Wednesday, December 1, 2021

November 2021 Remix: Spiraling

 

Image by Spencer Byles on One Big Photo

Dear Me as I Used to Be, just wanting to experience all the colors life offers

Buckle up, Soul, and get ready

To careen down to yon planet and inflict your incendiary presence

as fall leaves fall

in this season of contemplation

I reflect on summer's fading song

be sensible and bestow upon your will a ferrule of encouragement

pull up your muffler and silence contrary thoughts

that may lead you to investigating odd ruins

sometimes I dare dream

that someday we will accept

people as they are

I commit myself to following the motivating recipe as closely as possible

my song for autumn

singing the health of your soul

in a society whose members value Christmas shopping over taking care of each other

humans have

no love

for anything we have deemed lesser

sometimes I sit alone and consider

family expeditions of spent years

I remember her

thirteen moons times seventeen 

I know better now

from inside my bubble, or maybe from outside yours

I inscribed your name in the book of delights

I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in and found myself in a mess once again.

it must be your intention to become great

you must believe in and aspire to a surplus

step it up, speed up, hurry up and wait

It is still within our power to change the end of our tales

We don’t want to do anything that would inconvenience us

Mystic mall cops and maroon feather dusters

Time does not crawl, it hurtles forth like a bullet train

Crushing my memories beneath its merciless wheels

It took loved ones and ideas from me without a backward glance

But if I could find a filament of the hopefulness I felt

Perhaps I could sew patches over the holes in my heart

Maybe I could recall the feeling of the third Thursday in November

Pretend that tomorrow will just begin new.

New novel styles sweep us into the now.

Now everything we built lies covered in ashes.

Ashes of things that now seem unimportant somehow.

how would you bake pecan pie

good enough for compliments?

Lost and blue without a friend

humans, greedy and stupid

think with their stomachs

I hope that you know

I'm always glad to see you

beneath the sea of ubiquitous pretty faces

and impossibly slender bodies

courtesy of cocaine and starvation

I can still remember childhood thanksgivings

rising fresh in the morning full of hope

climbing from wrinkled sheets, up for breakfast

break the yolk of the egg to mop up with toast

the bird escaped clean

There are those who proclaim that I should be grateful

For my opportunity to star in the theatre of pain

running out of time as the money drips in and the reserves dry up

there is still no triumph as I trot through pelting dust to my grave

To the untrained eye

Some might find it a bit absurd

when I think back on the things that were

something blue glistens in my moss-rather-than-emerald eyes

how much longer can mother earth bend

before the bough breaks

and her children come crashing down?

~ornery owl~

prompts



Prompt: write a Remix poem

Here is the soundtrack that I listened to while writing this remix.


Here is the link in case you can't see the video.

https://odysee.com/@TeraMangalaMeditationMusic:d/solfeggio-tone-963hz-protract-power-new:e?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)



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Reblogging is acceptable on platforms that allow it. Odysee’s reblog function is called repost, which makes things confusing since reposting is considered a no-no on most platforms. It’s fine to share the post using the repost function on Odysee. It is not okay to copy-paste the material into a new post.

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Quoting portions of the post for educational or review purposes is acceptable if proper credit is given.

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Once Upon a December: Not There Yet

 

Image by Dang Ngo on One Big Photo

Do you think I should take a page

From Dash and Lily's book of dares

And go flying down the stairs

Should I walk across a waterfall 

Where I shouldn't be at all?

One of the things that I will grieve

When it is my time to leave

Is the ability to write silly rhymes

To occupy my worried mind

I've really just begun to live

I feel I have so much to give

I hope that I will have the chance 

To let my soul be free to dance

To create a few stories along the way

I hope that I'll be allowed to stay

Please let me be here for a while

So when my time comes I can depart with a smile.

I am learning to take things slow

To follow my heart and just let go

Of all my old remorse and regret

I've gotta admit

I ain't got there yet.

~ornery owl~

prompts





I went all Arabian Nights while writing this poem.


Here is the link in case you can't see the video.

https://odysee.com/@%E7%BA%AF%E9%9F%B3%E4%B9%90:d/Arabian-Music---Middle-Eastern-Music:a

The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)



Creative Commons License


This work is the intellectual property of Naughty Netherworld Press/Poetry of the Netherworld.

Reblogging is acceptable on platforms that allow it. Odysee’s reblog function is called repost, which makes things confusing since reposting is considered a no-no on most platforms. It’s fine to share the post using the repost function on Odysee. It is not okay to copy-paste the material into a new post.

