Category: Writing Poetry

Waiting At Wimpy’s

When a time of patience leads to a poem.

Inside a Wimpy's diner fashioned after the 1950s.

Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

Waiting At Wimpy’s

The server asks
Would I like something to drink
and a menu.
I reply

“Someone will join me soon.
He shouldn’t be long.
Just a coffee, please, while I wait.”

I arrange my pen and notebook
on the red and blue plastic tabletop
above a checkered floor.
On the walls
posters of famous people I vaguely remember.

Oldie Goldies play
and my head starts bopping.
I lip-sync along to the chorus
remembering days long gone.

Beside the menu I didn’t want
rests a book of memoir prompts.
The hope of things to come.
I glance through
short memories the author wrote.

And now here’s mine.
As I wait.

PS. It’s been an hour—and I’m still here with my cold coffee
five micro-memoirs of the Sixties later.

’Til next time —thank you for reading, and  remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

~ Lynne

How to Write Poems Within Poems

The Golden Shovel poetry

A child's yellow plastic spade and red pail on beach pebbles.

Image by Sebastian Mey from Pixabay

Terrance Hayes introduced this poetry style based on a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks. I read about it in Robert Lee Brewer’s Smash Poetry Journal. I like it when Lee challenges his readers to try new poetic styles and encourages them to create something different.

The rules of this style of poetry are simple:

· Take a line from a poem you wrote or read

· Use each word in the line as the end word in your new poem

· Keep the end words in order

I’d read a stirring poem by David Hollis on Medium that morning, so I chose this line from the poem as my new poem —

“Imagine if we swam against the tide of popular culture.”

Using each word as an end word, I wrote this new poem.

A woman praising God with uplifted arms.

Image by Barbara Jackson from Pixabay

Can You Imagine

Can you imagine

what life would be like if

all of us lived a fully devoted life and if we

did as Jesus did and swam

upstream against

these modern ideals and the

changes in moral tide

to fully embrace the life of

Christ, even if we’re not popular

with family, friends and the current culture?

~ Lynne

I hope you enjoyed reading this poetic form. I enjoyed writing it and intend to write more in this style. Have you heard of this style before? I hope you’ll try it out if it’s new to you.

’Til next time — remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

~ Lynne

This poem was originally published on Medium in the publication Koinonia

“Imagine” by David Hollis in “Messages From the Heart of God Volume 2”

“The Golden Shovel” by Terrance Hayes

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Poetry Prompt on Metaphoric Introspection

I Am a Sponge

Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash

I Am A Sponge

I am a sponge

in a library

full of ideas

from fellow writers

and I soak up

the expertise

they share until

filled and overflowing

I can douce others

with words

and the flow of ideas

carries on.

*(I’m an Amazon affiliate and earn a small commission for book sales at no additional cost to the buyer).

*The Poetry Prompt is from Smash Poetry Journal, by Robert Lee Brewer “Take the phrase ‘I Am (blank)’ and replace the blank with a word or phrase… introspection reflection.”

*This poem was initially published in The ShortForm on Medium.

’Til next time — remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

~ Lynne

How I Find Inspiration for My Poetry

A free verse poem’s origin

A blue heron walking in the marshes.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

The Evolution of a Poem

Touring the back roads in our aging Vibe

I’m a willing passenger who

notepad at the ready

soaks in the passing sights

proof of the existence of something greater

than my own fleeting life.

Excitedly

I reach for my gel point pen

as I spy a lone heron

futilely attempting camouflage

between stoic stems

of stately bullrush

and turn him into a poem.

Maybe you’ve found inspiration in an unusual way. Share in the comments!

If you enjoyed reading this poem, I’d love it if you follow my writing and other work here:

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’Til next time — remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

 ~ Lynne

Note: this poem was originally written for Weeds & Wildflowers on Medium, on April 25, 2024.

God’s Spectacular Design in the Chilly Mundane

A poem about the small Winter surprises in the North

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Prisms In the Snow

Miniscule rainbows
shimmering like prisms
on white.
I hesitate to step
to crumple
the wonderment
The Creator
blessed me with.

If I did not feel
so inundated
with less ethereal tasks
I’d sit
and soak in
the majestic sight
as a child
until the sun hides Its rays
behind the pines
and I would thank Him
for everyday blessings.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Psalm 19:1a, NIV

His creation reflects God’s glory. It calls us into praise and worship of our Heavenly Father every day–if we’re not too busy to see it.

‘Til next time, remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

~ Lynne

How to create your own frozen bubbles.

*This poem was originally published on Medium in the Koinonia publication.