IGWRT's A-Z Poem "Wordsworth & Coleridge"

"A-Z - Wordsworth & Coleridge"

A book, candlelight,
dreams...

expectations flicker,
glorious hopes,
idealists,

jilted karma,
lady-luck maligned -
nourishing opium

poetic quality
revolutionary!

Stanzas, temperaments,
unappreciated.

Visionary Wordsworth,
(e)xhausted youthful zeal.

by Margaret Bednar, April 30, 2013

Wordsworth & Coleridge were two gifted young poets who lived during tumultuous times (French Revolution) and formed a youthful and exhilarating friendship, but differences doomed an otherwise brilliant partnership.  Youthful zest can only fly so far, and they ended up parting ways.  They did reconcile a bit later in life, but... I haven't read that far yet.  The book is "The Friendship"

Linked with Imaginary Garden with Real  Toad's "A-Z Poem"

"Reflections on the Sea" by William Bednar

Reflections on the Sea
by William Bednar

I love you like I love the inland sea,
In all your many moods and temperatures.
In silence, as in storms, the sea is free.
And you, with ocean eyes, have such allure
That leads a sailor on to certain death
In Winter waters, blanketed in ice.
You've bought my beating breast with heated breath,
And having known your lips, I've paid the price.
But as the Summer waters love the Sun,
So too, your eyes at rest are kind and warm,
And find my heart-strings, let them loose, undone,
And in these gentle waters, lose their form.
     So if you ever wonder what I see
     When looking in your eyes, I see the sea.

I have been swamped this past week and have not had a chance to write any new poetry, so I offer you another poem written by my son who is now almost a Junior in college!   I have paired it with a photo I took of a Lake Michigan sunset.

This is linked with Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Open Link Monday.

"Chasing Shadows" by William Bednar

Chasing Shadows
by William Bednar

Have you ever loved a heart that's lost?
Or travelled to a land that never was?
Perhaps your shadow smiled at you once,
And you weren't confused because
You hadn't stopped believing
Adventure's there for you to find.
But as you grew you met the world
and daydreams slowly 'scaped your mind.

You soon forgot to see the stars as equals.
but in your memory hides a rhyme
You never really lost,
Though it gathered dust with time.
So if you really look when troubled,
You'll find that you've been chasing shadows
Of people you have since forgot,
Though they reside inside the hallows
Of your lonely, child's heart
And run along your aging spine.
If you ever spot one, ask
"Is this shadow yours, or mine?"


I have been very busy this past few days and will continue to be over the next, so I am highlighting a few of the many poems my twenty year old son has written over the past years.  He has always been and always will be a poet.  I remember having him read and recite his first poem in kindergarten (I home-schooled then) and he took to it like a fish to water.  I am compiling his poems and some of my photography for a personal book on my Mac and will be sharing a few of them here now and again.

IGWRT's Out of Standard "Ann"e"

Ann"e"

Matthew's quiet life suddenly changed
with the "White Way of Delight",
took but one carriage ride
to learn it's never too late
to open one's days to
a small girl's chatter,
a Lake of Shining Waters,
and a silent letter "e".
Never too late for an old man's
humble heart to cherish, protect, and enjoy.

by Margaret Bednar, April 25, 2013

This is linked to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads "Out of Standard - Cliff Notes" challenge.  Take a favorite story and condense it into a poem no longer than ten lines.  Click on the link for further details and to see other poems.

Also linking with Friday Flash 55 after 8pm tonight.

I have always loved Anne of Green Gables and particularly the character of Matthew Cuthbert.   If you have never read this story, you are missing out.

The above video shows real scenery from Canada and a few shots from the movie.  The movie is THE best book to film adaptation I have ever seen.

IGWRT's - Goodby/Hello "At the Top of my Twentieth Year, by William Bednar

At the Top of my Twentieth Year
by William Bednar

With a trim and a slick
And a tie with a clip,
I imagine my boyhood is gone.
With my father's straight razor,
A new navy blazer,
I guess that it's time to move on.

No more sleeping all day
'Neath a tree in the wood,
Though the forest remembers my name.
With my black polished shoes
And a note from the blues
I am off to find fortune and fame.

On this third of November
Remember, remember
The top of my twentieth year.
It's an air changing season
With plenty of reason
To stand up and conquer your fear.

