Secretariat, A Poem

Secretariat

Red roses -

Speak of a heart, large,

of a race run, not of consciousness

but of style, explosive.

Black-eyed Susans -

A ticket, cherished, preserved,

for Pegasus finally appeared

and God whispered "Go".

White Carnations -

Like a locomotive, no limits,

out front, Big Chestnut!
Circle the field...

Heroes live forever.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, June 28, 2012

Secretariat as a baby in the fall of 1970 at the Meadow Stable 

in Doswell, VA  - courtesy of Google Images

I'm not a huge race horse fan.  I remember as a little girl worrying about the horses falling and breaking a leg.  But this big boy's story amazes me and inspires me.  I loved the Hollywood movie, and perhaps it wasn't factual, but it was inspiringly beautiful.  I highly recommend it.

One of the last videos of Secretariat in the pasture:

  

My favorite photo to date is below.  It is of Secretariat with his groom, Eddie Sweat.   The website and article I got this photo from is HERE.

Magpie Tales #123, "Futility"

Futility

We're gonna wait for crazy.
Stoke hatred
with taunts and jeers,
wash it down with whiskey shots,
stir troubles and woes
into frenzied pitch,
blame the bloke
across the room.
Prove we're brave and strong,
welcome crazy,
deny her presence,
pummel and beat
to the rhythm of the heat.

Stagger back and find
we've hurt our friend...
fix our hats, swig a beer,
promise to meet
same place, tomorrow night.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, June 26, 2012

This is for The Mag #123, hosted by Tess Kincaid.  Hop on over and read the clever reactions to the above photo prompt.  Better yet, try a go at it yourself!  

Hopes & Dreams

Hopes & Dreams

Simplicity
I grasp

as day
gives way

to evening
shade;

hopes
and dreams

illuminated
and shared

as my pony
nickers

and nods
encouragement.

by Margaret  Bednar, Art Happens 365

"Celestial Canvas", a poem

Celestial Canvas

Upon midnight blue
twinkling visions flit and flirt
laurel, myrtle, azure, and sky

as I, of orbs that never close,
recline beneath leafy canopy.
Watch as Strawberry Moon

reaches through slatted sanctuary
smoothing eventide's blanket
about my velveteen.

Tomorrow, my creator
will climb aloft and hold me close,
as whisper, I, celestial secrets in her ear.

I'll watch as tingling radiance
travels lengthy fingertips,
saturating canvas with magic.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, June 26, 2012

I have linked up with dVerse Poets Pub. - Open Link Night.  Easily over 150 poets will be participating... check it out!

My daughter (below) with the doll she created for her junior high school class at UNC School of the Arts.  It is all hand stitched. She has a doll "baby" she has loved since she was one year old.  It is, well, something that should probably be burned, but she protects the well-loved doll with her life (believe me, at one time I tried to purge my house of it).  This doll was to reflect her in some way, as well as the "container".  It is a tree house.  She could just as well have put the doll in a swing as that is the other thing she adored as a child (and still does).  The moon and stars have always fascinated her.

and with "baby"...

Oh, my daughter also loves crowns and Paris ;)

IGWRT's -Ella's Edge - "Sweet Or Sour?"

Herbel Vinegar with Lavender - from Sunshine Lavender Farm

Sweet  Or  Sour

As you travel the path of life,
stop and savor the lavender
carefully storing a few buds away,

and sprinkle it upon acidic days;
for life is really a marinade
and we select

how sweet or sour the journey.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, June 20, 2012

Here is an interesting link for vinegar and lavender.   Sunshine Lavender Farm is a farm in NC and I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph a day my daughter and I spent at their festival the beginning of June. I have yet to post my photos.

This poem is for the Imaginary Garden of Real Toad's "Ella's Edge".  We were to think of a message we would like to find in a bottle, perhaps a treasure map of life, or a bit of insight into life that might help someone else...

"Third Grade" a poem

Third Grade

Summer is
a pier.

Where school,
schedules, recitation,
are left behind
within locked halls.

Where she lifts her chin, listens
as mountain's cool breeze
recites poetry
against sandy lake shore.

Where laughter, silliness,
exhaustion from yelling,
are the only rules.

Where to her horror,
she notices the right angle
the pier makes with the shore.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, June 20, 2012

* * * * *

Yes, my third grader was HORRIFIED when this "math" thought popped into her mind this summer.  I was secretly pleased :)  These photos I took with my iPhone.

Another Birthday and Happy Father's Day!

M.Bednar  iPhone imagery

Another birthday... a daughter turns 13 today!  This weekend she wanted to go to a horses show and watch the hunters and jumpers.  Friday was a perfect day, not too hot, a bit of a breeze.  This photo was taken with my iPhone and then I used an application that made it look like a sketch.

Today we are preparing for a "dadcation" to the mountains ... that means a day trip spent hiking and not much shopping in the sweet town of Blowing Rock, NC, but that is OK.  We have 364 days out of the year to shop.

Tomorrow is all about Dad.

Parents with children at home for the summer - listen up!

 Look what I woke up to?  A clean kitchen.  Now why is this such a big deal?  I set a new rule this summer... Mom cleans the kitchen only every three days.  My four girls pair up and in pairs they take a day and clean it all day - dishes, floor, refrigerator, pantry... the way I clean.  I said I wasn't spending my summer picking up after them.

