Better Not Walk Into the Blizzard

 

North Cascades in Washington by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash

Better not walk into the blizzard, though it seems like snow would be the easy way out in a life where it feels like everyone but me is getting a piece of the pie in the sky.

It hasn’t been easy living with a mind full of beautiful dreams in a body straight out of a nightmare.

It hasn’t been easy always being the one belittled while others are praised.

It hasn’t been easy feeling like I must have been dropped off on the wrong planet.

It hasn’t been easy feeling like the breath is being wrung from my throat by invisible hands.

I mainly remain here out of defiance.

I celebrate the tiny triumphs and hold on.

Even though it seems like snow would be the easy way out.

the night can't be stopped

when the sky turns indigo

gold fading to black

notes

https://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/2012/11/carpe-diem-40-indigo.html

This prompt inspired the Haiku. 

https://dversepoets.com/2023/11/06/november-for-beginners/

It’s time to write Prosery, the very short piece of prose that tells a story with a beginning, a middle and an end, in any genre of your choice. It’s flash fiction, with a limit of 144 words and an additional challenge is to hit 144 exactly. The special thing about Prosery is that we give you a complete line or two from a poem, which must be included somewhere in your story, within the 144-word limit.

write a story that includes the following line(s) from November For Beginners: 

‘Snow would be the easy way out’

You can read the complete poem here.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/55630/november-for-beginners-56d2376810b48

If my non-fiction Haibun flouts the rules of the prompt too much, the organizers are welcome to remove my entry with my apologies.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-november-pad-chapbook-challenge-day-6

Write a Better (blank) poem. This piece is called Better Not Walk Into the Blizzard, and it contains that line.

We do get blizzards where I live, and when they come I can reckon on not going to any of the cities for quite some time. Fortunately, we have a general store in town, and I don't tend to get severe cabin fever because I'm an introvert anyway. 

I added text art and effects to the base image using Pixlr. You are welcome to share the image, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl if you do. A link back to this blog would also be appreciated.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Alexa from Pixabay

Remembering: An Elegy For My Father

 

Christmas tree by Tessa Rampersad on Unsplash

Remembering the day when your turn came

I knew that things would never be the same.

You went over the top on holidays

Our home was filled with the spirit of praise.

I always remember those Christmas scenes

I catch glimpses of childhood in my dreams.

It's now been thirteen years that you've been gone

The grief is not as sharp but still as strong.

notes

https://dversepoets.com/2023/11/02/mtb-lets-lament-without-the-lachrymose/

Topic:

someone close to you

someone vaguely known e.g a neighbour

someone totally unknown except through deeds or writings eg a dead poet perhaps like the recently deceased Louise Gluck

a group of people (eg as in Gray’s “Elegy written in a country churchyard”)

Form: Must include these three elements, ordered thus:

lament –expressing grief and sorrow

praise – admiration of the deceased

consolation and solace

It can be written as 3 distinct sections/stanzas or melded together but keeping the order above

Style: The elegy can be written in any metre the poet chooses.

Those of you who prefer more stricture and guidance might like to try the Elegiac metre:

rhyming coupleted lines (AA;BB;CC etc though not separated into couplets)

written in dactylic hexameter and pentameter

The last two lines aren't in strict keeping with the form, but I wanted them there.

https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2023/11/01/its-thursdays-six-sentence-story-link-up-62/

The prompt word is turn. Since I can't play by the rules and my poem has eight lines instead of six, I won't be linking up this time.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-november-pad-chapbook-challenge-day-4

Write a catching poem. 

You will find the word catch in the above poem.

Something has been vaguely steaming my ham for quite some time. It isn't a big deal, it's just one of those things that mildly perturbs me, so I'm going to get it out in the open. It has to do with my occasional use of multiple prompts.

A few years back, I used a lot more prompts in creating my work than I currently do. I believe this was partly because of ADHD and partly because of a lack of confidence in my abilities. Whatever the case, the prompts helped inspire me, as they still do.

One fellow, and I'm not going to name names, wrote an entire post about not understanding people who see the need to use multiple prompts.

These days if I use more than one prompt it's because the first prompt may spark an idea but I need more to help the idea manifest. So, I roll down my list of prompt sources until I find what I need to work my magic.

I'm explaining shit anyway because I'm sick of this foolishness nibbling at me.

