Sad! Anyway, birthday is over, you have survived rare beef and hot chocolate (with a queasy tummy) and now its starting anew!
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Sad! Anyway, birthday is over, you have survived rare beef and hot chocolate (with a queasy tummy) and now its starting anew!
Thursdays at Two poetry 11/21/2024: Today for our Word Can challenge we had 9-participants including our El Dorado County Poet Laureate, Stephen Meadows, and two guests... with two members absent due to illness
Word Can: splash, trust, synopsis, forgive, incomplete, “into the air”, bustle, jitney, menagerie
Into the Bush
The synopsis is as follows -
We took the 10 am jitney
into the bush
Passing water holes on the way
with a splish and a splash
Crocodiles preceding us
rushing from their banks
untrusting and camera shy
We observed through pink lenses
with an incomplete understanding
whilst watching the hustle and bustle
of the menagerie before us
Vultures bolted into the air as we stare
not likely to forgive as we
startle them from a kill
Lions roared and hyenas laughed
Giraffes legged about
not in on the joke
11/21/2024 r. 11/22/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Enjoyed your menagery!I would perhaps only take out the explanation of "synopsis".
Done and done :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
My assignment for today 12/5/2024 for Thursdays at Two...
Challenge: rain, crowd, adrift, years, kind, borrow
"A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightning." - James Dickey
Do Not Regret the Rain
'twas a rainy day -
light rain from a cloud-choked sky
when they reminisced
he studied her eyes -
turbulent as an ocean
storm breaking afar
they shared their stories
oblivious to the crowds
with hushed even tones
on borrowed time the
years unfurled not always kind
then one last embrace
two ships parted ways
a bit less bereft perhaps
less adrift at sea
12/5/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
A heartwarming poem. Enjoyed so much!
Last sessions Word Can poem and today's poem offering for Thursdays at Two poetry:
Word Can: chart, weekly, gremlin, mountains, steeple, selection, season, drill, darkly
Beyond the city lights
Drove my drab green AMC Gremlin
Charting a course from steeple to mountaintop
Foregoing my weekly regimen of exercise drills
For a season
To take in the colors of the fall in all of its glory
Beyond the city lights and bustle,
Denying a selection of music
Recommended by my AI for no other reason
But to take off my blinders
Lest I experience nature through a glass darkly
12/5/2024 r. 12/7/2024 r. 12/19/2024
Assignment for 12/19/2024: Winter / solstice / word: effulgent
Winter’s Solstice Draws Nigh
The doldrums of Autumn near end -
Here and there fog lingers on…
Winter’s solstice draws nigh, a more joyful
Time when the daylight hours begin
To lengthen - my sad countenance then
Diminishes to better see His hand in
The effulgent beauty of His creation,
Uplifted to sing His praise with all my
Heart and celebrate our Savior’s birth
12/16/2024 r. 12/18/2024 r. 12/19/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Enjoyed both poems! They sound complementary to me, the first registering the feelings about the place, the second about the season.
In the first poem maybe I would change the position of the last word:"Lest I experience nature darkly through a glass."
Thank you :)
Hmmm... I used the snippet "through a glass darkly" which is a quote from 1 Corinthians 13:12, and is used in an Ingmar Bergman film as the title, to add some tension; I'll keep ruminating over the line for now.
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
I see. But then it was a translated snipped in both cases.
Excellent ! I use the King James Version translation ( KJV - 1611 A.D. ) following my faith's practice :)
A history of translations: https://www.bibleblender.com/2019/bi...ern-day-bibles
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Very interesting link, thanks. And the King James translation is famous. Just learned from your link that there is also a new King James translation.
Thursdays at Two poetry assignment for 2/20/2025: Close my eyes / point to a place on a map / write a poem around that place
St Kitts (St Christopher)
“It tek time to foine ant’s belly. or It takes time to find the ant’s belly. or Persevere until you accomplish your goal, no matter how difficult it seems.”
- a saying (and translation) from St. Kitts
Liken to the whimsy
of pin the tail on the donkey
with no tail, no donkey
just a push pin in hand
I whirled about thrice, eyes closed
felt for the wall behind me
then reached out thrusting the pin into
the flat earth before me
and voila! St. Kitts is pierced nearby
thus chosen
I know naught of St. Kitts
so I perused...
