Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

Bounty

 

The H. M. S. Bounty glides into St. Augustine harbor and dwarfs the bayfront.

In order for her to get through the Bridge of Lions, her spars were set near vertical as she waited for high water.

 

A beautiful sight she is!

 

 

 

Poetry In Motion

 

 

A very special thank you to all the poets who submitted their works this week.

 

Thank You!

 

You rock!

 

 

Susan's Page

 

Bipolar Poem

 

Feeling good, but not "too" good...

I can be sad, cry and know it has an end.  

I can laugh out loud and not care if it has an end.

Loving my life, family and friends,

and thankful for life's blessings...

 

 

 

Mossy Stone

 

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

A mossy stone looks great in the garden!

 

                                                                                                                                                   

 

                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                 Poems by Susan Wirth

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                         

 

Thanks Susan, for everything!

Hannah's Page

 

Why The Willow Weeps

 

I know why the willow weeps

Over the darkened lake.

It weeps over death and family,

While the whole world’s at stake.

It weeps of the unpredictable future.

It weeps of the violent past.

It knows anything and everything,

Which is why the sorrow lasts.

 

 

 

                                                Poem by Hannah Watson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Hannah for sharing her heart and soul in this poem and giving permission to publish it here on Laine's Blog. Photo by Carolyn Watson.

Libby's Page

 

 

 

Divinity - not just dessert!

 

 

                                                                 by Libby Quinn

 

 

 

Celebrating Poetry

 

    Poems and poets have been with us for a very long time. The stories and myths of epic poems may have begun as oral traditions that were finally put to pen and paper.

 

    Reading  Beowulf,  reputedly one of the first poems in the Anglo-Saxon language, you uncover the timeless formula for the perfect story. There are good kings who work to uphold the freedom of their people and not so good kings; loyal earls and jealous earls, and the larger than life hero with a fighting heart, dauntless will and great strength, who matches up against the larger than life bad guy, the ultimate evil doer who is heartless, vicious and unbeatable until the hero arrives. There is even a mythic sword that appears at the last moment to save the day.

    It’s all very familiar to anyone who has seen an action film in the last 30 years!

 

    When were you a hero for some one or in some situation? There was a time that you were, if you look back a bit!

    After all it is our birthright to be heros at least once in a lifetime!

    And poets too!

 

 

This week on Laine’s Blog we celebrate Poetry!

 

 

Beowulf was written around 725 A. D.

The Iliad and The Odyssey around 850 B.C.!

 

 

Some of the ideas on this post were garnered from the book, "Medieval Myths," by Norma Lorre Goodrich.

I'm still waiting for those poems...

So close...

 

Whichever way the wind blows,

that's how I go.

 

Some days I'm sailing the high seas, up and down with the swells.

Other times it's calm and there's moonlight and stars that you wouldn't believe!

 

Today I am on a beach,

and a walking whale is pointing something at me.

 

This might be my last day, 

here on this beach,

as the ocean is so close, yet so far away.

 

 

Portuguese Man of War, stranded on St. Augustine beach...careful...(about the size of my foot, the largest one I've ever seen.)

 

Illusion

 

 

According to Webster:

 

illusion. n. 1. something that deceives by producing a false impression of reality.

2. misleading perception of visual stimuli.

 

Iceland illusion in black and white and blue.

Neptune's Springs

 

Heros, gods, saints, and sinners.

What do they teach us?

 

"You could be better, like me!"

"You could be worse, like me."

You're doing fine?

You're messing up?

 

We are all in the midst of our own mythical journeys.

 

How's it going, hero, saint, sinner, friend -

how's it going?

 

 

Silver Glen Springs with Neptune!

Dusty Poem

 

 

She barks.

Sleep escapes.

In a city I once loved

I find you asleep

Deep in the heart of me.

 

 

The city is Baltimore, and is still loved and the poem is from the last century, by Laine.

A Call To The Poet In You

 

I invite all of my readers, followers, and any other interested creatures

to share an original short poem or haiku with Laine

and it will be published on Laine's blog sometime in April.

Don't be shy, you might have a gem hiding in a drawer,

like the poem in today's post that I found cleaning out my desk,

or you might compose something on the spot.

Either way, deadline is Friday, the 20th of April, at midnight!

 

This is not a contest!

No prizes, just the chance to get "published!"

 

E-mail your gems to

[email protected]

 

I hope that you do!