Sharing a link to the post is acceptable.

Quoting portions of the post for educational or review purposes is acceptable if proper credit is given.

Come check out Readers Roost, the online book store featuring works by indie and small press authors. Discover your next great read at the Roost! It's the link you need when you wanna read.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2021

November PAD Challenge 2021: The Ice Storm (Or Not)



there is no ice storm
it's much too warm
is this the beginning of the end?
seventy fahrenheit in november
looks like the same for december
how much longer can mother earth bend
before the bough breaks
and her children come crashing down?

people, it's up to us
it's time to make a fuss
about just how far things have gone
we can't let it get worse
for the sake of the earth
we must turn things around
not just fall without a sound

~ornery owl~

prompts


The prompt requests verse letters to some aspect of climate change. This rhyme fell from my brain fast and furious and is not so much a specific letter as a plea to us all to open our eyes and see what is happening.

My part of the United States is in an extreme drought. We had scant rainfall during the summer and have had very little snow this winter. Temperatures are unseasonably warm for this part of the country. Yesterday, for instance, it was 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It is much too warm for November in Colorado.

Other parts of the world are experiencing unprecedented flooding. 

While it may seem as if we "little people" can't do much, we need to at least do something. What has been seen cannot be unseen.


The prompt asks us to write a "the end" and/or a "the beginning" poem. Let us not allow this to be the end for our planet, People. We can have improved technology while living in harmony with nature. Learning about building techniques that are in harmony with the environments in which we live is a step in the right direction.

We shouldn't be pursuing lush green lawns if we live in the dry Southwest. 

Builders must learn to work with materials that naturally hold in the heat in cold weather while allowing the structure to stay cool in hot weather. 

We need to take better care of each other and our world.

That is my plea for the end of this poetry cycle.

Sending energies of blessing and healing to you all.

A masterful medieval soundtrack to write with and be inspired by.

Here is the link in case you can't see the video.

https://odysee.com/@%E7%BA%AF%E9%9F%B3%E4%B9%90:d/Medieval-music,-music-relaxation,-instrumental-music,-background-music:7

The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)



Creative Commons License


This work is the intellectual property of Naughty Netherworld Press/Poetry of the Netherworld.

Reblogging is acceptable on platforms that allow it. Odysee’s reblog function is called repost, which makes things confusing since reposting is considered a no-no on most platforms. It’s fine to share the post using the repost function on Odysee. It is not okay to copy-paste the material into a new post.

Sharing a link to the post is acceptable.

Quoting portions of the post for educational or review purposes is acceptable if proper credit is given.

Come check out Readers Roost, the online book store featuring works by indie and small press authors. Discover your next great read at the Roost! It's the link you need when you wanna read.

Want more poetry?
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Monday, November 29, 2021

November PAD Challenge 2021: What's Next?

 


I can't explain why
this image brings tears to my eyes
I was only contemplating what comes next
as I make my way
over the river and through the woods
my feet crunching the crisp fallen leaves
there is a rasp in my voice when I try to explain
that it has been many decades 
since I had a connection to another living person
like the one shown in the picture
and when I think back on the things that were
something blue glistens in my moss-rather-than-emerald eyes
because I am now quite certain
that the one for whom I felt such sisterly affection
did not share the affinity
I am learning to be an older sister
to the lost and lonely girl that I once was
as we strive to discover what's next
strolling through fields of saffron in our dreams
or crunching fallen leaves beneath our soles
during this year's too-dry winter
we seek to discover our hidden magic

~ornery owl~

prompts





Here is the epic soundtrack that I was listening to while I wrote this poem.


Here is the link in case you can't see the video.

The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)



Creative Commons License


This work is the intellectual property of Naughty Netherworld Press/Poetry of the Netherworld.

Reblogging is acceptable on platforms that allow it. Odysee’s reblog function is called repost, which makes things confusing since reposting is considered a no-no on most platforms. It’s fine to share the post using the repost function on Odysee. It is not okay to copy-paste the material into a new post.

Sharing a link to the post is acceptable.

Quoting portions of the post for educational or review purposes is acceptable if proper credit is given.

Come check out Readers Roost, the online book store featuring works by indie and small press authors. Discover your next great read at the Roost! It's the link you need when you wanna read.