"The hidden gem of the Caribbean"
shaped like a whale,
a binary federation including
the nub Nevis,
part of an arc of small islands off Puerto Rico
leading to Venezuela -
with all the charms of the Caribbean Blue:
bright sun
fresh sea breezes
stunning shores
lush rainforests
majestic mountains
Island fishing
resorts
a colonial heritage with all the trappings
... and so much more
Hence: a pastoral poem writ in 1764
by James Grainger
"The Sugar Cane", extolled, in epic verse,
in four "books" the culture surrounding
this ubiquitous colonial treasure:
"... Spirit of Inspiration, that did’st lead
Th’ Ascrean Poet to the sacred Mount,
And taught’st him all the precepts of the swain;
Descend from Heaven, and guide my trembling steps"
... the sugar cane industry ceased since 2005
I extract the push pin
and from the flat earth therein
a hole remains -
the entire Caribbean Sea drains
the sea laid bare
and treasure everywhere
glittering the sea bed in what once was blue
Inca and Aztec plunder - a glorious golden hue
tempest wrecked ships and from piracy
as far and as wide the eye can see:
conquistadors' hoardlost civilizations' goldDavy Jones locker
2/20/2025
Interesting assignment!. Enjoyed this presentation of St Kitts.
As Only an April Fool
Spring has lost its wits... as only an April fool
I tried to nap snug as a cat the cold day away
the fire stove becoming impotent as I slept
rain and hail, and snow (in small measure)
the water bucket keeping the kitchen floor dry
I need venture outside to get a supply of wood
outside as I hope for a respite between downpours
before the night envelopes this homely home
4/1/2025
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Oh my! It explains why it is still hot here.
Enjoyed the poem, but not the weather it described.
How do you do on wet days? Does wet wood work?
My wood is covered by a tarp and has remained thankfully dry :)
As Only an April Fool, Pt. 2
electrical stormbirths an evening thunder hail
pierces the darkness
4/1/2025
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
:)
Rain, thunder and lightning
Waterland
People stranded at the underground
Home sweet home!
Google AI: Widespread Flooding:
Heavy rain, described as a month's worth of rainfall in just a few hours, led to severe flooding across São Paulo.
Subway Chaos:
Passengers were forced to navigate flooded subway stations, with some even climbing onto handrails to avoid the rising floodwaters.
Transport Disruptions:
Cars were washed away, and one man was even seen riding a jet ski down a flooded street.
Electricity Outages:
Over 100,000 homes reportedly lost electricity due to the storm.
Other Incidents:
A section of a shopping mall roof collapsed in the northern district of Vila Guilherme due to the weight of the rain, and a British Airways plane was struck by lightning at Guarulhos International Airport.
People stranded:
People were seen swimming in floodwaters to escape a stranded bus in Guarulhos, in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo
Emergency Response:
The Guarulhos prefecture mobilized a task force to clean streets, remove debris, and provide assistance to families affected by the storm.
Terrible.
Yes that's it. I only don't remember hearing anything about the British Airways plane but the rest all happened. I remember when rain was a good thing. Today people are afraid of the rain, afraid to go out or have trees falling on their heads or their cars. Anyway I'm lucky because I'm usually at home. I used the subway when I still worked.
Ok, catching up with some Word Can poems from Thursdays at Two (as one might remember we only had maybe 10-15 minutes to come up with something/edits aside later as noted :) :
Word Can: Saline, wearily, contact, shift, possibly, accept, recess
at the seashore
in contact with my inner self
shifting memories in the recesses of my mind
I walk, not wearlily, with a spring in my step
accepting two rivulets of saline tears down my face
as memories ebb and flow
possibly sealing my bond with the sea
12/19/2024 r. 12/20/2024
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Word Can : wrap, tell, throng, adjective, string, overhead
tell your story in a poem
there’s no overhead to join the throng
sing with joyous voice your song -
or better still tell your story in a poem
written down on festive paper
using colorful adjectives, verbs, et al
then wrap in a festive box
tied tightly with the reddest string
as a present for a future generation
1/2/2025 r. 1/16/2025
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Word Can: hide, animal, insight, teacher, overload, bedrock, yapping, resist, sour
Resist !
resist! resist! the animal in me cries out
a limbic insight borne of eons of DNA memories
though experience is the best teacher
sensory overload, a sour bile rises in my throat
I choke it down
I rise from the bedrock, spear in hand
keeping the fire between me and the cave bear
… a distant yapping - hyenas in the darkness
waiting for scraps perhaps
no place to run
no place to hide
2/6/2025
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Word Can poem: pruning, tour, red, parking lot, voucher, seed pod, tern
tern
tern, tern
tour de force winged one
bring me a seed pod from Samarkand
of wisteria prunings from that far land
where a red sun rises, and a crescent moon
lingers still, bashfully wan - sighing
“pave paradise put in a parking lot”
a voucher for your presence
a penny for your thoughts
2/20/2025 r. 3/6/2025
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Word Can poem: Wave, think, pattern, thistle, farmyard, epiphany, ladder,
heat, tabulate
In a farmyard far from home
In a farmyard far from home
I wandered in the heat of day
Past a copse of thistles stomped down by cows
I found a ladder near a trough
And whilst I stooped to drink
An orb spider’s web caught my eye
At least I think it was
I marveled at the web’s intricacies
A moiré pattern that shimmered in hypnotic waves
And I received an epiphany of sorts
That spiders are much better at math than I
The sums they must tabulate
3/6/2025
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Word Can poem: compelling, comfort, withhold, description, brusque, silence, tundra, tin
As a child...