My dude, what difference does it make how many prompts another poet does or doesn't use in the creation of his or her work? I'm not coming to your house, holding a gun to your head, and commanding you to use more prompts or else. I fail to see why someone else's process differing from yours would be cause for writing an entire dissertation on the subject. 

Anyway, I thought of this because I used three prompts in creating this poem, and I don't apologize for it. If anyone just can't understand why I would do such a thing or thinks the use of multiple prompts is akin to setting my neighbor's house on fire or strolling down the street naked with a strip of toilet paper clenched between my butt cheeks, perhaps consider that maybe this is a you problem. 

I have real problems to occupy me. I couldn't give a gnat's fart in a category five hurricane how many prompts someone who isn't me uses to accomplish their writing. 

Here's a tune that never goes out of style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZH2bmbUTl4

Phantom

Base image by Kevin Escate on Unsplash

Text art and effects added using Pixlr.com.

You are welcome to share the image, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl.

Click to enlarge

I would like a friend

instead I remain hidden

phantom in shadow

Prompt used

https://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/2012/10/carpe-diem-8-phantom.html

Sharing with

https://dversepoets.com/

http://corazon.typepad.com

November PAD Chapbook Challenge 2022 Day 2: Sweet Sugar Skulls

 

Image by Maria from Pixabay

skulls made of sugar

to honor those who have passed

will you remember?

Image by Schmidsi from Pixabay

Ornery Owl remembers those who have gone before with love.

The 28th of November marks the 12th anniversary of my father's passing.

Notes and Prompts Used

https://dversepoets.com/2022/11/01/poetics-dia-de-los-muertos/

I deviated from the prompt, which asked for a commemoration of a loved one who has passed. I did not focus on any specific person, but on the intent of Dia De Muertos. 

My artist friend Kamidiox. a native of Mexico City, says that the proper term is Dia De Muertos, not Dia De Los Muertos. The term "Dia De Los Muertos" is one of her pet peeves.

Kami created the following picture of my best friend Lafayette walking over the Rainbow Bridge with the beloved character who was his namesake.

You can commission Kami at the following link. Her rates are very reasonable.

https://kamidiox.carrd.co/

You can read a little about Lafayette and the charity I donated to in his honor here:

https://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com/2022/10/charity-sunday-black-cat-holistic.html

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2022-november-pad-chapbook-challenge-day-2

Today's prompt asked participants to write a "sweet" poem.

I use Pixlr.com to design all my logos and banners. I find it much more pleasant to use than Photoshop. Plus, I'd rather not support a company that charges an arm and a leg and screws people who bought their older software in good faith. 

30 Days of Haiga 2022: So Done with Diet Culture

 

text

this body once lean and flat

has become hilly and fat

I am tired of stale advice

anything but fresh and nice

notes

Thursday's D'Verse Poets prompt requested couplets.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/22/mtb-two-by-two/

The Saturday Mix gave us the word pairings flat and hilly and stale and fresh.

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2022/09/24/opposing-forces-saturday-mix-24-september-2022/

Now, you might be thinking to yourself "how in the world is Ornery going to make that work? There aren't any Japanese poetry forms that use couplets!"

That's what I was thinking myself, but I did a little research, and there kind of is one. It's called the Kouta.

https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/tag/japanese/

The Kouta 小唄 (little or short song) is a popular Japanese verse form of the Muromachi Period, 14th thru 16th century.  The lyrical song was resurrected as a Geisha song in the late 1800s and is still popular today. The form has several variations, though always short in only 4 lines a 5th line is sometimes is added.  The theme reflects ordinary life and often uses colloquialisms and onomatopoeia.  The most popular are love songs.  The elements of Kouta are:

a poem in 4 lines. (an occasional 5th line may appear)

a stand alone poem but often is accompanied by other Koutas with the same theme.

syllabic, variable odd numbered syllable lengths, the most common patterns are written in lines of alternating 7-5-7-5 syllables or 7-7-7-5 syllables. 

secular, personal, themes of ordinary life

often includes onomatopoeia.

My brain is too tangled to think of even spelling onomatopoeia let alone trying to write a poem containing such. I also tweaked the rules a bit. Every line has seven syllables.

What's the poem about? In brief, about being a fat person just trying to live life and accept myself as I am in a society rampant with hateful messages about people who look like me, as well as all manner of unsolicited diet advice. I've written many posts about this subject so I will not go into it too deeply here, but diets don't work, in fact, for most people, they do more harm than good. 

