from lowly misery:
Nights are long, yet rays of light are shining.

On the seventh, perfect number,
We celebrate Jesus’ immaculate mother,
Known as Our Lady of Victory
Through her prayer weapon, the rosary.

On Halloween, the eve of all Saints,
A frightening picture our culture paints,
Yet even amidst those witches and ghosts
Courage flourishes with heavenly hosts.

For this week’s Weekly Scribblings (a couple of days late) about October. Ideally, I would want to write more quatrains because I skipped from October 7th all the way to October 31st, but I haven’t memorized this month’s liturgical calendar. I’m sure there are at least a few other awesome saints that I could include next time. 🙂

Even This I Get to Experience

I know what it is to be hungry.
I know what it is to tell myself I am content.

On the Way Home

The flower I found on Friday

I found a flower on the ground
And heard grace whispering: a sound
Of gentleness consoling me,
I feel lucky.

I feel not only lucky — blessed,
To have the bloom of beauty rest
Before my eyes, a color deep,
Kindness to keep.

A flowering of hope renewed,
Of happiness and gratitude,
And when the petals’ beauty fades,
God’s presence stays.

 

I wrote this poem yesterday and today, inspired by the flower I found on the sidewalk while walking home from the library on Friday. To me, the flower was like a present from Jesus. Shared with this week’s Writers’ Pantry.

Field of Doors

For FFFC #135 and MVB: Appropriate. Linked also to today’s Writers’ Pantry.

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A field full of dreams,
A dream full of doors,
Doorways to many places,
Options more and more.

More and more wondering,
Which is the right choice?
Hearing all futures calling,
Coaxing in their voice.

In this field of dreams,
Proceed unafraid, for
Dreamers come back many times
To find the appropriate door.

 

An Important Question

Today’s FOWC and MVB prompts, Scrumptious and Yogurt, fit together well. When I eat in the morning, I usually like to eat yogurt with fruit and cereal. The hard part is writing a poem about that, especially one that is not inane. Sharing with the Writers’ Pantry because why not?

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Sunlight through the window
Wakes me from night’s sleeping,
Question after coffee
Maker starts its brewing:
What to eat this morning?

What to eat this morning?
What’s scrumptious to my taste?
Yogurt in a big bowl
With berries — do not waste
Them! — crunchy cereal.

What the Tags Say

The MVB prompt, “Tags,” made me think of how the eating disorder made me obsessed with the size of my clothes — the smaller the better. It didn’t  matter that some brands have different ways of sizing; if I didn’t fit into size X pants, then that was unacceptable. 

This poem is also for FOWC: Falling and for MLMM’s Saturday Mix, which is about antithesis (using opposites) this week. Linked with the Writers’ Pantry at PSU. 

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Putting worth in the tags of clothes,

Thinking a letter or number knows —

Such a rough road, no smooth sailing,

Always thinking the wearer is failing

Therefore worn down, to despair falling.

Thankfully, a new way’s always calling:

No longer to sit so sad in shadows,

But to stand against what Life would oppose.

Ice Cream and Fish

For FOWC: Expose and the prompt “Ice Cream” at My Vivid Blog, and shared with today’s Writers’ Pantry. Happy Sunday!

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Ice cream exposed to the sun
Will melt — some environments
Are more keenly felt, as well
They should be, not surprising.

A fish taken out of the sea
Cannot swim — and made to live
In the wrong water, it dies,
More quickly than some might realize.

People with varying temperaments:
A fulfilling life for one,
To another does not make sense.

Reaching for Beyond

For this week’s Weekly Scribblings at Poets and Storytellers United, we are writing micro-poetry, so I wrote this tanka today.

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Longing for my God —
Weeping willow-branch reaching
For what’s out of reach —
Her long hair falling groundward
While the trunk continues strong

Rediscovery

Know
A line,
A fragment,
From an old poem,
And the search is quick:
Discovery moving
Memory and heart to weep,
For the person who’d connected
With the plaintive, seeming-timeless lines —
That same person now knows much more deeply.

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Hope and Lament

This free-verse poem is for FOWC: Lament and MLMM’s Saturday Mix and is shared with today’s Writers’ Pantry.

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We can have hope of Heaven,
A foreign land and yet the
Human heart’s native place:
Mountains and valleys of the Earth
Are beautiful, yet can’t replace
The God in whom souls find their rest.

We can have hope of Heaven:
Mountains and valleys of the Earth
Cause tiredness in wanderers’ feet,
The journey sometimes horribly long.
We rejoice because faith makes strong,
Yet lament that there are no shortcuts.