They found out I meant it when they made plans and I nixed them.  I pointed to the kitchen which looked like a hurricane had swept through and I picked up my keys and left for the horse barn (yes, I smiled the whole way there :)

This morning I came upon the above.  I have condensed it into a poem that (to me) is more like an answered prayer:

Kitchen Rules

Wipe, wash, rinse
thrice daily,
scrape your plate
napkins in trash,
take it out
remember recycling
scrape, wash, put away
pans, cooking bowls
immediately
(don't ever leave
peanut butter on a knife).
A friend visiting?
Clear their spots,
rinse their dishes.
Popcorn, snacks?
Check for crumbs!
Put stuff away,
and don't forget,
dining table
is part of kitchen;
wipe it up.

If rules aren't followed,
you will be sole
kitchen cleaner
for the summer!

I'm watching...

signed,

a "concerned" sister

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365

Magpie Tales #121, "Castles in the Air"

Still Life, 1670, detail by Jean Francois de Le Motte

Castles in the Air

Rhythmic strokes
and elaborate swirls
captivate my heart;

your desires, hopes, dreams
of times past
pulsate
beneath my fingertips.

I tuck them into
keepsake box
beneath our bed,
slide in next to you

wishing those words,
your castles in the air,
still existed within us.

Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, June 11, 2012

This is in response to Magpie Tales #121, photo prompt above.  I also have linked up with "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads "Open Link Monday". 

IGWRT's Sunday Challenge "Nature's Cathedral"

Photo courtesy of Hannah Gosselin

Nature's Cathedral

Like a cat

with one eye open,

tranquility naps

a few minutes longer.

I inhale, watch

a drowsy mist unfold,

stretch her arms,

and conduct creation's

silent morning symphony

with a mellifluousness

I would envy

if it wasn't so healing.

Laughter and

pitter patter

of the multitudes

descend upon the pier.

No shushing, no reprimands

in nature's cathedral

this Sunday morning,

however, kitty cat

has vacated

the adirondack chair.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, June 10, 2012

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, The Sunday Challenge featuring the photography of Hannah Gosselin of Metaphors and Smiles.  Her amazing photo is at the top of this post.

IGWRT's A Word with Laurie Challenge - "Helen"

"Helen"

Clickety clack,

one inch square heels

echoing in the corridor

each Friday evening

announced it was 5:55.

"Has mother arrived?

Have I kept her waiting?"

With furrowed brow

Helen's trembling hand

smoothed her calico

house dress and blue-grey hair.

"I took extra long

fixing my pigtails.

Do you think mother

will like my new frock?

We're going to the park

to swing, to picnic."

Of times past,

her mind traversed,

sagging eyes

sparkling innocent,

girly giggles

emanating from

wrinkled mouth.

6:05 p.m.

Mother hadn't come

(she never did)

Helen worried

(every time).

I'd tell her,

"She's running late."

She'd sigh and clickety clack

back down the corridor.

The last Friday I worked,

there was no Helen at 5:55.

I walked to her room
found it empty...

and with tears slowly smiled.

Helen was finally at the park with her mother.

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, June 10, 2012

* * * * *

To earn extra money for my wedding, I worked a part time job at a nursing home every Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.  Dear sweet Helen was a pure joy and one time I actually greeted her and said "Do you have plans with your mother tonight?" and she looked at me strangely and said,"Sweetheart, my dear mother has been dead for thirty years!"

This is for "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - A Word with Laurie".  The topic dimentia.  Hope on over and see other wonderful takes on this theme.

Antietam - Bloodiest Day on American Soil - iPhone imagery

The Antietam Battleground in Maryland was the bloodiest day of the Civil War with over 24,000 men dead upon the rolling farmland photographed here.  These are from my iPhone, using "Instagram" textures (instagram is a free app and very easy to use).  

The National Park Service has done a wonderful job with preserving this historic place.  Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope to be able to put some of my thoughts and feelings into poetic form.  I have many photos to share from my Canon (my real camera) as well.

It was a three day trip, driving through beautiful Virginia (I so LOVE Lexington, Va) and my first time in Maryland.  I will go back as I saw numerous quaint o-l-d towns I want to explore.  

I am linking this to Rural Thursdays and Friday's Fences.  

Challenge: Poetic Images, Poetic Ponderings

"Aphrodisiac"

I walk upon oyster shells

imagine I'm Aphrodite

arising from the sea

riding waves of royal purple

into the arms of my beloved.

This is part of a response I did for Shanyn of Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.  She challenged me to use my photos to provide the missing words in a poem.    I took that idea and "finessed" it a bit... This past weekend I visited Sunshine Lavender Farm at  and took a lot of photos.  I jotted down "poetic" ponderings,  realizing they aren't complete, finished poems, but I think the photos help it be a bit more complete.

To see the rest of my photography and "poetic ponderings", the prompt will be up tomorrow at "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads"

Most of my photos were taken with my nice Canon camera.  The image above was snapped wtih my iPhone.

Butterfies... Does anything else spell S-U-M-M-E-R better?

This weekend I am photographing a lavender farm and will share further photos with you next week.  My oldest daughter is painting plein air at the event and I will share those with you as well.  (if she lets me... you know how artist's are ;)

The beginning of this week I am traipsing up into Maryland with another daughter and I will share that adventure with you as well next week.

A Short Blogger Break

This is my latest photo taken with my iPhone.  I have many of these over on my side bar under "i and I"

I am away this weekend on a getaway with one of my daughters and was swamped this past week with responsibilities.  I haven't visited much nor participated in many challenges and I miss it!  I will be back mid next week.

In the meantime, enjoy the beginning of summer!