And the forest remembers
Her old childhood members
E'en when they are searching for fame.
With a new navy blazer,
My father's straight razor,
I'm off to make fortune my name.

This is linked to the challenge for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "Hello/Goodbye".  I think this says goodbye and hello quite wonderfully and leaves this mom with a tear in her eye.

I have been swamped with the kids end of school activities/trips/shows (etc) and will be posting a few of my sons poetry over the next few weeks if I can find some that fit to specific challenges :)  This one I thought worked quite well.  

IGWRT's Shakespeare - "Lines of You"

Lines of You
by William Bednar

I wish that I could formulate the phrase
To find a foothold in your foreign trust
Or pick the perfect rhythm for my praise
To dance into your ear, 'ere we turn dust.
I must admit, I'm taken by your eyes
That seem to wander lonely on the air
And in their solitude sow my demise
And show 'tis false that games of love are fair.
But quite betrayed by silence on my part
My eye for you seems fated to be lost
In barren lines disguised well as art
That turn upon the air like timid frost.
   So maybe 'fore we find our bodies dead
   You'll learn of me in lines of you, you read.

The challenge at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads is A Birthday in April - Shakespeare.  I knew where to go for today's post:  to my son's Facebook page and select from his many, many poems in Notes (of course, I love them all and had a hard time deciding).

My photo which I took at Middleton Place in Charleston, SC, goes well with my son's poem, I think.   The lines, solitude, a slight sense of loneliness (do you see the red head young lady on the bench in the distance?

I also linked this with dVerse Open Link Night #93, hosted tonight by Brian Miller who is also an amazing poet. 

IGWRT's Sunday MIni Challenge "Life"

Life

Everything must bend
for life's a mistress demanding
and favors not.

by Margaret Bednar, April 22, 2013

This is a lune poem introduced to me at Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's.  Lune poems are a minimal thought reverberating with maximum effect.  For further info on the form, click on link.

Everyone bears a cross, all bend to life's demands, one way or another.  Some do it with incredible grace and become a beacon of hope for a very, very long time.

I have been thinking about Annette Funicello who died of Multiple Sclerosis last week.  HERE is her website.  There is a video titled "Annette's Story" on her front page and can be accessed there.

HERE is a version with all the parts merged together.  It is about 30 minutes, and I found the second half especially moving.  Her grace, strength, and class shine throughout and is a positive message I will carry within me forever.  This sounds rather dramatic, but for various reasons it really touched me.

I also linked this with IGWRT's Open Link Monday.

Poetry Jam "Fictional Point of View" "Mamma's Song" A nod to "Porgy &Bess"

Summertime by Porgy & Bess Cast

Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky

But till that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With daddy and mamma standing by

The following is a challenge for "Poetry Jam"-  Fictional Point of View.  My POV (character) is the infant being held in her Mamma's arms.

If you have never listened to this song, do yourself a favor and click on the above you tube video.   If you like it, try and find the movie Porgy & Bess or listen to the entire Broadway Cast Recording.  HERE is the newest Broadway Cast Recording with Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis and David Alan Grier.

If you are interested in a really good Study Guide for "The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess" Click HERE

My photo below is "Rainbow Row" originally named "Cabbage Row" as it was a place that had sunk to a slum and used by negroes as a vending place of vegetables in the 1920's.  This is the location that DuBose Heyward based his novel "Porgy".  "Catfish Row" is the novel's fictitious location in Charleston, South Carolina.  (It is NO longer a slum - it is very pricey real estate and a popular tourist attraction.)

Mamma's Song

Promises softly sung
upon summertime's breeze
were broken
as Misfortune raged.

Murder, love, betrayal, rich,
old, young, poor, a melting pot.
She don't play favorites.

For once all was equal
South an' North of Broad
for those who dallied
beyond the shore,

the day my Daddy, "rich"
and Mamma, good lookin'
swept under with the Sea Gull.

Decayed, battered,
Catfish Row may have been,
but the arms that held
orphaned me,
were mighty strong in Hope.

Pride of Charleston's
poor blacks workin' hard
1920's immortalized,
an American opera, no less.

