Weekend Coffee Share, a Word

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I haven’t drunk coffee all week, so today I’m having my half-caff hazelnut. What’s your favorite beverage for a chat with a friend?

Due to a temporary issue with focus ( yes, despite the coffee), I want to do some wordplay. I am a middle school English teacher, after all . So, using today’s prompt from Ragtag Community, here is what I have, using the word ‘plate’:

Today

I feel like a car run out of gas

And I just want to pass the plate

It feels good doing nothing

And sleeping in late

I just want to put my feet up and rest

To realize I’ve tried my best all week,

So I’ve earned this right to not overthink,

To breathe in the sunshine and soak in

The cool breeze and warm rays.

The Day Spring Rolls in. #poetry

Spring greets us in the morning

With bright sun and singing birds at 50 degrees.

It rolls into our left open doors calmly,

Then screams it’s arrival at warm noon,

Though Spring never comes too soon,

With reminders of a lost love

Or childhood games in a state far away,

Of clover and grass once again green,

Of sunburn and beaches and fish in the cooler to clean

Time outdoors, with family , with friends, and steak on the grill

Or music in the air at a festival park

While the sun changes shades many times before dark.

When the sun slowly slips away,

We are still warmed by the hum of that day.

Photo by David Bartus on Pexels.com

Perplexed, #poetry #RDP

(c) 2022 by Pamela Schloesser Canepa

I’m feeling just slightly perplexed

My thoughts are a jumbled mess

In the middle of the night

My mind is afright

Why must I wake before the light?

Posted in response to the one word prompt posted daily at Ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com

The Perfection Facade. #haiku

The Perfection Facade by Pamela Schloesser Canepa

If you stuff it down,

If you can just toe the line,

No one knows you fell.

***********

Trust it to someone,

The times you fell off the line.

Shut self-judgment down.

*Both haiku were written in response to the Ronavan Write Haikay Challenge. You may view the details at https://ronovanwrites.com/2022/01/17/ronovan-writes-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-393-down-and-line/

Wrapped Up, #RDP

Photo from Pixabay.

Wrapped Up, (c) 2021 by Pamela Schloesser Canepa

Some journeys are covered outwardly

in confusion, bedlam, or shock

They are things we wouldn’t invite,

but we had to accept and take the journey

to get to peace on the other side.

Wrap it up anyway you want,

it’s how we deal with real life…

The story of my year, 2021.

**Written in response to the Ragtag Daily Prompt, https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2021/12/23/ragtag-daily-prompt-thursday-wrapped/

Thankful for Each Turn, #poetry

(C) 2021, Pamela Schloesser Canepa

When the leaves fall

Is it the dying of a tree?

Or is it merely a sign of change

And what one day shall be?

Ghosts of yesterday

Get trampled into the ground

They willfully move on

For something new to come round…

When leaves fall, oh so brittle,

Yet colorful and bright

A reminder to grab hold

Of our spark before

The descent of night.

Every change brings something new

Every night brings morning dew.

Every moment holds its gifts.

I’m grateful for those I didn’t miss.

Weekend Coffee Share, I am Lorna

With Nor’easter blowing through

My sciatica is aflame

Because I  danced around to jazz last night

Or because of the weather change?

Laughed last night at dinner with my guy

Joked about things that could make others cry,

Enjoyed a little jazz to drown the noise

Of worries I’d rather a avoid.

I forgot about the stress of my day

With someone I can talk to, by the way.

Lunch with a friend tomorrow, 

Life is for enjoyment, not sorrow

Though I sit here dragging my feet

My lazy Saturday dog snuggles are so sweet.

I could be gloomy about this gray day

But I’ll choose to believe it’s all okay.

#lifeisalovestory (c) 2021

In A Wave. #RDP #poetry

Photo by Emiliano Arano on Pexels.com

Today is where we live,

but yesterday is a place we visit

quite often, as mental time-travelers

in a wave of nostalgia or memory

of a little child’s hand in yours,

or a wave of fear

of the threat heard in a voice,

or of screeching tires,

or the shared memory

of being wedged between two other cars.

A wave of nostalgia could bring

a memory of young love

that was new, or

of climbing trees

in springtime,

scraping our knees and

running onward anyway, no care

but for the present moment.

We travel to remember

Why we don’t go certain places,

if we can trust a certain person,

or in moments we need to feel

our life has meaning.

We can forgive in ten seconds

but remember years later;

Love, regret, and fear are automatic.

But, just like swimming through the waves,

living in the present must be learned.

~~~~~~~~

**These thoughts inspired by the music of Still Corners’ song, The Trip. Comforting, yet slightly haunting.

***You may visit today’s RagTag Community prompt and challenge at https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2021/10/02/rdp-saturday-wave/

A Kaleidoscope #RDP

Photo by Fiona Art on Pexels.com

Maybe you have a bland color you don’t like,

But you find a way to incorporate others…

The blue that calms you, the blue that

electrifies you

The green that makes you feel embraced

like a long-time trusted friend

The brown that feels like

suddenly falling in the mud

The yellow like the sun that lifts you up

and helps you dust off and move again.

The bright orange of learning new things

and of laughter with a friend.

Such is the contrast of life, along the way

Enjoying all that we are, adapting

to the mysteries of each day.

**Posted in response to the daily prompt challenge at https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2021/09/11/rdp-saturday-kaleidoscope/

Made of Cast Iron

The ‘cast iron plant’–25 years and counting

You were once a wee one

How you needed me, needed love

I nurtured you the best I could

Encouraged you to grow into your own

You were an active little boy

Who loved mud and chasing birds

How those legs would move!

Then one day, they grew long,

You seemed awkward, but kept growing

It grew as well, with our moves,

Your ‘birth’ day cast iron plant,

Through the adjustments and changes.

Still, what remained the same

Was the hearts that were your home.

Your offshoot didn’t flourish when we gave it away,

So it just goes to show,

One flourishes when they know where is home…

We all need a welcoming place called home

To nurture, encourage, and help us grow.

You can always return to home.