IGWRT's Kerry's Wednesday Challenge - Open Letters "Dear Petoskey"

Dear Petoskey,

Lapis, emerald,
and Queen Anne's Lace,
ornamentals
I carefully tuck away
each time we depart
your four square miles.
Quaint and charming
quiver in rearview mirror
as southbound we travel.

Quite different our arrival,
six youthful heads
shout, "We're home!"
It's all I can do
not to crawl back inside
your protective cocoon,
wings forever clipped.

Small is often ridiculed,
considered inadequate,
but often a gem is prized
for memories held.
You're our dear treasure,
a small town
we'll always call home.

Love,

the Bednar's

This is for Kerry's Wednesday Challenge - Open Letters.  Petoskey, Michigan is where we lived for over seven years and leaving was the hardest thing I have ever done.  We try and return every summer.

Poetry Jam "Kyanite"

Kyanite

My cat's eye
blinks silver and blue

flashes sapphire
in the light

polished luster
wards off evil

they say.  All I know
is this striped gem,

cold and smooth,
reminds me of you.

by Margaret Bednar, February 26, 2013

Linked with Poetry Jam "Your Stripes, My Stripes".  HERE is a beautiful pendant made from Kyanite.  Not a cat's eye, thought.  For that beautiful cut click HERE.

The above photo I took while touring a museum in the Appalachian Mountains. - although I really don't think that is where this inexpensive gem is found...  

Magpie Tales #157, IGWRT Open Link Monday & Friday Flash 55 "Venus of Antiquity"

Venus de Milo with Drawers, 1936, Salvador Dali

Venus of Antiquity

Spring fills the room,
taunts candle's flame
as I pull sexy from dresser drawer,
hold it up, scrutinize,

wonder if lace trimmed satin
is a relic, question
if resurrection's possible.
Martyr-like, slip it on,

as quickly, take it off,
that Venus of antiquity
unrecognizable,

youthful vision hastily
tucked away, folded.
Thankful he's easily pleased.

by Margaret Bednar  February 25, 2013

Oh, I'd like to say this was completely fiction.  Thanks, Tess, for drawing this poem forth!  The above image is this week challenge for The Mag #157 

This is also linked with Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's Sunday Mini-Challenge 14 liners (it is quite different than a sonnet!  ... but it does turn on the 9th line! :)  Also linked with IGWRT's Open Link Monday.

I am also linking with Friday Flash 55, a "fiction" story in 55 words, no more, no less.

IGWRT's Transforming Fridays "Addax"

Addax

Like miniature cutouts
we lie huddled
in a spot of shade,

await twilight
to roam amongst
tussock grass and thorn scrub

slowly, peace-filled,
suffer destiny,
numbers dwindling,

our once grand presence
erased west of the Nile Valley.
Everywhere.  Now

North of Niger, reside,
bottom of the food chain
of animals and mankind,

silhouetted against fate
as our patient shadow
swiftly fades.

by Margaret Bednar, February 23, 2013

This is for Imaginary Garden of Real Toads - Transforming Friday with Hannah.  I took this photo while at Disney World's Animal Kingdom "Safari" tour.  

IGWRT's Transforming Fridays "I am Cheetah"

I am Cheetah

I am strong and fast
I wonder, will I survive today?
I hear innocence cry out as I tear it apart
and I see life flutter and fade before me
I want my cubs to be like me
I am strong and fast

I pretend I'm the queen of the land as
I feel another's life tremble beneath my paws
I touch the ground like wind rushing over a mountain
I worry about the balance between life and death
and cry for my cubs when their survival is threatened
I am strong and fast

I understand the wind as it calls my name
I purr my discontent, so beware my mixed signal
I dream my spirit is the speed of light
I try to teach my young to be ruthless
and hope they understand compassion means weakness
I am strong and fast

by Emma Bednar

This was written by my 6th grade daughter - I helped her ever so slightly with showing her the wonders of dictionary.com and the thesaurus.  I encouraged her to use the "and" line in all three paragraphs and I had a slight influence on having her take the sappy sweet lines out and making the overall tone a bit more foreboding...  I had her read a few articles on the ruthlessness and toughness of this animal and what it takes to survive in the wild.  A good mother is a tough mother as far as the Cheetah is concerned.

If you want to read a bit more on the Cheetah, please click HERE.  It is a 2009 Scientific American article and is also where I got the photo.