Today I walk by
colorful archways
of East Bay, hear
Mamma's voice,
Daddy's laughter
upon the wind,

whisper back,
"I spread my wings,
Mamma, took to the sky,
achieved your dream
of a better life."

by Margaret Bednar, April 19, 2013

I also linked this with Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "Out of Standard: Climate Free Friday"  The tough challenge of using the word "melt" without referring to heat, cold, fire or ice.  I squeezed it in and think it might read better, perhaps, without the "melted" line.  ;P

IGWRT's & Friday Flash 55 "Encouragement"

One of many statues and fountains found in Charleston, SC

Encouragement

A double edged sword, 

is encouragement,

offers comfort, 

acknowledges hardship,

both edges razor sharp, 

prods with love’s pointed tip. 

Honesty is keen, 

its hand caring, but firm,

fights for us, with us, 

teaches us 

to carry burdens 

with a smile upon our face.

Oh, sweet is the water 

pouring forth

from experienced, 

faith-filled hands.

by Margaret Bednar, April 18, 2013

This is linked with today's poetry challenge from Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's - Encouragement.    Also linked with Friday Flash 55, (a story in 55 words, no more, no less).

I flubbed the challenge a bit as I wrote about encouragement as opposed to writing encouraging words... so I added the quotes below:

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be”  Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“If all we ever offer is blanket praise without any meaning behind it, kids will always seek approval because they'll never feel satisfied. If we offer genuine encouragement for their accomplishments, they won't need our approval; they'll approve of themselves.” 

― Kelly Bartlett, Encouraging Words for Kids

“We listened, as all boys in their better moods will listen (ay, and men too for the matter of that), to a man whom we felt to be, with all his heart and soul and strength, striving against whatever was mean and unmanly and unrighteous in our little world. It was not the cold, clear voice of one giving advice and warning from serene heights to those who were struggling and sinning below, but the warm, living voice of one who was fighting for us and by our sides, and calling on us to help him and ourselves and one another.” 

From a novel written in 1857 HERE

― Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays

IGWRT's Aprille's Choice "Great-tailed Grackle"

Great-tailed Grackle

Shimmering, keel-tail birds,
smouldering yellow eyes,
fanciful omnivores
shrieking for food.

by Margaret Bednar,  April 17, 2013

This poem pattern is a challenge offered over at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Aprille's Choice - and she chose multisyllabic words!  She provided us with 2, 3 & 6 syllable word lists and also a suggested stanza rhythm to follow - similar to a waltz (1-2-3).   If you want to know more, click on the link.

I encountered these birds for the first time at Isle of Palms Beach in South Carolina.  At first I thought they were the common crow, but after watching and hearing them for a while, I knew I had never seen these bold birds before.

If you care to hear a few sounds these birds make you can find them at minute marker 1:23 & 1:33 on the video below.  This is not my video - I found it on You Tube.

IGWRT's Rondelet "The Scoundrel"

A typical view into the side garden yards in historical downtown Charleston, SC

The Scoundrel

You came to me,
kissed me beside scrolled iron gate.

You came to me,
promised love upon bended knee.

Heart aflutter, swallowed the bait,
gave myself.  I regret the date

you came to me.

by Margaret Bednar, April 16, 2013


This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - I say Roundel, You Say Rondelet.  I have a mind block and always approach these with dread and find I usually enjoy the result.   I tweaked it a bit beside = 'side.  Was tempted to forgo "structure" and use 9 syllables ... not sure I like 'side.  But for now, I'll play by the "rules".

Magpie Tales #164 "Longing" & IGWRT's Sunday Challenge "The Pedestal"

Spring, 1935 by Kuzma Petrov-Vodin

Longing

She craved acceptance,
longed to be squeezed, pressed

like a good luck charm,
worn but needed.

He placed her on a pedestal,
dared not touch

lest his shortcomings
be revealed.

Happily ever after
forever a dream.

by Margaret Bednar,  April 14, 2013

The image above is the weekly challenge fro The Mag 164. 

The image below is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's: Sunday Challenge Joaquin Sorolla, a triolet poem and a continuation of the above theme.

If you are interested in finding out more about this painter, HERE is a brief description from the Art Institute of Chicago Catalogue of Painters (March 12, 1911)  and also linked with IGWRT's Open Link Monday.

Idyll, Javea, 1900 by Joaquin Sorolla

The Pedestal

How like a charm she longed to be,
Accepted, loved, a need timeworn.

A pedestal, placed her did he,
but like a charm she longed to be!
He lived in dread his faults she'd see
And dared not touch for fear she'd scorn.