Want more poetry?
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Sunday, November 28, 2021

The Mudlark

 

A beautiful black and white bird

Of which I had not previously heard

Something like a magpie

To the untrained eye

Some might find it a bit absurd

The mudlark looks like a magpie but is a member of the Monarchidae family while the magpie is a member of the Corvidae family.

52 words

~ornery owl~

 


Kind thanks to Sammi Cox for giving me a prompt with the perfect word count to be able to stick a fork in this year's NaNoHellMo project. That sucker is officially done! I will still complete the last two days of diary and poems, but there is no longer any pressure to make a specific word count. Halleluiah! 

The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)



Creative Commons License


This work is the intellectual property of Naughty Netherworld Press/Poetry of the Netherworld.

Reblogging is acceptable on platforms that allow it. Odysee’s reblog function is called repost, which makes things confusing since reposting is considered a no-no on most platforms. It’s fine to share the post using the repost function on Odysee. It is not okay to copy-paste the material into a new post.

Sharing a link to the post is acceptable.

Quoting portions of the post for educational or review purposes is acceptable if proper credit is given.

Come check out Readers Roost, the online book store featuring works by indie and small press authors. Discover your next great read at the Roost!

Want more poetry?
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November PAD Challenge 2021: Ankle Soup

 

Image by kzeomdceswk on Unsplash

running out of time as the money drips in and the reserves dry up

there is still no triumph as I trot through pelting dust to my grave

my brain has too many tabs open in place of morning papers and still I wonder why

my engine is running down, my wings have been clipped, but I can never be free 

the truth is, the price for striving to own the newest shiny object is too high

you are my witness as I split myself down the middle, leaving one half of me to slow down and make ankle soup from the pork hock in my freezer

~ornery owl~

prompts




Prompt: Money


Prompt: Write a "slow down" poem



Prompt: The picture



Prompt: Reserve



I hope that's all of them. It's so irritating when I have to come back and add one in after publishing.

Here's the cool 70s prog rock soundtrack that I was listening to while writing this poem.




Here's the link in case you can't see the video.

https://odysee.com/@TerminalPassage:c/sahara-subject-esq-%281972%29-sunrise-%281974%29:9?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)


Creative Commons License


This work is the intellectual property of Naughty Netherworld Press/Poetry of the Netherworld.

Reblogging is acceptable on platforms that allow it. Odysee’s reblog function is called repost, which makes things confusing since reposting is considered a no-no on most platforms. It’s fine to share the post using the repost function on Odysee. It is not okay to copy-paste the material into a new post.

Sharing a link to the post is acceptable.

Quoting portions of the post for educational or review purposes is acceptable if proper credit is given.

Come check out Readers Roost, the online book store featuring works by indie and small press authors. Discover your next great read at the Roost!

Want more poetry?
Get it here!

Buy me a coffee

Or buy me a coffee here

Join me on Odysee

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Subscribe for as little as $1 per month.

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Charity Sunday: In Memory of my Dad

 


Today is the eleventh anniversary of my father's passing. He had a serious hemorrhagic stroke in 2006. In the following years he had more strokes, developing vascular dementia. During his working life he had been a college professor. Towards the end of his life, he would read and re-read the same line in a catalog. He also developed congestive heart failure. His circulation was so poor that at the time of his passing, his lower legs were purple.

Collier Hospice in Wheat Ridge, Colorado was the second best thing to being able to pass away at home. The room was spacious, pleasant, and quiet. The staff were attentive but allowed for plenty of private family time. On the night before he departed, I read my father A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas. He always read it to my brother and me when we were kids, along with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I know that in this lifetime, I will never again be able to read A Child's Christmas in Wales aloud because I can't get through it without breaking down.

I will donate a dollar for every comment received on this post to SCL Health in honor of my father.

Link to learn more about Collier Hospice.

Link for the SCL Health Foundation donation page.

I apologize, but NaNoWriMo in conjunction with the November Poem-a-Day Brain-Dissolving Challenge has dissolved my brain and I can't think of an excerpt to post. If you would like to read a gloomy holiday-related poem that will appear in a future anthology, follow the link.


I'm adding in the 28th chapter of my NaNoHellMo project. I'm 1000 words from being able to stick a fork in that fucker. Be forewarned, it's a long read.

Day 28

28 November 2021

Spirit of the Universe, please set aside everything I think I know about myself, about my story, about my need for validation, and especially about you, Universe, so that I may have an open mind and a new experience with myself, with my story, with my need for validation, and with you, Universe. Please help me to see the truth. Amen.