I originally linked this to dVerse in 2011, but am linking it again for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads  - Transforming Friday with Hannah.  Cheetahs live in many climates, including the desert.

We are supposed to write something new for this challenge and I will still try and submit it on Monday if I find time.  I just love this poem, though, and of course, wanted to share my daughter's work.

Friday Flash 55 "Evening Haze"

Evening Haze

A muted silver haze
drapes its cloak
upon the winter pond,
envelopes me with a pair
of luminous swans
in a world of quietude.

Lethargic ripples
tickle the murky shore
where cattails
and winter grass
passively sway
and a blue heron's
shadow sweeps
the water's breadth.

I break the silence
whisper "Amen"
and walk home.

by Margaret Bednar, February 21, 2013

This is linked with Friday Flash 55 - supposedly fiction, but Mr-G is very lenient (don't tell him I said that :)  Whatever you write, it must be 55 words, no more, no less. 

IGWRT's Words Count with Mama Zen "A Toad's Bliss"

This was my window seat in Petoskey, Michigan

Bliss

Gossamer light,
lake's soft breeze,
books stacked,

resplendently laze
midsummer day away
upon cushion of red,

like a happy toad
sheltered, protected,

tomatoes and corn
hand picked, sliced, salted,
fresh cut lilies.

I float upon aroma
as bees drone outside
my window screen.

This is surely bliss.

by Margaret Bednar, February 20, 2013

We are to write about a place, a home, a spot, where we are most like a toad, so to speak in 48 words or less.  The window seat was my favorite spot in our house in Petoskey, Michigan - and I dearly miss it.

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "Words Count with Mama Zen".

The Mag #156, "Keening"

Wind of History by Jacek Yerka

Keening

Winter slumber tosses
sheet of white aside

amongst crumpled creases
barn cat hides

tiptoes toward
black capped chickadees

busy pecking
dropped berry seeds.

Westerly wind
sends warning gust

a moment's comfort found,
matted fur, growling tum

afternoon sunbath
against weathered wall,

keening for springtime,
sweet and bountiful.

By Margaret Bednar, February 18, 2013

This is for "The Mag #156"  a blog hosted by Tess Kincaid and "dedicated to the enjoyment of poets and writers, for the purpose of honing their craft, sharing it with like-minded bloggers, and keeping their muses alive and well".

I SO wish I had snapped a photo of the barn cat languishing beside the horse barn door yesterday, its fur all dirty with the February muck.  He was so content, he didn't raise his head and meow as he usually does, seeking a snack from the many boarders who feed him.  

Tum: stomach

IGWRT's Fireblossom Free Verse "True Vogue"

True Vogue

Designer trends,

make a woman

or so they say

insecurities, fears,

loneliness

hidden

until a gentle touch

unbuttons

frees a poetic soul

pretense 

flung aside

love her only accessory.

by Margaret Bednar, February 16, 2013

First of all, I want to share these drawings with you... they are my daughter's from this year, her senior year in high school.  She has been accepted into all three colleges she applied to: The Art Institute of Chicago, Kansas City Art Institute, and the University of North Carolina School of Art.

My daughter's art blog is:  Artistic Adventures

This poem is written for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Fireblossom Free Verse.  For an excellent description check out the link.  She did an excellent job of describing what it is... and my attempt is just that... an attempt.

IGWRT's "Fireblossom Friday" & Friday Flash 55 "My Valentine"

My Valentine

You handed me a lily pink
its center softly yellow
and kissed me with a passion young,
it made me stop and think.

Years
your lips alone,
Love
forever promised me,

and not in just one special way
are you my valentine,
for twenty-three amazing years
and each and every day.

by Margaret Bednar, February 15, 2013

Imaginary Garden with Real Toads "Fireblossom Friday - Goes Old School" using iambs and a strict line and syllable count!  3 stanzas of four lines each (8686) (1416) (8686) but the best part for ME is I didn't have to rhyme (thank you, Fireblossom!)  


Confession:  the last line of the second stanza is not an iamb...  how many Hail Marys, Fireblossom? :)  (HEY- I fixed it!! hooray - so now I hope Galen shows some mercy:)

And since I have already sinned, I am also linking this up with Friday Flash 55 (I am a few words short... how many "Our Fathers", G-Man? :)

The Mag #155 "Spiced"

Artwork by Joseph Lorusso

Spiced

Bold coffee served hot,

no cream, no sugar, no surprises,

until you embraced me,

ran your hand beneath my skirt

all before 7 a.m.  Tempted me

to toss routine on its head,

your smoldering kiss my caffeine,

our bistro booth forgotten,

Pumpkin Spice a tease upon my lips

as you winked, walked away.