There's a place where people can put any unwanted diet advice they may have for me. It's called Where The Sun Don't Shine.

I created the Haiga with Pixlr.com and a free-use image by Bianca Van Dijk on Pixabay.

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/boho-art-female-body-woman-7450246/

It's amusing in a depressing sort of way to search for images of plus-size women. Many people seem to think that plus size means anything with more girth than a twig. 

Anyway, you are welcome to use the Haiga (illustrated poem, whatever) but if you do, please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Ornery Owl, learning to respond to hunger cues after decades of Yo-Yo dieting

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

Hangry Wyrm's sage wisdom:

"If you're Hangry, eat!"

Do not come between Hangry and her food. She will stab you with her fork.

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Pumpkin Pie Season

 

text

nutmeg and cloves 

cinnamon and ginger spice

sugar and pumpkin

flour, milk, eggs, a little salt

pumpkin pie season is here

notes

Yes, I really turned a pumpkin pie recipe into a Haiga. The following prompt from D'Verse poets inspired me to do the dirty deed.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/20/poetics-spicing-it-up/

I created the Haiga using Pixlr.com and a free use image from Open Clipart Vectors.

https://pixabay.com/vectors/bakery-crust-dessert-food-homemade-151724/

Here is a link to the pumpkin pie recipe.

https://www.livewellbakeoften.com/pumpkin-pie/

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

You are welcome to make the pumpkin pie. If you do, please credit the recipe author.

No, I did not backdate this post!

This year's Haiga challenge is nearing its end. Up next is OctPoWriMo, followed by the November PAD Challenge plus NaNoHellMo. I am once again editing multiple works. There is no rest for the wicked.

~Ornery Owl Is Exhausted and Going to Bed Now~

Free use image by Lumpi on Pixabay

30 Days of Haiga 2022: The House of Dark Dreams

 

Original image

Murmuration by Lee Madgwick

Used with permission of the artist

text

my favorite tales

born in the house of dark dreams

conceived in shadow

notes

I'm grateful for today's prompt from D'Verse Poets, which provided me with the amazing artwork used to create the Haiga.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/13/the-strange-houses-of-lee-madgwick/

I'm okay with you using the Haiga if you wish, but you will have to credit both me (Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl) for the digital manipulation, text art, and poem and the original image creator Lee Madgwick. For me, a link back to this blog is acceptable. Here is a link to Mr. Madgwick's website. https://leemadgwick.co.uk/

I used Pixlr.com to create the text art and the decaying effects used on the image.

I've got a few thoughts, but nobody is beholden to stick around for them.

This day started badly. One reason it's hard for people with psychological issues to maintain relationships is that prospective partners think they can fix us, but when depression or anxiety flares up (or never completely leaves) said partner becomes put out that they have not, in fact, fixed us. The trauma that led to my multiple nervous breakdowns occurred 25, 30, 40, or even 50 years ago. I should be over it, especially if I received the wondrous healing love that we're all taught to expect will totally happen if we're worthy of it, right?

I don't have a partner and I won't again. I no longer see this as a failing on my part or see myself as a failure because I just don't do romance right. I am just learning at nearly 60 years old to respect and care for myself. That it is necessary to be coupled to be a complete human being is an erroneous idea that does many people a great disservice. Some of us truly are better off without it.

I also found myself yet again explaining to some know-it-all who totally understands how metabolic health and issues like poverty, stress, and food insecurity work (bask in the sarcasm, I've slathered it on with a trowel) that a "war on Teh Obeesiteee" in which individuals are shamed for their physique and assumed to be constantly shoveling "bad food" into their gobs and never lifting a finger to do anything but play video games is not only ineffective but harmful.

After that, I was just tired and discouraged. Sometimes I tire of explaining reality to dimwits, especially dimwits who want to keep on feeling morally superior for their simple-minded stance on complex issues. I also caught (probably) a cold last week. So I took a nap.

I still felt bad about myself when I woke up from my nap, but as I worked on today's Haiga challenge, I started feeling better. Then I was able to remember something I already know.

Fat is not the worst thing a person can be.

However, being a sanctimonious jerk who shames other people's bodies is bone-headed and boorish.

I'd rather be fat than a boorish bonehead.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Ornery Owl

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

Hangin' with Hangry Wyrm

If you're Hangry--eat!