How like a charm she longed to be,
Accepted, loved, a need timeworn.

by Margaret Bednar, April 15, 2013

IGWRT's - Artistic Interpretations "Cross Roads"

Cross Roads

Punctured, I bleed gray
a life of indifference
finds me alone, empty,

and I wonder,

is it too late to begin again,
color my world passionate,
take action, make a difference,

or will I simply remain
voiceless?

by Margaret Bednar, April 12, 2013

My third (and last) poem for today's challenge (which I'm hosting) for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's - Artistic Interpretations.  My daughter's abstract art is featured.  Please hop on over and see the possibilities and give it a try.  

IGWRT's Artistic Interpretations "Contentment?"

Contentment?

A little red marble
rolls within me, tickling,
tracking its way along,

sometimes merrily,
tracing a way pink
with contentment

other times settles
upon a path white, observing
life's billowing chaos.

If I were to trace miles logged,
would contentment
outdistance regret?

by Margaret Bednar, April 12, 2013

Another poem for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's - Artistic Interpretations.  I'm trying to not see things in the painting and just respond to the lines, colors, shapes.  Not sure I succeeded as I "see" the red marble... but I'm getting closer.  I may try my hand at another abstract piece.

Chelsea Bednar's abstract art is the subject for today's challenge (my daughter).  Hop on over to the Garden and give it a try!  

IGWRT's Artistic Interpretations & Magpie Tales #163 "Moonlit"

Statue in one of many lovely gardens at Middleton Place, SC

Moonlit

She resides
like a goddess,
alabaster smooth
beneath moonlit branches,

alone, untouchable,
even morning's mist
hesitates to come close,

but within her perfectly
sculpted breast, she longs
for a loving touch, satin sheets
and a reason to blush.

by Margaret Bednar, April 11, 2013


This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads "Artistic Interpretations" which is a challenge I am hosting over at the Garden for today, Friday, April 12th.

All the abstract artwork for this prompt is by my daughter, Chelsea Bednar.  Please hop on over and take a look at the numerous abstract pieces that are the focus of the poetic challenge.

The ideal is to tap into the feeling of abstract pieces, but this is an example where I always want to "see" images in the abstract art I view.  In the above painting, I see a red headed woman with her body sideways upon the pillows, her "backside" toward the viewer, legs tucked under satin sheets, seductively reclining upon a fluffy pillow ...

I hope to be back with a second poem, a truly "emotional" piece.

I am also tying this in with The Mag #163, this week's gorgeous image below:

Woman With a Towel, 1898, Edgar Degas 

IGWRT's - Destinations and Dialogue & Poet's United -Colored "SouthernCharm"

Southern Charm

The afternoon's heat has shackled me, 

sweat pools in places secretive

and I close my eyes, sit upon a scrolled bench, 

tidal breeze welcome, 

imagine a time when women dressed in layers.

Unfazed, a haughty dandy emerges from the brush, 

struts a bedazzled rainbow, 

makes my dishevelment more apparent.

"Show-off," I mutter.  He blinks, struts his crest.

I wilt, deflated, lean back,

watch sultriness ride the Ashley's blackwater current,

meander her way past the live oaks -

enjoy an age-old flirtation as fingers tickle the surface,

whose emerged roots in turn she caresses with silky coolness.

I raise my chin, invite her to touch me lovingly as well.

It's a courtship:  the days simmering lassitude woos 

evening's refreshing breath,

begs with open arms all the current can give.

Tomorrow all will be forgotten

as a hasty retreat is made toward the grand city 

and bigger horizons, but for now, all is content.  

Almost.

The peacock's train fans out, plumage iridescent.

"You win."  I stroll back the way I came. 

With such ornamentation, I dare not compete.

by Margaret Bednar, April 11, 2013

I'm also linking this poem with "Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "Artistic Interpretations - Beauty". (April 24, 2017)  I am the host and my "rules" were a new poem or greatly re-worked - this is neither - but I beg forgiveness.  My 90 year old father had a mild stroke and it has kept me a bit distracted.  He is improving each day and this is great - but I was unable to write a new poem for this prompt.

---

This is written for Imaginary Garden With Real Toads "Destinations and Dialogues".  The assignment is to:  write a narrative about a place that is special, evil, nostalgic, beautiful, chaotic...whatever you want and try to nail the feeling that it gives you when you are there and confronted with its realness. This can be poetry, prose, technical writing...lol, I don't care.  And to "sandwich it between a bit of narrative".  

