The Wake Up Post

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Carol at The Apples in My Orchard for Roundup.

Are you awake on this Friday morn (or whatever day/time this post finds you)? When I was a kid we would blast this song on the record player to wake our parents on Saturday mornings. It always always makes me smile!

 

But this post is about another kind of awakening.

Before I get to that, big shout-out to Melissa Stewart, who included me and other new-moon-book-creators in the celebration of her beautiful new book THANK YOU, MOON: CELEBRATING NATURE'S NIGHTLIGHT (Knopf BYR, illus. by Jessica Lanan). Here's the post, that also includes a pic of the NASA flight patch vest I created! All these books will get you feeling the moon-love, that's for sure!

Okay. Back to awakenings. You know how sometimes you have a sudden and intense revelation? A message from the universe saying "This way" or "Leave this"? We use the phrase "it was a wake-up call." We talk about how one day we "woke up." Of course all this suddenness is really an illusion for things that have been working inside us for days, years, decades. Finally, it's time to make a change.

That's what my ArtSpeak: LIGHT poem is about today. Not all goodbyes are sad. Some are long overdue. Others are joyous reminders to carpe diem.

To every thing there is a season, yes? Maybe right now it's your season to sleep, or stay, or, like Rooster, to FLY! Thanks so much for reading.

And Then, One Radiant Day, Rooster Sang Himself Awake

Goodbye barn,

goodbye hen.

See you never again!

Path is lit,

sky is alive–

time for me to fly!

- Irene Latham

Grief / Remembrance Poem

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Bridget (who has a new anthology brewing!) at wee words for wee ones for Roundup.

Last week's Fall Festival and gardening conference were lovely and enriching! I also really enjoyed presenting about my MOON book to readers at Homewood Public Library in conjunction with their Eclipse Party. Y'all they served Moon Pies and Sun Chips. Fun, yes? I love libraries and librarians and book people of all ages!  

I'm still working on getting all the spring bulbs planted. Plus a new friend gifted me with iris bulbs, so those need to go in the ground, too. It will all be worth it come spring!

After months of talking about rearranging and organizing the office, Paul and I finally emptied the room and have begun sorting and such. Not a fun chore, but gotta be done, right? Next up: painting our bedroom!

I've got a couple of craft-y/re-purposing projects in progress, including these little pillows I cut and created from a larger project I salvaged from a thrift store. Aren't they adorable?!

Today's ArtSpeak: LIGHT poem features art by one of my new favorite artists Henri Le Sidaner. He must have been an introvert, because nearly all of his pieces feature places of calm and solitude. I feel quite at home in all of them, and they touch that bittersweet part of me. And he had a garden, which I'd love to visit! I wrote a poem "If You Want to Make Me Happy" last month after one of his other pieces, and I suspect I will return to him in the future. 

For now, I offer you a poem for the brokenhearted, for those who have loved and lost...or for those who are simply missing a loved one. Thanks so much for reading!

I Remember You in Autumn

I remember you in the hush of early morning
beside a house with a thousand windows
on a lonely street dotted with damp leaves
where the whole world shimmers in a puddle
lit by the glow of the brokenhearted
and for a breath you are here,
you are here

- Irene Latham

Sewing as a Metaphor

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit for Heidi at my juicy little universe for Roundup.

October is turning out to be round and full as the O that begins its name! 

This past week has included many of my most favorite things, and the fun is not over yet: this afternoon I'll be presenting at Homewood Library about my MOON book to help celebrate tomorrow's eclipse...and then it's Fall Festival time! This is an annual tradition in my community, and this year I'm in charge of the Silent Auction while Paul is in charge of grilling 400 hot dogs. Fun!

Today's ArtSpeak: LIGHT poem features another favorite thing of mine: sewing! 

While I am not the Embroidery Queen like others among us (Mary Lee!), I do love stitching, especially quilting...and I learned from my mother, who is quite an amazing seamstress. So of course I was smitten by this piece of art. 

I also adore sewing as a metaphor, and this poem gave me a chance to learn more about the traditional embroidery stitches and knots. AND...following a trend in my writing of late, this poem is ala Emily Dickinson: title-less. Sometimes a title is an essential tool, and sometimes a poet just wants to jump right in! 

Thanks so much for reading, and may your October be plump with all the things you love best!

mother and daughter

make a French knot

as sun puts in a satin stitch—

another embroidery morning

- Irene Latham

Love Poem with Snow and Constellations

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit for Matt at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme for Roundup.

Don't you love October? It's my favorite time of year. That's why I haven't been at my desk much this week...too many fun things to do outside! And chores, too...every gardener knows fall is the busiest season in the garden. I'm doing a little something out there every day, all to help create the most beautiful spring ever. Gotta love the faith of a gardener!

Speaking of faith...over at Smack Dab, I posted a few words For the Discouraged Writer.  Hope they find you just when you need them.

Oh, and you'll love this! The publisher of my MOON book is having a Fall Book Sale. Buy any 4 of their books, and get 4 free...+ free shipping! Y'all there are some gorgeous books over there, including some poetry titles, like WITNESS TREES by Ryan G. Van Cleave. Don't miss this opportunity to get a jump on your holiday shopping!

In my reading life, I am focusing on SHORT novels. After writing a humdinger that's hovering around 100k words despite my repeated efforts to shorten, I on a quest to make my wip lean and mean! Today's read is The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. Imagine the Queen becomes a reader...it's a love poem to books and readers, and funny to boot! It includes all the arguments people have AGAINST reading, which always come as something of shock to me. How could reading be a bad thing? 

However, I do recall one of my siblings talking about our father who had a book-a-day habit his entire life...the complaint was that my father spent all his time in imaginary worlds and not in the real world/the present/engaged with his family. Hmmm....

Moving on to today's ArtSpeak: LIGHT poem! As much as I adore fall, this poem jumps ahead—to winter! I can't explain it, and I won't try. The poem wants to be what the poem wants to be, yes?

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you are enjoying the marvels of October, as I am. xo

Love Poem with Snow & Constellations

Walk with me

across a field of light

on our tongues

we'll catch sparks

o sizzling starflakes!

we'll toss starballs

and kindle star angels

so radiant

even our boots will glow

- Irene Latham