As a child in North West Seattle fair
I became aware
I recall a brusque tundra-esque day in Winter
An apt description
Wearing a tin star and pearl handled six shooters
Retiring from watching Roy Rogers on the telly
Absorbed in the compelling comfort of silence
I began searching in encyclopedias and dictionaries
And books of fairy tales and other lore
Where nothing could withhold my imagination
4/3/2025
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Word Can poem:: aunt, familiar, earth, flounder, moisten, seething, french (words from a session I missed last time)
a possible interpretation of a French aunt and uncle making out by a 5 year old
-------------------------------------------------------------------a lasting familiarity
ma taunt and mon oncle
moistened lips
like two flounders
French kissing
seething poissons
with not a dearth of passion
5/1/2025
Word Can poem: zero, torch, petition, star, glimmer, smudge, portion
Peace of a Dove
a zero portion
nary a smidgen of smudge -
a torch for a light
in a sea of drudge -
may I petition
the stars up above
just a bit of their glimmer
for the peace of a dove
5/1/2025
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Word Can poem: promising, motion, misty, tennis, distant, longitude,
apparent, concern
In worn tennis shoes…
In worn tennis shoes I set out for
the Misty Mountains - a distant land as
far as latitude and longitude was mete
A long loping motion I maintained
at least for a while
then a casual saunter
For what lay behind me offered
no apparent consideration nor concern
Thus seeking a promising destination
I wandered less as the crow flies
through bucolic ways to a pleasant place
where I could rest my bones
5/15/2025 r.5/17/2025 r. 6/20/2025
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Word Can poem: tendril, ruin, felt, press, gloom, dun, drop
Absconded by a Medieval Naturalist
-------------------------------------------------me tendrils felt
to ruin drop
a deepening gloom
oppressed into a
dun coloured book
ne’er to see
the light of day again
6/5/2025
Word Can poem: tilt, smudge, heart-stopping, touchy, ignite, eggs, intimate, describe
I’ll Have My Eggs…
I’m touchy about my eggs
Let me intimate, let me describe
Tilt a pan this way and that
A heart-stopping act
Ignites my passion to eat
Leaving nary a smudge
Left on my plate
6/19/2025
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Enjoyable read all of them, but I liked best the first one "at the sea shore". The difficulty of reading them on the paddles is that there are now so many poems that it is not easy to access the most recent ones.
I know what you mean... what I do is press the End key on my keyboard to access the most recent ones, and to add to the multitude, since they're essentially all on one page... perhaps I should weed my garden :)
Can you please post the link again? I don't remember where it is anymore. No I don't think you should exclude any poem unless you are dissatisfied with it. It is always good to have a considerable body of work if you want to publish the poems.
Lol... it gets buried every time we move on: https://padlet.com/tailorstately/ben...ay-kn9o45weuso
Here's a Word Can poem I must have missed:
Word Can : photograph, presentation, mind, eminent, lift, management, lock
preeminently morose
preeminently morose
"... all I've got is a photograph…"
is plucked from my memory
unlocking feelings I’d wished to hide -
a presentation to move me
I imagine
by the current management of my
heart… an attempt to lift me
out of my doldrums, my ennui
but all I can manage is pain
2/4/2025
It appears more polished than most... I must have missed that day and received the words to work on at my leisure.
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
My latest attempt for our Thursdays at Two poetry for today: Raven
Where the Ravens Fly (Tautogram Poem)
Ravens swooned over the low crescent moon
radiant heavens, bright stars importune
rising in greeting dawn's effulgent rays
regaling with every wing beat’s blaze
Raucous in flight at first light's sultriness
rhetorical squawks punctuate the air
resounding “crou, crou”s signal that they're there
rhapsodic freedom bursting to excess
Reflections shimmer in a mirrored lake
revealed as the lofty heights merrymake
Rejoice! in the serenity at hand
revel in the majesty of this pristine land
7/3/2025
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Enjoyed but had to look up tautogram poem, even noticing a vast use of "r".