I have described sitting along the banks of the Ashely River which flows in to Charleston SC every morning and flows back towards Middleton Plantation every evening.  

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR, CLICK ON THE LINK of Middleton Plantation... if not just for the header which showcases two "take your breath away" images!  The link to Charleston has a lovely video.  The Lowcountry is truly spectacular.  You will see why it has stolen my heart.

I have also linked this with Poets United "Colored".  What is more colorful than a peacock?  

IGWRT's - Document of Discussion "No Weather Report, Please!"

(For the Friday Flash 55 Version, scroll down)

No Weather Report, Please!

I'm early.  This rarely happens,
so I hesitantly approach
the bar alone.  Why
does this feel so daring? I mean,
I'm forty-seven, confident,
no fear of flirtations. Come-ons
rarely happen; I'd probably laugh
if they did.

I indulge, order a chocolate martini,
try to sip it slowly, but well, they
go down so easily.

The couple beside me
is roughly my age, she's
dressed to kill, perfume
a bit cloying.  She fiddles
with her bracelets, sips
red wine as he talks
about how gray and cloudy
it is outside.  A first date,
I decide, until I hear
the bartender praise
"Twenty-fifth anniversary,
fantastic".

I look closer, as I've been
married almost twenty-three.
She's had her hair done recently,
lots of blond.  Like me.  She could
loose a few pounds.  Like me.
She's drinking quite a bit.
Like me, sometimes.  She
adjusts her shirt, shows more
cleavage.  I've been guilty
of that a few times...

and he's checking his
iPhone, droning on about
the rain, how the lawn
will have to wait.  Glances
at the game in the corner
of the bar, still wearing his suit
from the office.  No special
preparation, and he needs a shave.

A hand slides about my waist,
 a kiss graces my cheek. I raise
an eyebrow, know he can do
better than that.  He kisses my lips.
Better.  I order another drink
and ban him from talking
about the weather.

by Margaret Bednar, April 10, 2013

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Document of Discussion.  I twisted it a bit and made it more of an observation/a converstation overheard and my own train of thought.   I have a feeling there will be some pretty awesome responses to this prompt so click the link and check it out.


...and here is a version for Friday Flash 55.   I usually like material condensed, but I think I actually like the longer version better.  But I gave it a go in 55 words:


Let's Not Talk Weather!

I wait,

notice a woman fiddling
with her bracelets, her hair,
her shirt, revealing more cleavage.

"Happy twenty-fifth", praises
the bartender.

I watch her spouse check
his iPhone, drone on about
the rain, the yard, the traffic.

My husband arrives,
kisses my cheek! ... lips.
Better.  And I ban him
from talking about the weather.

by Margaret Bednar, April 10, 2013

Carpe Diem & IGWRT's Words Count - "Wisteria"

Wisteria at Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, SC

Lavender garnish
courts Charlestonian gray,
droning bees, sanguine.

by Margaret Bednar, April 9, 2013

The painting below was painted by Viviane of "Les Peintures De Viviane" from one of my photos.  I commented on how much I loved it, but she wasn't selling this one.  She painted another just for me and gave it to me!!  I had it framed and I just adore it.

Charleston gray refers to the local brick which originated in size and coloration early in the colonial period.  "Charleston Gray" bricks come out a rusty brown when properly fired and are called gray due to the coloration of the clay used.

This is for Carp Diem Imagination #5, Wisteria a haiku meme.

Also linked with dVerse Poet's Pub "Open Link Night"

This is also linked with Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "Words Count with Mama Zen".  The image I chose for inspiration is very similar to a wisteria bloom:

IGWRT's - Let's Do the Time Warp "Carnegie Hall, April 23, 1961"

Carnegie Hall, April 23, 1961

The whole world smiled,
fell in love in 1961.

I've listened since I was
five, countless times,
as she went to their heads
even forgot the "gol darn words",

she intoxicated, 
made people care.

How long has this dream
of mine been going on,
seated in Carnegie's front row,
Judy's garland voice wrapping
about me, reverberating?

Unlike my 33 LP, voice stuttering,
scratched from overuse...

