they knew it wasn’t hard to believe in something greater than themselves.
art my CD-W
Daily Word Prompt: Believe
Each time someone arrived ……
1
Author Archives: Carolyn Dennis-Willingham, Author
Superficial Bliss
The vastness of the wheat in field
Rich soil lies beneath?
No, Layer upon layers splay
To cover up the heath.
Who knows the truth I ask of you
Profound, I tell you this!
Uncovered, unexpected,
Lies a masquerade of bliss.
poetry and painting by CD-W
Daily Word prompt: Superficial
Quelling Dispair
Life by Charlotte Bronte
LIFE, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall ?
Rapidly, merrily,
Life’s sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily,
Enjoy them as they fly !
What though Death at times steps in
And calls our Best away ?
What though sorrow seems to win,
O’er hope, a heavy sway ?
Yet hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell;
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.
Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell despair !
Daily word prompt: Elastic
Fear of Change
Why, birds, must you be angry?
your cawing, dawning, cries
on forceful wings
with hope of spring
your ire, it mystifies
Perhaps it is your season call
a changing time, alerting
so others heed
your time of need
through winter, disconcerting
Lay still your ruffled feathers
each change is not by choice
and yet you can
as you began
make known your thoughts in voice.
Artwork by Nicole Anderson
The View from a Gutter Isn’t Always Bad
We didn’t know it at the time. It wasn’t planned. But it happened.
On the walk home from our second grade class, my best friend, Vanita, and I took a wee bit of a detour. We walked down the creek bed and into the drainage tunnel. After an immediate right, we discovered a new way of looking at things.
The sight (and site) was pure magic! Whoever thought to build this foxhole was a pure genius!
From inside the gutter, at ants view, car tires whizzed past, feet with voices attached walked above us. Yes, we would be late coming home from school. But the newness, the discovery, the giggles, made it worthwhile.
I’m not sure how much time passed before we saw the car pull in front of us. We recognized the shoes. We definitely recognized the angry voice.
Can you imagine this mother’s horror at seeing our heads in the gutter?
A silent car ride later, Vanita’s mother pulled into my driveway, spoke a few words to my mother, and drove away with my best friend in tow.
Over fifty years later, this brief moment in my life still makes me smile. The world, I’d learned, was not mundane after all. It was filled with shared bonds no one could ever take away and discoveries waiting to be found.
As the world turned, the small heads of two young girls were filled with a new perspective on life.
Vanita and me – obviously photoshopped. Her mother wasn’t packing a Polaroid at the time.
Daily Word prompt: Genius
Confirm Your Grandeur
Is it high fashion
if my hairdo is green
or the pig purse I carry
is aquamarine?
Do you care if my hat
doesn’t match with my shoes,
If I hula my hoop to
a song meant for blues?
“Ma’am do you mind? Get down from that cow!”
“Yes, sir. I do mind. I’m writing right now!”
Is it high fashion
wearing miss-colored socks,
put shoes in a drawer
instead of their box?
Who in the world
wants to follow a crowd?
It’s boring and fruitless
and often too loud.
Unfashionable fashion
it suits me just fine
Keep up with the Jones’s?
A dull story line!
Rebellious? Creative?
You’ve nothing to fear.
Confirm your grandeur
and read article here.
Daily Word Prompt: Fashionable
Top Photo: Artist Zurab Martiashvili: “Unusual ride”
When Walking …
Look left, and maybe you’ll find …
… the best kind of pedestrian – protective and kind
Weekly Photo Prompt : Pedestrian
PEDESTRIAN
A Raisin of Serendipitous Learning
When she told me NOT to throw away the moldy orange, I questioned her sanity.
Why in the world would we want to keep this tainted fruit within arms reach of four-year-old children? And why would I, the 24 year-old teacher with a degree in Early Childhood, listen to my 56 year-old assistant teacher with no formal education?
“Because,” she’d said, “It is a learning experience, a teachable moment. It’s science.”
I was awestruck.
That is why “Vivian” and I worked so well together. I taught her how to implement bias-free education in our classroom. She taught me that hoarding can lead to serendipitous learning and creativity.
Today, over 20 years later and still a hoarder, I was reminded of my friend, Vivian, when I cleaned out the trunk of my car. Behind the boxing bag, a ton of smelly hand wraps, and a couple of sweaters, I found something which must have fallen out of my grocery bag months ago.
I’ll give you a hint. They used to be grapes. But now …
I hear Vivian’s voice in my head saying, “Don’t throw it away! Show your grandchildren.”
And so, I will.
Wherever you are today, Vivian, THANK YOU for one of many teachable moments!
photo credit
Let the Bears Keep Their Arms
Will you deny me the right to talk about our right to “bear arms?”
I believe the first big mistake politicians made was the coining of the word “gun control.” No one wants to be “controlled”.
What if our politicians had, instead, talked about gun safety? Maybe NRA members wouldn’t have balked. Perhaps, even they would have been open to listening instead of simply reciting the second amendment.
The right to bear arms, adopted into the U.S. Constitution in 1791, evolved from the Revolutionary War experience when colonists needed to fight for their liberty.
It took the shooter in Las Vegas between 9 and 11 minutes to kill 59 people and injury over 500 people. The shooter had put “bump stocks” on his rifles which had turned them into fully automatic machine guns. How did he get bump stocks? From his local gun store? And why would any civilian need this kind of weapon? To mow town a herd of cattle for his Sunday dinner?
Come on, politicians! Stop saying, “yes, we’ll talk about gun control.” But when? After the next shooting or the one after that?
Yes, America has the right to bear arms. But I don’t think the bears like it much. They need their arms to climb trees.
Come on, America! If we have the right to bear arms, can we at least climb higher on a safer tree??
photo credit
daily word prompt – Deny
No Interest in the Mundane
I have no interest in who wins a national game.
I have no interest in popularity or fame
I have no interest in taking aim
Mostly, I have no interest in the mundane.
That’s why finding this in a store bathroom makes a photo worthy of frame.
Daily word prompt: Interest
Carolyn Dennis-Willingham 