:)
Todays offering for Thursdays at Two poetry and last session's Word Can poem:
Word Can poem for 7/3/2025: pour, cilantro, feast, pier, light, realize, stretch, learning
realize the light
realize the light
let it pour
stretch into learning
feast upon understanding
grow like sweet cilantro
from pillar to pier
sheltered bays and coves
finding joy
from Monterey
to Tangier
7/3/2025
Assignment for 7/17/2025: Summer
Summer Supernova
spring's soliloquy succumbs to summertime
umbrella skies no more and
more's the pity as daylight shortens - the
magic of country livin'
embraces each soul - now all is
radiant poetry: California dreamin' is easy
serenity... ah, slowly we delight in the
unfolding days of summer
perceive the stars rejoicing each night
exquisite points of light - all is
resplendent like
newly faceted gems, each a
offering of perfection
vying with the piercing eyes of
a perfect God which surpasses all thought
7/17/2025
"California dreamin' " - song by The Mamas and The Papas
“Summertime and the livin’ is easy.” – DuBose Heyward, S1 L1 from the song Lullaby from the play “Porgy and Bess”
“The summer night is like a perfection of thought.” - Wallace Stevens, L9 of the poem World Was Calm
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Enjoyed!
Learned that coentro is called cilantro in English.
Enjoyed the acrostic. And summer seems to be more serene without menace of fires.
Some recent poetry from my Thursdays at Two poetry offerings:
Word Can poem: pine, calyx, publicity, pocket, mother, mysteries, level, move (30-minutes on this one)
no less mysterious
on a level no less mysterious
the calyx seeks no publicity
forms a pocket for the flower
like a mother's embrace
it sways with the blossom
moves with the winds soft breath
pining for sunny days
8/21/2025
Word Can poem (with revisions): fascinate, improve, hope, purpose, pushy, province, Aunt
a Nod to Emily Dickinson1
My pushy, but flamboyant, Aunt Fran
truly an ugly American
once visited a province in France
Her purpose to improve her exotic dance
watching les trés jolie Can Can’s
fascinated with their exotic fans
Prancing about like jerboas
Fran took note of their feather boas
strategically placed over their nethers
for "hope is the thing with feathers"1
7/17/2025 r. 8/7/2025
An ekphrastic poem of a photo by Carol Clark “Magic In the Sky: The Aurora Borealis in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming”
There's magic in the Wyoming sky tonight
above the craggy Mount Teton peaks
a curtain of shimmering colors
where the Northern lights are at play
Bright stars peep through this layered veil
of grays and browns and greens -
yellows, orange, and there! hot pink -
a majestic purple topped by indigo
And as the night advances
when the aurora is at its peak
one can hear soft crackles and a hiss
whispers of a greater power
8/21/2025
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Enjoyed specially the delicate first poem and the last. Did you see the picture it describes or just the description of it?
Thanx :) Yes, saw the photo in our Art Gallery; it was a competition piece for our local Art On The Divide https://www.artonthedivide.com/ that our poetry group agreed to write about. I will be with our poetry group later this month to read my poem at a reception :)
Thanks for the link. I hope you have a nice reading event!
Sadly I became ill and could not participate at the event, COVID if I recall correctly...
The following is for my assignment for 2/5/2026 for our Thursdays at Two poetry group meeting. It was challenged to be an acrostic including idioms, clichés, etc.:
Hang in There
At the end of your rope ? Hang in there -
Cross that bridge when you come to it; though it be
Raining cats and dogs
Over the moon and far away
Show your true colors by
Throwing caution to the wind and
In the heat of the moment simply
Call it a day
1/19/2026
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Enjoyed how you arranged the idioms. The only one that is new to me is "Over the moon and away". Most of them exist in Portuguese.
"Over the moon" is the idiom, I just added a bit at the end. :)
Oh, I see! And what does it mean?
Google AI - "Over the moon" is an idiom used to describe a state of extreme happiness, delight, or being thrilled about something. It originates from the 18th-century nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle," featuring a cow jumping over the moon. It is often used to express immense joy, such as "She was over the moon with her engagement"... and more...
• "Disconnection from Reality: The phrase can sometimes imply a state of being "spaced out" or inattentive, as if one is physically not present, similar to "being on the moon"."
• "Historical Usage (Distress): Historically, the phrase has been used in opposite, negative contexts. In the 1619 play The Humorous Lieutenant, "leaping o'er the moon" was used to describe someone in deep distress or despair."
Thus, structurally within my poem the happiness part is declined.
Thanks for this extensive research, tailor.
To describe a state of happiness we use in Portuguese, "to be in the clouds "
For the situation of disconnection we use a similar idiom: "to be in the world of the moon".
:) "to be in the clouds " would be: to be 'on Cloud 9' in our idioimicity - subject of film and song, and yes a poem by myself and others :)