Free use image from Pixabay

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Art is Life

 

text

Hippocrates says

art is long and life is short

I say art is life

notes

I created this Haiga using Pixlr.com and a free-use image by Engin Akyurt on Pixabay. Mr. Akyurt is the photographer. The mural artist is unknown.

https://pixabay.com/photos/bicycle-children-graffiti-art-3045580/

The following prompt from D'Verse Poets provided inspiration for the piece.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/08/meet-the-bar-with-aphorisms/

The assignment involved creating a poem using an aphorism. Poets could either choose between inventing their own aphorism or using an existing aphorism and reformulating it. The result is today's Haiga (Senryu).

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

also sharing with

corazon.typepad.com

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Yellow Flowers

 

Click to enlarge

Text:

I

soul concealed within

observing yellow flowers

at the summer's end

II

we are forced to form

for but a while on the earth

wondering what's next

notes

You are welcome to use the Haiga on your blog or in publications, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

I utilized the following in creating this work:

A free-use image by Susann Mielke on Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/drip-yellow-petals-globules-water-1972411/

The Six Sentence stories prompt (the word Form)

https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2022/08/31/its-thursdays-six-sentence-story-link-up/

The Go Dog Go Cafe Tuesday Writing Prompt

https://godoggocafe.com/2022/08/30/tuesday-writing-prompt-challenge-august-30-2022/

Write a poem using the words “yellow”, “concealed”, and “timeless”.

I am also sharing this poem with:

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/01/open-link-night-322-lions-and-tigers-and-bears-oh-my/

https://earthweal.com/2022/09/02/earthweal-open-link-weekend-134/

So's ya know, here is how I'm gonna roll with comments on other blogs.

There are currently 7 participants ahead of me on the Earthweal link. I will comment on all their posts so long as their blog allows me to. I sometimes have trouble commenting on WordPress or blogs hosted by Wix or other non-Blogger platforms.

There are 43 participants ahead of me at D'Verse Poets. I can't possibly comment on everyone's work. I am currently working on two new projects including this one plus attempting to edit and format some works that I have been attempting to edit and format for months. Hence, I am an overly busy bee who has not yet even eaten breakfast. I will open up good ole Random.org and let them help me choose seven people's blogs to comment on.

And that, Fiends, is how I roll.

~Ornery Owl Has Spocken~

With apologies to Leonard Nimoy, Gene Roddenberry, and Mr. Spock himself. The wonderful, terrible idea came to me like a flash--like a vision. I just couldn't resist.

Charity Sunday: Save the Colorado River #CharitySunday #8Sunday #SnipSun

 

Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay

Howdy Solks, I mean Folks! Today's featured charity is the Save the Colorado River project.

https://savethecolorado.org/about/mission/

More about the charity in a minute. I wrote a poem specifically for this post and I am going to share it with you now.

The smell of death surrounds us as the rivers run dry

Life lost as fish lie stranded in the mud

Corporations don’t miss a beat when told

There’s a chance to build another factory in the wild silence

This year their profits could be twice what they made in the last

It’s impossible to imagine that people once revered the enchanted stars

I utilized four prompts in the creation of this poem. I will provide the links to those at the end of the post.

Now, about the Save the Colorado River project. Per their mission statement:

Save The Colorado’s mission is to protect and restore the Colorado River and its tributaries from the source to the sea. Save The Colorado focuses on fighting irresponsible water projects, supporting alternatives to proposed dams and diversions, fighting and adapting to climate change, supporting river and fish species restoration, and removing deadbeat dams.

They have a subproject which is close to my heart. I lived and worked in the Boulder area for close to 20 years.

https://savethecolorado.org/campaigns/boulder-creek-program/

Per the website:

Save The Colorado has an active program around protecting and restoring the Boulder Creek watershed in Boulder County, Colorado.  We have identified and committed to these efforts to preserve and protect the watershed.

I will donate a dollar to the Save the Colorado River project for every comment received on this post.

Following the post, you will find the necessary hoppy links. This is a Charity Sunday post, so that hop is at the top. Then, of course, I wish to share the links to the prompts that inspired the poem. Following that will be links to other hops I'm sharing the post with. 

I know some of you create separate posts for every hop, but I become overwhelmed when I try to do that. I have too many projects going on and my brain already operates like someone put it in a blender and pressed the Liquefy setting.

Here's some music to enjoy while you go hopping down the bloggy trail.