Transported, I'd breath in
perfect harmony, a melodic rhapsody
sending my heart reeling

and I'd SING! when she invited
the crowd along,
and she'd see me crying,

Swanee River swaying this fan
with a memory of a lifetime.

by Margaret Bednar, April 8, 2013

Thanks to Fireblossom (and forgive me it's not 1958) for the opportunity for me to indulge myself.  This is for "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads is "Let's Do the Time Warp".  Obviously, Judy Garland was a huge performer in the 1950's, so I hope I squeak under the wire with this one.

Her album "Judy Garland, Live at Carnegie Hall" has never been out of print!

This is a bit late as this prompt was offered last Tuesday while I was enjoying Charleston SC.

IGWRT's Wednesday Challenge - Existentialism "Aquarium Alligator"

This is Alabaster, 1 of 50 known albino alligators.  He lives at the SC Aquarium in Charleston.

Aquarium Alligator

Thirty-seven million years and me,
five feet apart, eye level.

I fog the glass, tap,
unblinking he floats.

"Evil" I think, but ponder...

Territorial predators, we,
both possess powerful jaws,

he rips, I gossip.  He eats,
nourishes.  I destroy for fun.

Perhaps he's afraid of me.

by Margaret Bednar, April 7, 2013

I started thinking of the topic for this poem while visiting the South Carolina Aquarium this past week while on spring break with a few of my children.  The challenge for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's is "Existentialism" which can be described as:  individual experience, sense of isolation, indifferent environment, responsibility for choices made, the grappling of the meaning of life...

IGWRT's - A Birthday in April - Wordsworth "The Sea Turtle"

Sea Turtle at SC Aquarium, Charleston

The Sea Turtle

She's at peace
with ancient wisdom
a voyager, illuminated, solitaire
beneath moonlit skies,
drifting the jet stream,
content with the cycle of life.

by Margaret Bednar, April 7, 2013

This is for "Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's - A Birthday in April - Wordsworth".  My "little boat" of William Wordsworth thought to push off from and create a poem was:  A mind forever Voyaging through strange seas of Thought, alone".  

IGWRT's - Going Outside "Transparent"

Moon Jelly from the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston

Transparent

Mother told me
never to be transparent.
To hide my ambition,
my intelligence.

So I did.

I gave the boys
what they saw.
They never asked
for more.

by Margaret Bednar, April 7, 2013

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "Going Outside" a prompt hosted by Peggy Goetz. 

IGWRT Out of Standard - "Day of Reckoning"

An image of Charleston's Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River

Day of Reckoning

A little bit of naughty
entertains,
keeps introspection
at bay,

denies
loneliness stings
as gaiety
whirligigs, spins

toward
a  personal bridge,
life's purpose,
challenged:

Become the cure
or continue the comedy,
direction taken
hopefully illuminated,

finish line
alight with smiles,
not mockery
and gloom.

by Margaret Bednar, April 4, 2013

This is what the Ravenel Jr. Bridge is supposed to look like:  HERE

Written for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "Out of Standard" Film School Drop Out Edition.  We were to write a poem in reaction to the following You Tube movie clip:


Just got back from Spring Vacation (visited Charleston, SC... again :)  and I have a lot of catching up to do.  I did write a poem a day with pen and paper and will be sharing them here and making the rounds to see what everyone has been writing.  

A Southern Plantation - Middleton Place

Settled in the early 18th century the main house was not built until 1755. It was destroyed by Union troops in 1865. What was left was the gentlemen's guest wing. It was restored after the war; made possible be relatives living in Philadelphia as the Middleton's had no money.

The gardens and walkways in April take my breath away!

This post was do e from my iPhone. Technology is amazing. No matter how beautiful the past, I'll take modern times.

I'm also glad to see all the education given regarding the slaves and how living here was for them

I will be back tomorrow hosting the Imaginary garden of Real Toad's challenge "Artistic Adventures".

IGWRT's - Open Link Monday "Renewal"

Renewal

Softly, Easter Sunday
settles, house quiet,
clothes ironed, starched,
clip-on tie for the youngest.
I know the struggle before me,
of renewal, of purity, of thankfulness;

know it isn't easy
for anyone to maintain,
let alone a five year old boy.

by Margaret Bednar, April 1, 2013

Posted for Imaginary Garden With Real Toads "Open Link Monday".   I thought I would be taking a vacation break, but hey, my girls will be bringing along their laptop... so, I am going to try for five minute "revelations".

It is impossible to get a clear image with this mover & shaker! ( I did get one, but
it somehow didn't capture who he is :)