Tag: Writing Poetry

“Hi Gran!”

A Poetic Memoir

photo of grandmother and child by Matlachu on pixabay

When my grandchildren were small, I would often be asked to care for them while their parents worked. I delighted in the opportunity to watch them grow.

My youngest grandson would usually run around the room making “pew-pew” sounds, aiming his lightsaber at the cat or an intruding alien from a far-off galaxy. But sometimes, he would join his sister and me under a cozy blanket on the couch. We’d spend the evening watching Disney movies (for the umpteenth time). We’d drink spicy tea and eat ice cream until they couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer.

Now in their teens, they still greet me with the same, “Hi Gran,” when I visit.

“Hi Gran!”

Disney princesses serenade
along a frozen riverbank.
A bowl of ice cream liquifies
on the table beside us
as our hands coil around a cup
of steamy Bengal Spice.
Childhood wrapped with laughter,
curled up together,
cocooned in a fluffy pink blanket.

’Til next time — I hope you have some children in your life. Cherish all the moments you get.

Lynne

Doing Laundry

Free verse poem of procrastination

image by Piyapong Saydaung on pixabay

Doing Laundry

I swear they were laughing at me

those crumpled garments twisted in a heap.

My comfy bed lay beckoning me

underneath the pile.

Should I hide the dreaded chore

under my bed

and force it from my mind ‘til tomorrow?

Wait – that’s what I did yesterday!

—

’Til next time — life’s short, so don’t sweat the small stuff (until you can’t get into bed).

Lynne

This poem was originally posted on Medium.

If you’d like to read all my poems and stories you can become a reader of Medium’s thousands of articles each month by thousands of writers for a monthly subscription of only $5 US. You can subscribe using the link below.

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The Client and The Coach

A free verse poem
image by StockSnap on Pixabay

“Life coaches can help you clarify your goals, identify the obstacles holding you back, and then come up with strategies for overcoming each obstacle.”

verywellmind.com

I used to be a life coach and found enormous satisfaction in helping people realize their potential. Although I still coach occasionally, I no longer have an office practice. Now I enjoy writing—especially poetry.

…

The Client and The Coach

She sits across from me in the straight-backed chair

fidgeting with a string on her jacket

her long orange-streaked hair falling over her face

as she answers my questions.

Young mother of two with questions of her own

she’s here to find answers but I have none.

What she doesn’t understand yet, is that

all the answers are already within her.

I tell her I can help her find them.

Her head slowly rises from the slump,

brow lines deepen.

She asks how she can possibly have the answers already.

I close my notebook and smile.

…

’Til next time, I hope you’re feeling good about your future and on the path to fulfilling your dreams.

Lynne

HAIKU POETRY–The Style & Simplicity

Writing Haiku

My last post was about black-out poetry, a technique I learned from Austin Kleon’s book “Steal Like An Artist.” Today I’m going to try another technique which I learned from taking a Masterclass with Billy Collins. His suggestion was to take an ordinary everyday item and find inspiration in it. Being a Brit kid from the last century and a big Corrie fan, I chose a teabag.

teabag image by Lynne Collier

Haiku

I’ve been feeling the need for focus lately and what better form of poetry for narrowing down the words to as few as possible than to write a Haiku poem?

Poets over the decades have waffled on the exact rules of writing Haiku. The traditional Japanese Haiku is a three-line poem with a 5/7/5 syllable count, often focusing on images from nature, emphasizing simplicity and clarity of expression.

A modern Haiku poem is not required to, and generally does not, rhyme–although it can at the poet’s discretion. In other words, it’s all up to the writer how they want to approach it.

The set rule of 5/7/5 syllables still needs to be adhered to and spelling needs to be accurate, but all other punctuation and grammar are poetic license (pun intended).

So here’s my Haiku poem from my teabag–

WAXING

Liquid dries and leaves–

A breakfast roll, crescent moon?

–Pacman’s gaping mouth

On days when I can’t focus enough to write, I like to jot down a short poem to help bring me back to concentrate on my work. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I see a particularly interesting dust bunny that could be my next masterpiece.

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

~ Lynne

WRITING POETRY: Black-Out Style

Black-Out Style

As I focus more on writing poetry, I’m devouring poems by great writers past and present. I’m currently reading:

Eye of the Beholder by Luci Shaw

Conspiracy of Light by D. S. Martin

Bronte Sisters Poetry by Amazon

This week I also added The Steal Like an Artist Journal by Austin Kleon to my list. He’s a brilliant Creative who astonishes me by his way of encouraging artists of all mediums to delve into artistic bins of untapped ideas and brilliance.

Each page is an exercise to stretch the grey matter to its limits of reality and see things through a different lens. One such exercise is the ‘Black-Out’ approach to writing poetry. An exercise I’ve found most intriguing. I wanted to share my ‘stolen’ discovery with you.

Here’s what he asks of the reader on this particular page:

“Black out one word at a time until you are left with a poem.”

https://amzn.to/3g22f2X

He gives a writing sample to practice on in case you don’t have anything handy but I write mostly Scripture-inspired poetry so I chose to black-out a passage from the book of Revelation.

Revelation 3:15-18, New International Version (NIV)

15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Here are the words that spoke to me–

Deeds   cold   hot

either.

Lukewarm

neither.

Spit out!

Rich   wealth   need.

Realize

wretched   pitiful

poor  

blind   naked.

Gold   refined   in

Fire.

Cover   shameful  

nakedness.

Salve   eyes

See

Even without any revising I think this is a solid start to a good poem.

Have you tried this method? 

Let me know in the comments.

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

~ Lynne

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