Here's the link in case you can't see the player, Player!

https://odysee.com/@jazz:89/Duke.Ellington_Sophisticated.Ellington_1981.Comp:9?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Here are the Hop Links. Visit 'em to find more great charities and stuff to read.

https://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/

https://dversepoets.com/2022/08/23/a-world-of-common-scents/

https://earthweal.com/2022/08/22/earthweal-weekly-challenge-river-gone/

https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2022/08/21/sundays-six-sentence-story-word-prompt-226/

Prompt word: Beat

https://www.facebook.com/groups/401643826588474

https://wewriwa.blogspot.com

https://myjustsostory.blogspot.com/2022/08/words-for-wednesday-2482022.html

Crawling Back to You from the Blue Past

 

Image taken 7 May 2017 at the Denver Aquarium.

The above image is the property of Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl/Naughty Netherworld Press/Poetry of the Netherworld. You are welcome to use it, but please credit one of the above if you do. 

I'm going to share a poem now. You can read the notes after the poem if you're so inclined, or ignore them if you'd rather. Whatever.

It's a long-un. You have been warned!

I don't believe I had a sundae

Sundae on that Sunday

Sunday when we celebrated your birthday

Birthday number 27 in 2017.

2017 was another year filled with challenges

Challenges in a challenging life

Life often feels like I'm swimming in sludge

Sludge that won't budge while wearing boots of cement.

Cement clogs my mental abyss while I drink my coffee

Coffee leaves a vivid taste of bitterness on my tongue

Tongue known to smudge conversation with awkward utterances

Utterances the Shiny Happy People need the Rosetta Stone to translate.

Translate my colorful, shimmering stories to something bleak as charcoal

Charcoal stains the charred landscape in a place with no butterflies

Butterflies have departed the world on tiny pixie wings

Wings on the wind, never to return.

Return now to the beginning of this rambling discourse

Discourse regarding the matter of me not having a sundae

Sundae on the Sunday when we celebrated your birthday

"Birthdays should be jubilant," proclaim the Shiny Happy People; you are happiest when things are low-key.

Low-key Loki trips the light fantastic through the leaves

Leaves sprinkled in imaginary sand in my mind

Mind gone wool-gathering like it is wont to do

Do you remember that day when we had lunch with the fishes?

Fishes swam beside us, but we didn't go beach-combing

Beachcombing requires a beach, but there was none to be found

Found in our landlocked land surrounded by mountains

Mountains where the sun shines gingery golden.

Golden is the name of the town I grew up in

In a place where I was as out of place as a butterfly in a wetsuit

Wetsuit or toga, I was always dressed wrong

Wrong for the snobs in that town of my youth.

Youth is long gone, I bless the day it passed on

On into the past, at last, leaving me the chance

The chance to heal, but healing comes slowly

Slowly the memories return of that day.

Day when we celebrated your 27th year

Year when I didn't have a sundae on Sunday

Sunday came and went with no hot fudge or whipped cream

Cream-colored clouds floated by in the sky.

359 words

Today's poem is a loop poem. Loop Poetry is a poetry form created by Hellon. There are no restrictions on the number of stanzas nor on the syllable count for each line. In each stanza, the last word of the first line becomes the first word of line two, last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3, last word of line 3 becomes the first word of line 4. This is followed for each stanza. The rhyme scheme is abcb.

Variations:

1. Stanzas, writers choice on the number, no rhyming, the last word, first word scheme is maintained.

2. One long stanza, no limit on number of lines, no rhyming scheme, the last word, first word scheme is maintained.

3. Couplets mixed with 4 line stanzas, the last word, first word scheme is maintained in the stanzas. It can also be used in the couplets. Rhyme scheme is ab, cc, defg, hh, ii, jklm, nn, oo.

I went with Variation #1.

I have a new idea. I've always wanted to become more consistent with my photography shares. I have folder upon folder of photos rescued from my deceased iPhone 7. I plan to share these photos and combine them with a poem, every Sunday-ish. When I've done sharing a folder, if it's a big one like Folder #3 from 2017 is, I will have a new poetry book!

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

The Prompts

https://magicalmysticalteacher.wordpress.com/

https://dversepoets.com/2022/07/28/poetry-form-loop-poetry/

https://earthweal.com/2022/07/29/earthweal-open-link-weekend-129/

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2022/07/25/wordle-280/

https://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/

https://myjustsostory.blogspot.com/2022/07/sunday-selections-592.html

https://myjustsostory.blogspot.com/2022/07/words-for-wednesday-2772022.html