Tonight, dessert will certainly be served

but this time, I'll provide the seasoning.

by Margaret Bednar, February 11, 2013

This is for The Mag #155.  Tess Kincaid provides the weekly photograph, the poetry and prose is up to us.  Please click on the link and enjoy the other poetic renderings.

Also linked with Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's Open Link Monday.

IGWRT's - Sunday Challenge - "You are Invited"

You are Invited

Attraction is half the game.

If I want you to stay,

I must offer more than scraps.

Smokey glances, berry lips

deliver the invitation, but

attraction is half the game,

our hearts' desires neatly hidden;

both leery of dejection, but

if I want you to stay

I must tiptoe quietly, leave 

a trail of crumbs.  Perhaps someday

I will offer more than scraps.

by Margaret Bednar, February 10, 2013

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Sunday Mini-Challenge - a cascade poem - each line of the first stanza is used as the last line in the subsequent stanzas.  Click on link to get a better description.  I almost followed the rules, but I did change the wording a bit in the very last line of the last stanza.   

http://birding.about.com/od/Specific-Birds/a/How-To-Attract-Bluebirds.htm

This started off about blue birds and trying to create an environment conducive for them to stay (see above link).  However, this poem took on a life of its own and became more about the "cat & mouse" game women (and men) often play...

I was at my kitchen sink and saw FIVE blue birds in the feeder at one time.  Of course, by the time I grabbed my good camera, they had flitted away.  If I had more time, I would have used a tri-pod as these are blurry.  The top one I took with my iPhone... and it is blurry too.  This time of year, I look into my wooded area behind my house and see a whole bunch of blue birds flying about the naked trees.  I love it. 

IGWRT's "Get Listed" & Friday Flash 55 "Enticed"

Enticed

One shot of tequila 

wasn't to blame

for the flicker of desire

that raged uncontrollable,

consuming my innocent intentions.

Neither was the sweltering heat

nor the full moon.

I wasn't tempted

by your charming dimple

nor your mercilessly cool 

exploring touch.

I was enticed after two rounds

of chocolate martinis.

I never can resist chocolate.

Margaret Bednar, February 6, 2013

This is for Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's - Get Listed" with Fireblossom. (I used 8 of the listed words).  

Also linking up with Friday Flash 55 (a story or poem in 55 words).

IGWRT's - In Tandem with Grace for "Lessons in Love"

 Grace (also known as Heaven) and I, Margaret,  collaborated for an "In Tandem" challenge from Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's keying in on February as the month of love.  Grace the teenager, me the mother.   I believe we ended up with a poem that pleases us both, and I hope you enjoy it as well.

Lessons in Love

He loves me, he loves me not.......

I carry this ache in my breast
Is this what love is, mother,
a madness that strikes your bones,  
rattling all sensations, snatching thirst 
until nothing sates your cup 
like his hands on your cheeks ? 

Do I tell her I remember

all-consuming passion,

youth unbridled, love

tempestuous;

that a woman’s heart 

is made to break a hundred

if not one thousand times?

There is a fire raging my hands  
Is this what being in love means,
To be a seed, potted with words 
Bursting with color, shape & rhythm,
I quiver like bowstring, an artist 
coming of age,  I write until his
breath lingers in all of my words.  

Do I warn her an inferno consumes,
rages until nothing is left? 

Love is a fire 
burning steady and true,
yourself reflected within his eyes,
an image blossoming, 
propelling you forward like an arrow, 
straight and true,
his voice blending with yours,
hands faithfully molding,
lips forever encouraging. 

His love wounds me mother
I am drowning like a seashell,
oiled in coral, burnt desert sky 
Is this what mercy is, an amnesia
of memories that swims with the tide
until everything is swallowed dry by the sea ?

What do I say as her love lies bleeding,
youthful innocence hemorrhaging?  

Would she understand if I told her
a woman’s heart is a flower
never ceasing to bloom, 
roots extending, petals reaching,
forever nurturing, regardless of 
“He loves me, he loves me not”.

Some things are as old as time, 
must be experienced and survived,
so I wrap my arms around her
and for now, say nothing.

by Grace & Margaret, February 4, 2013