Today is the 11th anniversary of my dad’s passing. It was about a half-hour ago that the hospice called my mother to inform her that he was gone. The ringer on my phone wasn’t working so she had to call twice. On the second time she said something hurtful that has stuck with me. She said “you’re never here for me.”

I don’t want to sit too long in this place. My mother is better these days, not as angry any more. However, my parents’ disappointment in me has always been palpable to me. I think it’s been a driving force in my life. I want to show them that I can be successful without having to do what they want me to do because I can’t do what they wanted me to do.

My parents helped me a lot financially over the years but it always came at the price of having to listen to how disappointed they were in me. I felt like I was always begging them to see what a mess I was, to please have some understanding for me and to let me get better so I could succeed on my terms.

I remember when I got the job in the independent living section of the retirement community where I worked. It was such a relief to not have to kill myself in the long-term care center anymore. Part of what got me the job was my EMT license. I was never able to work as an EMT because I would have had to take a $4 per hour pay as an entry level EMT over what I was making as a C.N.A., but the license still helped me.

I liked the job in the independent living section much better. I had a lot more autonomy and there was far less heavy lifting. I was proud when I told my father that I’d finally found a job that I thought I could stick with. His response was “well, we’ll have to see about that.” He and my mother were hell-bent on having me get my nursing license so I could make more money. There went my feeling of pride in one fell swoop.

When I did get the nursing license some six years later, I made between $2 and $6 more per hour than I had made working as a resident assistant, and I was killing myself working 60-hour weeks. My sciatica got better because the first case I had involved working with a one-year-old infant whose case resolved.

The next major case I had would be the main client I worked with for the rest of my career in nursing. It might have been okay if the patient had stayed with the agency that I was working with, but there was a serious disagreement between the agency and the patient’s mother, so he was transferred to a different agency.

I signed on with the new agency but kept my foot in the water, so to speak, at the agency I was already with. I had good (though expensive) health insurance through them. I did not know about the Medicaid buy-in if it existed, and I don’t know if it existed in 2016. There can be dry spells working for homecare agencies, so I figured it was smart to be signed on with more than one.

Working as much as I did fucked my health to hell. One of my patients developed a severe respiratory infection which he passed on to me. I had to call off from my other assignments so I wouldn’t pass it on to those patients, but my coordinator told me that I could keep working with the patient from whom I’d picked up the illness because I couldn't re-infect him and laid on the guilt by saying “the family really needs you.”

My diabetes was getting worse and I wasn’t on insulin yet. I was really, really sick. There is no way under the sun that I should have been working. During the night, I sat by this patient’s bedside. I would play games on my tablet or write on my laptop. Sometimes I dozed off, but it was a light sleep and I would always snap to if something were amiss.

I didn’t snap to on this occasion. I recall looking at the time when I started feeling so drowsy that I knew I was going to go under. I was in a state of complete unconsciousness for the next 20 minutes. When I woke up, the patient’s father was sitting at the end of the patient’s bed glaring at me. I collected my things, apologized profusely, and left. I knew what was coming.

I think that I had a T.I.A. (transient ischemic attack) brought on by all the stress that my body was undergoing. I was well and truly unconscious. I was, unsurprisingly, fired from the first agency. I wanted to rail at my coordinator for putting me in that position, but I remained stoic during the process, responding only with “yep” and “nope” and finally saying “okay, bye,” and leaving.

It wasn’t so bad at first because the second agency kept me on with the patient I’d been working with before. Unfortunately, his case worsened to the point where he needed more care than a regular LPN could provide. He had a rare x-linked genetic disease and was going to start needing infusions. I am unsure if he is still alive. He had lived longer than most kids diagnosed with this condition.

I tried to go back to work in a long-term care center when the homecare agency was unable to find me another suitable client. It didn’t work out. The diabetes had taken a lot out of me physically by then and I felt like I was going to pass out. I also felt confused, probably as a result of my blood sugar taking a dive.

There is a high rate of burnout in long-term care and this is because they work their staff to death.

I made a promise to my father that I haven’t been able to keep when I was sitting beside his body in his room at the hospice. I promised that I would finish my Bachelor’s degree in English. My father was a college professor and was always disappointed that I only had an associate's degree. Unfortunately, I am too busy to take on even one more thing.

One always hears these stories about people getting a lucky break after years of hard work. I honestly don’t think I’m ever going to be able to join that crowd.