A Palindrome Birthday

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Susan at Chicken Spaghetti for Roundup.

It's almost my birthday, and it's a palindrome year—55. (I keep thinking: "I can't drive 55.":) Hooray! And happy birthday to my birthday twin Ruth and the many other Poetry Friday friends who have birthdays this time of year.

In other news, Tuesday 2-Minute Writing Tip 27 is about "Writers Who Give Me Courage." I'm so grateful to so many writers, and in this episode I mention a few.

Who are the writers who give you courage?? 

Also, in honor of Year of the Fire Horse, I wanted to share a few "horse" poems from ye ol' blog:

Anatomy of a Horse

Wild Horse

When a Horse Writes a Poem

Before the Race

This week's ArtSpeak: WOMEN is after a piece by one of my favorite artists Frida Kahlo. A dream of mine is to visit the Frida Kahlo Museum (La Casa Azul) in Mexico City. After last week's poem about a newborn, this poem is about death. It's also a Golden Shovel, featuring watermelons and a quote from Frida's journal just a few days before her death. Normally I would steer clear of choosing a striking line with awkward ending-line words like "the" and "is." But it's Frida! And I love the quote. So I decided to roll with it. Thanks so much for reading.

Watermelon, you

are sweet, and I

am red with hunger and hope.

You crack yourself open while I fold into the

corner of wanting. Won't you show me the exit?

Teach me how to hold the sun when the day is

anything but joyful.

- Irene Latham

p.s. Question for the hive: Do you prefer the striking line to be in bold, or not?