Laine

In the Garden

 

 

The gentle spring light

Wakes a single white iris.

Joy in the garden.

 

                                                               Haiku by Paula Post

 

 

Thanks to Paula Post for permission to use her poem!

Spider and Web

 

Spiders and webs, what a brilliant idea!

How did Mother Nature come up with these things?

 

This spider is so curious that it is difficult to discern its head from its toe.

There are so many secrets in life to unravel, it's astonishing.

 

 

 

Holy Clouds

 

 

Cloudy days have their beauty, especially when the sun finds a way to shine through.

 

Here's to all the "clouds" in our lives being holy!

 

 

 

St. Augustine bay front, shot from the Bridge of Lions.

Comparing Blessings...

 

It was late in life when I saw my first cedar waxwings and they completely surprised me!

Ever since then I feel blessed when they zoom through town.

 

It's funny how we perceive nature as blessing us.

Lately it has been happening more and more,

and not just with the "special birds," but in simple ways, like the quality of light in the leaves out the window,

or the deep blue of the sky.

 

Last week, the planet Venus was right on the tip of the Pleiades - (the 8th sister?)!

It was wonderful!

 

That was a BIG one. A big blessing.

Not that you can compare, but...

 

 

 

Some Girls...

 

Some girls have all the fun!

 

 

 

Cascades, Virginia

Flower Showers

 

 

The vine in the center of this photograph promises much when first planted and then disappears into the tree tops,

its leaves blending with the oak's.

It isn't until it blooms that you remember that it is there at all.

That's when the flowers come sailing back to earth.

They land everywhere - the lawn, the van, the driveway, the patio.

It is very cheerful!

You might say that light flower showers will continue for the next two weeks!

 

 

 

 

 

When You Plant a Seed...

 

 

Purity and perfection...

you can almost detect the sweet scent of this magnolia blossom.

 

Complimenting a neighbor on her exquisite magnolia tree,

I learn that she planted the seed for it 50 years ago!

 

I knew a woman in her nineties who continued to plant saplings.

Planting trees when you know you will never see them come into their magnificence

suggests a faith in life, and the earth, and in green things, that is deeply inspiring.

 

I suppose that planting anything asserts a kind of faith.

Faith in the soil, the sunshine and the rain.

Faith in the seasons.

Faith in yourself.

 

When you plant a seed, you set something in motion...

 

 

Can We Change Our World?

The Last Supper.

12 Disciples.

 

One might be full of fear.

One might be unfaithful.

One might be a woman.

 

History or myth?

Truth or fiction?

 

What really matters?

To you?

 

Take away the rituals and the robes and aren't all the teachings the same?

 

Love. Compassion. Kindness.

 

We can change our world with love, compassion and kindness,

a little at a time,

each day.

 

 

Church window - St. John's Church, Mt. Washington in Baltimore. 

Maybe We Are Flowers!

 

 

If you could be a flower, which would you be?

One of the brave first bloomers that tempt winter to send a late frost?

How about a grand amaryllis, delicate on its long stem, yet stately and beautiful?

Or perhaps a lily that lasts only a day?

 

Would you prefer to bloom in summer, when the sun shines full and hot

or in autumn, under a canopy of red and gold leaves?

 

We humans are so dense, physically speaking, that it is hard to imagine being so light and airy.

Yet it is now known that our bodies are mostly empty space!

Water and space!

 

Maybe we are flowers!

 

 

Hammock Mate

 

Sitting in the hammock isn't usually considered hazardous duty,

but there is no reason to take needless chances.

So, out comes the camera and off you go onto the nearest branch.

Oh, you don't like that one? Then the second choice - go!

(Must be related to cats.)

(Might be going to a beach fire, and bringing the marshmallows.)

 

No, she hasn't got a name!

 

 

Beautiful hammock found at Southern Lights Candle Shop in St. Augustine, Florida.

Stormy Weather

 

 

A huge burst of energy stormed its way through here on Saturday.

The darkest clouds, huge winds and sideways rain scrambled the air.

 

It was the day of the night when I tried on someone else's shoes,

attempting to understand how her life might feel.

 

An impossible task, especially if the music you are half listening to keeps lending support to the antagonist of the story.

 

Not what I expected.

 

Much easier to take sides.

 

So,

I took both sides and stopped denying the good guy/bad guy in me,

embraced them both,

and put my own shoes on.

 

It rained gently throughout the night

and I slept really well.

 

We badly needed the rain.